Free Republic

.... Would you please sit down and shut up you old fool! Yup. Think about this one for a moment. You're a young black man or woman, you're finishing up your education and hope to have a career in politics. Along comes Barack Obama and you're just elated! The barrier has been broken and a black man is now President of the United States! Your path is clear! But wait! In the early months of Obama's presidency his inexperience starts to show. He fails on several big fronts: Health care, cap-and-trade and the union card-check bill. He tries to convince...

Jimmy Carter said Friday he would have been "delighted" to meet with Hezbollah officials during his visit to Lebanon and regretted the militant group's leaders refuse to meet with current or former American presidents. Carter spent five days talking to top Lebanese leaders and members of parliamentary blocs but didn't sit down with lawmakers from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which is on the State Department list of terrorist groups. ... During a lecture at the American University of Beirut on Friday, Carter expressed disappointment Hezbollah refused to see him. "We came here with the hope that we can meet with all...

FORMER US president Jimmy Carter has said Israel holds at least 150 nuclear weapons, the first time a US president has publicly acknowledged the Jewish state's atomic arsenal. Asked at a news conference at Wales' Hay literary festival yesterday how a future US president should deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, Mr Carter put the risk in context by listing atomic weapons held globally. "The US has more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union (Russia) has about the same, Great Britain and France have several hundred, and Israel has 150 or more. We have a phalanx of enormous weaponry...

DEMOCRATIC hopeful Barack Obama said that as president he would do his utmost to help Israel defend itself from any regional threat, as he criticized ex-president Jimmy Carter for seeking to meet with Hamas. "As president, I will do everything that I can to help (Israel) protect itself ... We will make sure that it can defend itself from any attack, whether it comes from as close as Gaza or as far as Tehran," Senator Obama told a synagogue in Philadelphia, according to his campaign aides. He said US-Israeli cooperation, although successful, "can be deepened and strengthened". Senator Obama, who...

Jimmy Carter is an evil man. It is painful to label a past president of the United States as a force for darkness. But it is dangerous to let a man like Jimmy Carter stalk around the globe cloaked in the garb of American royalty, planting the seeds of Western civilization's destruction. On Tuesday, former President Carter met with leaders of the terrorist group Hamas. He embraced Nasser al-Shaer, the man who has run the Palestinian education system, brainwashing children into believing Jews are the descendants of pigs and dogs. He laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat,...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter embraced a leading Hamas figure Tuesday, according to participants in a meeting that infuriated Israeli officials already upset by Carter's freelance Mideast peace mission. Carter also laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, whom the Bush administration and many Israelis blame for the breakdown of peace talks seven years ago and the violence that followed. At a reception in the West Bank town of Ramallah organized by Carter's office, the former president hugged Nasser Shaer, a senior Hamas politician, meeting participants said. Embraces between men are a common custom...

Carter pipes up, calls Bush’s way ‘worst in history’ Foreign relations at ebb, he says Copyright 2007, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. BY FRANK LOCKWOOD ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE In a stinging rebuke to President Bush, former President Carter on Friday called the current administration “the worst in history” when it comes to international relations. During a telephone interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from the Carter Center in Atlanta, the ex-president also accused the current White House occupant of eliminating the line between church and state and of abandoning “America’s basic values.” “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around...

FORMER US president Jimmy Carter has attacked outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his "blind" support of the Iraq war, describing it as a "major tragedy for the world". In an interview today with BBC radio, Mr Carter was asked how he would describe Mr Blair's attitude to US President George W. Bush. He replied: "Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient. "I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world." Mr Blair, who arrived in Baghdad today on an unannounced visit, has...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Jimmy Carter expressed his support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria, rejecting White House criticism of the visit. "I was glad that she went," Carter said Wednesday. "When there is a crisis, the best way to help resolve the crisis is to deal with the people who are instrumental in the problem." Pelosi arrived in Syria on Tuesday, in an attempt to open direct dialogue with Syria's leader, something President Bush opposes. Pelosi also discussed with President Bashar Al-Assad concerns about Syria's support for militant groups. Bush on Tuesday called the trip "counterproductive"...

