> This is an mostly different country from 1976. The fringe that no one worried about now controls everything... <
Agreed. And for all his faults and weaknesses, Carter was basically a decent person. And the folks he appointed were basically decent people.
I remember those years. At no time did I think my personal freedoms were at risk. Well, now I do feel that way.
Well... in 1976 Jimmy Carter WAS fringe. The only reason he won was because the “I will never lie” promise. He got a lot of mileage with that. That the Republicans nominated Gerald Ford rather than Ronald Reagan played right to Carter’s unconscious Media strategy. Ford was carrying a lot of baggage having pardoned Nixon even though it was universally acknowledged the right thing to do for the country.
The first time I ever heard of the Southern Poverty Law Center was in connection to the Carter campaign. We’ve been stuck with that radical organization ever since.