[MeekOneGOP]

The Nobel Committee played politics with this award. Not surprising President Bush's reception might be "muted"....

The 78-year-old former president won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for his "untiring efforts" to champion human rights, promote democracy and broker peace between Israel and Egypt in 1978.

The decision to award the peace prize to Mr. Carter became tinged with controversy after Nobel Committee chairman Gunnar Berge said the prize wasn't just a tribute to Mr. Carter's work, but a rebuke to the current U.S. administration's policy toward Iraq.

[billorites]

I get my disgraced Democrat ex-presidents confused:

Was Carter the sanctimonious little pr**k?
Or was he the lecherous, incontinent buffoon?

[duckman]

My guess is that this is one of those have-to-do things by the president. Kind of like having to take a leak at half time.

[maica]

For comparison sake, read wat the Washington Times adds to their coverage of Carter's visit.


The Washington Times
www.washtimes.com

---

Bush greets critic Carter during Oval Office visit
Joseph Curl
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Published 11/19/2002

---

     Former President Jimmy Carter, who left the White House in 1981, returned yesterday as the guest of President Bush, whom he has frequently criticized.
     Mr. Carter, one of six American winners of Nobel Prizes this year, received a somewhat cool reception by Mr. Bush.
     "Of course, I welcome somebody who spent a lot of quality time here," the president said in his only comment directed at Mr. Carter.
     Mr. Carter had no comment during an Oval Office photo session, and did not speak to reporters after his White House visit.
     Mr. Carter, 78, won the Nobel Peace Prize last month for his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development," the Nobel Committee said.
     The committee lauded the former president for his 1978 effort to bring peace to the Middle East by bringing Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat together to sign the Camp David peace accords.
     The Nobel Committee's decision to bestow the award on Mr. Carter was seen as a rebuke to Mr. Bush's policy on Iraq. The committee said: "In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and economic development."
     Mr. Carter has repeatedly criticized the Bush administration.
     "I have been disappointed in almost everything he has done," the former president said this summer, criticizing Mr. Bush for not pressuring Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, for threatening to abandon the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia and for not supporting human rights more strongly.
     In September, Mr. Carter said he was disturbed by administration threats to take military action against Iraq without the blessing of the United Nations, and he said he would have voted against the congressional resolution allowing the president to use force against Iraq.
     But he changed his stance when Mr. Bush won a tough, new resolution from the United Nations, saying it was "beneficial" that the United States had reserved the right to take action against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein if he does not disarm and the U.N. Security Council does nothing.
     Mr. Carter has worked tirelessly to redeem his reputation after a one-term presidency that some historians have described as a failure. Narrowly elected in 1976, the former Georgia governor was unable to free 53 hostages held for more than a year in Iran. He was resoundingly defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980.
     He is remembered by many Americans as the architect of an economic policy that resulted in runaway inflation, high interest rates, a recession he blamed on American "malaise," and long lines at gasoline pumps.
     Mr. Carter will collect his Nobel Prize and the $943,000 cash award that comes with it Dec. 10 in Oslo. He has said he will donate the money to the Carter Center in Atlanta and to the Rosalynn Carter Institute and several universities.
     Mr. Bush also greeted the other Nobel laureates yesterday in the Oval Office. The Nobel economics prize went to Americans for the third year in a row: Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University and Vernon L. Smith of George Mason University.
     Robert Horvitz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shared the Nobel Prize in medicine and John B. Fenn of Virginia Commonwealth University shared the chemistry prize.
     Two Americans shared the Nobel in physics: Riccardo Giacconi of Johns Hopkins University, and Raymond Davis Jr. of the University of Pennsylvania.
     "These Americans are a great honor to their fields and a great honor to our country, and we're proud to have you here," Mr. Bush said. "We're proud for what you've done, for not only America, but for the world."

[Jack of Clubs]

Bush shows considerable character and class by allowing Jimmy Carter the honor of an Oval Office visit.

Carter would have shown considerable character and class had he declined the Nobel Prize, particularly after the head of the Nobel Committee made it clear that they were only using Carter to symbolically slap George Bush.

[Redleg Duke]

I saw a picture of Ol' Peanut Brain with the President on the cover of the "Old Grey Whore" this morning...no I didn't buy the issue.

Carter's face looks like five miles of chewed up tank trail! Even his wrinkles have wrinkles.!

[lavaroise]

Carter's like a pedophile, he starts a war within, but ask the innocent to end the urges of war by disarming further.

[ncpastor]

W's dignified behavior is a tribute to and evidence of his character and maturity and depth. I would've probably tried to knock the little schmuck down but W acted like a grown-up and honored him along with the others. Once again, I note how blessed we are to have W as our president during these challenging times.

[ncpastor]

I would love to hear some commentary from some of the captives who languished in Iran while Jimmy limp-wristedly "led" our country through the prolonged crisis. Wonder what they would say about disappointment??

[GOPJ]

President Bush showed class once again in the face of crass political farce. Carter did not win because "he negotiated settlements"... Carter won because someone wanted to stick it to the current President of the United States. And Carter was too needy to turn the prize down. So he sold his President out -- for very few pieces of silver. What a jerk.

[Consort]

Billy was the brains of the Carter family.

[Gumlegs]

Mr. Carter stood just to the right of Mr. Bush in a line of Nobel laureates that included ...

Jimmy Carter stood to the right of Mr. Bush. Now, that's funny.