Thursday, August 11, 2005

Exposing Jimmy Carter

Because it simply cannot be said enough that the very worst President of modern times (possibly ever) has been an even worse ex-President. George Will delivers a lovely spanking:

A quarter of a century has passed since 44 states said “No, thanks” to Jimmy Carter’s offer to serve a second term, yet he still evidently thinks his loss is explained not by foreign policy debacles, such as invading Iran with eight helicopters, and a misery index—inflation plus unemployment—of 22, almost triple today’s index. Rather, he seems to think approximately this:

Ronald Reagan won because he won the only debate. He won it not because of Carter’s debate performance ("I had a discussion with my daughter, Amy, the other day, before I came here, to ask her what the most important issue was. She said she thought nuclear weaponry . . .") but only because Reagan had Carter’s briefing book. And Reagan had it because this columnist gave it to him.

Carter believes this columnist was George Will.

Still, Carter continues to retail—and to embroider—his fable. Recently in a Plains, Ga., church, he illustrated his aptitude for the virtue of forgiveness by saying that once, after columnist Will read a report of his telling his briefing book tale, Will wrote to him “asking for forgiveness.”

Well. The only letter I ever wrote to Carter was in response to one he wrote to me on Oct. 29, 1993. His letter began: “For a number of years I have felt some resentment toward you because of the reports that you either knew about or actually used my personal briefing book in preparing Reagan for our campaign debates [sic].” He added:

“Because of this feeling, and despite my lifetime interest in baseball, I even refrained from reading your ‘Men at Work.’ Recently, in order to learn how to be a better Braves fan next year, I spent $1 in a used bookstore for the book, and really enjoyed it.

“Even if the news stories about the debate incident are true, I feel that we are even now.

“Best wishes,

“Jimmy Carter”

My Nov. 10 reply was untainted by any request for forgiveness:

“Dear President Carter:

“I am delighted that you have at long last overcome your repugnance and given yourself the pleasure of ‘Men at Work.’ I am distressed, as I suspect you naughtily knew I would be, to learn that this masterwork was found in a used bookstore. That is more evidence of the decline of Western civilization.”

Then, to the point:

“Regarding your briefing book, I will tell you what I have told many others. When I got to David Stockman’s house on the day he was preparing to play the role of you in the debate preparations, he had on his kitchen table what I gather was the briefing book. I do not know how he got it; more to the point, I do not know who thought having it would be helpful. Frankly, you deserved better. My cursory glance at it convinced me that it was a crashing bore and next to useless—for you, or for anyone else.”

Indeed, Carter has spent the last quarter century cozying up to dictators, attacking his country, and embarrassing the nation on a regular basis. This he covers with the veneer of Habitat for Humanity, a worthy cause now tainted by its association with him. This is the man who sat next to Michael Moore last summer at the DNC.

I came of age politically during the Carter Administration, horrified beyond words. At the time (remember, I was young) I was convinced that democracy was an absolute failure if it allowed such people to be elected to the most powerful office in the land. I got over that, but remain convinced that the Democrats cannot be trusted with power. They’ve done nothing in the intervening years to convince me otherwise.

Update

Captain Ed wonders if Amy wrote the briefing book.

Posted by Matt on 08/11 at 11:27 AM
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