Jimmy Carter’s heart of dorkiness; Update: Dork interviewed by Al Jazeera
posted at 11:43 am on January 16, 2007 by Allahpundit
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The latest provocative, three-quarters-baked missive from Spengler at the Asia Times. Dedicated with love to all our southern readers:
After Iran let the diplomats go, the provincial peanut farmer who stumbled into the presidency flew to the US air force base in Germany to meet them. He asked the Central Intelligence Agency psychiatrists who were debriefing the hostages, “Didn’t the Iranians know what they were doing was wrong?” Call it the heart of dorkiness: Carter was so horrified by the Iranians’ capacity for evil that he could not absorb the information, even when it grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him out of the White House…
The former president is hard to read without taking into account the southern US context. A partial explanation for his see-and-hear-no-evil view of the world can be found in southern guilt over the maltreatment of blacks. Carter’s chief of staff, Hamilton Jordan, heard his first briefing on the Middle East in 1977 and offered, “I get it: the Palestinians are the niggers.”
Jimmy Carter knows better than that: the Palestinians are not in the position of southern American blacks, but rather of southern American whites, the exemplar of a self-exterminating people in the modern period. That is why Carter identifies with them. Apart from modern Palestine, there are very few cases in modern history in which a militant population showed its willingness to fight to the death. The US south sacrificed two-fifths of its military-age men during the Civil War of 1861-65, a casualty rate matched only by Serbia during World War I. Southern blacks, by contrast, were pacific, Christian, and long-suffering in their hopes for eventual deliverance.
The Palestinians are not an oppressed people, but rather the irreconcilable remnants of a once-victorious but now defeated empire, living in an irredentist dream world in which a new Salahuddin will drive the new Crusaders into the sea. Pour a few bourbons into the average white citizen of the US state of Georgia, and the same irredentist fantasy will bubble up: “The south shall rise again!”
Update: MEMRI goes dumpster-diving and comes up with this clip that aired on Al Jazeera two days ago. What’s more offensive: his refusal to label the firing of rockets into population centers “terrorism;” his concern for how Palestinian terrorism hurts … Palestinians; or his apparent belief that any regime that’s democratically elected should not only be accepted by the international community but subsidized by it if need be?
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MKH comes in to defend the south’s honor in 5…4…3…2…
Slublog on January 16, 2007 at 11:47 AM
Wait a minute! He bad mouths the South and there just “happens” to be an ad with a car up on blocks on that page! Coincidence…I think not!
Kind of funny that Jimma has a problem seeing evil within the Palestinians or Iranians, but has NO problem seeing evil in our President. And by funny I mean tragically pathetic.
TugboatPhil on January 16, 2007 at 11:50 AM
I’m not going to waste my time defending the south, lord knows I’d have to devote the same amount of time defending the north. To those who will listen, racism knows no race nor region…it truly is an equal opportunity employer. Carter is naive. Carter is ignorant. Carter is a mean-spirited, bitter man. He is all these things not because he’s southern. He is all these things because he is driven by an ideology that lends itself to these traits. Ted Kennedy is all that Carter is, thinks the same. I believe the drunk-master calls Massachusetts home…..
ritethinker on January 16, 2007 at 12:10 PM
Please. Carter is more than inept, he is two faced. One face looks holy, the other laughs as he accepts blood money from the Middle East for his own purposes.
sharinlite on January 16, 2007 at 12:10 PM
And yet liberals hate southerners and love Palestinians.
see-dubya on January 16, 2007 at 12:14 PM
I guess that explains his Nobel Peace Prize……..
PinkyBigglesworth on January 16, 2007 at 12:17 PM
The worst President in Gerald Ford’s lifetime.
Spengler understands the South about as well as William Jefferson understands integrity, but he does get points for bits like this:
ReubenJCogburn on January 16, 2007 at 12:20 PM
What a pant-load of psychobabble. Don’t even try to explain Mr. Peanut with this nonsense.
