Jimmy Carter Slams Bush Administration
Former president cites international relations, environment, faith-based initiatives
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – President George W. Bush’s administration is “the worst in history” when it comes to international relations, former President Jimmy Carter said Friday, taking aim at the White House’s policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy.
The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented from the 39th president, also took aim at Bush’s environmental policies and the administration’s “quite disturbing” faith-based initiative funding. 
“I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history. 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,” Carter said in a copyright story in Saturday’s edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
“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.”
Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, criticized Bush for having “zero peace talks” in Israel. Carter also said the administration “abandoned or directly refuted” every negotiated nuclear arms agreement, as well as environmental efforts by other presidents.
Carter offered his harshest assessment for the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone.
“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. Those things in my opinion are quite disturbing,” Carter said. “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.”
White House spokesman Blair C. Jones declined to comment, referring questions to the Republican National Committee. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson questioned why Carter, who teaches a Sunday School teacher in his hometown of Plains, Ga., would attack Bush.
“Apparently, Sunday mornings in Plains for former President Carter includes hurling reckless accusations at your fellow man,” she said. “It’s hard to take a lecture on foreign policy seriously from President Carter considering he’s the same person who challenged Ronald Reagan’s strategy for the Cold War.”
Douglas Brinkley, a Tulane University presidential historian and Carter biographer, described Carter’s comments as unprecedented.
“This is the most forceful denunciation President Carter has ever made about an American president,” Brinkley said. “When you call somebody the worst president, that’s volatile. Those are fighting words.”
© 2007 The Associated Press.
I suspect that Carter, like retired general Batiste and others, simply feel he has no choice. The Bush regime hss nearly destroyed the principles upon which this country was founded. We have always had ideals, which did not always reflect realtiy, but this administration’s total abandonment of those ideals has emaciated the heart and soul of this great nation.
Who can be quiet when such events occur? Certainly no American who deeply cares for his/her country.
Fighting words? Bring it on! No president I’m aware of has ever deserved ouster, impeachment, and criminal prosecution more than George W Bush. Is he above the law? Is he yet more a mortal danger than already? Is his administration not a mafioso cabal of malevolent totalitarians? Revolt! To arms! Our nation is defeated from within by its own elite!
Really!!!?
Mr Carter, why don’t you tell us something we didn’t know.
Jimmy Carter is a good man who speaks the truth. His actions after being president show his real character, something I can’t accuse any republicans of having.
W IS the worst president in history. It’s like we took a 180 in 6 years, and it’s because of this idiot’s “leadership”. And though it wasn’t covered in the MSM (surprise!), W has been convicted of a felony in court over the illegal wiretapping of US citizens. Let me say that nother way: THE PRESIDENT IS A CONVICTED FELON! Shouldn’t THAT be enough to impeach him? What MORE does it take?
Carter is an honorable man, something I have never heard W called, certainly not without laughter afterward. But then, I don’t watch Faux Noise. And for the spokesperson, Ms Jones, to invoke Reagan’s name like HE killed off the Soviet Union by himself was PATHETIC. Reagan was the SECOND worst president we’ve ever had, so that’s a great precedent to cite.
Bring on the fight, W. We will remember EVERYTHING you have done to this country and shove it right back in your face, you coward. You ARE the worst president this country has EVER seen, and God willing, WILL ever see. You were an idiot when you were APPOINTED president, and you are an idiot NOW. At least Carter was ELECTED.
really ms. jones……..President Carter “…challenged Ronald Reagan’s strategy for the Cold War.”?
i realize the ’70’s took it’s toll on many of us, but i don’t recall Carter doing anything other than using “containment” and “engagement”, just like Ford, Nixon, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Johnson….
he just differed on “star wars” type spending, which is still unproven almost 30 years later.
In this country, people simply do not pay attention to someone like Jimmy Carter because he is too straightforward and too honest. We invaded & destroyed a country based on the fictitious reasons and killed many innocent people, and still we only love the story of Paris Hilton. Something is wrong in this country!
Something is wrong IN THE PEOPLE.
I don’t get this denial of perverse values by acting as if it somehow occurs OUTSIDE of the hearts and minds of the folks who live in the US!
It is particularly ironic that a right-winger would trot out the old “Reagan ended the Cold War” argument.
It is well past time to refute that argument.
Actually the Soviet Union and now Russia’s major source of revenue is oil. It was the collapse of the price of oil which really had more to do with the Soviet Union’s economic collapse than anything else.
And how did the price of oil collapse?
A major factor were the energy savings programs put into place by Jimmy Carter and a Democratic Congress - such as the CAFE Fuel Economy laws. These policies did not have an instant impact. But after a number of years they successfully improved US gas guzzling as new more fuel efficient cars came into use. I.e. during Reagan’s regime.
Hence one factor to decrease demand for oil and hence it’s price and hence Soviet/Russian revenues.
I guess we could give Reagan’s policies some credit - during the recession which began the de-industrialization and offshoring of America energy demand went down further as factory production plummetted and unemployment spiked.
The retorts by Republicans show that they’re clearly on the ropes. I don’t see them recovering for at least fifty years.
