Jimmy Carter for President!!

[El Supremo]

Look, which President has had more academic intelligence, practical intelligence and spiritual intelligence than any other in your lifetime?

He beats me hands down.

I just wish he had had more political intelligence. But that would have taken away from the others.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

1. yes!!! He know's what's right from the depths of his soul

how many can we say that about.. Ted Kennedy.

[NoSheep]

2. He is my hero. Since the beginning.

[MoseyWalker]

3. I think he did have political intelligence

or he never would have gotten where he did.

Remember, the country was only two years removed from seeing the last of the american soldiers leave South Vietnam from the tops of buildings in helicopters. The country had endured the Nixon residency.

Remember also, that the spin machine, though not as potent as now (fascistically speaking, that is), was in place, and Reagan's people used deception to win that election.

The RW spin machine, with its lies and greed, has been operating for a very long time.

[John Gauger]

4. I have been reading about Jimmy Carter

in Greg Palast, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky. Because of what I have learned, I hate him almost as much as I hate Reagan. No one can surpass Reagan, though. Bush, while the worst ever, does not rival the enmity I hold for Ronald Wilson Reagan. Anyway, I really don't see why everyone likes Carter so much. He only has a single accomplishment (Camp David.) What else good has he done? Just because he says things that sound nice to us does not make him a good President. Henry Kissinger says lovely things about democracy but that does not change the fact that he is a murderer.

[clydefrand]

6. Why do you hate President Carter? What do you think he did

that is so awful?

[MoseyWalker]

7. I REALLY hesitate to ask this, but

could you provide some reasons that you feel this way?

[Cleita]

9. What nice things did Kissinger every say about democracy

that didn't prove to be a lie? He destroyed a nation that was one of the leading democracies on the continent it resided on because he didn't like commies. Instead the nation was subjected to years of suffering and military dictatorship, something Kissinger approved of.

[haydukelives]

10. I would like to know

how anybody could hate President Carter

[John Gauger]

11. He's a lying bastard

He is a corporate whore. He claimed to care about black people, about poor people. But all he did was increase the military budget. He was part of goddamned bipartisan consensus during the Cold War. None of his policies did anything to help anyone. Read the three men I cited. They will give you specifics. I just remember reading in Zinn about all of his broken promises. As for Kissinger being a liar, that's my point. So is Carter. Why do you think he got past the corporate gaurds that screen our public officials? Corporations actually favored Carter because they felt that he gave credibility back to the corporate-government establishment. They supprted him because he made us all forget about Watergate and how truly harmful our Establishment is to our citizenship.

[MoseyWalker]

13. What planet have you been living on?

a partial list:

Events and Accomplishments of Jimmy Carter’s Presidency:
On Carter's first day in office, he issued a pardon for all those who dodged the draft in the Vietnam War era. He did not pardon deserters, however.
Energy was a huge issue during Carter's administration. With the Three Mile Island incident, stricter regulations on Nuclear Energy plants were required. Further, the Department of Energy was created.
In 1978, President Carter invited Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David for peace talks. This led to a formal peace treaty in 1979.
In 1979, diplomatic relations were formally established between China and the U.S.
On November 4, 1979, the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran was seized and 60 Americans were taken hostage. 52 of the hostages were held for more than a year. Carter suspended oil imports from Iran and the UN Security Council called for the release of the hostages. He imposed economic sanctions. He also attempted in 1980 to rescue the hostages. However, three helicopters malfunctioned and they were unable to follow through with the rescue. Eventually, the Ayatollah Khomeini agreed to release the hostages in exchange for unfreezing Iranian assets in the U.S. They were not released, however, until Reagan was president. The hostage crisis was part of the reason that Carter did not win reelection.

[John Gauger]

14. I'm not aware of the pardoning thing

But i'm sure you must be right abou that. All of the things Carter did after TMI were at the behest of corporate energy giants. When corporations get what they want not because they care about our safety but their own credebility, I don't consider that a positive accomplishment. I mentioned Camp David. And I'll spot you the hostages. Yes, he failed, but that was because the GOP aided the terrorists. Honestly, the Reagan campaign bribed them in order to make Carter look bad. That is one of the reasons that I hate the GOP more. So I'll assume he would have succeeded. So I'll admit I was wrong - three positive accomplishments. But you did not address his corporate whorehood, or his lying bastardy. What did he do to help blacks? Women? Latinos? Native Americans(Remember them?) What did he do for the common man? According to Zinn and Palast, absolutely nothing. According to Chomsky, he mad the world more dangerous by playing the Cold War game just like everybody else. What about that?

[MoseyWalker]

18. well,

Despite rocky relations with Congress, Carter created two new cabinet-level departments (Energy and Education), developed a national energy policy, and deregulated the trucking and airline industries. Particularly sensitive to conservationist and environmental concerns, he successfully pushed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act through Congress, more than doubling the acreage in the national park and wildlife refuge system. Continuing the practice he had followed in the Georgia governor's mansion, Carter also appointed a record number of women and minorities to federal government offices.