Former President Jimmy Carter told the Arab news network Al- Jazeera that he does not consider Palestinian missile attacks on Israeli civilians -- a war crime and breach of human rights, according to the UN -- to be acts of terror. In an interview to defend his book, Carter, apparently in an effort to not offend pro-Palestinian Muslim viewers of the program, stated that "I don't consider... I wasn't equating the Palestinian missiles with terrorism." Carter went on to explain that other acts of Palestinian violence, like targeting civilians in bus bombings or children at schools, should not be committed...

Former President Jimmy Carter’s new book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid is another contribution on his part toward destabilizing the Middle East as he makes the case for the radical Islamic Jihad against Israel. The timing is most inopportune as the United States and the western powers grapple with terrorism in Iraq and around the globe. Carter has poked his nose once again into Middle East affairs. The trend goes back to his presidency and his role in the Iranian revolution. The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlevi, was no saint when it came to human rights but by Middle Eastern...

We're well into the Christmas season, and if the spirit of the Christ child is under assault we have an abundance of air and wind, a lot of it vile and foul. One of the study commissions at the United Nations, perhaps stacked with vegetarians overdosing on tofu and bean sprouts, concludes that the flatulence of cows is more damaging to the environment than automobiles. Poor Bossy, contentedly chewing her cud and minding her own business, now exposed as just another scapegoat (scapecow?) to blame for global warming. But it's not just cows. Some of our most distinguished statespersons are...

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter says the decision by Canada and other nations to withhold money from the Hamas-led Palestinian government is "a crime." Israel and western donors such as Canada have demanded Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and accept past peace agreements. Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction despite its stated offer of a long-term truce, rejects the conditions. "It's a crime against the people of Palestine," Carter told CBC News in an exclusive interview from New York. "For Canada and others to punish the Palestinian people because they voted for their candidates of choice,...

A longtime aide to Jimmy Carter has resigned from the Carter Center think tank, calling the former president's new book on Israel and the Arabs one-sided and filled with errors. Kenneth Stein, the Carter Center's first executive director and founder of its Middle East program, sent a letter that bluntly criticized the book to Carter and others. Stein wrote that the book, "Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid," was replete with factual errors, material copied from other sources and "simply invented segments," according to an excerpt of the letter published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Deanna Congileo, Carter's spokeswoman, said the former president...

Why Jimmy Carter would want to be buried in foreign soil is anybody’s guess, but the former president, whose administration was the economic equivalent of root canal while in the throes of amoebic dysentery, has announced his funeral plans. Carter wants to be buried in front of his home in Plains, Georgia. At this point, we can only speculate how many of brother Billy’s empty beer cans will be dug up by the backhoe. Any bets? Jimmy also wants a funeral in Washington, which promises to be quite the somber experience. It’ll be like Ronald Reagan’s funeral without all the...

Former President Jimmy Carter believes the Iraq war ranks as one of the "greatest blunders" in U.S. presidential history. Speaking on CNN, Carter said: "I think that the original invasion of Iraq, and all of its consequences, yes, were a blunder. It's going to prove, I believe to be one of the greatest blunders that American presidents have ever made." When asked if it was a bigger foreign-policy mistake than the Vietnam War, he said: "I think it is going to be a close call ... but perhaps much more vividly known by the rest of the world than Vietnam...

It seems the leader of the Parrotheads doesn't like being parroted. Jimmy Buffett has filed a trademark infringement suit against a man who allegedly operates an online shop that sells Margaritaville-flavored merchandise without the singer's permission. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Galveston, Texas, accuses Robert Akard of running the Website UnderOneHut.com, which sells some of the same clothing and CDs available through Buffett's own Website, margaritaville.com and in his chain of stores and restaurants. The "Cheeseburger in Paradise" singer complains that Akard wrongly bills himself as Jimmy Buffett's Online Store for Merchandise. A (very) cursory comparison of...

The popular rejection of Bush's war in Iraq, the centrepiece of its foreign policy, has emboldened other powers to sidetrack, or even defy, Washington in a manner they had not envisaged before. This is particularly true of Russia and China. ... Gone are the days when Russian leaders referred to "a strategic partnership" with Washington. Now Russia is a crucial energy supplier to Europe as well as an influential investor there. Under President Putin, the state has regained control over the nation's oil and gas reserves, thus facilitating the Kremlin to use the energy card to further its diplomatic aims,...

One less terrorist dictator loving democrat to deal with. Jimmah's offspring has lost his bid for the Nevada senate! Got to love it. It's a referendum on Jimmah!

