that profile was great! i was really impressed at the fine grain insight the author came away with
Nothing energizes Carter more than a good Guinea-worm meeting
― weed hitler poop fart obama (Princess TamTam), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Did you ever get to meet Gibby Haynes too?
― http://tinyurl.com/lil-shits (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:06 (thirteen years ago) link
i wish, gibby rules
― weed hitler poop fart obama (Princess TamTam), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:07 (thirteen years ago) link
I asked this on one of the presidential polls, but didn't really get an answer; I'm still looking to read a very good account of his presidency. It's one that interests me a lot, more in terms of the moment (post-Bicentennial madness) and my own timeline (high school) than Carter himself.
― clemenza, Monday, 14 February 2011 18:14 (thirteen years ago) link
It seems inevitable that someone who has been the most powerful man in the world isn't likely to take orders well. But the official says it goes beyond that — it cuts to the nature of who Carter is. The former president, he says, doesn't seem to value others in any deep way, except in terms of what they can do for him. "Jimmy Carter is like the man of whom Goethe said, 'He loved humanity but hated people.' Such a strange, driven man. Almost possessed as he plods forward to spread good to the world in accordance with his — or His — plan."
Since democracies cannot act with the decisiveness of dictators, the world sometimes needs a man like Jimmy Carter, a democrat with the will of a despot.
"He's an engineer," says Andrew Young, whose loyal support of Carter's political career led the new president to appoint him U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the first African-American to hold the job. "Engineers will tell you exactly how to build a bridge, but they can't seem to explain why you need this bridge. He's so fact-oriented, so detailed in almost everything."
― weed hitler poop fart obama (Princess TamTam), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:30 (thirteen years ago) link
That's precisely why he sucked as president!
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:31 (thirteen years ago) link
A command of details is unnecessary to the modern presidency. Our last former engineer president: Herbert Hoover, also a whiz at details.
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:32 (thirteen years ago) link
Beyond being one-termers who got killed in the election by their successor, he and Hoover have a lot in common.
x-post!
― http://tinyurl.com/lil-shits (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
i loved the part about how its a pastime among people who know him to brainstorm for ideas on what his ideal job should've been - supreme court justice, pope, dictator, st. peter
― weed hitler poop fart obama (Princess TamTam), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:34 (thirteen years ago) link
A command of details is unnecessary to the modern presidency.
oh man there are so many good oliver north jpgs out there!
― Jan-Michael Wincest (goole), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:39 (thirteen years ago) link
http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1986/1101861222_400.jpg
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 14 February 2011 18:42 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/12/jimmy-carter-womens-rights-equality
I have been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world.So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when th e convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.
So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when th e convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.
― Reality Check Cashing Services (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 02:01 (twelve years ago) link
I guess it's cool that Carter's being the liberal he never was as president.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 02:05 (twelve years ago) link
lol at this:
― weed hitler poop fart obama (Princess TamTam),
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 02:06 (twelve years ago) link
after six decades
― buzza, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 04:45 (twelve years ago) link
Dems been kinda quiet on JC calling Mittens competent:
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/04/jimmy-carter-a-democrat-who-likes-mitt-romney-video.php
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 3 May 2012 19:41 (twelve years ago) link
i've been reading morris berman's 'why america failed.' he's got some interesting thoughts on carter's 'malaise' speech. it was actually initially well-received by the public and looked like it'd rejuvenate his presidency, but carter instantly blew it by firing his whole cabinet, which made him look like a flake. what could've been...
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 3 May 2012 19:44 (twelve years ago) link
and by 'what could've been...' i mean 'no reagan,' which whatever you think of carter is a pretty major difference.
I don't think calling romney competent is that big a scandal, he is probably competent by most definitions of the word, it just also doesn't matter cause he's more than willing to act otherwise for political gain
― iatee, Thursday, 3 May 2012 19:46 (twelve years ago) link
anyway jimmy carter is a tree falling in a forest unless he's talking about israel
― iatee, Thursday, 3 May 2012 19:47 (twelve years ago) link
no use for him but RIP
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 May 2012 19:51 (twelve years ago) link
I read this a couple of months ago, and it made the same point as above about the malaise speech--Carter's approval shot up (to 60% or so) in the immediate aftermath of the speech. (As I remember the book, he also--and this is a little weird--took some of the speech's pessimistic tone from a White House screening of Manhattan.)
http://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/mattson1.jpg
― clemenza, Thursday, 3 May 2012 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
Slamming the current Nobel Peace Prize prez in a NYT OpEd:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/opinion/americas-shameful-human-rights-record.html
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Monday, 25 June 2012 17:33 (twelve years ago) link
Fuck Jimmy Carter, he has no room to criticize Obama's record on human rights.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Monday, 25 June 2012 20:40 (twelve years ago) link
not much... but some.