He is just a grinning idiot, although an educated one.
Remember he was trained in nuclear engineering? I have trouble remembering that myself.
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Pour a few bourbons into the average white citizen of the US state of Georgia…
This is true for a few. Pour a few bourbons into me and, next thing you know, I’m lighting my farts.
I apologize, that was truly distasteful.
Matticus Finch on January 16, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Self-extermination:
Ahem:
More here, here, here.
The market speaks. When we say “rise again” we just mean economically and politically. And, that’s not a fantasy.
Now, everybody knows Carter sucks. Quit trying to rile people for no good reason.
marykatharine on January 16, 2007 at 12:33 PM
Wait a minute, indeed: now it’s gone.
I question the timing.
Jaibones on January 16, 2007 at 12:38 PM
Is this what’s known as “plainspoken”?
Heh.
Jaibones on January 16, 2007 at 12:39 PM
As a 19 year resident of Hickory, NC before I came home to the Va. mountains, I have to say, You go, Mary Katharine!
The stereotypes about “us Suthners” are so inaccurate. Thankfully, more and more people are visiting, and it seems, more and more want to stay.
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 12:54 PM
Carter made one contribution to the South- the Reagan Democrat. Evidence that he was and is dead to us.
Valiant on January 16, 2007 at 12:54 PM
Is this anyway to promote and sell a book?
Kini on January 16, 2007 at 1:11 PM
I can’t get past the string necktie.
Blaise on January 16, 2007 at 1:19 PM
ANGER!!
I’m sorry but I reserve the worst words and comments for the worst human filth and Carter, simply put, is a raging treasonous cunt. As an Ex-American President, how can he justify those statements and actions with a clear conscience?
Facts that Jimma got wrong or omitted:
1: We don’t want to topple Hammas we want to kill them.
2: The Israelis have killed woman and children because the cowardly Paleo-simians have used them as human shields and hidden behind them. They also use the images of the dead woman and children as propaganda. SICK
3: The Paleo-simians (Hammas)intentionally murder woman and children. (Clear distinction, Jimma)
x95b10 on January 16, 2007 at 1:25 PM
ANGER!!
I’m sorry but I reserve the worst words and comments for the worst human filth and Carter, simply put, is a raging treasonous “R”unt. As an Ex-American President, how can he justify those statements and actions with a clear conscience?
Facts that Jimma got wrong or omitted:
1: We don’t want to topple Hammas we want to kill them.
2: The Israelis have killed woman and children because the cowardly Paleo-simians have used them as human shields and hidden behind them. They also use the images of the dead woman and children as propaganda. SICK
3: The Paleo-simians (Hammas)intentionally murder woman and children. (Clear distinction, Jimma)
x95b10 on January 16, 2007 at 1:27 PM
Carter with his anti-American, pro-jihad rhetoric is the very antithesis of today’s Southern Gentleman. We are as patriotic as they come. The real fantasy here is Spengler’s uninformed perception of “the average white citizen of the US state of Georgia.”
RedWinged Blackbird on January 16, 2007 at 1:38 PM
No, he was trained to read a couple of gauges and turn a few knobs. He was incompetent as a nuclear sub tech, and he was incompetent as president. His current state is as a hired shill for the well-paying terrorist bloc.
Carter sold his soul long ago…now he’s trying to pay off his debt to his creditors.
stonemeister on January 16, 2007 at 1:47 PM
On thing I saw in the interview is where he noted that the Palestinians, when they bomb woman and children, lose support among their supports… Well I have talked to many Palestinians supporters, and not one has renounced the terror attacks… the best I could get out of them is that “Well if you didn’t have tanks what would you do…
Conclusion: Carter is a liar!!!
Gwillie on January 16, 2007 at 1:53 PM
He wasn’t trained in nuclear engineering, he went to nuclear power school in the Navy. He understands nuclear plant operation and mechanics, but that doesn’t mean he’s a nuclear engineer. My friend who was a history major made it through that school, for crying out loud.
