I know many of you all out there have found me to be thus far someone who can be quite loquacious at times, haha a bit chatty if you will, but often times there are issues that are so infuriating I do find myself at a loss for words. Sadly, ex-President Jimmy Carter contains many of these qualities which result in my speechlessness. Former President Jimmy Carter, ever the post term opportunist, has once again crossed the border between mediocrity (which should be considered praise) and into absurdity.
Former President Jimmy Carter recently expressed to an Arkansas newspaper that the Bush Administration is the worst in history for its effects on world politics and international relations, namely the war in Iraq. President Bush, who exhibited class in the midst of this unprecedented mud slinging, wrote off Carter's comments, and allowed members of his press staff to lament that President Carter has become "increasingly irrelevant."
Now Dubya, as well intentioned as he may be, has made some mistakes. He invaded a sworn foe of the United States under the direction of many military planners left over from the Cold War. Unable to conceive of the aftermath of street to street urban fighting, our forces are now fighting a battle in Iraq most of these men could never have foreseen, and as a result, Americans are now seeing the aftermath of an ill-fated strategy play out in the form of street battles between insurgents and our very own freedom fighters, U.S. Marines. President Bush's recent "surge," more often referred to in common military terms as "reinforcements" is the President's attempt to reconcile this mistake under the new command of the best counter insurgency commander on the Planet, General Petraeus. Not to squash dissent, but I was at this man's Senate Armed Services Confirmation Hearing, and his counter insurgency tactics are nothing short of brilliant. Not all soldiers allotted for the reinforcements have arrived yet in Baghdad, and it should be in everyone's thoughts and prayers that their mission will succeed and Iraq become pacified. Now that this short digression is out of the way (it will come back later), let us move on to the crux of the matter.
Before we actually begin to critique Carter's faux pas, it would be wise to re examine Carter's aptitude as commander in chief of the United States of America. After taking power in 1976, the Carter Administration oversaw the capturing of of hundreds of Americans in Iran for 444 days, doing literally next to nothing to ensure their safety and extraction(a cartoonishly minded rescue attempt failed terribly), ran the worst economic policy in the history of the free market system producing record stagflation, a 21.5% prime rate, and reduced the country's annual economic growth to 1%, (astronomically poor by U.S. standards), and of course, who could ever forget the "malaise forever" speech after the 1979 energy crisis caused by OPEC. As a University of Georgia grad myself, I'd like to hail the fact he wore a "Georgia" sweater during a Presidential Address to the nation but....it doesn't even hold comical value at this point. Essentially, President Carter did nothing well in office. Nothing.
But, I forget my place. Indeed, there has been a large amount of propriety and honor bestowed upon President Carter's legacy after leaving office. Wait...really? Aside from helping give Habitat for Humanity a good name, President Carter has also oh-so-quietly cozied up to some of the most brutal left wing dictators of the 20th Century. Recipients who had the honor of meeting the ex President include the late (but never mourned) megalomaniacal dictator of North Korea, Kim il Sung in 1994, including a meeting in which Carter set up the incentive laden 1994 agreed framework (which was summarily violated by our communist North Korea buddies within months), Fidel Castro (South Florida's Favorite), and our newly crowned king of totalitarian socialism and pathetic name caller (he referred to U.S. embassy level officials as "gringos"), Hugo Chavez. None of this seems to bother Carter however, he'd much rather buddy up with thugs and murderers who share his goal of socialist expansion than the actual pursuit and establishment of republic based democracy.
This brings me back to the previously mentioned war we're waging against terrorists/insurgents in Iraq. It represents a fundamental difference between these two men, former President Carter and current President Bush. President Bush, love him or hate him, chose to confront a weakened dictator in Saddam, invaded a country known for tyranny and oppression under skepitcal intelligence, and the conflict since has been marred by outdated planning leftover from 80's era battle tactics. President Carter, however, chooses not only to decry this war (any American's God given right to do so), but does so in the midst of singing kum ba ya with socialist dictators of his own taste. So President Carter, in all his wisdom, feels vindicated by assailing President Bush and the Iraq war by buddying up with tyrants that routinely swear the destruction of the United States. This isn't Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, or even God help him poor old Danny Glover, this is a former PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Again, this is one of hundreds of thousands of examples of how the left in this country, and indeed elsewhere across the planet, are not only sordidly delusional, but potentially dangerous. As President Carter led the protest against the War in Iraq with the thousands of his followers, he did so with the absolute knowledge that he himself has been more than happy to meet barbaric despots of his own, provided they share an "egalitarian" view of economics. Purely disgusting.
Let's forget for a moment that Jimmy has engaged in such questionable activities. He's out of office, that makes him a private citizen, and thus, he can do what he feels like. All of his failings, shortcomings, and socialist buddies aside, Carter nonetheless is violating a sacred rule, an unsaid yet never broken creed that ex Presidents don't criticize their predecessors. GW and Billy Boy have gotten along famously whenever they're together, and George Bush 41 and President Clinton are now fast friends as well, so why the Carter factor? Ah Freud, how I miss thee. Does the term "projection" mean anything? At this juncture it should become painfully obvious that beneath all the bluster, all the rousing speeches agains the current Administration, Jimmy is just an insecure, cantankerous old man. Seething with shame that his Administration's policies have left current Americans the problems plaguing the Middle East, Carter is more than willing, he's dying to find someone to pin it on, and he's now found his patsy. Only 2 entities, history and God, are left to judge your legacy Jimmy, and I think it's safe to say that your conscience is anything but clear.
Comments