Free Republic

Thirty years after Jimmy Carter's malaise speech, we return to the days of rising joblessness, an unresponsive economy, deference to dictators, gutting the military and an energy policy tilting at windmills... As history repeats itself on the anniversary of the speech MSNBC's Chris Matthews wrote, we wonder if the "Hardball" host, who has worked for four Democratic politicians, is still getting tingles up his legs. The Democratic Party apparently has learned nothing in the past three decades. Will we see a return of the misery index? The only thing that's different is the sweater.

Palestinian Hamas members are helping the Iranian authorities crush street protests in support of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, two protesters told The Jerusalem Post On Tuesday. They made their allegations as rioting on a scale unseen in Iran for nearly a decade continued in the wake of the elections and the allegations that the results were falsified. The protests have now spread from Teheran to other major cities. Mousavi insisted on Tuesday that he would "protect" his supporters' votes "at all cost, even if I am at risk." Shouting from a car roof to a roaring crowd of...

Jimmeh Carter is the most unsuccessful president in the history of the United States of America. If it wasn't for Jimmy-boy malaise would not be a regular part of the political vernacular. If it wasn't for the peanut President the American culture would never heard of Billy Beer. But Carter's biggest contribution to the world is taking the west's best friend in the Muslim World and turning it into the fascist Islamic, soon to be nuclear Iran. And that is Jimmy Carter's legacy Not the books, or the anti-semetic diatribes, or even the Habitat for Humanity Houses in Florida that...

Former US President Jimmy Carter, center, gestures as he speaks to the media at the ruins of the American International School, which was destroyed during Israel's offensive in Gaza earlier this year, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 16, 2009. Carter says he's trying to persuade Hamas leaders to accept the international community's conditions for ending its boycott of the Islamic militant group. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (R) is escorted by a bodyguard after crossing into Israel from Gaza at the Erez crossing June 16, 2009. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being "treated more like animals...

Saturday, June 13th, 2009 Today the world is witnessing the demonstrated anger of millions of Iranians against a regime that denies their most basic rights, including the right to choose leaders who could improve their abysmal condition. There is no exit from this condition, so long as one man appropriates onto himself the “power of god” and controls the judiciary, the media, the security forces and, through direct and indirect appointees dictates the only candidates claiming to represent an impoverished and disenfranchised people. Today I stand united with my fellow Iranians and call for the end of the Islamic Republic,...

Iran doesn’t have elections, it has circuses, and this was proven once again on Friday, when the regime announced that Ahmadinezhad had been retained–call him “landslide Mahmoud” please–as president of the Islamic Republic. So much for the remarks of various pundits claiming that Iran was some sort of “democracy.” There isn’t a single educated Iranian who thinks that the official numbers represent anything more than a brazen insult to the opponents of the regime. Supreme Leader Khamenei rubbed it in when he called the outcome “divine,” but the subtlety was no doubt lost on American commentators, who were mostly concerned...

THE evolution in public policy concerning the manufacture, sale and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons like AK-47s, AR-15s and Uzis has been very disturbing. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and I all supported a ban on these formidable firearms, and one was finally passed in 1994. When the 10-year ban was set to expire, many police organizations — including 1,100 police chiefs and sheriffs from around the nation — called on Congress and President George W. Bush to renew and strengthen it. But with a wink from the White House, the gun lobby prevailed and the ban...

The Obama administration has asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit against Iran filed by Americans held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran 30 years ago. The request comes in a $6.6 billion class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. Fifty-two American diplomats and military officials were held captive for more than a year at the end of Jimmy Carter's presidency by a group of Islamist students who supported the Iranian revolution.

TEHRAN – The Supreme Leader said on Saturday that the Islamic Revolution changed the political and power landscape in the world. The Islamic Revolution “turned the Iranian nation into a determined, powerful, dignified and influential nation” in the world with voting rights, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a large group of Air Force commanders and staff ahead of February 10 celebrations which marks the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The meeting with the Supreme Leader is held every year to appreciate the key role of the Air Force in the victory of revolution in 1979. The Leader pointed to the “determining...

Found on the internet: There are two kinds of people in the Electorate: 1. People who remember how horrible the Jimmy Carter years were. 2. People who are about to find out. To be fair to Carter, though, he got off to a better start.