The only thing more painful than listening to Jimmy Carter lecture President Bush on how to conduct a successful presidency was living through his disastrous attempt to turn his advice into reality. As I noted earlier this week, Carter has channeled his hatred of non-leftists, secular and religious, into a glut of slanders in his new bestseller, Our Endangered Values. He charges his opponents with, among other things, countenancing female circumcision, defending the murder of federal judges, torturing innocent Islamofascists, and forcing North Korea to manufacture nuclear weapons. Jimmy once again offers himself as the nation’s savior-by-acclamation, leading his errant...

A few weeks ago, Jimmy Carter gave an interview to the German newspaper, Der Spiegel, mostly on the recent Lebanon conflict. It was classic Jimmy Carter -- at once moralizing and morally confused, ill-informed and preachy -- illustrating why the American people voted him out of office after just one term and the politically partisan Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize. Take first the former president’s historical illiteracy. "Under all of its [the Bush administration's] predecessors there was a commitment to peace instead of preemptive war," Carter claimed. But is that really so? What about the Spanish-American War...

Former US president Jimmy Carter lashed out at British Prime Minister Tony Blair for being "so compliant and subservient" to the Bush administration in Washington. "I have been surprised and extremely disappointed with Tony Blair's behaviour," Carter told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper as he promoted his new book "Faith and Freedom." "I think that, more than any other person in the world, the prime minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington, and he has not," said the 81-year-old former head of state. He faulted Blair for not having been a constraint on US President George W. Bush's decision...

President Bush has pursued an "erroneous policy" that has fostered violence in the Middle East, said former President Jimmy Carter, who brokered the historic Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. "In my opinion, maybe the worst ally Israel has had in Washington has been the George W. Bush administration, which hasn't worked to bring a permanent peace to Israel," Carter said Friday during a stop in West Michigan. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, were here as part of a fundraiser for their son, Jack Carter, who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat in Nevada. The $500-a-person event, attended by...

Managua, Jul 6 (EFE).- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said here Thursday that he opposes any attempts by foreign powers to influence the Nicaraguan presidential election, set for Nov. 5. The statement was made by Carter in Managua at the end of his four-day visit to the country to familiarize himself with how the electoral process is unfolding. Speaking on behalf of his Atlanta-based Carter Center, the former president said: "Almost all of the Nicaraguans with whom we spoke expressed concern about foreign governments endorsing, vetoing, or funding specific candidates." Carter criticized the position of the U.S. government, which has...

JIMMY CARTER'S BLUNDERS IN USA TODAY When it comes to Arab-Israeli affairs, is former U.S. President Jimmy Carter a) uninformed, b) misinformed, or c) blinded by an anti-Israel animus? His USA Today Op-Ed, "Israel's new plan: A land grab" (May 16 print edition) makes a strong case for "all of the above." Key Errors Carter falsely claims that:1) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to establish Israel's permanent eastern border in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) "would take about half of the Palestinian West Bank ...." According to the Israeli Supreme Court decision calling for the realignment of the route...

ALIEN NATION Carter UFO guru puts faith in crop circles Seeks to end Earth's quarantine by morespiritually evolved 'Off-Planet Cultures' Posted: April 14, 20068:55 p.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Alfred Webre President Jimmy Carter's former UFO guru, Alfred Webre, is still promoting the quest for extraterrestrials – now suggesting it is a matter of spiritual life and death for humanity. In his new book, "Exopolitics – Politics, Government and Law in the Universe," he concludes that Earth has been "under quarantine" too long from more spiritually evolved "Off-Planet Cultures" – or OPCs, as they are known in ET circles. Webre has...

Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the war in Iraq on Wednesday, urging a troop drawdown as the United States enters its fourth year of conflict in Iraq. "It was a completely unnecessary war. It was an unjust war," said Carter, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "It was initiated on the basis of false pretenses. All of those are true, but we can't just pre-emptively withdraw." He urged the Bush administration to bring home as many troops as possible within the next 12 months. "The violence is increasing monthly," Carter said. "My prayer is we'll see some kind of democracy...

