Posted on 12/14/2004 8:02:15 PM PST by CHARLITE
The ineptitude of the administration of President James Earl ("Jumma") Carter seemed to me for a long time simply to be what happens when you put a bumbling, indecisive naif in a position of serious power. Lately, however, I've come to see the dark side of Jimmy Carter, and let me tell you, it's not only ugly and disgusting, it's pathologically dangerous.
Neither Jumma nor Bubba, the two surviving Democrat ex-Presidents, has the decency or the respect for the office he once held to keep his pie-hole shut and refrain from criticizing the current Commander-in-Chief. But of the two, although Clinton is perhaps the peskier (he is somewhat more direct and certainly commands greater immediate influence), since we've seen nothing but his dark side, at least we know what we're dealing with. Where Carter is concerned, the fact that his efforts at international statesmanship appear to come from a well-meaning, God-fearing man actually makes him much more dangerous than Clinton.
That mushy, feel-good persona Carter manages to project is in fact a blind for a man who sympathizes with and overtly supports murderous dictatorships of every stripe. If I had to describe it in psychological terms, I'd say that Carter is a masochist who will do anything to validate his sense of his own worthlessness by ceding power to sadists happy to oblige him as he acts out, on an international stage, a string of perverse fantasies. The most appropriate image I can think of to characterize Carter's dark side is that of the ex-President in leather underwear, blindfolded and hogtied, awaiting the sting of the lash at the hands of a tyrannical monster, perhaps a Kim Jong Il or an Ayatollah Khomeini. It's a nightmare worthy of Michel Foucault. In such situations, the submissive become no less monstrous than their torturers.
While professed-Christian Carter publicly lamented (in a Playboy Magazine interview, for God's sake) the fact that he had "lusted in [his] heart" after women (a perfectly normal minor failing of most human males, and some human females, I would assert), he seemed equally unable to resist the lure of totalitarianism, which lure unfortunately managed to escape the relative inconsequentiality of confinement in his heart to become something that led him to sell U.S. interests down the river on more than one occasion.
Among Carter's crowning legislative achievements, for instance, was that he "gave back" the Panama Canal to its host nation on the flimsiest of pretenses, namely that the Canal somehow rightfully belonged to Panamanians. This had to be Carter's masochistic dark side kicking in, causing him to bend over in the name of some perverse notion of justice which presumed that big old, nasty old America had, in a fit of imperialist expansionism, snatched the Panama Canal from its rightful owners and, for the past three quarters of a century, had used it as if it were her (America's) own. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, in 1903, after helping Panama gain its independence from Colombia — which, to be fair, had rejected America's proposals for taking over completion of the Canal — the U.S. paid the newly independent nation $10 million for the purchase of the property on which the Canal was then being constructed. We also paid France $40 million for the rights to take over the Canal project, which the French at the time controlled. Not only was the Canal not Carter's to give away, by doing so he weakened both America's economic and security interests in Central America and her standing with regard to how she honored her agreements and protected her interests around the world. All in the name, I would assert, of Carter's utterly naive and perversely masochistic understanding of the dynamics of international affairs.
The Panama Canal giveaway is one of many examples of how Carter has demonstrated in his dealings and policies that he is not much more than a bewildered schoolboy, way out of his depth, a fundamentally good kid who has taken the lessons of his youth too literally and has allowed them to skew his ability to make sense of what's going on around him by forcing him to view events in terms of absolutes.
Nowhere is this perverse propensity of Carter's better demonstrated than in his "handling" of Iran. Early in his Presidency, Carter began putting pressure on the Shah of Iran to correct "human rights" violations. These pressures eventually took the form of impossible demands that, because acquiescing to them weakened the Shah's position, were instrumental in the overthrow of the Iranian government (which was, if not a model of western liberal democracy, at least a U.S. ally and a westernizing influence in the Middle East) and the installation of the Marxist-Islamist government of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Let the record of the past 50 years show that human rights in Iran never looked so good as in the quarter century preceding the 1979 regime change precipitated by the Carter administration's policies. Carter, true to the form that would come to characterize his diplomatic forays, took the side of the real human-rights monster, in this case Khomeini, when faced with a choice.
This debacle would come back to bite Carter in the ass big-time, and very quickly, in the form of the Iran hostage crisis. His bungling of that situation was arguably the straw that broke the camel's back with regard to his chances for re-election. The lack of principled resolve which characterized his handling of the crisis would become another hallmark of his approach to international affairs.
You'd think that Carter might have learned the lesson that despots are not to be dealt with in good faith after, in the passive-aggressive fashion that typifies so many masochists' relationships, he had paved the way for Khomeini to assume power, only to have the Islamist despot plunge a knife into his (Carter's) back. But no-o-o-o. Not Jumma. Not this unapologetic schoolboy who perversely can see no wrong in true wrongdoers and who can see no right in those who uphold justice and democracy.
Since the decisive termination of his Presidency by Ronald Reagan in 1980, Carter has continued to make the ill-advised advocacy for human rights his theme. He has been a conspicuous member of numerous teams of international monitors assembled to insure the legitimacy of elections in Jamaica, Palestine, and Nicaragua, to name a few of many. One somewhat ungenerous commentator nailed the utter frivolity of Carter's efforts on this front by christening them "Bowling For Ballots."
