Loving Jimmy Carter

I wish to sit in judgement of Jimmy Carter. Please do not ask me to defend Jimmy Carter's Presidency. I think that, as President, he failed us. Not in every way mind you. Someone seeking to defend the Carter Presidency can find ample ammunition to point towards where his Presidency was not as bad as it has sometimes been portrayed.

However I am willing to take on the defense of Jimmy Carter as being the finest "ex-President" our nation has ever witnessed.

What will I give as an example? Let us examine one of his most powerful critics. "No fair" they will scream as we hold up the rear view mirror to their crystal ball. However, I will point out that at the time the words I point to were written, the man writing them wanted to be viewed as a sage. He too, was holding up a rear view mirror towards Jimmy Carter's past actions and statements. If it was fair for such a man to use such a method to flail at Jimmy Carter, then it is fair for me to use just such a method to flail at the author.

(See here) a NationalReview.com website piece written by Jay Nordlinger that appeared back in October 2002. Now every criticism Jay had of Jimmy Carter at the time probably could have been defended by a Carter advocate at the time. However, with the benefit of our magical rear view mirror, we can analyze just how reasonable Carter critics are in their criticism.

For example: Jay is especially critical of Jimmy Carter's support for Yassar Arafat. Does anyone really think that things are now better off in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the demise of Yassar Arafat? Jay criticized the Palestinian elections that brought Yassar to power, but who in their right mind thinks the "fair" elections that brought Hamas to power after Yassar died are in improvement? Remember Jay, you were critical using a rear view mirror of Jimmy Carter. You too are subject to rear view mirror viewing. Perhaps Jimmy Carter was better at looking into the crystal ball without the benefit of the mirror is why he once served as President and you only serve as a hack at a one sided website.

Or how about this one where Jay wrote:

Jimmy C. thinks very, very little of the current president of the United States. In an interview with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer last year, he said, “I don’t think that George W. Bush has any particular commitment to preservation of the principles of human rights.”

Back in the days Jay wrote that statement, Dubyah's popularity was soaring. Nowadays, with Dubyah's popularity tanking, I wonder if Jay would be willing to defend that statement.

Seems to me that Jimmy Carter's pronouncements withstand the test of time, and that the opinions coming from people like Jay Nordlinger wither after only a couple of years.

I love hearing from Jimmy Carter. I love it that Jimmy Carter has not yet sold out on us. I love it that Jimmy Carter still seeks to speak truth to power. I just downright love Jimmy Carter.