Jimmy Carter Amok
By Emmett Tyrrell
Thursday, April 17, 2008


WASHINGTON -- In the 1980 presidential election, the American people did the best they could with President Jimmy Carter, given the limitations imposed on them by our Constitution: They retired him from office (44 states participated in the ceremony). Looking back, however, on how the scamp has abused his retirement, I, for one, wish we could have done better. Perhaps he could have been put in a jar. He has, in the succeeding 27 years since his exit from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., remained almost as ruinous a nuisance out of office as he was in office. That cannot be said of any other president.

Just before Jimmy was given the heave-ho, the Misery Index, an index combining rates of inflation and unemployment, was at an all-time high of 21.98 percent -- up from 12.68 percent when he was elected in 1976. After his last full year as president, inflation was at 12.5 percent and unemployment at 7.2 percent. Today the Misery Index is at 8.83 percent, though the Democrats have not a nice thing to say about Jimmy's Republican successors. In Jimmy's day, the prime rate moved from 7 percent to 20 percent, and the home mortgage rate was almost 18 percent. Think about those figures this autumn when you are asked to choose between Sen. John McCain and either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton, two Democrats with even less experience than Gov. Jimmy Carter in matters economic.

As for foreign policy, Jimmy presided over a steady decline in American influence, as the Soviets went on a worldwide offensive while the American military atrophied. American diplomats were jailed in their own embassy in Tehran, Iran, and the military rescue mission mounted by Jimmy to free them was one of the few American military embarrassments of the 20th century. Incidentally, Iran's present president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, played a major role in holding our diplomats, according to retired FBI agents who monitored Ahmadinejad's communications from Tehran to fellow conspirators then in New York.

Yet Jimmy remains quite full of himself. In fact, his sense of moral superiority has grown as the memory of his failed presidency recedes into history. Rather than retire to a library to read, as former President Harry Truman did, in the hope that he might understand what went wrong during the Carter administration, Jimmy founded The Carter Center for "waging peace, fighting disease, and building hope." Perhaps it is his intention to spread the failure of his presidency throughout the world. Think of it, a worldwide Misery Index of 21.98 percent!

There was a time when former presidents were reluctant to criticize their successors and absolutely refused to do so while on foreign soil. Jimmy broke from that discipline years ago. He attacked the Reagan administration from Cairo, Egypt, in 1984 by scoffing at the president for being "more inclined to form a Contra army to overthrow the Sandinistas or inject the Marines into Lebanon or use American battleships to shell villages around Beirut" than to negotiate. In the run-up to the Gulf War, he interposed himself, warning that if the George H.W. Bush administration attacked Iraq, the United States "would reap great and very serious deleterious consequences politically." To the consternation of Clinton administration officials in 1994, Jimmy popped up in North Korea to work out a nuclear agreement with President Kim Il Sung that proved utterly futile. The North Koreans detonated a nuclear device 12 years later.

Now against the wishes of the George W. Bush administration, Jimmy is in the Middle East, holding meetings with Hamas and laying a wreath on the grave of the deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Hamas regularly lobs rockets and mortars into Israeli neighborhoods and is dedicated to Israel's destruction. Arafat was a famously corrupt leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and was responsible for the deaths of Americans and Israelis alike, as well as hundreds of other innocent people. Of course, the Bush administration's opposition to Jimmy's arrogant journey only encourages this impudent man.

The Israelis are ignoring his visit for the most part, after making it abundantly clear that they do not favor it. They are right to snub him. That he has been greeted by Hamas speaks volumes about the public life of Jimmy Carter. A failure as a president, Jimmy is appraised as a useful tool by our enemies.

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Damned right I'm an equal opportunity offender, I'm a Conservative!

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"I suppose I always knew America would eventually break the planet, like some ghastly, hyperactive toddler that gets hold of a mobile phone and then smashes it repeatedly against the edge of a table". Quote from british journalist.

When you say Isrealis do you mean the people who stole all that land from the Arabs. I just can't understand why the arabs would be mad at all the jews who forced them out of their homes and then treat them like second class citizens.

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I have the urge to drink another fif and let shredded cheese melt all over my hairy chest cuz I'm hawt awwwwooo.

They didn't steal anything it was their country along with the arabs that lived there when arabs from other contrys planed to come in to kill all of the jews some arabs left on their own thanking to come back when all the jews were dead to take over their property some were forced to leave by other arabs, some left from fear of being killed by the arabs when they came in laying waste to everthing. Some stayed and lived well in a country where they can vote. Although terrorists do rain rockets down on them and bring in bombs to kill.

Palestine is part of the countrys around israel, the arabs that left were labeled as palestinians kept pened up and added to by terrorists leaders, any arab who wanted to could join this group and at least get welfare and more if they or their kids would fight. Many arabs who wanted to join the jihad became palestinians, and over time this small group of captive palestinians has grown. The arabs plan has worked well, Hell even with all the oil money they have gotten the world to pay for these pets kept by the arabs for the destruction of israel.

You really just don't know anything about it do you?

Originally Posted by Wordz
I just can't understand why the arabs would be mad at all the jews who forced them out of their homes and then treat them like second class citizens.
You really just don't know anything about it do you?

It seems he knows as much as you, Put yourself in the place of a palestinian and see what it would look like to you. Don't you think those Palestinans and Jews are distant relatives anyway? They all basically came from the same area. The Jews need to divvy up the land and open the borders and leave those people alone. I'm pretty sure they could work it out if some cooler heads like Jimmy Carter that great ambassador of peace could be left to his agenda. It is the warmongering arms dealers and politicians that want to keep things stirred up.

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"I suppose I always knew America would eventually break the planet, like some ghastly, hyperactive toddler that gets hold of a mobile phone and then smashes it repeatedly against the edge of a table". Quote from british journalist.

Do you really think so?

Do you think that you know as much as I do?

Quote:

Originally Posted by medicineman Put yourself in the place of a palestinian and see what it would look like to you. Don't you think those Palestinans and Jews are distant relatives anyway? They all basically came from the same area.

Sure they are both semites, and being honest I see them mostly in the same way, but the jews don't want to kill all the palestinians and they more are civilized.

Quote:

Originally Posted by medicineman The Jews need to divvy up the land and open the borders and leave those people alone.

Sure and the US should do the same with the mexicans as it would be the same thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by medicineman I'm pretty sure they could work it out if some cooler heads like Jimmy Carter that great ambassador of peace could be left to his agenda. It is the warmongering arms dealers and politicians that want to keep things stirred up.

Do you think because carter paid egypt and israel not fight that makes him an ambassador of peace?

Do you really think carter can talk moslems out of their jihad for the destruction of israel?

Do you not think that hundreds of rockets a week keeps things stirred up?

As I have stated before carter was the politician who was such a wimp that moslems felt safe to get stirred up hell what bad thing could happen to them? Carter giving them money?

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

True, not to mention that a vast majority of the land that was settled by the Jews was purchased "fair and square" from Arab landowners. In the early years of the last century, Jews purchased arid lands and began a campaign of transforming said arid land into fertile fields for growing. I do not support the Israeli government's actions toward the Palestinians but we have to look at the situation as accurately as we can. The Jews didn't steal land.

The taking of the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and West Bank during the Six Day War was legitimate IMHO. The surrounding countries threatened to wipe Israel off the map and the Israeli's handed their collective asses to them. Again, I don't support their policies today, but they mostly bought the lands from Arab landowners or took land as a result of war. As someone earlier mentioned, we (the US) provoked a war w/ Mexico and as a result gained much of the Southwest from them.

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

you think Carter was the worst president?
Wow...wow

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Be well