PRCalDude on January 16, 2007 at 2:00 PM
So now we have a former U.S. president feed the self-defeatism of the Arab world. Carter has now just re-enforced the Jihadi belief(and most Arabs to be honest)that America is responsible for the oppression of the Arab world. This time it comes from an American, and an ex-president to boot. Carter just said that the U.S. wants to severely punish the Palestinians for voting freely. The Palestinians elect those that harm it’s cause, Hamas, and then don’t have their “necessities” met by the world community. So who does Carter blame? The same people the terror group Hamas blames, the U.S. and it’s zionist friends. Elect terror, demand the world finance your terror, then carry out terror on your enemies when they refuse your demands. Amazing how an American president, Carter, can learn no lessons from his own experience, the Iranian hostage crisis. Again, ideology trumps logic and truth. Is it any wonder the American people kicked this guy to the curb in a 44 state landslide? Look how smart the American people are when a strong alternative is there to define the incompetence of the other candidate. When compared to Ronald Reagan, it was obvious who the pretender was…………
ritethinker on January 16, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Carter, unfortunately, has become a National disgrace. It’s terribly sad.
NRA4Freedom on January 16, 2007 at 2:21 PM
That happened about 30 years ago. It was sad then, now, it’s really irritating (even his own people are leaving him).
Rick on January 16, 2007 at 2:43 PM
Filthy, WHORE OF THE CALIPHATE.
WriterMom on January 16, 2007 at 2:51 PM
This guy is the poster boy for moral relativism.
The democratic process elected hamas to power so all is well?
The democratic process also elected hitler to power. Draw your own conclusions.
I’ve said it time & again: This man should be arrested and tried for sedition.
locomotivebreath1901 on January 16, 2007 at 2:53 PM
A bold assertion, MKH, considering that you weren’t even born yet when Jimmuh was President.
On the other hand, according to the Bible, humans have possessed the knowledge of good and evil since the time of Adam and Eve. It is my understanding that this applies to ALL humans — but apparently people like Jimmuh are an exception to this rule. He still can’t seem to “get his arms around” the concept of good and evil. Oh well, like someone else here on HA said, “There is no cure for stupid.” It’s sad. How did someone SO naive get elected President?
CyberCipher on January 16, 2007 at 3:06 PM
Nonsense. The answer to understanding Carter is much simpler than that.
Simply put, Carter is an ignoramus. He’s blind to reality and stupid to boot. Even more so than others in his Party is his stubborn refusal to consider the view of the world that these 7th Century religious fanatic (the Iranians) hold as motivation for their acts, or the inbred Jew hate that the Palestinians hold.
I’m starting to wonder if he has an early case of dementia.
georgej on January 16, 2007 at 3:10 PM
Hardly surprising, coming from a guy whose older brother delighted in chortling to the nation that “Theah’s a helluva lot mo-ah A-rabs than theah is Jews!” Guess we have a pretty good idea of how conversation at Sunday dinner went in Carter’s family.
Much as Bill Clinton did, Carter ran a more appealing campaign than Gerald Ford. Non-discriminating voters fell for it, and the rest is history.
SpartRan on January 16, 2007 at 3:20 PM
From now on, we should refer to Carter’s “book” like Charles did on LGF-there was a wonderful photoshop done to the “book” cover.
Jimmy Carter: Jews Bad, Arabs Good.
WriterMom on January 16, 2007 at 3:26 PM
georgej
Carter seems to have an equally pathological Jew-hatred, and I don’t think it’s dementia. I think that it is true and pure. Carter is the moral apologist, while the Palestinians use the actual weapons to kill the Jews. Carter can’t make us bleed literally, so he uses all the other weapons that he has at his disposal: jihadi gravy train money, influence, blood libel, apartheid smears, moral relativism.
He might not be firing the Qasams, but he’s certainly a cheerleader.
WriterMom on January 16, 2007 at 3:28 PM
There is always somebody on the other side of an argument - Jimbo is that person (aka devil’s advocate).
