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The text of a letter former President Carter sent to Zell Miller over the weekend
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/ ^ | Josh Marshall

Posted on 09/07/2004 2:05:44 PM PDT by VMI70

The text of a letter former President Carter sent to Zell Miller over the weekend ...

You seem to have forgotten that loyal Democrats elected you as mayor and as state senator. Loyal Democrats, including members of my family and me, elected you as lieutenant governor and as governor. It was a loyal Democrat, Lester Maddox, who assigned you to high positions in the state government when you were out of office. It was a loyal Democrat, Roy Barnes, who appointed you as U.S. Senator when you were out of office. By your historically unprecedented disloyalty, you have betrayed our trust. Great Georgia Democrats who served in the past, including Walter George, Richard Russell, Herman Talmadge, and Sam Nunn disagreed strongly with the policies of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and me, but they remained loyal to the party in which they gained their public office. Other Democrats, because of philosophical differences or the race issue, like Bo Callaway and Strom Thurmond, at least had the decency to become Republicans.

Everyone knows that you were chosen to speak at the Republican Convention because of your being a “Democrat,” and it’s quite possible that your rabid and mean-spirited speech damaged our party and paid the Republicans some transient dividends.

Perhaps more troublesome of all is seeing you adopt an established and very effective Republican campaign technique of destroying the character of opponents by wild and false allegations. The Bush campaign’s personal attacks on the character of John McCain in South Carolina in 2000 was a vivid example. The claim that war hero Max Cleland was a disloyal American and an ally of Osama bin Laden should have given you pause, but you have joined in this ploy by your bizarre claims that another war hero, John Kerry, would not defend the security of our nation except with spitballs. (This is the same man whom you described previously as “one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of this party's best-known and greatest leaders -- and a good friend.")

I, myself, never claimed to have been a war hero, but I served in the navy from 1942 to 1953, and, as president, greatly strengthened our military forces and protected our nation and its interests in every way. I don’t believe this warrants your referring to me as a pacificist.

Zell, I have known you for forty-two years and have, in the past, respected you as a trustworthy political leader and a personal friend. But now, there are many of us loyal Democrats who feel uncomfortable in seeing that you have chosen the rich over the poor, unilateral preemptive war over a strong nation united with others for peace, lies and obfuscation over the truth, and the political technique of personal character assassination as a way to win elections or to garner a few moments of applause. These are not the characteristics of great Democrats whose legacy you and I have inherited.

I contacted President Carter's office for comment and his press spokesperson Deanna Congileo told me that the letter was a private communication and that President Carter would not be issuing further comment.

-- Josh Marshall http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: carter; jimmycarter; miller; zell; zellmiller
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To: feinswinesuksass
You should all read "The Real Jimmy Carter: How our worst ex-president undermines foreign policy, coddles dictators and created the party of Clinton and Kerry" by Steven Hayward. It's a recent book that clearly identifies Carter as a nasty and vindictive RAT and a real idiot in foreign policy matters. Plus, he's obviously over the senile hill and is spewing asininities by the dozen at one time. Read it and celebrate once again that he went down to defeat at the hands of a real president--Ronald Reagan!

He is hurt as are most RATs that Zell has sent them to liberal Hell. Go Zell and answer this moron's letter!

261 posted on 09/07/2004 5:45:59 PM PDT by Paulus Invictus
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To: StarCMC

"I, myself, never claimed to have been a war hero, but I served in the navy from 1942 to 1953, and, as president, greatly strengthened our military forces and protected our nation and its interests in every way. I don’t believe this warrants your referring to me as a pacificist."

Um, ok....once again a liberal wacko lies through his teeth. He strengthened the military? Ok.....I suppose that's why the Iran Rescue mission failes...cause we were too strong for our own good. Protected our nation and it's interests? I suppose that's why things got so out of hand in Iran. Jimmy - my toothy ol peanut farming, nail pounding, Nobel Peace Prize toting friend...you ARE a pacifist....or more properly stated...a Neville Chamberlain-like appeasement fruit cake.


262 posted on 09/07/2004 5:46:10 PM PDT by GLH3IL (What's good for America is bad for liberals.)
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To: VMI70

yeah he did every thing he could, especially for the hostages..442 days....nothing


Doogle


263 posted on 09/07/2004 5:46:11 PM PDT by Doogle (8th AF..Ubon Thailand..408thMMS...."69"...Night Line Delivery,,Ammo Dump)
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To: VMI70
Dear Jimmy: I didn't leave the Party, the Party left me.

