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Stop picking on Jimmy Carter
Christiansciencemonitor.com ^ | 1/4/08 | Walter Rodgers

Posted on 01/04/2009 3:54:37 PM PST by melt

He suffers from an egregiously unfair reputation. His record, though, shows he was quite a good president

Oakton, Va. - In this season of new resolutions, Americans would do well to rethink their perceptions of Jimmy Carter. President Carter has suffered the misfortune of having his legacy almost entirely shaped by his political enemies rather than by objective reality or a basic sense of American fairness.

Today, Carter is caricatured as a weak-kneed, sweater-wearing puritan who struggled with lust in his heart, presided over a malaised America, and micromanaged even the scheduling of the White House tennis courts. More recently, he's taken heat for his blunt portrayal of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

What an egregiously undeserved reputation. Carter wasn't just a "good man who got in over his head," as critics say. He was in fact quite a good president.

He kept us out of endless wars. He protected the Alaskan wilderness (Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D) of Wisconsin once told me that "Carter was the greatest environmental president the country ever had.") He promoted a visionary energy policy. He countered the Soviet military threat. And since he left office, he has persistently promoted the cause of peace around the world. The landmark Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty he fashioned remains in force today.

Against the backdrop of an unnecessary trillion-dollar war in Iraq, it is instructive to recall how Carter avoided a similar morass when he negotiated the Panama Canal treaties, for which he was excoriated by Ronald Reagan's Republicans. When he left office, he was able to say with Thomas Jefferson "[D]uring the period of my administration not a drop of the blood of a single citizen was shed by the sword of war."

In the public mind, Carter continues to be judged as "ineffectual."

(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: humor; jimmy; peanuts; president; presidents; sarcasm
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To: melt

Always trying to rewrite history.


41 posted on 01/04/2009 4:06:51 PM PST by TribalPrincess2U (Welcome to Obama's America... Be afraid, be very afraid)
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To: Nachum
"Jimmah let the mullahs rule in Iran, gave away the Panama canal, and gave us 18% inflation.

Actually it was only 13% inflation as I recall. This inflation was the predictable result of the Nixon administration's dumping of money into the economy to stimulate the economy, combined with previous laws (Reg Q comes to mind) that capped interest rates that would've otherwise mopped up that excess money.
Carter's real problem is that once his initial ideas didn't work, and once it was obvious that his initial staff wasn't up to the task, he then tried to lead by consensus. In other words, he held his finger up in the wind to figure out which way the winds were going, in order to guide the ship. Clinton did the same thing, but was a good enough politician to get away with it (plus the economy was good).

The timing of this article is interesting -- perhaps the Left is hearing the ghosts of Carter Administrations past in the words of Obama too?
42 posted on 01/04/2009 4:06:58 PM PST by TWohlford
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To: melt

The SOB GAVE AWAY the Panama Canal which is now under CHINESE control!


43 posted on 01/04/2009 4:07:07 PM PST by Wil H (No Accomplishments, No Experience, No Resume No Records, No References, Nobama..)
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To: melt

If he wasn’t the worst president ever, why did they award him the Nobel “Peace” Prize? That award is only given to people who are out to stick it to America.


44 posted on 01/04/2009 4:07:30 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (For more information on America's "new direction" read The Road to Serfdom. by Friedrich A. Hayek.)
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To: melt; All
From the article:

"More recently, he's (Carter) taken heat for his blunt portrayal of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. "


45 posted on 01/04/2009 4:07:30 PM PST by musicman
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To: melt

I lived through the Jimmy years, even voted for Ford, (argghh) so I don’t know who this writer is trying to fool; maybe someone born since then who can’t read, knows nothing, and doesn’t care anyway.


46 posted on 01/04/2009 4:08:28 PM PST by Seven plus One
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To: melt
J. Carter is still mad that Mount St. Helens
was not renamed the “Magma Carter”.
47 posted on 01/04/2009 4:08:51 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Obama, Change America will die for.)
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To: omega4179

“Worst until the Magic Hero that is.”

“The One” will make the Carter years look like the good old days.


48 posted on 01/04/2009 4:09:16 PM PST by Anti-Christ is Hillary (If Moreen Dowd can call herself a journalist then so can I.)
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To: RED SOUTH

LOL


49 posted on 01/04/2009 4:09:26 PM PST by Woebama
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To: melt
Why's everybody pickin on me?


50 posted on 01/04/2009 4:09:35 PM PST by Evil Slayer (Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war)
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To: melt

political humor, right?


51 posted on 01/04/2009 4:09:47 PM PST by machogirl (taglines are like shoes: if you're a gal, you can never have too many)
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To: melt

On the lighter side, Jimmah’s brother was highly entertaining.


52 posted on 01/04/2009 4:09:56 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: Lurker; All
"Jimmy Carter: Worst President Ever."


53 posted on 01/04/2009 4:10:08 PM PST by musicman
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To: tet68

sorry..not an “official” war. (s/off)


54 posted on 01/04/2009 4:10:16 PM PST by stylin19a ( Real Men don't declare unplayable lies)
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To: the invisib1e hand

Is that the “nukular” pronunciation the left always castigated GW for saying?


55 posted on 01/04/2009 4:10:17 PM PST by TribalPrincess2U (Welcome to Obama's America... Be afraid, be very afraid)
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To: gorush

**We conservatives are just so damned “outcome based”**

Actually we prefer the term .. RESULTS ORIENTED

and Jimmuh was ... NEITHER


56 posted on 01/04/2009 4:10:20 PM PST by gwilhelm56 (Orwell's "1984" .. to Conservatives- a WARNING, to Liberals - a TEXTBOOK)
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To: Seven plus One

Breaking News: Obama lands on trip from Chicago. All nets covering it.

Sorry, now you can return to regularily scheduled Freeping.


57 posted on 01/04/2009 4:10:37 PM PST by umgud (I'm really happy I wasn't aborted)
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To: melt

oh, pleeeezzzze, give me a break. Most of us are not the ill informed Obama voters.


58 posted on 01/04/2009 4:10:51 PM PST by nbhunt
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To: melt

Jimmy Carter’s presidency was like the Detroit Lions 2008 season.


59 posted on 01/04/2009 4:11:12 PM PST by 2nd Bn, 11th Mar (The "P" in Democrat stands for patriotism.)
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To: melt
If the 18% inflation was Jimmah's fault, then of course it goes that the $5 gallon gasoline, the housing bubble and the Wall Street debacle, including Bernie Madoff's scheme were all Saint Dubya's fault, no?

The economy rolls pretty much on its own and the POTUSi can only help screwing it up, but blaming the 18% inflation on poor Jimmah is going a bit too far, me thinks.

60 posted on 01/04/2009 4:11:20 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Don't rush to be savage!.)
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