Rick on January 16, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Loco, you’re right on that note! But then, you’d have to also bust Clinton (for Chinagate and other reasons), Teddy Kennedy (for conspiring with the KGB to overthrow Reagan’s administration), FDR (for setting up the 7th fleet for a Japanese strike by redeploying them from SF to HI to get us into WWII)…come to think of it, pretty much every major demo has been trying to destroy our country! Hmmm!
stonemeister on January 16, 2007 at 4:01 PM
No-I think that’s James Baker, advocate for the Saudis against the 9//11 families…
WriterMom on January 16, 2007 at 4:03 PM
ALLAH…
Gingerly, I place at your feet (in case you don’t read my eamil)…THE LINK ABOUT CARTER LITERALLY wishing to be buried in his own front yard in Plains.
SUPER SIZED and most humble apologies.
seejanemom on January 16, 2007 at 4:59 PM
Mr. Ford helped him along with his “…the people on communism are free”, or something to that effect. I don’t believe it was the Nixon pardon, but rather this comment during the dabates, which I never saw (just read about).
History is about to repeat itself for much less in 2008.
Entelechy on January 16, 2007 at 5:29 PM
Of course “in communism” :(
Entelechy on January 16, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Didn’t you live behind the Iron Curtain before it came down?
Rick on January 16, 2007 at 5:59 PM
Please, it’s a solidarity token for his friend, Saddam….
ScottG on January 16, 2007 at 6:03 PM
ALLAH?
seejanemom on January 16, 2007 at 6:10 PM
I’m surprised he doesn’t want to be buried out in Palestine (and I’m not talking about Texas).
Rick on January 16, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Bob Owens on January 16, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Doooooooood!
He wasn’t trained in nuclear engineering, he went to nuclear power school in the Navy. He understands nuclear plant operation and mechanics, but that doesn’t mean he’s a nuclear engineer. My friend who was a history major made it through that school, for crying out loud.
PRCalDude on January 16, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Does this mean that you DIDN’T read the Playboy version of Jimmuh, by Jimmuh?
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 6:37 PM
Well, I guess I’m no engineer of any kind, for I effered the blockquotes.
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 6:38 PM
Can we do it this week?
And from the article:
I guess there aren’t any rest stops in the part of the state. I know why I’d visit his grave.
TugboatPhil on January 16, 2007 at 6:40 PM
Entelechy, your instincts were right about the reason Ford lost to Carter(which was a very narrow defeat). The line that got Ford into trouble occured in a debate with Carter. Ford claimed there was no Soviet domination of Europe……..
ritethinker on January 16, 2007 at 6:42 PM
At any rate, PRCalDude and Stonemeister, DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU START IN ON OL’ HILLBILLYJIM.
I will believe that you will do your due diligence before you attack my assertions without cause again.
Just because I was born in this wonderful place does not mean that I can’t read.
I would suggest you know something about that of which you speak before you assume an ol’ hillbilly is an easy target.
BTW. Jimmy Carter is the worst example of anything about anything. He needs to stick to Habitat for Hilarity.
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 6:50 PM
P.S. Use Search engines. See lots of facts about J. Carter and lotsa fun stuff.
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 6:52 PM
I say this not as an insult (well, maybe a little bit), but as an earnest question: Is Carter retarded?
Wolfman on January 16, 2007 at 7:28 PM
The year was 1976.
I had just graduated from High School, it was the country’s 200th birthday. What a great year.
Till November. It was the first time I got to vote and I knew then Jimmy Carter was trouble. I remember having a rather heated discussion, with who was to later become my mother in law, about Jimmy Carter. She loved him and I knew in my heart he was trouble. I told her he was too soft spoken, too easy going, he was trying too hard to look and act like a southern gentleman, which of course meant he wasn’t. The conversation ended with me, out of frustration, calling him a spineless (p)wussy. Never did get along with her. Even after I married her daughter I got too mush pleasure from pointing out to her how much of spineless, idiot he was.
