This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Jimmy Carter

  • Carters’s Army, or maybe BOHICA?

    J. D. offers up some history and perspective at his place.

    I Remember Carter’s Army

    I remember President Carter’s Army. I remember Carter’s gasoline lines. I remember Carter’s interest rates. I remember his turn your thermostat down and wear a sweater energy policy speeches. I remember him really showing the Russians how tough we were by boycotting the Moscow Olympics. I remember his policy of restraint while Americans were held hostage and abused by Iranian terrorists. I remember his cheerleading for the “moderate” religious man to replace the “despotic” Shah of Iran. I remember his amnesty and upgraded discharges for military deserters and draft dodgers, most of whom got a better welcome home than our Vietnam combat veterans did.

    But his closing paragraph encapsulates the meaning of BOHICA quite nicely…

    Let me see if I can sum it up. Reduce defense spending by nearly one trillion dollars. Usher in “moderate” Middle Eastern governments. Abandon missile defense, abandon space, abandon development of future combat systems and use the military as a tool to normalize homosexuality. Mr. Carter’s Army is looking pretty good about now.

    Not much to add. We can’t be certain yet whether this piece is prophetic or  just a warning, but…

  • What’s that say about the other guys?

    Jimmy Carter, probably the worst President in American history, tried to convince NBC viewers that he’s the best ex-President ever. (Picked up at Hot Air who linked to NBC – see how I linked to you there, Hot Air?)

    In an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams, former President Jimmy Carter, who has been a target of the right through the years, lauded his own post-presidency, telling Williams, “I feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents.”

    Superior? Really? Like the way he bought time for North Korea to develop their nuclear weapons program? The way he encourages Palestinians to kill Jews? The way he’s silent on Iran, but condemns Israel at every opportunity? Well, apparently even carter was embarrassed by his remark;

    *** UPDATE 3:59 pm ET *** Former President Carter issued a written statement after his comments aired:

    “What I meant was, for 27 years the Carter Center has provided me with superior opportunities to do good.”

    The Carter Center has provided him the opportunity to be the most superior meddler in history. Didn’t the Carter Center certify Hugo Chavez’ last election despite clear evidence that there was malfeasance involved in the election? Was it a coincidence that the certification occurred during the Bush Administration?

    Exit polling from the American firm of Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates suggested the inverse of the results Mr. Carter blessed last Monday that showed Mr. Chavez survived the recount referendum by a margin of 59% to 41%. Nor does the list of concerns for the opposition end with rigged voting machines. Many parties say they have names of government employees fired after their names were disclosed on the Internet by a pro-Chavez legislator as signers of a petition calling for the referendum. Some Venezuelan papers even reported that the paper records of the votes were found in rivers and vacant lots.

    And then Carter was disappointed when Chavez became an authoritarian and wouldn’t cooperate with the Democrat Administration.

    Carter says Chavez initially helped the country by sharing national wealth. But Carter says Chavez is now consolidating political power, making it “almost impossible” for the Obama Administration to establish friendly relations with Venezuela.

    Yeah, that’s a real superior record there, peanut boy.

  • Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

    Remember the last time a Democrat President sent Jimmy Carter to north Korea? Essentially, we ended up subsidizing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and then allowed them to spread their technology around the Arab world. So why are we bothering to allow that relic to talk to North Koreans again?

    “At a time when official dialogue with DPRK (North Korea) appears to be at a standstill, we aim to see how we may be of assistance in reducing tensions and help the parties address key issues including denuclearisation,” the statement quoted Carter as saying.

    Yeah, maybe the old fart can arrange some more subsidies to the North Korean government so they can divert their own assets into the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It worked just fine for them during the Clinton Administration.

    From the Washington Times;

    Mr. Carter told reporters earlier this month that he would “try to induce the North Koreans to give up their nuclear weapons” and help the country work out a peace treaty with South Korea and the United States. No peace treaty was ever signed after the 1950-53 Korean War.

    “Induce” in Carterese means making ransom payments.

  • Carter v1.0 still failing thirty years later

    Jimmy Carter stumbled through his presidency without any real foreign policy successes (besides hammering out a treaty that required US troop deployments to the Sinai Desert to keep Israel and Egypt separated). After his presidency, he had an aborted attempt at mediating for Clinton in Haiti and bribing North Korea just long enough for them to develop nuclear weapons under wraps.

    And now, even his bosom buddy and fellow traveler, octogenarians Fidel and Raul Castro consider him irrelevant;

    Carter spent hours talking about improving ties with brothers Raul and Fidel Castro, describing the latter as an “old friend.” He met with religious leaders and members of the island’s small opposition community, dined out at an atmospheric Old Havana restaurant and even sat down with family members of five Cuban agents serving long prison terms in the U.S.

