uhhh, that's not going to help OR Jimmy Carter no longer the nation's finest ex-president
Jimmy Carter was an inept president. (Can you name three good things he did in office? I can name one, maybe 1.5.)
But many (even critics of his performance as president) have admired his productivity and altruism after his presidency. In any case, it's probably safe to say that the GAIN from his presidential to non-presidential years is the greatest for any president in history. That gain was reduced last night.
President Carter was quoted as saying that Joe Wilson's "you lie" outburst was "based on racism" (a hideous charge echoed in worse fashion by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times).
As Laura Hollis points out at TownHall.com, this is absurd and the way Dowd goes about it is reprehensible. (Hollis continues by drawing a useful comparison between Wilson and Kanye West's recent antic. One could also throw Serena Williams' U.S. Open explosion into the mix of knuckleheads who happened to engage in trans-racial verbal garbage.)
Do people like Carter and Dowd really believe this stuff or is it just like Ted Kennedy's death, another convenient but overplayed political tool?
UPDATE: Here's a quote from Congressman Hank Johnson (the man who replaced Cynthia McKinney!) on the matter (hat tip: Bluegrass Bulletin)...
"I guess we'll probably have, uh, folks, uh, puttin' on, uh, white hoods and white uniforms again, and uh, riding through the countryside intimidating people, and uhm, you know that's, that's the uh, logical conclusion if, uh, this kind of, uhm, attitude, uh, uh, is not, uh, rebuked. And that, uh, Congressman Wilson represents it, he's the face of it. And, uh, that's why I support the resolution."
posted by Eric Schansberg @ 6:28 AM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
"(Can you name three good things he did in office? I can name one, maybe 1.5.)"
I hope the legalization of homebrewing (at the Federal level) is among these.
Carter pushed that? Wow! That's ironic, huh? OK, that's not huge (in the big scheme of things), but I can move him up to 2.5!
I'm not sure how much he pushed it personally, but nonetheless, federal homebrewing prohibitions were ended during his administration. The regulatory aspect of homebrewing was returned (?) to the states. Maybe that's worth only a half-point owing to my not knowing what measure of advocacy Carter exhibited.
ahhh, the observation of that crazy 10th Amendment...
It kinda fits with the one huge thing for which I would give credit to Carter: his push for deregulation in transportation and communication. It was extended under Reagan, and generally, he is given the lion's share of the credit, but Carter was the catalyst.
Arguably, this is the biggest economic policy decision-- and the biggest engine for economic growth-- in the last 30 years. It is certainly the most under-rated.
I hate racism, but I hate racism disguised as anti-racism even more. When an individual claims outbursts from Joe Wilson, Kanye West, and/or Serena Williams are racist, that individual is not fighting racism, he/she is perpetuating it.
Half a point off for Carter on deregulation when I just realized something: he didn't deregulate peanut farming, where he made his money.
For those of you who don't know: you need a license to grow and sell peanuts in the good ol' USA!
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