Quick question about Jimmy Carter...

[kiki]

Hi all,

I'm writing a bit of blurb about Carter at work, and what I need to know is: how long has his whole "telling the truth to fascists and morons" thing been going on? That is, would you say he has "recently become known as" an outspoken critic of the Bush admin, or that he has "always been" an outspoken critic of the same?

Thanks in advance...

[Solly Mack]

1. Carter has never been fond of Bush

but I'd say his criticism has gotten more open - more direct. Carter is the real deal - meaning he didn't want to "pre-judge" Bush - but as events unfolded Carter did speak up and as those events got worse, so did Carter's criticism.

[flordehinojos]

2. i remember an interview on some television program the carters did right

after they left office, and i remember rosalynn carter saying something about she pitied the person who followed reagan to the presidency--because he was undoing so many things and creating such a deficit!

they have always been outspoke critics of the reagan/bushes (i think) and jimmy carter has never been a man to kiss anyone's ass. i think he owes that to his mother, Ms. Lillian.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. I know it "publicly" goes back to at least 2002, when he was going

to visit Cuba. Bush "requested" that he not go. I don't think he was ever as outspoken about it. But he has always been a champion of civil rights and the Constitution.

[kiki]

4. Thanks...

...I might go with "increasingly becoming known as", because it's more dramatic, and Carter certainly seems to have been getting more exposure (always with a negative slant, of course) in the oh-so-liberal media these days.

[punpirate]

5. It's a bit difficult to distinguish the interpretation the press...

... has put on it, compared to what Carter himself has said. There is a longstanding unwritten declaration that former presidents shall not criticize their successors, and Carter had tread on the narrow side of that line, often saying he's not criticizing Bush, but only offering advice. Nevertheless, the watershed event was Carter's receipt of the Peace Prize in 2002. The press chose to see that as an implicit slam of Bush policy. Carter downplayed that. When Bush told Carter to stay out of Cuba, Carter didn't listen to him, and then made a speech in Cuba--in passable Spanish--that made Bush look like the recondite jerk that he is.

In 2003, Carter spoke out against an arbitrary attack on Iraq, and the war was on between the Bushies and Carter. In the intervening years, as Carter's predictions have come true, the Bushies have had their knives sharpened for him, which is probably why they reacted so suddenly to his comments at Coretta Scott King's funeral--the text was already prepared and waiting.

The short answer to your question is that Jimmy Carter was likely always skeptical of Bush, but he never stepped out onto the ice until he knew it was thick enough to support him, and then, carefully. The Bushies, however, take any advice contrary to their own beliefs as a sign of attack and have responded quickly and viciously. When Bush's lies became apparent in late 2003, Carter was there to say the direction was wrong and was likely to lead to more trouble. The stark differences between the Bushies and Carter can be traced back to, at the latest, to late 2003.

[Frustratedlady]

6. Well written! Thank you!

I've always felt that Jimmy Carter was the type to hold his opinion until the right time presented itself to express it. I am glad he has finally found that time, as I think a lot of people (from all sides) respect his opinion, even if they don't exactly agree, and will accept it and spend some time chewing it in their own minds.

In looking at the dirty tricks of this group (Republicans in action), I wonder how much of it was going on during Carter's administration? He sure had a rough time.

[punpirate]

7. As for Carter's administration...

... have a long, long read of Robert Parry's "X-files" archives at:

http://www.consortiumnews.com

Much to explain how the `pug dirty tricks affected his administration and 1980 campaign.

Cheers.

[Frustratedlady]

8. Thanks for the site...

I have never seen that one but will peruse it while I have my first cuppa.

I was so busy with my family, during that period of time, that I never got "into" the nitty-gritty of what was going on. I remember thinking that the Washington crowd was giving the Carters a giant headache. I thought it was the "boiler room's" reaction to the Carters, due to them being from the Deep South.

How naive can you get? I just wasn't accustomed to people who thought the way they did/do. How nice it would be to return to that naivette, eh?

[punpirate]

9. It might take more than one morning cup of coffee...

... and a lot of it has to do with Carter's determination to correct the excesses of the CIA. That determination of his caused many ex-CIA people to align themselves with Reagan's campaign (partly because of William Casey being Reagan's campaign manager) and their assistance probably swung the vote toward Reagan.

The CIA, over the decades, has gotten very good at swinging elections. There's no reason not to think that the skills they acquired on the job were used in 1980.

Cheers.

[CottonBear]

10. The Republican dirty tricksters who stole the 1980 election from Carter

are the same ones who were in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush administrations. Cheney (former congressman and defense Dept.), Poppy Bush (CIA director), Rummy and many others were all involved in stealing debate notes and the Ocotober Surprise Iran Contra.

[tritsofme]

11. And to make things worse, Carter had the Democratic establishment

in Washington working to sabotage him at every turn as well.

Most prominently by Ted Kennedy challenging Carter in the primary when everyone knew he couldn't get the nomination, it did nothing but damage Carter's already weak position.

It took me many years to forgive Ted Kennedy for that campaign.

[punpirate]

13. In some ways, I relate that to...

... the primary run of Connelly on the `pug side--Kennedy probably felt he knew more about Connelly, and might have figured, incorrectly, that the `pugs would never nominate an extremist like Reagan. But, really, what submerged Carter was a concerted effort by ex-CIA people working for Casey and Reagan--of that I am thoroughly convinced. The media (especially Koppel and ABC) didn't help, either.

[Coexist]

12. Carter's book dealing with telling the truth about evangelicalism

is this month's non-fiction book club selection:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=209&topic_id=3300&mesg_id=3300


So he has been out there pushing for the truth to come to light at least since he began writing this - it was published in 2005.