    But when the 86-year-old ex-president flew off in the afternoon without Alan Gross on board, it dashed the hopes of Washington officials and relatives who had hoped Carter would be able to bring the Maryland native home.

    Yeah, the Castro brothers are probably holding out for substantive freebies from an actual government official instead of some old coot fresh off the turnip truck. And they’ll get what they want eventually because this administration is exactly like Carter’s administration – lots of pretty talk and no results.

    Thanks toJerry920 for the link.

  • Yeah, that’s what’s important

    With Iranian ships steaming towards the Suez Canal and the Israeli coast, with Iran’s nuclear plans proceeding after recovering from the Stuxnet worm, with Hezbollah running Lebanon, the US decides to join the Palestinians in opposing new Israeli settlements;

    The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body “does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity,” a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.

    But the Palestinians rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesday of Arab representatives and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution on Friday, according to officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospect that the Obama adminstration will cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council.

    Yay! Our first Security Council vote will be in support of Hamas. See how smart is our diplomacy!

    Thanks to ROS and Old Trooper for the link.

    And, oh, Jimmy Carter tells us that the Muslim Brotherhood is nothing to be afraid of. So I guess we should start worrying now, given Carter’s record.

    Old Trooper sends a link says Iran has canceled their plans to sail through the Suez to Syria.

  • Carter sued for book

    We all know how Jimmy Carter’s book “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid” was just like his other snoozers – devoid of any useful information. Well apparently some readers feel victimized by buying the straight-to-the-bargain-bin tome and are taking Carter and his publisher to court according to the Washington Post;

    [F]ive disgruntled readers have filed a class-action lawsuit against President Jimmy Carter and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, alleging that his 2006 book “Palestine Peace Not Apartheid” contained “numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information

    According to the New York Post, the aggrieved five estimate their being duped worth 5 million bucks.

    I think all of us have a claim against Jimmy Carter.

  • Preserving the malaise

    The Washington Times reports that we’re spending a lot of money to keep up the Jimmy Carter home while he’s still living in it;

    The tennis court at former President Jimmy Carter‘s private home is swept twice a day, his pool is cleaned daily and his grass cut, his flower beds weeded and his windows washed on a regular basis — all at taxpayers’ expense.

    Under an arrangement with the National Park Service, taxpayers are responsible for the exterior of Mr. Carter‘s home in Plains, Ga. — to the tune of $67,841 last year alone.

    The Park Service says that we pay for the upkeep so that we can have the place after he dies. I don’t think it’s worth it.

    On a weekly basis, the Park Service removes cobwebs, mows grass around the estate’s pond and weeds the flower beds, and on a less frequent basis clears leaves from the pool’s pump house and washes the windows of the home.

    Washes the windows? Really? Can’t he hire illegal immigrants to do it like the rest of us?

    Mr. Carter isn’t the only ex-president to have signed a life estate agreement with the Park Service, but his is apparently the only one leaving the government to foot the bill for basic upkeep.

    Typical liberal. So for four years of bad policy, we’re on the hook for washing his windows and mowing his lawn. For what we’re getting, it’s hardly worth the price.

  • Obama loses Egypt

    Before my time, the Democrats were accused of “losing China” to the communists, that prompted Lyndon Johnson to expand combat operations in Vietnam so he couldn’t be blamed for “losing Vietnam”. Then, the next time we elected a Democrat, Jimmy Carter fumbled and tried to prop up the Samoza regime and lost Nicaragua to the communists in our own hemisphere. The following year, he tried the same failed tactic and lost Iran.

    Now, according to Aluf Benn, of Haaretz, the same historical fate awaits Obama;

    The superficial circumstances are similar. In both cases, a United States in financial crisis and after failed wars loses global influence under a leftist president whose good intentions are interpreted abroad as expressions of weakness. The results are reflected in the fall of regimes that were dependent on their relationship with Washington for survival, or in a change in their orientation, as with Ankara.

    America’s general weakness clearly affects its friends. But unlike Carter, who preached human rights even when it hurt allies, Obama sat on the fence and exercised caution. He neither embraced despised leaders nor evangelized for political freedom, for fear of undermining stability.

    While politically the Obama Administration sits on the sidelines cheering for both sides of the unrest in Egypt, they send the Pentagon out to reassure the Egyptian military of our continued support;

    U.S. armed forces leaders continued high-level talks Sunday with their Egyptian counterparts, applauding their “continued professionalism” and reaffirming the two militaries’ partnership, a spokesman said.

    U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has talked by phone this weekend with Egyptian Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, as well as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, according to Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrel.

    Also, Egyptian Lt. Gen. Sami Enan spoke Sunday afternoon with his equivalent in the United States, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, according to Mullen’s spokesman.

    Of course, the US will take the blame if the Egyptian military decides to support Mubarak while the US military publicly pats the Egyptians on the back. That’s how we got the “The Great Satan” moniker in Iran.

    Thanks to TSO for the link.