While it is difficult to disagree with the claim that Bush is the worst president, in general, it is a slight of hand to ignore the imperialist forays of previous governments. Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, are just a few places where the U.S. has attacked other countries without being attacked. While Bush’s wars are to be denounced, we must not ignore the underlying reasons for all types of hostile acts toward other nations: the U.S. is, and has been for a very long time, an imperial power. Imperialists are attacked exactly because they oppress other nations and people. The history of imperialism is the history of being attacked by those that are subjects of the imperialist nation. Bush’s actions are stupid, incompetent and immoral, but thus far, Iraq is not as bad as Vietnam, a very similar and unjustified war. Opressors get attacked; the surpressers try to make distinctions. Condemn imperialists, including Jimmy Carter, whose actions toward the Sandinista government was that of an imperialist. The problem with U.S. foreign policy is not preventive attacks;it is imperialism that generates all types of attacks, overt, clandestin, surrogate, preventive, and covert. As long as the U.S. continues its imperialist ways, politicians and governments, whether Democratic or Republican, will continue their immoral and bloddy wars.
I thought that when we had Nixon, we scraped the bottom of the barrel. But some good did come out of his administration. I can’t say the same for Bush II.
Matt: while I do agree with much of what you say, I do disagree about a point of history. Carter didn’t screw with the Sandanistas NEARLY the way that Reagan did. Remember Iran CONTRA? That was REAGAN, Carter didn’t have a thing to do with it.
Go one step deeper with your argument, though, and I’m with you. It’s not so much the gov’t that is the problem, it’s the big business folks. It’s THEY who had us parking gunships off of Nicaragua in the 1880’s, it was they who got us into this whole thing of using our military to protect THEIR interest, and not our own.
And it’s they who got us into this latest debacle. Until we are protecting the interest of the COUNTRY and not of big money, there will be problems like this. Assuming that we survive as a country, of course.
I must admit that I for one would love the opportunity to give the Chimp a good hard one on the nose. After all he’s been f*cking us americans in the a$$ for the last 6 years.
Well said matt donuts.Also,it’s possible Jimmy Carter got a jolt when reading of Gerald Fords thoughts published after he died and thought a bit of intestinal fortitude was needed in the here and now.
For saying what needs to be said, Jimmy Carter is becoming our best President ever. Perhaps he can serve as the chief judge of the people’s court which will try the war criminals for crimes against humanity.
Carter’s presidency was not perfect — he coddled the Shah and helped Samoza escape Nicaragua but it is still better than any presidency since. Of course what he says about Bush is true if understated. Bush has inflicted more damage to this country lead than any enemy in our history. If Bush cannot be impeached than no president can. It’s time to take action and Carter is doing what he can to get the ball rolling.
Jimmy Carter was a great humanitarian president of the US. There were many others like him before him, but he is one of our generation. His actions on peace were a genuine reflection of his personal philosophy of life. It is hard for non americans to imagine how much he uplifted the moral stature of the US in thr world. He made US a true world leader, a country to be revered, a strong free economy with strong values attached to humanitarian development. His was a presidency which could truly claim the status of a sainthood. He combined realism with idealism. Even in his post presidnetial activities, he has continued with this actiivyt in public life.
The fact that he has had to say such hard words for the current president must have been very painful for him. But he probably realised by not speaking the way he did, the forces of peace and freedom and humanity the world over will be even more pained. I salute Jimmy Carter for providing this leadership.
The United States is a great country. Even now, after more than six year of the current president, it has maintained some of its best institutions, not necessarily as a result of the love of such freedoms for the policy makers of the current president - the freedom of press, the freedom of the individual in the US, fiercely independent judicial system (though with signs of some (constitutionaally correct?) attacks on it). These have been maintained despite the torrent of attacks on freedom - intelligence oversight on US citizens, keeping an eye on what books people buy and read, controls on the internet’s freedom, creating an atmosphere of fear - by the very policy makers who have been disgraced (Wolfowtiz and his likes). All of it has been done in the name of protecting the US from terrorist attacks. The response by the administrations goes much beyond the need to protect the US from terrorist attacks. The response smells of an agenda of presumed totally false xenophobic tenets. The price is being paid by the US and also the non terrorists of the world, that is, the very vast majority of the world’s population - a much reduced quality of life where freedoms are being eroded - freedoms of thought, freedoms of travel, freedoms of business, freedoms of education - all such kinds. And they are being eroded because the likes of Wolfowitz were allowed to set the direction of this xenophobic policy in the US.
I know of many groups of people in London who love America and are very pained to align with America because of the administration’s policies. My response to them is that America is a great country. You can find peoples of all opinions there and you can choose to have your group in like minded thinkers. I can even vounch that Anericans as a whole are generally on the right side of basic human values. I only wish that they could see through the rhetorics of vote winners like George Bush and see the right from wrong. And I wish that they could develop such skills at the time of elections and end up in electing the right president.
Perhaps the avaerage American is too simplistic.