Sincerely, Zell M.

264 posted on 09/07/2004 5:48:08 PM PDT by fightu4it (conquest by immigration and subversion spells the end of US.)
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To: Doogle

mew mew mew..*sniff sniff*
you better check with amy and set up a meeting to talk about nuclear proliferation...what was she 10 at the time?

gutless sob

Doogle


265 posted on 09/07/2004 5:48:30 PM PDT by Doogle (8th AF..Ubon Thailand..408thMMS...."69"...Night Line Delivery,,Ammo Dump)
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To: VMI70

Party over country. Power over principle. Appeasement over security. It's the DNC way.


266 posted on 09/07/2004 5:49:03 PM PDT by TADSLOS (Right Wing Infidel since 1954)
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To: VMI70

These morons just don't get it. They are so thick-skulled.

Zell spent 40 minutes explaining in crystal clear language that this was not about party loyalty it was about national loyalty. This election is about more than which party wins, it is about the very survival of our country. Period.

Jimmy has lost the very little sense that he had.


267 posted on 09/07/2004 5:49:16 PM PDT by Hootch (I love Bush!!)
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To: VMI70
I, myself, never claimed to have been a war hero, but I served in the navy from 1942 to 1953, and, as president, greatly strengthened our military forces and protected our nation and its interests in every way. I don’t believe this warrants your referring to me as a pacificist.

Well, Jimmy, how about plain old pussy?
268 posted on 09/07/2004 5:55:00 PM PDT by aruanan
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To: dead
By your historically unprecedented disloyalty, you have betrayed our trust

Jimmuh has outed himself...Loyalty to Party trumps Loyalty to America.

269 posted on 09/07/2004 5:55:35 PM PDT by ErnBatavia ("Dork"; a 60's term for a 60's kinda guy: JFK)
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To: VMI70

From the Onion, right?

Not even Jimma, the worst -behaved exprez ever, can be this STUPID.

Right?


270 posted on 09/07/2004 5:58:14 PM PDT by moodyskeptic (www.WinWithHumor.com)
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To: rescue
It is sad, but perhaps not surprising, that loyalty is the only test.

Anyway, Carter failed the test. If he was loyal to his party, he would have let Carville, or at least Cahill, rewrite the thing.

271 posted on 09/07/2004 6:09:16 PM PDT by Steve Eisenberg
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To: VMI70

LOL! Zell has hit em where it hurts!


272 posted on 09/07/2004 6:11:11 PM PDT by hope (Let no man deceive you!)
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To: jaycee

Thanks, but credit must go to freeper Lady Jag. She does great work with graphics.


273 posted on 09/07/2004 6:18:02 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: VMI70

"I, myself, never claimed to have been a war hero, but I served in the navy from 1942 to 1953..."
I suspect four of those years were spent in the high risk environment of the US Naval Academy.


274 posted on 09/07/2004 6:25:34 PM PDT by Whispering Smith
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To: VMI70

 

 

275 posted on 09/07/2004 6:28:39 PM PDT by Fintan (Oh...am I supposed to read the article???)
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To: feinswinesuksass

Zell already gave his response....Family and Country is more important than Party........

Shame Carter doesn't get it....To him party is everything.


276 posted on 09/07/2004 6:33:31 PM PDT by hoosiermama (Bush Democrats = Zell's Angels)
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To: KJacob

That line grabbed me also!
There is more smoke here than a Pink Floyd concert!


277 posted on 09/07/2004 6:34:35 PM PDT by Holicheese (Lovey, look at me , look at me....I am riding a bike all on my own!)
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To: ATOMIC_PUNK
Zell miller totally blistered the Democrats and it will take years for them to get over it.

I agree with J.C. Watts - Zell Miller can put his feet under my dinner table any day of the week.

EVERYBODY - you owe it to yourself to see Zell Miller put this liberal, socialist Kerry maggot right back up Kerry's backside!

Zell Miller teaches Chris Matthews how to talk - MUST SEE!

Zell Miller’s RNC Speech

278 posted on 09/07/2004 6:35:21 PM PDT by Happy2BMe (Jihad - coming to a school near you - 56 days until November 2nd.)
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To: mpreston

Exactly. Carter has proven Miller's point.


279 posted on 09/07/2004 6:37:48 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Bruce Kurtz

I believe that it does, but combat it ain't!


280 posted on 09/07/2004 6:41:56 PM PDT by Redleg Duke (Stir the pot...don't let anything settle to the bottom where the lawyers can feed off of it!)
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