Ya know, Gas Crisis, Hostages, and The Olympics.
In my life Jimmy Carter became the first person I never actually knew, that if I met on the street I would have to force myself to stay calm so as not to give him the worst beat down he ever experienced. I would never touch him of course and this is NOT intended to be a threat to a former president, but that’s how angry I get every time I think of him.
Forget about him. He’s a disgrace.
Take care all
Bogeyfre on January 16, 2007 at 8:32 PM
“Blessed are the peace makers” , or according to “Spengler” at the Asia Times (who the heck?): Peace maker = dorkiness?
Listen to the clip than tell me what all that bull is in the commentary text? THEY DON’T MATCH.
Do you people actually read? Listen? No where does he give sympathy to terrorist. He is talking about innocent palestinian PEOPLE!
Peace makers, diplomats must be very fair and it TAKES skill, intellect and a careful tongue. Of course he is careful what he says. Of course he’s not going to call either side terrorist. OF course he’s going to be a humanitarian and going to mention Israel’s disproportional retaliation (in his opinion). To negotiate, both sides must trust the mediator and be FAIR.
Heck yes, I’m on Israels side (and so is Carter, be real). Heck yes the terrorist are an abomination, but violence begets violence. Most palestinians are not terrorist. It’s unpopular to criticise Israel, but they are not perfect (sorry it is true). There’s some land issues & Israel is not without sin, in his opinion. Criticism of Israel does NOT equal antisemitism. The Bible does not differentiate one sin is worse than another. We all are sinners. The old testament eye for an eye is one thing but an eye for 1000 eyes? How about turn the other cheek. Hey its in the bible, so if you disagree its just the word of God. Stupid bible right?
Violence will go forever unless people “like” Carter prevail, peace makers, diplomats, Nobel prize winners. (The NeoCons HATE that last part.) Bomb the crap out of them is the other way to go. That is what israel did. Even the US and most of the world finally said, please stop in last summers war. Who started it? Hamas of course, but that is not going to solve anything by crying, THEY STARTED IT. HOW OLD ARE YOU? It will keep on going on forever, check history. Carter got lasting peace between Israel and Egypt so far. Your welcome.
It’s pure Shawn Hannity FOX news rhetoric and hate to discredit Carter. Carter loves the terrorist? Stupid! Pure partisan propaganda, to divert attention from Bush and continue fear mongering, the Dems are soft on terrorism. Sad pathetic lies, deception and duplicity for politics. I’m not saying Carter is correct, but GOSH DARN folks, hate and bombing each other (and former presidents) forever is not right. I guess the NeoCon’s are mad Bush is taking a beating and lashing out at anyone. Clinton is not an easy target as a 86 year old Christian man, President and Nobel peace prize winner, YOU Bunch of bullies.
Carter is a good man. If you want to talk retarded, he’s much more intelligent than the current president. Don’t be sucked in by lies; listen to the video. Read the facts of what he really says with an open mind, if you can, not the comments of shawn hannity or “spengler-asian times”. Neither Hannity and this who? are scholars, rocket scientist or former presidents. The cowboy “we’er gona get’em dead or alive”, “for or against”, “axis of evil” foreign policy proclamations may be macho, but it’s not Carter’s “dorky” way, the way of a peace maker. Disagree but at least have the facts straight.
gmcjetpilot on January 16, 2007 at 9:08 PM
It’s really hard to even consider your generous point of view after watching the spectacle of your poor Palistinian “victims” dancing in the streets because we were attacked and lost so many people on September 11, 2001.
You seem to find your way around their transgressions quite easily, yet you seem to hold a special animosity toward anyone who doesn’t see things quite the same way as you.
Are you running for some office? Or are you really that blind to reality?
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 9:20 PM
The Palestinian people’s so-called allies are actually their worst enemies. Take a look back at history. Even recent history.