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Monday, 25 June 2012 20:49 (twelve years ago) link
least bad pres since FDR, surely?
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 25 June 2012 21:31 (twelve years ago) link
I don't have an algorithm for that, but sad if true.
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Monday, 25 June 2012 23:57 (twelve years ago) link
He has competition from Poppy.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 26 June 2012 00:04 (twelve years ago) link
symbolic or not, i'm thinking this was one of the worst things carter did in office:
http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2013/10/the-pardon-of-jefferson-davis-and-the-14th-amendment/
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 17 October 2013 21:53 (eleven years ago) link
Carter had the bad luck to be president in the late 70s and took the blame for a lot of shit that he had no control over, like the effects of OPEC and the oil shocks, the inflation hangover from the Vietnam War, and the first wave of job losses to globalization. Far from being the worst president of the 20th century, as Reagan Republicans love to classify him, Carter was just a mildly inept president caught in unusually trying times, much like Herbert Hoover.
― Aimless, Friday, 18 October 2013 17:48 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/10/america_as_the_no_1_warmonger_president_jimmy_carter_talks_to_salon_about_race_cable_news_slut_shaming_and_more/
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 11 April 2014 00:55 (ten years ago) link
I can only hope I'm that well-spoken at 89.
― smhphony orchestra (crüt), Friday, 11 April 2014 06:22 (ten years ago) link
So the former GA governor Carl Sanders, who lost to Carter in the 1970 Democratic gub primary, just died. (He was considered "moderate" in the late '60s though he called mixed-race marriage an abomination.) Apparently Carter ran a pretty race-baity campaign against him, praising Lester Maddox etc, even tho he didn't carry this over to governing when he won. Anyone have a good source/summary on this? Online info I can find comes mostly from assorted wingnuts and/or transparent racists.
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 November 2014 17:02 (nine years ago) link
Randy Sanders. " 'The Sad Duty of Politics': Jimmy Carter and the Issue of Race in His 1970 Gubernatorial Campaign"The Georgia Historical Quarterly. Vol. 76, No. 3, Fall 1992, 612-628
Well worth finding. JSTOR access, if that helps. Wish I could upload some of the images, esp. this one cartoon that has not been posted to the www
― Vic Perry, Thursday, 20 November 2014 18:04 (nine years ago) link
I'll check the NYPL sometime, thanks.
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 November 2014 18:07 (nine years ago) link
upthread:
removing (saddam) hussein will do more for peace than anything carter ever did.
― keith (keithmcl), Friday, October 11, 2002
^^another failed prophecy by a random googler
― oh no! must be the season of the rich (Aimless), Thursday, 20 November 2014 18:08 (nine years ago) link
removing hussein will do more for peace than anything carter ever did.
― keith (keithmcl), Friday, October 11, 2002 6:18 PM (12 years ago)
heehee
weird thread, though, especially the discussion in late oct 2007. morbs pointing out that carter made some terrible decisions that led to many people dying was immediately criticized because a) other presidents' decisions have led to people dying, b) he didn't offer solutions to rectify carter's mistakes (??), c) since presidents' decisions affect many more people, they must be judged on a different scale of morality, d) he's morbs.
pointing out that something bad happened, with or without including possible solutions or suggestions to how the problem could have been avoided, is fine in my book. the vast majority of people have no clue that jimmy carter did terrible things. there's a value in pointing it out, even if you don't have a supplementary alternative history policy recommendation paper to accompany the post. a segment of the ILX politics cohort may be well aware of carter's more regrettable actions, but it's ridiculous to think that many others do. jimmy carter was a peanut farmer. jimmy carter is an exceedingly nice man that i met in an airplane a few years ago (he shook everyone's hand!). jimmy carter told everyone to turn down the ragodammned heat and put a sweater on for crissake, and installed solar panels on the white house roof. jimmy carter's administration strongly advised actions that led to the biggest massacre in south korea since the korean war. the fact that he was in the most powerful position on earth does not mean that it's pointless to cite terrible things that he did. the fact that very powerful people are sometimes put in situations where a decision could lead to the death of innocents doesn't mean that it's pointless to criticize the decision.