[El Supremo]

21. The deregulation of the airlines is a very sore spot for me.

There are three industries that should never.................. Aw, I'm drunk.

[MoseyWalker]

23. well, he may have deregulated

but Reagan fired every last one of them. Which was worse!

:toast:

[John Gauger]

27. Aye

that's why I hate Reagan more. Carter may not have many good things, but absolutely every last thing Reagan did was a crime agaisnt human dignity. As opposed to Iran-Contra, which was a crime against internation law.

[OldSiouxWarrior]

34. The Airline Deregulation and the Air Traffic Controllers are two separate

things. The airlines are the corporations that fly the planes. That is what Carter deregulated. It did lead to a large drop in the price of flying on an airline. Some flights are still cheaper today than they were then. I just now checked, and a flight that I took in 1976 that cost about $350, (Yes, I do remember) now costs $315. And that after the very high inflation of the late 70's, and another twenty-five years of steady nibbling inflation since then. Lower prices do benefit working people. When I was young, flying was for the wealthy, not for the working people.

PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controller Organization) was a union that went on strike. They were not a corporation to be hired or fired. That was a completely separate item. Reagan used it to bust up a union early in his presidency, thereby sending a signal to corporations regarding how he would view unions.

[BrotherBuzz]

30. Speaking drinking of Carter is a friend

In 1978 the legalization of homebrewing was enacted as President Jimmy Carter signed an act to amend the "excise tax on certain trucks, buses, and tractors." Buried within the act was a section reversing prohibition-era legislation that made homemade beer illegal.

[John Gauger]

22. I learned in Gov class two years ago

That he decimated Alaskan environmental protections in order to help industry through the oil crisis. He DEregulated two industries? I thought that's what Bush is using to fuck us over with right now? He created two agancies - Energy at the behest of his big energy buddies (the smae crowd that the Bushes run with) and Education - can you point to any accomplishments of the DOE? I know I can't. And as for minorities in office; that in itself does not mean any progress for those groups. Just giving them jobs does not go any further that those individuals and their families. And if those new employees are corporate lobbyists that HURTS us.

[MoseyWalker]

I would only suggest

that you attend another school, and maybe take a non-revisionist history course.

[John Gauger]

28. I saw tape of him giving that speech

unless that was an actor, he really did that. That teacher was one of the best I ever had. She was very liberal, she just tried to portray things objectively. She told the class Freep that the hottest furnace in the deepest pit of hell was reserved for him. That was also one of the best courses I ever took.

[smalll]

32. You don't like Carter because he was a cold warrior -

That's one reason I like him. I like to remind Reaganites that in fact it was CARTER who began to stand up to Brezhnev and the Soviets at the end of the 70s, Reagan in many ways just took over where Carter left off. Carter throughout his Presidency did a lot to promote human rights throughout the world. His real committment to human rights made him willing to speak strongly against rights abuses both by dictators who were our allies and by the Soviets. It was also Carter who took the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR seriously.

[Brian Stevens]

37. By boycotting the olympics? NT

[El Supremo]

15. Not very specific are you?

Go back to your Freeper hole and stay there!

[John Gauger]

17. You want me to remember everything I've ever read?

Most people are amazed by ability to remember things. I'm sorry I can't remember very much about Carter, but I do remember the particualrly painful process of having the myths of one of my heroes slowly torn down by individuals I respect more. Why don't you read those three books I mentioned and tell me everything fact they say about Carter? Tell me how those facts and assessments are wrong - how did his lack of action help black people?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. SNL: Ask President Carter skit

Ask President Carter

Walter Cronkite.....Bill Murray
Mrs. Edward Horbath (on phone).....Jane Curtin
President Jimmy Carter.....Dan Aykroyd

Walter Cronkite: Thank you, Mr. President, ha ha! Our next call is Peter Elkin of Westbrook, Oregan, whom I am told is 17 years of age.

Peter (on phone): Hello? Hello?

President Jimmy Carter: Yes. Hello, Peter?

Peter (on phone): Is this the President?

President Jimmy Carter: Yes, it is.

Walter Cronkite: Do you have a question for the President?

Peter (on phone): Uh.. I, uh.. I took some acid.. I'm afraid to leave my apartment, and I can't wear any clothes.. and the ceiling is dripping, and uh.. I, uh..

Walter Cronkite: Well, thank you very much for calling, sir..

President Jimmy Carter: Just a minute, Walter, this guy's in trouble. I think I better try to talk him down. Peter?

Peter (on phone): Yeah..?

President Jimmy Carter: Peter, what did the acid look like?

Peter (on phone): They were these little orange pills.

President Jimmy Carter: Were they barrel shaped?

Peter (on phone): Uh.. yes.

President Jimmy Carter: Okay, right, you did some orange sunshine, Peter.

