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True
WJC's "progress" for the Islamists is in peril indeed.
Posted on 07/26/2004 7:39:08 PM PDT by dr_who_2
CARTER'S REMARKS TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, BOSTON
Mon Jul 26 2004 19:45:57 ET
My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm not running for president. But here's what I will be doing: everything I can to put John Kerry in the White House with John Edwards right there beside him.
Twenty-eight years ago I was running for president, and I said then, "I want a government as good and as honest and as decent and as competent and as compassionate as are the American people." I say this again tonight, and that is exactly what we will have next January with John Kerry as president of the United States.
As many of you know, my first chosen career was in the United States Navy, where I served as a submarine officer. At that time, my shipmates and I were ready for combat and prepared to give our lives to defend our nation and its principles.
At the same time, we always prayed that our readiness would preserve the peace. I served under two presidents, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, men who represented different political parties. Both of whom had faced their active military responsibilities with honor.
They knew the horrors of war, and later, as commanders-in-chief, they exercised restraint and judgment and had a clear sense of mission. We had confidence that our leaders, military and civilian, would not put our soldiers and sailors in harm's way by initiating "wars of choice" unless America's vital interests were endangered.
We also were sure that these presidents would not mislead us when it came to issues involving our nation's security. Today, our Democratic party is led by another former naval officer -- one who volunteered for military service. He showed up when assigned to duty, and he served with honor and distinction.
He also knows the horrors of war and the responsibilities of leadership, and I am confident that next January he will restore the judgment and maturity to our government that is sorely lacking today. I am proud to call Lieutenant John Kerry my shipmate, and I am ready to follow him to victory in November.
As you know, our country faces many challenges at home involving energy, taxation, the environment, education, and health. To meet these challenges, we need new leaders in Washington whose policies are shaped by working American families instead of the super-rich and their armies of lobbyists. But the biggest reason to make John Kerry president is even more important. It is to safeguard the security of our nation.
Today, our dominant international challenge is to restore the greatness of America -- based on telling the truth, a commitment to peace, and respect for civil liberties at home and basic human rights around the world. Truth is the foundation of our global leadership, but our credibility has been shattered and we are left increasingly isolated and vulnerable in a hostile world. Without truth -- without trust -- America cannot flourish. Trust is at the very heart of our democracy, the sacred covenant between the president and the people.
When that trust is violated, the bonds that hold our republic together begin to weaken. After 9/11, America stood proud, wounded but determined and united. A cowardly attack on innocent civilians brought us an unprecedented level of cooperation and understanding around the world. But in just 34 months, we have watched with deep concern as all this goodwill has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations. Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism.
Let us not forget that the Soviets lost the Cold War because the American people combined the exercise of power with adherence to basic principles, based on sustained bipartisan support. We understood the positive link between the defense of our own freedom and the promotion of human rights. Recent policies have cost our nation its reputation as the world's most admired champion of freedom and justice. What a difference these few months of extremism have made!
The United States has alienated its allies, dismayed its friends, and inadvertently gratified its enemies by proclaiming a confused and disturbing strategy of "preemptive" war. With our allies disunited, the world resenting us, and the Middle East ablaze, we need John Kerry to restore life to the global war against terrorism.
In the meantime, the Middle East peace process has come to a screeching halt for the first time since Israel became a nation. All former presidents, Democratic and Republican, have attempted to secure a comprehensive peace for Israel with hope and justice for the Palestinians. The achievements of Camp David a quarter century ago and the more recent progress made by President Bill Clinton are now in peril.
Instead, violence has gripped the Holy Land, with the region increasingly swept by anti-American passions. Elsewhere, North Korea's nuclear menace -- a threat far more real and immediate than any posed by Saddam Hussein -- has been allowed to advance unheeded, with potentially ominous consequences for peace and stability in Northeast Asia. These are some of the prices of our government's radical departure from the basic American principles and values espoused by John Kerry!
In repudiating extremism we need to recommit ourselves to a few common- sense principles that should transcend partisan differences. First, we cannot enhance our own security if we place in jeopardy what is most precious to us, namely, the centrality of human rights in our daily lives and in global affairs. Second, we cannot maintain our historic self-confidence as a people if we generate public panic. Third, we cannot do our duty as citizens and patriots if we pursue an agenda that polarizes and divides our country. Next, we cannot be true to ourselves if we mistreat others. And finally, in the world at large we cannot lead if our leaders mislead.