George bush’s presidency is bad. It is THE worst presidency as Jimmy Carter puts it. But George Bush is not as bad as his presidency. He is just not upto the mark in running the administration. He is happy to be the President whilst others keep on abusing his Presidency for their own agendas. And they are happy because they know that a President who got a grade point C at Yale is unable to grasp the real agenda.
In the mean time, we all pay for it by having to accept a reduced quality of life. We all have to accept the consequence of Al Quueda’s victory in reducing our liberties.
The senate and congress have both supported and cowardly/idiotically refused to impeach the Bush regime. They are all accomplices to the crimes.
An estimated 800,000 dead in Iraq, over a million crippled, and the bastards have NO remorse.
Dennis Kucinich and Al Gore are two men who are capable of turning us around. Apparently only one of these two wants to be the president.
Please check Kucinich out if you haven’t already, and consider supporting him. He “gets it”.
http://kucinich.us/
THE GUILTY VOTERS, THE GUILTY ONES, THE EVIL DOERS FOR LOVING, PRAISING, IDOLATRIZING, ADMIRING, AND VOTING FOR BUSH AND THE MEMBERS OF THE RIGHT-WING PROTESTANT BIBLE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND SPECIALLY, THOSE OF THE BAPTIST CHURCHES WHO ARE CAPITALISTS, ELITISTS, AND ANTI-CHAVEZ !!
If one truly buys Carter’s premise, then for the sake of the country it is obviously time to PUT IMPEACHMENT BACK ON THE TABLE.
Are you listening, Ms. Pelosi? The country cannot wait 611 more days.
A man speaks out to us about what we should know in our hearts and our minds. He speaks out to us because he has been quiet as we have. Now he speaks out; now we speak out.
One by one the chorus of those speaking out for life, for peace, for liberty, for doing right becomes louder. Let this be the beginning of our speaking out not in anger against this government, but to speak out for our fellow human beings with compassion and empathy.
Yes, bdrube, I buy Carter’s premise.
PUT IMPEACHMENT BACK ON THE TABLE.
The USA cannot survive 610 more days of this administration. IMPEACH NOW.
Even without checking history I tend to believe Carter that W is the worst ever. But then again, if Ron Paul does not defeat Hillary she could very well assume the new “honors.” By the way, you know Hillary is the horse to beat when you have the likes of Rush Limbaugh predicting her.
Thank God someone has the guts to tell it like it is! It’s obvious to anyone with half a brain what a catastrophe this administration has been, but most of the media, Congress, anyone who has a major voice, just pretends that everything is fine. It blows my mind–our “civilization” is really on the brink of disaster and the average American just doesn’t want to hear about it!
I thought Matt was telling it like it is, but WJM following up on his post, went one better. It is true, business interests just use the US government (all its 3 branches)to protect/advance their interests. America’s business is business, has been so, and probably will continue to be. Not a thing the voters can do about it.
Even if you disagree with Jimmy Carter, ( I don’t), to accuse him of “reckless accusations” is in itself a “reckless accusation”. He is a man who has historically displayed true humility, an increasingly rare quality in our world. His reluctance to speak out previously is evidence of this.
Impeachment has never been on the table.We elected the DEM’S to get us out of Iriq and that isn’t going to happen.Just look at the last vote to fund this war and look at the number of DEM’S that voted for support,it’s enough to make me sick. Both party’s smell the same.And as for Jimmey Carter if this goverment would give him a chance, I think he might have a chance at solving some of the problems in the middle east.When it somes to the DEM’S doing anything, its going to amount to alot of talk.
P.S. Mr. Carter in my eyes is honest and strait forword and a great man.
Reagan never had a “strategy” for the Cold War. He was a flagrant opportunist. Telling Gorbachev to “tear this wall down” while it was already crumbling - figuratively and literally - was “Hollywood” at its most egregious… as was most of his presidency.
But it’s darkly humorous that the RNC has to dust off the old myth of Reagan ending the Cold War to deflect the piercing, honest observations by one former president about the utter failure of the current one.
My dad voted for George W. Bush. However, being a Southern Baptist from Georgia, he likes Jimmy Carter. I am glad Carter is speaking out like this, for people like my dad who might listen, albeit a little late for the people in Iraq, as well as our injured and dead troops.
To be called the”worst in history” by a former president who was generally considered the worst up to his time is a fate of biblical proportions. To be fair Carter is correct on the facts.
Jimmy Carter was defamed by the right wing smear machine. He is a true Democrat, reviled by a fascist ruling class who went to the extreme of destroying the economy during his tenure in order to blame him for it. There is no hope in the Republicrat establishment. We have to take our government away from the politicians and give it back to the people. Only Gravel and the Green Party intend to do this.
The Iraq was was not about corporate interest. It might have been a convergence between the neocon’s imperialist interest and the corporate lackies in the administration. But the lackies were not even thinking of Iraq until the neocons planted that idea into their head.
Jimmy Carter was an idealist man caught up in the realpolitiks of American empire, thereby forcing him to support the Shah regime and precipitating the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets. Pretty soon, the neocons’ way of doing things would give away to the realpolitiks’ way.
Can President Bush pardon himself?
