The World According to J.C.: A Tedious Book By One of America's Worst Ex-President

Wall Street Journal ^ | 11/02/2005 | Bret Stephens

[SirLinksalot]

The World According to J.C.

"Tedious" doesn't begin to describe the new book by America's worst ex-president.

BY BRET STEPHENS

Jimmy Carter's 20th book is a tedious meditation about the appropriate uses of moral values in political life--as wisely and humbly exemplified by Himself--and of their misuses under the current Bush administration.

But tedious isn't quite the right word here, because it suggests mere boredom while Mr. Carter's prose manages to be irritating as well. Is there an English-language equivalent to the German Rechthaberei, which loosely translates as the state of thinking and behaving as if you're in the right and everyone else is in the wrong? Yet even such a term doesn't quite capture the sanctimony, the self-congratulation, the humorlessness, the convenient factual omissions and the passive-aggressive quirks that characterize our 39th president's aggressively passive world view. Mr. Carter is sui generis. He deserves his own word.

Everything about "Our Endangered Values" is wrong, beginning, obviously, with the title. The values Mr. Carter says are "ours" are certainly not mine and probably not yours and therefore, necessarily, not ours. In fact, it is not at all obvious that the things Mr. Carter speaks of even qualify as values, properly speaking, unless you believe that "economic justice" is a value, or you subscribe to Marxist liberation theology (Mr. Carter considers the Catholic priests who practiced this theology to be "heroes"), or you would like to pay your "personal respects" to Syria's dictator (never mind that he just had the prime minister of Lebanon assassinated), or you can think of nothing bad to say about Saddam Hussein except, perhaps, that he is "obnoxious."

[SirLinksalot]

I wonder why JC does not want to go quietly. He got his Nobel Prize, what else does he want ? To inflict himself on us some more ?

[michaelbfree]

JC is as irrelevant as Prince Charles...

[Mr. Mojo]

...sanctimony, the self-congratulation, the humorlessness, the convenient factual omissions and the passive-aggressive quirks

Sums up Jimmy Carter quite nicely...

[xsrdx]

The world, and America, would be better served if the former POTUS would stick to buiding prefab houses for the needy.

[samtheman]

He stabbed the Shah in the back. He enabled the growth of Islamofacism. He gutted the powers of the CIA and glad-handed every dictator on the planet. In a just world, he would long ago have been tried before the American people and sentenced to life in prison where he could meditate on his crimes against our republic.

[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

Didn`t Jummy once say he had sinned in his mind ??????

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this.

I wonder how many former Submariners in our Navy have become flaming liberals after their service or when they hit their 60's in age. I have seen two who were conservatives until they reached their 60's, and then they crossed over to the dark side. They sound like clones of Jimmy Carter.

[6SJ7]

I wonder why JC does not want to go quietly.

For the same reason a liberal drives around with 42 bumper stickers plastered on his 1982 Subaru; he can't shut up about his views and thinks the whole world needs to be 'informed'.

[FormerACLUmember]

I would remind everyone that the only democrat Presidents since 1968 werw Clinton and Carter, two grossly mentally disturbed people. AND, we came close to getting two more psychopaths: Gore (psychotic) and Kerry (a mega-narcissistic charlatan).


What is it with the democrats? They used to have decent, sane, non-sociopath presidential candidates like Scoop Jackson (fiercely pro-national defense) and Herbert Humphphey (a liberal's liberal, but I loved the guy).

[manwiththehands]

"... as wisely and humbly exemplified by Himself"

HaHaHa!

[TCats]

"Rosalynn and I went to Pyongyang and helped to secure an agreement from President Kim that North Korea would cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon."

In light of subsequent events, a fitting summation of the effectiveness and competence of this fool.

[Publius6961]

Jimmy Carter's 20th book is a tedious meditation about the appropriate uses of moral values in political life...

You mean this clown has previously written 19 books that no one has read?
Who's his publisher? The DNC?

[ken5050]

Here's a question...at the 2008 DNC convention, to nominate Hillary, will Jimmah again have a seat of honor next to Michael Moore? Will he even be invited?

[goldstategop]

When I saw his book in the store the other day, I thought for a moment he was speaking of traditional values. The moment I opened Jimmy Carter's new book, I realized my mistake. The values he considers "endangered" are really liberal values. And no one ought to mourn their demise.

("Denny Crane: Gun Control? For Communists. She's a liberal. Can't hunt.")

[Michael Bluth]

"Is there an English-language equivalent to the German Rechthaberei, which loosely translates as the state of thinking and behaving as if you're in the right and everyone else is in the wrong? "

Yes there is.

The English-language equivalent is "Democrat".

[Publius6961]

In a just world, he would long ago have been tried before the American people and sentenced to life in prison where he could meditate on his crimes against our republic.

Unfortunately, megalomania and incompetence are not a crime, yet, either Constitutionally or by statute, singly or in combination.

I hope this will be corrected soon,but can't be applied retroactively...

[KC_Conspirator]

Jimmy Carter is the worst president and ex-president this country has ever had. He is shameful and he hates America.

[rod1]

He and Bubba appear driven to spend everyday wandering the ex-presidential Saraha looking for a legacy oasis that doesn't stink to the high heavens (until they assume room temperature).