You can't be a war president one day and claim to be a peace president the next, depending on the latest political polls. When our national security requires military action, John Kerry has already proven in Vietnam that he will not hesitate to act. And as a proven defender of our national security, John Kerry will strengthen the global alliance against terrorism while avoiding unnecessary wars.
Ultimately, the issue is whether America will provide global leadership that springs from the unity and integrity of the American people or whether extremist doctrines and the manipulation of truth will define America's role in the world.
At stake is nothing less than our nation's soul. In a few months, I will, God willing, enter my 81st year of my life, and in many ways the last few months have been some of the most disturbing of all. But I am not discouraged. I do not despair for our country. I believe tonight, as I always have, that the essential decency, compassion and common sense of the American people will prevail.
And so I say to you and to others around the world, whether they wish us well or ill: do not underestimate us Americans. We lack neither strength nor wisdom. There is a road that leads to a bright and hopeful future. What America needs is leadership. Our job, my fellow Americans, is to ensure that the leaders of this great country will be John Kerry and John Edwards. Thank you and God bless America!
There is no argument to it, he WAS our WORST foreign policy president and we have this war on terror to prove it. If he hadn't been a lily-livered chicken the ME might have been headed toward democracy. He could have changed the world and he blew it at every turn. And I voted for the stupid SOB. I just wonder how I was ever that stupid.
I heard he was in close contact with radioactive material when he was younger. Would explain a few things.
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True
WJC's "progress" for the Islamists is in peril indeed.
He's got James Knox Polk beat hands down. Under Carter, the United States stabbed Taiwan in the back, recognized China, gave away the Panama Canal and betrayed a loyal U.S. ally to install an insane Ayatolla in Iran.
James K. Polk's only foreign policy blunder is that he annexed only one-third of Mexico when we could have had all of it.
He's got James Knox Polk beat hands down. Under Carter, the United States stabbed Taiwan in the back, recognized China, gave away the Panama Canal and betrayed a loyal U.S. ally to install an insane Ayatolla in Iran.
James K. Polk's only foreign policy blunder is that he annexed only one-third of Mexico when we could have had all of it.
Has it ever occurred to anyone that Carter's policies on Iran is what lead the Middle East to be what it is now? What a dork Carter is!!
A Navy man reminded me last night that Kerry may have acted in Vietnam but his actions were entirely wrong. What good is that? Jimmy didn't fail to act either. He dropped the speed limit to 55 and made us turn back our thermometers to 65. He tried to make us ashamed that we were Americans.
I can tell you there is at least one man who hasn't figured that out yet.
Why are you putting down Polk? He added a million square miles to the US, including California. On second thought....
I have always cynically believed it was really an attempt to kill the hostages, as there was never any chance the "rescue" would succeed. But if they were gone and forgotten by November, the networks would have stopped counting off the days.
A nuclear sub commander couldn't scare the Iranians into releasing the hostages, but a former Hollywood actor did.
So much for equating military service with effective foreign policy.
Jammy forgot to add.."I want catastrophic interest rates, I want a recession, I want mortgage rates that will cripple anybody buying a house.....cause, gee, shucks, I'm just thinking about y'all!"
I can't believe he's still hanging onto that Camp David agreement, which in reality he had little to do with, and it's obvious it was doomed to fail anyway.
"I believe tonight, as I always have, that the essential decency, compassion and common sense of the American people will prevail."
Just as they did in November of 1980 when Ronald Reagan carried about 45 states against you, the incumbent.
Did you see Carter tonight? My Lord, how long has that man been dead?!
This was almost as nauseating as hearing Bill Clinton (who famously "loathed" the military) lauding Senator Kerry's brave, noble sacrifices in Viet Nam.
"thermocouples connected in series"
I hate when that happens!
Woe, for the days of 15-20% CDs. Locked in for eight years. Yeah, I want a carter clone in the White House so when I retire in five years I can live off the interest of my savings like Mom and Dad did.
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