That disturbing thought occurred to me the other day. If it’s possible, I’m sure someone in his administration has thought of it already. After all, Ford gave Nixon a blanket pardon for any crimes he may have committed during his presidency. As I understand it, the president has the power to pardon anyone for anything. So while he is still president, can Bush give a blanket pardon to himself? If not, why not?
Jimmy Carter deserves praise for having the courage to speak out against this shameful and criminal administration. A few more ex-presidents should have such courage.
But Jimmy of course does have a few skeletons in his closet.
One is Operation Cyclone,which many considered to be the roots of Al-Qaeda. The operation originated under his administration. The first 500 million dollars to fund the operation was allocated with out the knowledge of congress or the American people with Carters signature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone
Our nation’s former President Carter will be attacked viciously for his comments. But I feel sure an honest man has nothing to fear when speaking the truth. Despite what people will dig up about his term in office, he certainly was not elected under a nation that was at calm. Look at what Reagan did to finally free the hostages.
I stand by Jimmy Carter because his actions speak far more than words. He is the only president I am aware of to take such an interest in the world and its betterment. Perhaps he wasn’t “Presidential Material” but I honor truth over slavery and knee bending to those who truly rule this world.
I am behind him 100%. Finally, we have a person with the standing and moral rectitude who can truly cast a few stones.
Again, to set one of the commentators straight, voters are not “GUILTY”! BushCo was NEVER elected. NOT ONCE. Most readers here know that he did not win the popular vote in 2000 and would not have survived an honest recount. As for 2004, I refer people to this study on the exit polls:
http://www.appliedresearch.us/sf/epdiscrep
The other point to be made is that BushCo is NOT POSSIBLE without the decline, corruption, and consolidation of the media, now owned by 6 major corporations with interlocking boards of directors.
The ruling elite are the heads of corporations and organizations like the Council of Foreign Relations and the (private) Federal Reserve Bank.
Know that BushCo is a PROXY for corporate interests and follows an agenda that is not out of his own malevolence, but out of the collective malevolence of the corporate elite running this dog and pony show of grotesque “creative destruction” and profiteering, plundering and pillage.
Democrats worked on the consolidation of the media with the Telecommunications Act of 1996! They laid the groundwork for invading sovereign nations with the staged attack on Yugoslavia–another war ostensibly for ‘regime change’ and ‘human rights’ but really about rolling back socialism and opening markets to global corporations. In the 1990’s, I argued the Democrats had opened the doors to Hell with these policies that I said, at the time, would lead to more horrible wars of aggression, based on an ever-tightening control over the media.
Dig deeper, the evil runs through this country like a current through the Mariana Trench.
Jimmy Carter is right about W.
But those who W is incompetent or stupid don’t know what they’re talking about and actually contribute to the real fools, those who worship the ground W stands on, continuing to support him by throwing out this BS line. Greg Palast as welll as others have made the point that this scumbag isn’t incompetent at all, as he’s doing just what he wants to do and damn getting away with it. Everytime these jack asses now backing this absolutely evil swine in the White House hear a liberal or progressive attack this jerk as incompetent, they see it as a put down of them. The best way to at least shake these people loose from being so blindly supportive this immoral, swine is to attack his complete immorality, hypocrisy, blasphemy, etc. We liberals and progressive have to stop all this fear of talking about ethics, as we have plenty of ethics, and the other side doesn’t have enough to wipe their booties with.
A criminal, and W is a world class one, isn’t incompetent because he keeps getting away with his or her crimes but because this criminal gets caught and punished so easily. This hasn’t even close to happening in a solid six years. Wake up, people. W isn’t stupid at all, but the Democrats sure as hell are, as poorly an opposition as they’ve been for not just a half dozen years, but a full dozen, taking that long to get the US Congress back from the GOP from the time of the Democrats’ 1994 defeat in that midterm election.
So many opineing opinions,
So much bothering to do.
I wonder if there will be any honey left,
“Oh My”,in the jar for Poo?
Carter spoke for justice, I liked him… but He was just as much a hawk when it came to oil interests in Indonesia and especially the terror against the people of East Timor.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB174/index.htm
I wasn’t that wild about Carter when he was in office like a lot of people! But, now he looks damned good I wished we had him back. At least, he was a honest man who tried to do good by the country. That’s more than I can say for the mess that’s in there now. It makes me physically ill to think almost 30% of American’s still support this criminal. After all the corruption that’s come to the surface in the last 6 years, it tells me a lot about the lack of moral’s in this country. What has happened to us as a nation? Where are all the high flown ideal’s we have always been known for? What has happened to our country when party affiliation is more important than the welfare of the country! I lost all faith in the American people to know right from wrong in 04 when they reelected Bush for a second term. They might as well have put John Gotti in the office as George W Bush. I don’t think Gotti was as corrupt as Bush. But, these so called ‘Christian’s’ are able to overlook the worst of crimes to push their agenda down our throats. It also tells me that Christianity is coming up lacking these days, it needs to overhaul it’s dogma and get back to the basics. I think religion in this country has become as corrupt as politic’s. We need to get back to the concept of ‘right and wrong’!
If we all really want justice via impeachment, then we have to take action.