Peter (on phone): Very good of you to know that, sir.

President Jimmy Carter: How long ago did you take it, Peter?

Peter (on phone): Uh.. I don't know. I can't read my watch.

President Jimmy Carter: Alright, Peter, just listen. Everything is going to be fine. You're very high right now. You will probably be that way for about five more hours. Try taking some vitamin B complex, vitamin C complex.. if you have a beer, go ahead and drink it..

Peter (on phone): Okay..

President Jimmy Carter: Just remember you're a living organism on this planet, and you're very safe. You've just taken a heavy drug. Relax, stay inside and listen to some music, Okay? Do you have any Allman Brothers?

Peter (on phone): Yes, I do, sir. Everything is okay, huh Jimmy?

President Jimmy Carter: It sure is, Peter. You know, I'm against drug use myself, but I'm not going to lay that on you right now. Just mellow out the best you can, okay?

Peter (on phone): Okay..!

President Jimmy Carter: Okay.

[John Gauger]

24. That's very nice

Beyond pointed out that it's an SNL skit, I'm sure Carter is a very kind and compassionate man - he does build houses for the homeless (in which I plan to soon join him.) But that does not change the fact that he was a bad president, and it does not mean his policies helped those people while he was in office.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

29. I wrote a LTTE some time back in which I referred to Carter as

"a better man than I but arguably a lousy president."
I like the guy. Most of the folks on this board seem to like the guy. You are welcome to your opinion but please understand that your anti-Carter postings sound a little over the top in the context of DU.

[El Supremo]

26. I actually remember that! Dan Akriod was Carter n/t

[Purveyor]

5. Now wouldn't that throw a "clinker" into the talkingheads works?

I love it and would fully endorse his announcement for the office.

The first vote I ever cast, at the age of 18, was for President Carter and I would proudly do it again!

[Cleita]

8. I posted this before the last presidential election.

He can run for another term. Everyone said nah, he's too old.

[Divine Discontent]

16. yep

what's wrong with intelligent & compassionate men being president even if they're nearly 90, who CARES! I don't! He just needs to pick a Clark, Feingold, Kerry, Gore in case he were to pass in office, we'd be fine!

sheesh.. he gets the same mocking taunt in political circles that Manilow gets in music ones.


www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <-- check it out!!

[Wonk]

19. By 2008, he'll be 84

How old is too old for you?

[Cleita]

25. Mental age has nothing to do with physical age.

I was once assistant to a 92 year old man who had never quit working was every bit as mentally alert as me. Physically he needed a little help with a cane.

[flaminbats]

35. in 2004 I thought he would be too old

now I wish he ran! Should Carter run 2008?..maybe so. Republicans certainly can't attack him for being too old, especially after working so hard to first elect a President with Alzheimer's and now a Vice President who had three heart attacks! I'm looking foward to reading his new book this November.

[faithnotgreed]

12. oh yea - BIG KICK for that

[Zomby Woof]

31. Jimmy Carter is a Study in Independent Centrism

Being an outsider in Washington appeals to the populist streak in us, but in all practicality, works against even the best-intentioned presidents. Carter was at times stymied by the liberal wing of the Democratic party even more than he was by the Republicans. This is according to Carter himself, in his book "Our Endangered Values". He expressed that Kennedy and others from the left flank often frustrated his efforts, including energy policy and economic policy. The Panama Canal Treaty was one of the few accomplishments which united the Democrats in his favor. Carter was a true centrist in every sense of the word. He was closer to being part of the Henry "Scoop" Jackson wing, albeit less hawkish. By today's standards, he is left of center, which makes him a particularly potent mainstream spokesperson aganst the abuses of the current regime.

Because of his devout faith, the emerging Religious Right thought he would do their bidding during his presidency. He didn't, so they threw their weight behind Reagan and ever since, the GOP has been beholden to the extreme Religious Right. I commend Carter for not allowing his faith to be sold out to a budding theocracy. He clearly understood what his proper role was constitutionally.

I admire Carter. I give him credit not only for Camp David (lasting peace between Israel and Egypt was once thought impossible), but also the Panama Canal Treaty, giving ANWR its current protected status, taking a principled visionary stand on energy issues - promoting solar energy and conservation measures we would all do well to heed now - and certainly, his humanitarian efforts worldwide since leaving office more than a quarter of a century ago. I often compare him to John Quincy Adams, another one-term president who faced similar intra-party conflict, had visionary goals he was unable to enact, was very independent, highly principled, intelligent, and also gained far more acclaim for his post-presidency public service. History renders its verdict anew every generation or so, and I believe Carter, although he will never be ranked among the very best presidents, will always rank, like J.Q. Adams, as one of the best men to have served as president.

[mountainvue]

33. Is it 1976?

Just kidding. I have a lot of respect for President Carter.

[NotGivingUp]

36. i just want to post that this was something available to us in the past