Brass Knuckles

I’m not going to even get into the whole race issue – I think that Jimmy Carter reading race into Joe Wilson’s “Liar!” outburst over Obamacare and illegals aliens says more about Jimmy Carter than it does about Joe Wilson. 

But for Carter to claim now that the office of the president should be treated with respect is just pure hogwash, and only a biased media would let him say that without challenge.  Here’s Jimmy Carter in an AP article titled, “Wilson’s son disputes Carter’s claim of racism“, with a complete non sequitur about the fact that Jimmy Carter appointed women, blacks and Hispanics to government jobs.   News flash to Greg Bluestein of the AP; George Bush appointed the first black Secretary of State, the first black woman Secretary of State and the first Latino to AG, and I’m sure he appointed a few other minorities along the way. 

Carter called Wilson’s comment “dastardly” and an aftershock of racist views that have permeated American politics for decades.

“The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state,” said Carter, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work to promote human rights and resolve international conflicts. “And no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect.”

As president, Carter appointed record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to government jobs. Under The Carter Center, Carter and his team of experts work to resolve conflict and promote democracy, among other goals.

 So how good was President Carter at respecting the office of the president?  Here’s Jimmy Carter a short two years ago on May 19, 2007, as reported by the New York Times in their article titled, “Carter Criticizes Bush and Blair on War in Iraq“.

Former President Jimmy Carter criticized George W. Bush’s presidency in interviews released Saturday as “the worst in history” in international relations and faulted Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain for his loyal relationship with Mr. Bush.

“I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history,” Mr. Carter, 82, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a telephone interview with The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from the Carter Center in Atlanta.

“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,” Mr. Carter told the newspaper.

In an interview on BBC radio, he criticized Mr. Blair for his close relations with the president, particularly concerning the Iraq war.

“Abominable,” he said when asked how he would characterize Mr. Blair’s relationship with Mr. Bush. “Loyal, blind, apparently subservient.”

“I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world,” he said.

Jimmy Carter’s criticism is all the more grating in light of the fact that he has been the most egregious in breaking protocol that dictates that presidents do not criticize their successors in the job, mostly to observe decorum and to respect the office. 

 So there you go – Jimmy Carter says that you should respect the office of the president, and Jimmy Carter openly criticizes a sitting president and harshly denounces not only US government policy, but also lashed out at one our most esteemed and loyal allies in the world.

So it’s clear; Jimmy Carter wasn’t overly concerned with “respecting the office of the presidency” when he broke protocol and openly and viciously attacked a sitting president, George W. Bush, in the press.  So for Jimmy Carter, it’s clearly about respecting the man, and not the office. 

So… is Jimmy Carter lashing out at critics of President Obama and fighting for the honor of the presidency because Obama is black, or because he’s a Democrat?