Everyone who knows and cares should call Pelosi’s office & their senators & congressional reps at least once a week, and really pester them about it, and strongly encourage others to do the same.
The senators/congress people in Texas have multiple offices (and phones) in the major cities here, plus Washington. Imagine that it’s the same elsewhere. It’s probably a good idea to call all their offices at least once a week and press for what is needed.
It might cost a whole dollar or two per week in LD charges and take 15 or 20 mins. That’s not much when you consider that such efforts put us distinctly on the side of those who actively opposed the wretched Bush regime. Obviously, doing little or nothing to oppose Bush’s reign, is a way of supporting it.
Their phone lines will be swamped with calls for impeachment - if we get to it.
Don’t be complacent. Complacency is as ugly as war.
If you really care about the world, please record their numbers and start bugging their people about this - starting Monday or asap.
NANCY PELOSI
(202) 225-4965
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml
aum33
Right on!!! But you can call for FREE! Here are the numbers: Call your members of Congress now toll free at 800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803. Do it over, and over, and over!
Then, send an e-mail to Pelosi at AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov EVERY week and DEMAND that impeachment be put back on the table!!
Then, when you get done with that, call your House rep’s at the numbers above every week and DEMAND that they support HR 333. Articles of Impeachment against Cheney, introduced by Kucinich in April. And while your at it, vote in National Cheney Impeachment Poll http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F
There are a TON of other things you can DO to help get our country back on track, but for now, the impeachment ball has to get in motion.
Thanks
This garbage about Al Gore and Mike Gravel just sucks. Al Gore is, and always will be, the candidate to do the dirty work for those who have bought up 100 per cent of the stock in his DLC booty, and he helped found that disgraceful organization to keep the Democrats from being Democrats and get a new kind of Democrat, a Republican in the White House. Gravel is too old, at 77 now, for all the pressures of the presidency. Give it a rest!
I always get a lump in my throat and a heavy heart whenever I see or hear Jimmy Carter. Has there ever been a more thoroughly decent man as president? I can vaguely remember his debates with Reagan, and even as a child I can recall feeling for Carter, as if he was being bullied by this arrogant heel. It just didn’t seem as if Carter had an ounce of aggression in him, and perhaps that was his biggest flaw as president, if you even want to see that as a flaw. You could see it in his face during the debates with Reagan. It was almost a lok of fear and disbelief that someone could be so callous. He just couldn’t fight. And that’s what we need to combat the corporate fascists, a man of peace with some teeth, someone who can cut these robber barons to ribbons for the whole world to see.
People complain about the lack of civility in the political arena, that politics should be about calmly hashing things out. If anything I think that’s part of the problem. It’s why things aren’t getting done. There were many times where John Kerry could have delivered a killing blow during his debates with Emperor Dubbya. But he didn’t. It ended up being a friendly game of tennis, at least for the most part.
However, God bless Jimmy Carter. I don’t think he was made for this social reality. In an ideal world, every politician would be like him. Every American would be like him. Things must be bad to get a rise out of Jimmy Carter.
Jimmy Carter was popular because war was unpopular after Viet-Nam. I guess the buttons of hate and fear of the other guy during the cold war; are stronger than reason.
AD:
There are lots of healthy productive septuagenarians like Gravel out there with lots more knowledge and experience than people half his age who are running governments. Let’s not discriminate against the aged. If he can only accomplish one thing: “to let the people decide” through his National Initiative for Democracy, he and his supporters will have saved our democracy. Direct democracy is not an idea whose time has come, it has been in use and successful to the extreme. Check out his site.
Jimmy Carter is and extremely intelligent man, but any dimwit could make the same analogy of George Bush. Carter was among the best of our presidents. We have never had a president as bad as George W. Bush. This substance abusing,egomaniac, has screwed up everything that he has put his hands on. Just look for your self at this man’s past history.
He got to be president through two crook-ed elections, and the assistance of a Supreme Court, which his father helped put in place. If not an accomplice to 9/11, he had knowledge that it was about to take place, and let it happen. After the World Trade Center fell, the Commander and Chief, was in a position to do what he wanted. His phony war on terrorism was started with the illegal invasion of Iraq. The reasons he gave us were all totally prefabricated lies.
The real reasons for invading that country, were first, to establish permanent military bases, so that we could better police the rest of the middle east. The second, gaining control of Iraq’s vast oil reserves would not only help our country, it would more specifically increase the holdings of the Bush Family, and many of the key players in the Bush administration. Many of these people have been big oil men all their lives. The Bush Family, Cheney, other administration officials, members of Congress, and friends, and supporters, have made money directly from these actions. They are stock holders in the companies who are profiting from the conflict. This is the first war that has ever been so privatized. Since the Revolutionary War, out soldiers have been cooking their own food. Did you ever eat in a mess hall? They do a dam good job of it. In Iraq, Dick Cheney’s old company, Halliburton, is preparing the food for our troops, at an enormous cost to the tax payers. The troops are saying that the food is terrible.
