Decision ‘08

Jimmy Carter Comes Through

It’s always been hard for me to be too critical of Jimmy Carter; as presidents go, he was pretty lousy. He’s also said some really ridiculous things, and has been on the wrong side of too many foreign policy issues. Yet and still, he’s a living former President of the United States. That means something…I was brought up to respect the office of the President, and to give the President my support in all but the most extraordinary circumstances, regardless of party affiliation, particularly when the going gets tough.

Why the patriotic preamble? Because, I’m happy to say that for once, my support of Carter is unqualified, after he made this most welcome contribution to the Katrina debate:

Ten days after it was known that an extraordinary storm was approaching the Gulf Coast, the ravages of the hurricane and the human suffering have still not been adequately addressed. This is not a time for partisan recriminations, because the clear threats to New Orleans have been recognized and analyzed for decades, and no adequate preventive or corrective action has been planned or funded.

…[T]he clear threats to New Orleans have been recognized and analyzed for decades, and no adequate preventive or corrective action has been planned or funded.

That’s an extraordinarily clear statement that puts a dagger right through the heart of the anti-Bush conspiracists who were so certain that Katrina spelled the doom of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Oh, sure, Jimmy being Jimmy, he goes on to talk about global warming, the need to retain the estate tax, blah, blah, blah…but it hardly matters, because with that single statement, he has shamed the Kossacks, the Huff’n'Puffers, the Reids and Pelosis…they’ll pretend they didn’t hear or didn’t know, but they heard; they know…the game is up; the tide has been turning against them since the initial crisis passed, and now they stand exposed as naked partisans, recklessly conspiring against their political opponents in a time of great national sorrow and need.

A question for Howard Fineman: do you still think Bush’s whole second term is down the tubes? Must be some good stuff you’re smoking…

3 Responses to “Jimmy Carter Comes Through”

1 The Politburo Diktat Says:
September 8th, 2005 at 9:13 pm
Enviros Stopped New Orleans Floodgates

Alan K. Henderson: Did Environmentalists Doom New Orleans?
At FrontPage Magazine, Michael Tremoflie tells of a flood control project that was stopped by the environmentalist lobby:
In the 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Lake Pontchart…
2 Clint Says:
September 8th, 2005 at 11:11 pm
Mark, you give them way too much credit.

These are people who scream racism at the use of words like ‘niggardly’ and ‘refugee’.

Jimmy Carter said: “Ten days after… human suffering have still not been adequately addressed.”

Angry Leftist hears: “Bush delayed efforts by ten days.”

Jimmy Carter said: “This is not the time for partisan recriminations.”

Angry Leftist hears: “This is not the time for partisans to try to defend Shrub.”

Jimmy Carter said: “clear threats… have been recognized and analyzed for decades…”

Angry Leftist hears: “Bush Knew!!”

Jimmy Carter said: “no adequate preventive or corrective action has been planned or funded.”

Angry Leftist hears: “Bush did nothing!!

I doubt one Kossack in a hundred would have noticed that anything in Carter’s statement contradicted their reality-based existence. In fact, I doubt one in ten would acknowledge it after having it pointed it out.
3 Mark Says:
September 8th, 2005 at 11:17 pm
Clint, just let me have my delusional fantasies, please! Oh, sorry, I’ve been at Huff’n'Puff so much lately I thought I was one of their bloggers…seriously, great comment, and I did debate saying ’should’ shame rather than shamed…but I do think at least, oh, say, 60% of these clowns KNOW deep down that what they are doing is wrong…the glee some of these people display, faced with the death of thousands, as long as it might damage Bush…unforgivable…