‘Jimmy Carter’ tag has Obama wincing Republicans are pinning their hopes of revival on painting the president as naive abroad and wasteful at home Sarah Baxter, Washington LESS than two weeks into his administration, President Barack Obama is being portrayed by opponents as a new Jimmy Carter - weak at home and naive abroad - in an attempt to dim his post-election glow and ensure that he serves only one term. The charge has stung because it was made privately by Hillary Clinton supporters during a hard-fought primary campaign and plays to fears about Obama’s inexperience. He is engaged in...

Michael Medved has said that he will interview Jimmy Carter on today's show. He has consistently called Carter "The Worthless One". He has repeatedly dared Carter to come on his show. Apparently, Carter has accepted. It will occur in the second or third hour. Medved's show has just begun. It runs from 3-6 Eastern, noon-3 Pacific. Hopefully, this will come off. If you aren't near a radio, and wish to listen, click the link and then click the LISTEN LIVE button.

Zimbabwe abandons its currency Zimbabweans will be allowed to conduct business in other currencies, alongside the Zimbabwe dollar, in an effort to stem the country's runaway inflation. The announcement was made by acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa. BBC southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles says the Zimbabwean dollar has become a laughing stock. A Z$100 trillion note was recently introduced. Until now only licensed businesses could accept foreign currencies, although it was common practice. The country is also facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as well. A cholera outbreak has killed over 3,000 people according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And...

How worthless is Jimmy Carter? Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi, makes the point that when an opposition party seizes control of the White House from its rival, that party almost always holds the Presidency for two terms at least. This means that the odds heavily favor Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012. In the last 112 years, an opposition party took over the presidency eleven times (McKinley in 1896, Wilson in 1912, Harding in 1920, FDR in 1932, Eisenhower in 1952, Kennedy in 1960, Nixon in 1968, Carter in 1976, Reagan in 1980, Clinton in 1992, George W. Bush in 2000)....

By Lisa Schlein Geneva 23 January 2009 The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says a nightmare scenario is unfolding in Zimbabwe as the number of cholera deaths and cases continues to mount. The Red Cross says it is hit with a severe funding crisis and this is hampering its ability to contain the deadly disease. Senior health officer for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Tammam Aloudat, has recently returned from Zimbabwe. He says the cholera outbreak in the country is increasing in scale and it is claiming more lives. "The scenario...

When a group of pundits gathered for a recent Oxford-style debate, the proposition alone was provocative: "Bush 43 Is the Worst President of the Past 50 Years." But when you consider that one of the panelists defending President Bush's legacy was his longtime adviser Karl Rove, the night became even more interesting --snip-- Before and after each debate, the audience is asked to vote on the motion. At the start of the evening, 65 percent of the audience was in favor of the proposition that George W. Bush is the worst American president of the past 50 years; 17 percent...

I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided. After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens...

"Candidate Jimmy Carter said he stood for change." - Associated Press, 11/3/1976 Goodness. What a difference a year makes. In fact, a year after Carter's inauguration night, even some Democrats were rolling their eyes. Come, now: Let's revisit history, shall we? Before President Jimmy Carter's January1977 inauguration: November 3, 1976: "What Will Carter Presidency Look Like?" An AP news analysis, by Louise Cook reminds literates that "Jimmy Carter said he stood for change. He left a long list of promises" like Whatshisname. Consider.  "A streamlined bureaucracy"? Yes.  "A new tax system"? Yes. "A pared-down defense budget"? Yes. "Comprehensive national health and...

Report: U.S. Missteps Led To Shah's Overthrow All Things Considered, October 18, 2008 · Scholars who study the Iranian Revolution of 1979 have paid a lot of attention to the internal factors that precipitated revolt. Now, a new study argues that the United States secretly helped create the conditions that led to the overthrow of its ally, the Shah. Andrew Scott Cooper, who wrote the report using previously classified information, talks about the mistakes that led to the demise of the Shah.

There is only one word for it. That word is "scandal." Begin with the scarlet philosophical thread that takes expression from the following people in their own distinctive styles. William Ayers: "I am a radical, Leftist, small 'c' communist ... Maybe I'm the last communist who is willing to admit it….The ethics of Communism still appeal to me." Jeremiah Wright: "God damn America, for treating our citizens as less than human." Jimmy Carter: In a June 16, 1976 presentation to the Democrats' platform committee, Carter promised that America under a Carter administration would help the poor by putting "Greater effort...