Iraq’s envasion created a false national unity which lifted this lame duck president to the position of a dictator. Under the mask of a war on terror, this President has taken away our constitutional rights, invaded our privacy, robed our treasury, and has threatened our American way of life. Crocked politicians, shysters, and con men are nothing new, but this caper in Iraq, has resulted in the murder of over a half million people.
Good moral people must demand that these people be brought to account. The only way we can take back America is through impeachment. The democratic leadership in Congress seems to think that we should just ride it out. Unfortunately I think if we take this approach,we are going to find that the worst is yet to come. What can he do in 600 or so days? Plenty. A war with Iran is a very good possibility. There are over a half million people dead already. The nation is bankrupt. Are we going to let George do it again? I hope not.
The worst nightmare in our Nations history has been taking place, and there are so few politicians who want to talk about it. Bless you Jimmy Carter. I always thought you were one of our better presidents. Your speaking the truth today makes you, in my mind, the best.
Jimmy Carter, What took you so long?
The President is an unprecedented mix of incompetence, stupidity, corruption and arrogance. Corruption is the rule not the exception in politics, but the results have never been this disastrous. Our previous leaders, if corrupt, at least operated within some boundaries. They would have balked at the prospect of ruining the country. They would have balked at continuing a war that the rest of the world condemns.
Iraq could not possibly be about oil. Any benefit from looted oil has long been negated. Iraq is about a foolish man who doesn’t read newspapers, is incapable of reflection, and came to office with some strange notion of avenging his father.
Please keep talking Jimmy Carter; there is more to be said.
I would just like to add a thought I haven’t seen mentioned yet. As Simone Weil observed,“The great error of nearly all studies of war… has been to consider war as an episode in foreign policies, when it is an act of interior politics…”
The main purpose of the war on Iraq was to consolidate the establishment of a far-right, Republican Party “Thousand Year Reich” in America. Imagine if the war had been the relatively painless (for us) “cakewalk” the bipartisan American ruling class had expected it to be. The Republican machine would be unstoppable.
Yes – we are an Imperialist nation. We have been one since April of 1861. If you want that to stop then you must stop 19th cum 21st century Merchatilism and destroy the creeping disease of Socialism driven Federalism. Impeaching any sitting President will not do that.
As to the “sainthood” of Jimmy Carter – he sold us to the Chinese! If anything he should be tried for treason and promptly hung with wire.
People love to be on the winning team unless you still have your humanity.
The whole PNAC plan promised to wipe out all the enemies that neo-cons had in common. What the Christian Right didn’t realize is that when worse comes to worse they were only used for their votes. Some are still doing well in the stock market, but isn’t Murdock hedging it?
If MSM would report the real reason “Why They Hate Us” maybe we would understand why “there is nothing to fear but fear itself”.
Carter may have been a little of a hawk, but he was trying to please everybody. I see him as a decent human being!
I was proud Of Jimmy Carter for the first time I can remember. But then this morning after receiving a little heat from the white house he backed off and fell all over himself trying to distance himself from the most sane comments he has made in a long time. Jimmy stick to your guns you said it and you meant it- don’t back down! You can make a difference!!! Grow some balls for God sake and stand by your first comments!!!!!!!!
dougrambo - agreed
Why does it seem like all these politicians (past and current) are so afraid to challenge the present occupiers of the white house? This makes no sense.
Now “the dc white house spinners” and “the annoyingly complicit news reporters” say: “Carter is increasingly irrelevant”. As we all know, just because it is said, doesn’t make it so.
Anyhow, he is a former president of the US, he IS relevant and I think it is pompous and even shameful to call any other living being “irrelevant”. To me this speaks to the mindset coming out of the white house and just how callous they seem to be.
Regardless, I sure hope Jimmy Carter and other “elder-generation” folks will continue to come forward and express their views publically.
Carter has already said this:
In response, Carter said: “Well, I don’t claim to have any relevancy. I have a completely unofficial capacity. The only thing I lead is the Carter Center.”
Awesome response because it is a recognition that SCALE matters. I think we can all agree that on an ongoing day-to-day basis, the scale of the decisions made out of the dc white house have much greater effect than the scale of the Carter Center. This is exactly why the individuals in the white house need to be held to account to the people.
buffalo_ken
H.Res 333 - Impeach VP
I found it very amusing, and very in character, that White House spokesman Jones attacked Carter personally and not anything he said. The next thing they will do is accuse him of not supporting the troops or being gay.
aum33,
Re: Everyone who knows and cares should call Pelosi’s office & their senators & congressional reps at least once a week…
What for? They’re all on the same team! Pelosi had announced that impeachment wasn’t going to happen even before the present congress was sworn in. We the people are the opponents. Or perhaps “marks” is a better word for us. Thinking that our “representatives” are going to do anything substantive at all is to confuse the charade being played out in Washington with reality.
At this point, we have more to hope for from GOP congressmen than Dems. The GOP is on the losing end at the moment, giving the actors some incentive to kow-tow — however breifly — to their “constituents”. The Dems are in the catbord seat, and have no intention of shaking the tree by making bold moves.
Get used to it. Bush is in for another 600 days, and his handlers may be in for good.