Where matters of truly serious import are concerned, Carter has consistently been a veritable poster boy for giving in to tyrants around the world. This tendency reached its apogee during the Clinton Administration when Carter "negotiated" what amounted to the payment by the United States of hush money (in the form of oil and food shipments) to North Korea in return for the latter's "promise" to discontinue its nuclear weapons development programs.
Never mind that then-President Clinton actually gave credence to the Carter agreement. The fact is that no one with so much as a fortnight's experience in international diplomacy at the level of administrative assistant to the associate ambassador to whatever nation you want to name would have been so naive as to actually believe that Kim Jong Il had any intention of holding up his end of the bargain.
In the words of the rock group Devo's song "Space Girl Blues": "Sado-maso is the rule / You want them they don't want you." Carter is the very exemplar of the "maso" side of the sado-maso equation. He always seems to need to masochistically put U.S. interests at risk, perhaps in order to validate his twisted psyche, to demonstrate his utterly naive and erroneous assumption that, if we'll all just adopt a posture of submission, well, that guy wearing the black mask and the studded leather collar and brandishing the cat-o'-nine-tails will actually turn out to be a really good person. You'll see.
The point is that Carter, while he would (presumably) never consciously imperil the cause of democracy or the interests of the United States (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here), nonetheless, because he was (and is) clearly psychologically unequipped to deal with adult realities, has managed to influence international affairs in ways that promote tyranny and despotism and undermine the cause of freedom and democracy throughout the world. Carter has become, though he is no doubt incapable of realizing it, the unwitting tool of the current iteration of the Dark Side.
Comment:glewis9000@aol.com
Jeremy D. Mayer's book Running on Race: Racial Politics in Presidential Campaigns, 1960-2000 has a cartoon by Jeff MacNelly from the 1980 campaign which really captures Carter's meanspiritedness and sanctimony:
It shows Carter speaking at a podium. In the first panel, Carter is saying, "I am disappointed in my opponent..."
In panel #2, he says, "I had hoped that by now we would be engaged in a useful discussion of the issues..."
In panel #3, he says, "But, instead, Governor Reagan,...who hates poor folks, and wants to..."
In panel #4, he's shouting: "ENSLAVE BLACKS AND HISPANICS (JUS' LIKE NIXON DID),"
Panel #5: "AND BLOW UP THE WORLD,..."
Final panel: "...has resorted to a campaign of slurs and innuendo which insults the intelligence of all Americans..."
His beer distilling brother Billy was a much more honest person. His motorcycle-riding evangelist faith-healing sister had more integrity, even after she temporarily converted the paralyzed Larry Flynt. And his mother should have stayed in India with the Peace Corps when the family shipped her off there when she was in her sixties.
And I won't mention his daughter of out decency, but that is one dysfunctional family. Oh, one of the grandsons was busted for marijuana possession a few days ago, but that's nothing for them.
I'm sorry, but as I read this, I'm hearing a Dan Ackroyd voice. "Jane, you ignorant slut"...
I was in the Army under Presidents Carter and then Reagan. Night and day, people, night and day. I briefed both of them, and Reagan was much sharper, no matter what the MSM would have you believe. Everyone I knew in the service voted for Reagan in 1980 (my first time voting, I was 20). I mean EVERYONE! Democrats, Republicans, whatever, we just wanted Carter outta there!
So glad to finally see this in print again after all these years.
After he got into office he cut the NROTC Unit at Louisville...what for? I have no idea. I remember not getting a decent raise for 3 years under him as a Marine until 1980...then he gave the military something like a 14.5% raise. Most of the Marines I was serving with then voted for Reagan, they felt like "James" (remember when he failed to get his name listed on the ballot as "Jimmy")was just trying to buy their votes. I also remember in 1977 that he argued with Tip ONEILL over inuguration tickets and seating. REAGAN gave the SOTH (Tip) what he wanted out of respect for the office, he was a gentlemen and never petty. A couple of years ago I was waiting for my wife to finish shopping at the Camp Zama PX in Japan. I started reading the CARTER book at the book/coffee section. I wanted to puke...talk about tooting your own horn. The guy had a complete lack of common sense if you ask me. SNL used to really do the guy justice....remember the 55 foot President at 3 Mile Island, planning to marry the custodian?? Semper Fidelis.
Unless you're the host of parasite, which Jimmah was.
I wholeheartedly concur with your analysis. The article is too kind to Jimmy. It ascribes his actions to misguided attempts to do good, to a naive assumption that if we submit to tyrants, they will be kind to us.
I think Jimmy is smart enough to know that tyrants will commit treachery, and evil enough to submit us to them anyway. He WANTS America to be brought low. There is absolutely, absolutely no other possible explanation for his behavior since leaving the White House.
Billy was what he was, I agree about that. I'm glad most of that bunch is in well-deserved obscurity. I'd like Jimmah to shut up a lot more. And I believe Jimmah's wife was a bad influence on a weak man...
>Among Carter's crowning legislative achievements, for
>instance, was that he "gave back" the Panama Canal
#44 on the following list: Internationalize the Panama Canal.
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen:
[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.
Dead on assessment of that peanut farmer.
BUMP
Carter is EVIL. Hell would be too kind to this POS. He deserves nothing but absolute contempt. Many years from now, many more people will understand just how vile and evil is this trash of a man. Damn you Carter for ever existing.
A very good read
Talk about a day that will live in infamy.
Thanks, it is.
A foul thing. I knew some people with their names now on the Wall...
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