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/
Poor Jimmah's been looking at too many 2 X 4's...probably got beaned one time too many.
Many years ago, I kept a cartoon that described Jimmy Carter perfectly.
The cartoonist pictured a large crowd of people rushing forward, as the crowd in the foreground dwindled to 5-4-3-2-suddenly, there was this ONE forlorn figure racing to catch up.
There were the teeth, the smile, and the cry, "Wait, wait, I'm your leader. I must follow you!"
Carter is still the "leader" who's trying to "follow" the Far Left crowd in their attempts to socialize America. This criticism of Zell Miller is just another feeble attempt to get attention.
Some of the most dedicated conservatives I know were once Democrats who found that the Party left them. Some just found it out earlier than Zell.
Jimmah was one of the worst Presidents in American History. If Democrats had spoken up when he was President there might still be a viable Dem Party.
He's such a doofus, just like Kerry-doofus. Misery enjoys company.
I sure thank Lady Jag.............
Only a democrat would serve peanuts with whine
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