After reading the other posts, I am very thankful that Bush is in office. Jimmy Carter was the worst President in my lifetime, and is an embarrassment to the country. I have never seen anyone on the chat shows as desperate for approval as he.
Yours for a better America,
Steve McDonald
Hello Helix,
I feel like I must respond to the statement you made that bush’s “handlers may be in for good”.
How the heck can you even say this. What is the basis of this statement. Do you know something that the rest of us don’t?
buffalo_ken
HRes. 333 - Impeach VP
machoyt,
Thankful for bush. Wow. Are you kidding or what?
Ken
House Resolution 333 - Impeach VP
I don’t think we have to wait time to pass in order to write the legacy of George W. Bush. Jimmy Carter has stated quite eloquently what any intelligent, caring American already knows…George Bush IS the worst president the country has ever known….actually, Dick Cheney is the worst president, but let’s not haggle over that issue. During the Bush/Cheney administration, the United States has become the most hated nation on earth. The Middle East and North Korea hating us is nothing new, however, when our former friends can’t stomach Americans because of the failed policies of a couple of egotistical, greedy, oil-addicted $#*#!%…that’s another story. Impeachment is too good for them. I praise Jimmy Carter for his true words. I hope Americans will be able to survive until those two are out of office, although, there may be a language problem…unless, of course, all of us are speaking spanish. Oh, yes, one more thing…I have friend who sends emails asking me to pray for George Bush. I pray for a country that he is destroying. GOD BLESS AMERICA and deliver us from evil.
buffalo_ken,
I don’t know anything that everyone else here doesn’t already know. Well, except that maybe I know quite a bit about computer technology.
Which means that I can take a pretty good stab at what happened to put GWB in office in the first place in 2000, and got him “reelected” in 2004, and what would have kept congress in GOP hands in 2006 had the Foley affair not surfaced so close to election day. As it was, control of congress was determined by a whisker, even though the country was overwhelmingly disenchanted with the GOP by then.
I can assure you, if I worked for Diebold, Sequoia Systems, or EDS, I could make the vote tallies come out any way I wanted them to, given sufficient lead time, and there is absolutely no possibility that anyone would be any the wiser. If this situation persists into 2008, I think the same operatives who are behind the throne now will remain there on January 20, 2009.
Which brings us back to Congress and who’s on who’s team. The issues with our current voting apparatus are well understood and, I assume, well known to Congress. Yet year after year, legislation to correct the current state of affairs never sees the light of day. I cannot help but wonder why, given the gravity of the situation.
When congress passes a bill requiring permanent, human-readable, indelible, voter-verified ballots and randomly auditable voting and tallying equipment, I’ll start to believe that they’re on my team. Until then, I have to think they’re playing for someone else.
President Jimmy Carters recent comments voiced the feelings of so many people around the world. I watched NBC news and found that President Carter had somewhat backed out of his last comments where he rightfully called the Bush Administration the worst in U.S history and Blair’s relations with Bush as “abominable, loyal, subservient and tragic” more appropriate. These words are from a statesman, a wise man could not have said any better and more eloquently than President Carter. Then there was this harsh backlash from the right wing Bush supporters and my disappointment is why did not President Carter, remain steadfast in the face of this backlash. I am truly ashamed, angry, upset that the decision makers such as Bush think, that his decisions are for the best of his countrymen, forgetting and ignoring so well, that most of the countryfolks do not support this war with Iraq or Afghanistan. These nations have been obliterated in a landscape of violence, bloodshed, loss of innocent lives close to half a million people have lost their lives and the gruesome tales of bloodshed keeps coming in like a perinnial flow of a river of blood and the administration is totally impervious to what it has created in these nations. Bush, his administration of cronies (Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice, Former Bush administration members such as Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld to just name a few) are nothing, but selfserving, powerful, conscienceless, powerhungry, money hungry thugs. They do, where they have to suck up to the Saudi Royalties for all their business ties. This war is unconcienable and I was so heartened when I saw President Carter speak up so well what this administration needs to repeatedly hear from all walks, sides and fronts. People to be able to speak up to the truth of what this administatration is, that this administration is an ABOMINATION to THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. I am thoroughly fed up and angry at Newsreporters and anchors such as Meredith Viera for not commending the viewpoints of the worthiest President we have had in the past 20 years. It is a shame that I did vote in the last couple elections. To see such lies and debauchery to help the Bush admin to claim highest of offices, for which he and his friends and cronies are the least worthy. President Carter’s comment about Blair, reflects so many nations and people from all the over the world feeling the same thing. Blair does not have even one backbone of his own to stand up against Bush and his administration and has been a great kissass Prime Minister. I commend President Carter and wish he would continue to stick to the comments he has so admirably made instead of backing out in the face of the most corrupt, deceitful administration in the history of the United States.
Sniff, sniff… Do you smell what I smell? That is the burning smell of dissent from on high.
There is a storm on the horizon and one that is going to take down the neo-conservatives or at least force them back into their dens of iniquities.