(it may annoy people if a particular poster frequently focuses on the terrible things that a president did, but if that's the case, why not criticize the poster on those grounds rather trying to make some sort of argument that the poster shouldn't be allowed to talk about the terrible things at all?)
anyway, lighten up 2007 ILX
― ya'll are the ones who don't know things (Karl Malone), Thursday, 20 November 2014 19:10 (nine years ago) link
this deserves a longer answer, but i guess i've come to feel, after growing up on the hard left's interpretation of recent u.s. history and later reading more in-depth books about those subjects, that i don't find the kind of critiques that cockburn specialized in to be especially convincing or interesting anymore. cockburn lists a lot of things that sound pretty bad, but he doesn't give us a lot of context or any detailed analysis of why those things happened, so carter's actual role in those events. like, did carter specifically sign off on the massacre in south korea? how did he justify supporting the regime in indonesia? i'd like to know the answer, but i don't feel like the cockburn/chomsky 'all presidents are war criminals' line is terribly useful in terms of understanding recent history, since it seems to attribute everything bad that happens to the personal character flaws of a person who can be kicked out of office every four years, as opposed to (say) the more-or-less permanent power of the CIA, the pentagon, and the other institutions that are actually responsible for the "continuity in empire" and atrocities that cockburn talks about.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 20 November 2014 21:57 (nine years ago) link
it seems to attribute everything bad that happens to the personal character flaws of a person who can be kicked out of office every four years
yeah, I don't see it this way at all. "Personal character flaws" really don't seem to enter into it all that much since presumably 'different' personalities like Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Dubya, Obama do remarkably similar things, cuz they've all chosen to put on the executioner's hood that goes with the job.
Some of the tortured prose employed above in 2007 v reminiscent of Buck Turgidson's "We have two regrettable but nevertheless distinguishable scenarios..."
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:06 (nine years ago) link
not a fan of most of those guys, but imo there is a clear difference between the attitudes that carter and (say) reagan had toward foreign policy and the national security state. this piece by mark ames has a lot of details about the differences between the two administrations that i haven't seen anywhere else (the carter stuff starts near the middle, but the entire piece is indispensable reading imo):
https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/assassinations/
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:16 (nine years ago) link
haha, probably not going to be able to check out that link at work
― ya'll are the ones who don't know things (Karl Malone), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:19 (nine years ago) link
haha, ironically i think almost everything on that site is actually safe for work, unless maybe you work for the defense department or something
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:22 (nine years ago) link
yeah i'm sure it's fine but a lot of URLs are screened for their titles alone so i'm sure it's blocked. anyway i'll check it out when i get home!
― ya'll are the ones who don't know things (Karl Malone), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:24 (nine years ago) link
When are the military exploits and collateral foreign carnage brought by Bush II, Bush I, Reagan, Nixon excused via the more-or-less permanent power of the CIA, the pentagon, etc.?
This rationalization is offered solely to deflect discussions of the actual Obama, Clinton, Carter admins.
― Vic Perry, Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:25 (nine years ago) link
i'm not rationalizing it, and i'm not trying to 'deflect' any discussions. i'm interested in the actual political history that cockburn smugly elides with his "they're all the same, those bums!" routine.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:32 (nine years ago) link
The best book about the CIA in Central America and its involvement in the October Surprise (which looks more credible every year) is Robert Parry's Secrets and Privilege. He's the AP reporter who uncovered the CIA assassination manual in Central America, among other horrors.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:34 (nine years ago) link
wait, which year's October Surprise is that?
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 November 2014 22:45 (nine years ago) link
"They're all the same" is one routine. Another routine is "the Republicans like to do it, the Democrats only do it because [some excuse]." The first routine only sounds the most cynical; the latter routine is so much worse.
― Vic Perry, Thursday, 20 November 2014 23:10 (nine years ago) link
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/08/12/jimmy-carter-i-have-cancer/
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 12 August 2015 21:21 (nine years ago) link
This is a man who has lived a good, long, rich and decent life, and who has been slandered in history by people not morally fit to tie his shoes.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a37130/jimmy-carter-has-cancer-ronald-reagan-iran
― mookieproof, Thursday, 13 August 2015 04:19 (nine years ago) link