Former President Jimmy Carter downplayed criticism of White House support of an Arab-owned company's purchase of a major seaport-operations firm. BY LESLEY CLARK lclark@MiamiHerald.com WASHINGTON - President Bush is taking a battering from fellow Republicans, even the governors of New York and Maryland, over the administration's support for a decision that gives an Arab company control of some commercial operations at six major seaports -- including Miami-Dade's. But he got a boost Monday from an unlikely source, frequent critic and former president Jimmy Carter, who downplayed fears that the deal poses a risk. ''The overall threat to the United States...

LAS VEGAS, February 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Jack Carter, 58, the eldest son of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has announced he is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate to represent Nevada. At his launch, Carter spoke with reporters revealing his schizophrenic stand on abortion - a stand similar to that of his father. Speaking with the Associated Press' Kathleen Hennessey, Carter described his abortion views saying, ""I'm a personal freedoms person. I don't want the government to come in and tell my child or whoever it is that they can't have an abortion. I'm pro-choice as far as...

It isn’t too often that one who pens opinion articles will fully allow himself to “let it all out,” and quite possibly say more than ever intended. Here then, is one of those rare times--a time when I cannot contain myself, consequences be damned. For today, I will speak in no uncertain terms about one of America’s greatest elective mistakes, James Earl Carter, Jr. That is the last time I will use Carter’s full Christian name in this space, so cherish the reference if you must. But even that simple courtesy should be denied, in my mind. If one were...

Presidential press secretary Scott McClellan today refused to "analyze" the political potshots his boss endured during the funeral of Coretta Scott King this week, saying only President Bush was "honored" to attend the marathon service. In posing questions to McClellan at the press briefing, WND pointed out some of media's observations about the jibes Bush took during the service from certain speakers. "The New York Post notes the following – and this is a quote – 'Jimmy Carter's disgraceful performance at Coretta Scott King's funeral marks him as the most shameless,'" WND noted. "While The New York Times Page 1...

In a tear-streaked story in the New York Times bemoaning the inability of the Democrats to exploit what they see as the GOP's many weaknesses and use them to win back control of Congress in this year's congressional elections, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn) sobbed that the health of his far-left Democratic Party is "A lot worse than it should be. This has not been a very good two months." "We seem to be losing our voice when it comes to the basic things people worry about," Dodd said. Senator Dodd, along with the outraged liberals who now dominate his party,...

Jimmy Carter is a true Christian, a real patriot & a great American. If we had only elected him to a second term, we'd probably all be driving hybrid and high mileage vehicles and using solar and alternative energy sources and the world would be more peaceful and the environment would be healthy.

WASHINGTON, November 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Former US President Jimmy Carter knows how to play his audiences. Last week Carter appeared on MSNBC's Hardball slamming President George W. Bush in a fashion perhaps never before seen from an ex-President, but also last week Carter spoke to the conservative Washington Times newspaper, revealing his apparently new-found strong pro-life views. Not surprisingly, Carter did not mention his anti-abortion stand with Hardball's Chris Matthews. Stephen F. Hayward, PhD., who last year wrote a book on Carter noted Carter's political exploitation of abortion in the past. In an interview with National Review, Hayward recalled...

BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Sunday led thousands of Baptist delegates in praise and Bible Study in the closing day of the Baptist World Centenary Congress in Birmingham. Carter’s Bible study went into the issue of finding a ‘common understanding’ between Christians. In a present day where Christian opinions are so publicly divided, Carter focused on bringing people’s minds back to unity in diversity. Carter was born on on Oct. 1, 1924, in Georgia, and has been a devout Baptist and Sunday School teacher for many years. While serving as President of the USA, Carter...

{By BERNARD McGHEE, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 7, 5:43 PM ET ATLANTA - Former President Carter on Tuesday called for the United States to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison to demonstrate its commitment to human rights. ADVERTISEMENT "The U.S. continues to suffer terrible embarrassment and a blow to our reputation ... because of reports concerning abuses of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo," Carter said after a two-day human rights conference at his Atlanta center. Such reports have surfaced despite President Bush's "bold reminder that America is determined to promote freedom and democracy around the world," Carter said....

All this adulation of John Paul II, a man of monumental moral stature, must be gnawing at MSM innards. You could almost hear the command go out from the NBC honchos: "find me something we can use to bash a conservative. Make it Bush if you can." And sure enough, Today managed to come up with a great two-fer this morning, managing to take swipes at both W and Condi over the exclusion of Jimmy Carter from the US delegation to the papal funeral. Andrea Mitchell, reporting the story, clearly wasn't buying the White House line that Carter politely asked...