We have known this all long and it has been our efforts that have kept this alive for others to discover. Now is not the time to bask in the glory of our efforts. Now is the time to fan the fires and bring down those that dare disgrace the republic. We will not rest until we take back what is rightfully ours, for this country belongs to its people. (imagine the author riding a horse with sword and shield and a blue painted face).
Okay, I’m done…
Helix - Thank-you for responding. Now I understand what you meant, and I agree something must be done to return confidence to the voting process.
This does speak to just how dreadfully dismal the current state of affairs is.
* Suspect voting procedures;
* Leadership that seems so disconnected from the people;
* Ongoing insane war;
* Pending ecological collapse on so many levels;
* Possible financial collapse attributable to so much debt;
* Shameful poverty; and
* Immense suffering of innocence.
I could probably list a few more, but I think I’ve made my point. We are kidding ourselves if we pretend that all of these dreadfully dismal things are not connected or even worse are not our current reality. No wonder honorable individuals like Jimmy Carter feel compelled to speak up — particularly because it could be so much better.
I reckon we have reached the inevitable “fork in the road” (or precipice if you prefer that metaphor). I suspect most Common Dream readers already sense this. But are our elected office holders aware? It is hard for me to tell, but it seems as if they are beholden to something besides the voters who put them in office.
Those in leadership roles, particularly those in congress, and specifically the Speaker of the House wield a considerable amount of vested influence and power. But, if this influence and power is not wielded in the interest of the voters and more generally in the interst of people’s collective will, then I say WOE to you representatives. Time is of the essence.
Sincerely,
Ken Hausle
I support House Resolution 333 (Impeach the VP) as a critical first step towards remedy
Hooray for Carter.
Failure to speak out against the barbaric thugs in the white house - by those who see what’s going on is criminal
Impeachment is what we need to be calling for.
Please call your politicians, not just one time, but call them ONCE A WEEK and tell them to end the war AND
To IMPEACH the war criminals in the white house NOW. We really need to bug the hell out of them on this til they do it.
#
Don’t forget to call: NANCY PELOSI
(202) 225-4965
Call your members of the Senate/Congress now toll free at 800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803 to tell them it’s time to IMPEACH THE CRIMINALS in the white house and to END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.
Find your senator’s phone number here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
aum33 - Thanks, I’ve contacted my Senator. Lets see now, I’ve sent an e-mail note to Speaker Pelosi, and now my Senator, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina. I wish wisdom upon these two ladies !!!!! OK, instead of that, I just wish they would read my notes and dare I ask that they actually give them consideration !!!! Why not, it can’t hurt to ask can it ????
Time will tell, but if more of us communicate directly to our representatives, then I just want to believe that good things could happen.
Peace,
Ken
Well,
I doubt anyone else will be reading this, but I want to go on record. Here it is (family in witness), June 19, 2007 and I finally hear back from my Senator, Ms. Elizabeth Dole.
I won’t bore you with the details of the letter. Suffice it to say she is in the corner of the man who occupies the white house at this moment in time. She also said something about a “slow bleed” which I think is in very poor taste given her red cross background. Hm.
What surprised me is the date of her letter, May 24, 2007 - why did it take this letter almost a month to get delivered. Letters almost always get here in 2 days or so. “Some_thin ain’t right”. Thats what I say.
I think a storm is about to kum. Kum in. Storm of the century…..Storm of the millenia…..Storm of storms…..a storm to remember….
Peace,
Ken Hausle, a.k.a. buffalo_ken
* I support House Resolution 333 - Impeach the VP
***** time is of the essence *****
After 9/11, the world was with us. ALMOST EVERY COUNTRY WAS COOPERATING WITH US!!!! We clobbered the Taliban, and they interviewed former Senior Taliban folks who were shocked at how quickly they were defeated (they lasted over a decade against the Soviets). They were so soundly defeated, that they had NO PLANS to continue the fight with the U.S. After Iraq, most of the world wants nothing to do with us, and the Taliban learned a new tactic from the Iraqi insurgents. Now our troops are dying more frequently there, too. Thanks to our IDIOT president!!
God Bless Jimmy Carter and all peacemakers in the world.
Thank you Jimmy Carrter for speaking out with TRUTH on every issue.
A POX on the houses of G W Bush + Cheney and all war mongers in and out of US government.
They MUST pay for their crimes against humanuty with life long jail terms to set an example and warning to all other would be traiders and warmongers.
Jimmy Carter is the worst President in my lifetime. I actually supported him back in the 70s. Little did I know that over 3 decades later, I would be fighting Islamic Facists in Afghanistan and Iraq. Followers of the same fanatics who took over Iran after Jimmy Carter’s failed international policy of appeasement and cowardice. Jimmy Carter almost ruined this country. Of course, he had help from all the other Democrat idiots on Capitol Hill. I cannot understand how you people still see him as a hero. OPEC, energy shortages, high inflation, high interest rates, Panama Canal and the list keeps going on and on. All I have to say to the liberal, pie eyed Democrats (most who are still in college sucking at the government teat) “Just wait until you are out there working for a living and you see the FICA and SS taxes being taken out of your checks. Then add socialized healthcare, massive government projects and the loss of our defense force and you will be begging the Republicans to come back and save the day”.