Someday soon, probably within a year or two, Jimmy Carter is going to die. At that time, there will undoubtedly be a resounding roar of the bitter to denounce him and hope that he rots in hell, just as a segment of idiots on the left did after Reagan died. I admire Carter immensely and believe the world will be worse off when he passes. I was very young during his Administration, but I remember pretty vividly how often he was lampooned, particularly on SNL. Historically, people seem pretty bitter about his time in office, and if that was the only thing he'd ever done, I might look less favorably on him too.
After he left office, I believe that Carter the man superseded Carter the POTUS. Instead of just heading off to do nothing but play golf and give speeches to homogenous crowds, Carter went out and did things to try and help make the world a better place. I'm sure there are some who will crap even on those efforts. History and a chorus of idiots will likely always have scorn for Carter, and admirably, he could care less because he is busy doing important things. Give Carter another ten years of life, I bet he'd spend 8 of it counting ballots or building houses in some crappy part of the world. We need more people like him.
I agree. I do remember his presidency as I was in my early 20's. Except for the Iran Hostage thing and high inflation rates. But we know that a lot of the inflation is controlled not by the president but by the Fed. It was also a time when we were coming off the gold standard and into our modern fiat currency of today. Although Reagan gets ALL the credit the economy was on the mend when Carter left office. I do agree though Mike the guy was one of the more active and better ex POTUS' that we have produced as a country.
ReplyDelete"What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action. You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. You see every extreme position defended to the last vote, almost to the last breath by one unyielding group or another. You often see a balanced and a fair approach that demands sacrifice, a little sacrifice from everyone, abandoned like an orphan without support and without friends."
DeleteIt was true when Lincoln said much the same thing, it was true when Carter said it, and it remains true today. The graft probably isn't all that much different, but the perpetual cynicism about everything seems to have grown exponentially.
Jimmy Carter exemplifies everything I find admirable in an individual. As you say, he has been, hands down, one of the best Ex President citizens ever. Humble and honest, with tireless energy to get involved, he is exactly what is missing in the US citizen today, encouraged by our over dependence on the government to provide social welfare and moral edicts. To me, beyond the debacles of Iran and inflation, he attempted to bring what I find admirable in an individual to government institutions; His creation of the department of energy which has done little to assist either energy independence or security and the department of education which has done so much harm to the children of this country. Using his presidential energy to motivate people to participate in local government and run their school boards would have been a much better contribution to society.
ReplyDeleteCarter did manage one bit of good governance in the name of the Civil Service reform act. It has been said that only a Democrat could have pulled it off because if a republican had done it... it would have been called a power grab. But, no good deed and bipartisan work goes unpunished. Part of getting work with the civil service was to take an exam to judge proficiency... because only a small percentage of blacks and Hispanics passed relative to whites, his justice department, fearful of lawsuits in their name, managed an 11th hour maneuvre before Reagan took office to gut it for a quota regiment... Reagan was unable to circumvent the racial implications of reinstituting the test as one of proficiency and so our government continues on its path of racial diversity... and substandard administrative efficacy.
"... when we were coming off the gold standard and into our modern fiat currency of today."
I almost spewed my tea all over my keyboard.... 'modern fiat currency of today' Bahhhhhh