President Bush selected his father and Bill Clinton over Jimmy Carter for the official delegation attending the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the Carter Center claimed Late Tuesday. link for rest of the story

WASHINGTON — Two major American figures in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal worked together to ship humanitarian supplies to Iraq through a charity connected to celebrities, The Post has learned. According to documents recently obtained by the House International Relations Committee, Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt and Saddam Hussein's American oil spy, Samir Vincent, worked together to finance shipments of medicines and baby formula for Iraq in 1997 and 1998 through such charities as the Friendship Force Foundation, a group closely connected to former President Jimmy Carter, his wife, Rosalynn, and other luminaries.

NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE. This excerpt is provided for educational and discussion purposes only to those who have expressed a prior interest in same under the fair use doctrine of US copyright law. Fayette County Magistrate Court Judge Bob Ruppenthal denies allegations he gave former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson special treatment when he held a bond hearing for the accused teen burglar on Sunday, Dec. 5. -snip- The McIntosh High School senior faces charges of burglary, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and possession of alcohol in connection with an incident at 201 Clear Springs Lane in Peachtree City Dec. 4. -snip-...

W: That's very nice Bill...(When Can I get out of here? I got a country to run)

Jimmy Carter has requested permission to attend Arafat's funeral, per Andrea Mitchell. Carter is said to be eager to go. No word yet from the White House. Low level State Dept. delegation will attend.

Gov. Jeb Bush is lashing back at former President Jimmy Carter for his criticism of Florida's election situation this year. "There's this constant haranguing of nonsense, including by President Carter, which is a huge surprise to me because I have admired his compassionate actions in his post-presidency," Bush said. Carter said in a Washington Post article Monday that "some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida. The disturbing fact is that the repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely." Bush said Carter did no research before reaching his conclusions, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday....

As former President Jimmy Carter walked into the Woodruff P.E. Center Wednesday evening, Emory students and faculty gave him a standing ovation. Carter donned Emory colors for the occasion: a blue and gold tie, white striped shirt and blue suit. More than 1,200 students, faculty and staff filled the WoodPEC gym. James W. Dooley, the eternal spirit of Emory, arrived shortly after Carter, his wife Rosalynn, University President James W. Wagner, Vice President for Campus Life John Ford and Student Government Association President Jimin Kim. During his speech, Carter called the war in Iraq one of the most “gross and...

<p>January 31, 2004 -- ATLANTA - Former President Jimmy Carter yesterday blasted a top Georgia education official's bid to strip the word "evolution" from textbooks in some of the state's public schools. Kathy Cox, Georgia's school superintendent, has come under fire for suggesting that science books used in the state's middle and high schools carry the term "biological changes over time" instead of "evolution."</p>

<p>In early 1976, as Jimmy Carter's surging presidential candidacy was cast as an antidote to the deceits of Watergate, Harper's magazine published a piece entitled, "Jimmy Carter's Pathetic Lies."</p> <p>"We were shocked," remembers Carter media strategist Jerry Rafshoon. But the initial press buzz soon faded, and Jimmy Carter captured the Iowa and New Hampshire contests on his way to the presidency.</p>

On Saturdays, neither the NY Sun nor the WSJ is published, so I buy the NY Times. It keeps me from being overly optimistic. Today, on page 4 of the Times, there’s a story entitled "North Korean Standoff Poses ‘Greatest Threat,’ Carter Says." Here’s the lead paragraph: “Tokyo, Sept. 5 - Former President Jimmy Carter, the man credited with defusing the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis, warned here today that the current standoff was the world’s ‘greatest threat.’” Here’s how I would have written that lead: “Tokyo, Sept. 5 - Former President Jimmy Carter, the man blamed for the failed...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former U.S. president and Nobel Peace laureate Jimmy Carter said on Friday that guaranteeing North Korea's security was critical to solving the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear program. He also slammed the stance of the administration of President Bush, which has branded the North Korean government part of an "axis of evil." Carter visited North Korea in 1994 during a previous crisis over the communist state's nuclear program and negotiated a deal with then-leader Kim Il-sung in which Pyongyang confirmed its willingness to freeze its nuclear program and resume talks with the United States. He told a news...

Jimmy Carter offers to mediate peace talks between Israel and Palestinians... developing...