Long Burn

JC

Jimmy Carter has dotted the 'i's and crossed the 't's in his criticism of W:

I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history, Carter told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me.

We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered. But that's been a radical departure from all previous administration policies.

The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion. As a traditional Baptist, I've always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one.

Carter was the right man at the right time in 1976, after the Watergate debacle. An outsider, a man of conscience. When Carter told his family that he was going to run for President his mother asked, President of what?

The wags at the Lincoln Elementary School playground used to sing a little tune about Carter to the melody of the Oscar Meyer jingle:

My baloney has a first name, its J I M M Y
my baloney has a second name its C A R T E R
Oh I like to eat it every day
and if you ask me why I'll say,
Cuz Jimmy Carter has a way of messing up the USA.

Looking at the record I can understand why farmer's kids didn't like Carter-- in response to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan Carter ended the Russian Wheat Deal which caused a drop in prices that persisted for many years. If Reagan was the teflon president, Carter was the velcro president who caught the blame for rising oil prices. Oil went from less than $20 a barrel in 1973, to around $50 a barrel in the mid 70s before surging to more than $80 a barrel in time for the 1980 election. Carter caught the blame for rising interest rates. The Iran hostage crisis came to exemplify the national malaise.

As Commander in Chief he announced the Carter Doctrine: The US would not allow any other foreign force to gain control of the Persian Gulf. Carter created two cabinet-level departments, Energy and Education, giving these key strategic areas increased influence. He removed price controls from domestic petroleum production, established a national energy policy and moved the nation away from dependence on foreign oil. Carter was firm in his support of basic human rights as a cornerstone of foreign policy. Results include the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

posted by Matt_J @ 10:00 AM