Posted on 12/30/2007 11:49:15 PM PST by america4vr
More than a quarter-century after completing his term of office, James Earl Carter is still to be found in the thick of debates about national policies on a range of issues: nuclear arms, Iraq, North Korea, and, especially, the conflict between Israel and the Arabs. A steady stream of books and articles continues to issue forth from his pen, and he travels the world on self-selected diplomatic missions. No other former President has chosen to play a similar role. But then, Carter’s whole political career has been out of the ordinary. In order to understand the man today, it is necessary to see him in the light of his past.
In 1976, when Carter tossed his hat into the ring for the presidential nomination, the Democratic party was still deeply riven by the long, bitter debate over the war in Vietnam. Carter’s response was to soar above these divisions, downplaying both ideology and issues. Instead, he put himself forward as a man of piety and character who would restore a high tone to government in the aftermath of Watergate and related scandals. Before the rise of politically-oriented televangelists, Jimmy Carter made his personal experience as a “born again” Christian into a key tenet of his platform. “I can give you a government that’s honest and that’s filled with love, competence, and compassion,” he pledged.
When the scramble for the Democratic nomination began, Carter was widely seen as a long shot. But by the time the primary season was half over, he had left the other, better-known Democratic contenders in the dust. That he was able to compete with them at all—that is, to raise money and enlist volunteers—owed to the national exposure he had received for his inaugural address as governor of Georgia in 1971.
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...
Our wold today has an element of insanity in it. Hillary says she’s qualified to be President because she’s an ex-President’s wife. Jimmy Cawduh thinks he’s some kind of international ward-healer because he’s a failed ex-President. And Hugo Cavez thinks he should run Venezuela because he wants to.
So does my spelling.
A giant goober without vision or ability to move about, expand, grow.
There’s a malevolence within Carter. I’ve read accounts of his spiteful and under-handed treatment of opponents and some within the Dim party that opposed him.
But the hatred, absolute hatred and contempt he feels for America is hard for him to conceal.
He is a poisonous individual as well as an incompetent.
I would replace Nixon with Bush. He’s giving the Country away as fast as he possibly can......Illgal Aliens, Amnesty, Law of the Sea Treaty, NAU, International Thouroughfares, Mexican trucks, Dubai Port deals and the list goes on and on.
Not to mention persecution of Law enforcement (ex. Ramos and Compean of the USBP) and Marines and some Army personnel (See Haditha, etc.)
Now he’s even starting to agree with Algore on man made “Global Warming”.
Wow. I never even considered President Bush. He has made many mistakes but he is not a criminal like President Nixon was. You have some valid points though.
Carter just shows us that in this great country, clearly anyone can become President.
You could make a resonable argument for that, though competition (FDR, LBJ) would be fierce.
I was in college during the Carter years. One popular economic theory was the "Phillips Curve" showing both unemployment and inflation could rise in tandem indefinitely. Only Carter has managed that feat before or since. Google it if you want a laugh.
He was also a very bad Governor here in Ga. before that. I was a kid, but I remember hearing the conversations my parents and their friends would have about him, and none of them were good. He’s a disgrace to my great state.
All of the current ills in the world can be laid at the feet of Carter. The Iranian situation is because he could not find his balls. The NK thing is becasue he gave Senior Kim reactors. China was started on the path of military build-up because he wanted them to stand up to the USSR. Idiot started it all.test
Perhaps. The msm and rats made such a spectacle of Watergate and the pardon of Nixon and poisoned the media so thoroughly that a reincarnated George Washington would have lost to Jimmy The Good. The dems could have run Bonzo the clown (some say they did) and beat any pubbie alive.
Great analysis. I never thought about it from that standpoint and its consistent with what you see from the ‘Peace is Patriotic’ crowd.
this may come as a shock but up until the 1970s, folks really did not get all worked up if POTUS skirted the law a bit on some things like:
espionage
assassinations
political campaigns
hiding Nazis to advance our rocket program
i could go on and on
Nixon was a much better POTUS than Bush I or Bush II
Many Presidents now lauded circumvented the law from Washington to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to LBJ......POTUS has historically been given a lot of leeway
Clinton is the dregs but Carter is the absolute bottom of the barrel.
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