The United States helped to broker an unprecedented agreement that would have solved forever the “Palistine Issue.” Yet Arafat, being backed by “Death to Israel” money from abroad, rejected this giveaway.
The Arab countries have used the Palestinians for generations, and now, you want to dump the whole screaming mess at the foot of GWB and blame him for this mess. For that matter, for the bloody differences between Sunni and Shi’a are hardly our president’s fault either; yet, he takes the heat and he still stands up like a man and says: “I take the blame.”
I dare you to show me a man with half of the stones in your camp.
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 9:31 PM
Didn’t you live behind the Iron Curtain before it came down?
Rick on January 16, 2007 at 5:59 PM
Yes, Rick, I was born into, and live in, the ‘wonderful’ communism, which, along with socialism, our ‘friends’ dream of…how little they know of what they now have and how much they’d lose…I despise all forms of tyranny, unabashedly!
ritethinker, thanks for the clarification - much appreciated. And of course, I meant ‘debates’ not ‘dabates’.
Pilots are getting more and more bewildered.
Entelechy on January 16, 2007 at 9:38 PM
Before Drifter’s Spelling Police arrive:
Palestinian peoples’ (plural)
Happy now, O one who drifts aimlessly toward nothing?
hillbillyjim on January 16, 2007 at 9:39 PM
Today is not a good day for me to write…
Correction “…and lived in communism”. I no longer do, counting my blessings every day of having escaped it.
Entelechy on January 16, 2007 at 11:18 PM
I think your argument has less merit now that Jimbo’s own people are seeing what he really stands for.
Rick on January 17, 2007 at 12:59 AM
If only those here in America that romanticize the idea of socialism, understood what you and your family lived through, maybe they would have a different view of things - but then again, you’ve probably had this argument with lefties hundreds, if not thousands of times (to no avail).
Rick on January 17, 2007 at 1:05 AM
gmc, you delusional douchebag. “Most” Palestinians voted to be governed by the terrorist organization Hamas, which campaigned on a platform of “attack Israel and destroy it”.
Do a little reading, educate yourself. Ask yourself why leftist American Jews who have been aligned with this pos Carter for many years have abandoned him, and are criticizing him publicly.
Thanks for continuing to remind us why we are conservatives.
Jaibones on January 17, 2007 at 1:09 AM
Pilot it’s real simple; the Palestinian people have brought most of what has happened to them upon themselves. Hamas has done them no favors. Arafat was the biggest fraud ever perped on the world. This POS padded his bank account all the while his people were supposedly starving in the camps. Speaking of the camps, why is it no one ever criticizes the rest of the Middle East for turning their collective backs on the Palestinians. Jordan didn’t want them, Egypt said no, Saudi Arabia said no, Syria said no. Israel is the only, only, country in the region that has given land to the Palestinians. And yet Carter and his ilk seek to denigrate Israel for merely protecting itself from terrorism.
The Palestinians had free elections and what did they do with that opportunity? They said yes to terror and no to peace. So now they are pissed because the west says no to their demand for funds(which is nothing more than blood-money for terror operations). So now Hamas goes back to the Palestinian people and says the west and the zionists are keeping you poor. It’s the same sorry scene that has played out in Cuba for forty years. Castro blames the west for his problems while he lives lavishly, and can you imagine his Swiss bank account? He and Arafat could have traveled the world together a hundred times over. It’s the same vicious cycle over and over. Hamas continues it’s terror campaign against Israel, the Palestinian people elect Hamas, the world says no to Hamas blackmail, and Hamas goes back to the people blaming zionism, the Palestinians elect Hamas. Until Hamas, Hezbo, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa Brigades, Fatah and the rest are defeated militarily, neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis have a chance at peace.
But no, Carter would rather look at Hamas as a victim. With his sorry record on foreign affairs, he has absolutely zero credibility on this or any other matter…..
ritethinker on January 17, 2007 at 2:18 AM
But, but…what about the Nobel Peace Prize??
Rick on January 17, 2007 at 11:18 AM