September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006

Subscribe
RSS Feed
On Beliefnet
Blog Heaven
Quizzes
Prayer of the Day
Inspiration
Meditations
Prayer Circles
Memorials
News & Society
Home
 
 
 

Video: Jim Wallis and Jimmy Carter

Part 1 - Jimmy Carter talks about The Great Awakening. Watch it:

Part 2 - Jim Wallis and Jimmy Carter discuss faith, politics, and race. Watch it:

 

Comments

Jimmy Carter, our last honest, honorable President.
Too bad he had the economic blowback from the Vietnam War dumped on his Presidency.

I have always thought history would treat President Carter more kindly than his contemporaries. He may not be remembered as a successful president, but he will be remembered as an honorable man. This is something the Republican Social Darwinists who followed him have not earned, even among many of their political supporters.

The only president you have had in my lifetime who was neither a fool nor a knave

meurig

A decent man who was overwhelmed by a combination of honest mistakes and events out of his control, Out of office he turned bitter and just a bit dishonest.

In his defense, he was dealt a tough hand in office, and conservatives (IMHO) were rougher on him than he deserved. Ridicule will do that to a man sometimes.

Not our worst President, but far from our best.

Wolverine

Out of office he turned bitter and just a bit dishonest.


????

In the best sense of being an elder, Jimmy Carter remains a remarkable statesman. Love, timely change, and dedication to truth appear to mark his personality.

Weren't fellow Democrats in the Congress Carter's biggest obstacle politically? Remember he ran as a conservative southern governor. The lib. wing orf the party, led by Ted Kennedy seemed to have it out for him.

Yes, he did and does seem to be bitter.

Jeff

Bitter, perhaps, especially over his election loss to Reagan in 1980, though I think he's gotten over that since. And certainly while he was president, he was in over his head, especially with the Iranian revolution.

Jeff, you're right from what I can recall regarding his relations with fellow Democrats in Congress.

But I question dishonest. Contrarily, I think he has been one of the most honest and forthright presidents we've ever had, and he's never struck me as one who dissembles or otherwise comes short in truthfulness. The work he's done in the years since he left office will be a greater legacy, perhaps, than his time in the White House.

D

Don,
I agree, I wouldn't say he is dishonest.

Jeff

Wolverine, in what way has Carter been dishonest and in what way bitter?

Blaming the Carter administration's economic woes on the Vietnam War is something I've never heard before, and I commend justintime for his originality! In that the last U.S. troops departed Vietnam in March 1973 and Carter didn't leave office until 1981, I find it hard to believe that you could blame 20 percent interest rates and high unemployment on the war. I remember all too well the horrible economic times of the late 1970s and 1980 which make today's economic slowdown seem like a walk in the park. I'll agree with the "honorable man" label, but economics was not his area of expertise.

Vietnam War and the American Economy

The Vietnam War had several effects on the U.S. economy. The requirements of the war effort strained the nation's production capacities, leading to imbalances in the industrial sector. Factories that would have been producing consumer goods were being used to make items from the military, causing controversy over the government's handling of economic policy. In addition, the government's military spending caused several problems for the American economy. The funds were going overseas, which contributed to an imbalance in the balance of payments and a weak dollar, since no corresponding funds were returning to the country. In addition, military expenditures, combined with domestic social spending, created budget deficits which fueled inflation. Anti-war sentiments and dissatisfaction with government further eroded consumer confidence. Interest rates rose, restricting the amount of capital available for businesses and consumers. Despite the success of many Kennedy and Johnson economic policies, the Vietnam War was a important factor in bringing down the American economy from the growth and affluence of the early 1960s to the economic crises of the 1970s.
...
More detailed, scholarly discussions of the effects of economic blowback from the Vietnam War on the American economy are available. The effects took nearly a decade before on fiscal policy was able to restore balance to the economy.
Carter's appointee, Fed chairman Paul Volcker raised the Fed rate to 12%, and turned inflation around. This was a bitter pill for America to swallow and much of the blame was placed on Carter.
Those were rather bleak years for our family too but I didn't blame Carter for it.

justintime has it exactly right. Spending on Vietnam and the Cold War military was an enormous burden on the U.S. economy of the 70's, and led to the recession and inflation that began during Ford's short term. The single most intelligent economic policy idea of Carter's Presidency was his plan to make independent of foreign energy sources. Unfortunately those who succeeded him, right up to the current occupant of the White House, took us in another direction.

I see that you quoted entirely from historycentral.com. It's ironic that they first praise Kennedy's and Johnson's economic policies and then fail to attribute the Vietnam War to those very same men who started and then escalated the event that they think brought on "the economic crises of the 1970s." How can one believe anything opinionated they say?

When Carter took office in 1/77, the misery index (unemployment + inflation rates) was a manageable 12.7% and was approximately the same at 12.6% some 16 months later. Only then did the downward spiral start, culminating in a 22.0% index in 6/80. This was a direct result of the Iranian Revolution in late 1978, which resulted in a terrific downturn in world oil production.

Carter's fault? Here's my take: Somewhat, because he certainly did nothing positive to help the situation. His decision to let the Shah into the U.S. for medical reasons in October 1979 (bad error) led to the hostage situation only 13 days later and stopped our importing of Iranian oil completely per executive order. The failed rescue attempt in 4/80 emboldened OPEC's decision to rapidly raise oil prices in response to perceived American weakness. IMO, these were the reasons for a worsening U.S. economy; not because of the Vietnam War.

Here's a link to a pretty thorough takedown of Jimmy Carter's latest book:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/the-world-according-to-ji_b_34702.html

And if anyone can show that Fox News runs the Huffington Post, I give up.

Wolverine

Most people don't give Carter credit for being the father of the Islamic Revolution like they should. Atleast weknow hehates Jew's. And he's a moron. Know wonder he and Wallis get along so well.

Reagan didn't handle Iran very well, either - recall the arms to Iran for hostages swap that got his administration in hot water over the Iran-Contra scandal, in two spheres of illegality - supplying arms to Iran through the Israeli cutout and then taking profits from that and funding the anti-Sandinista forces illegally, all under the table.

We could grant Reagan, like Carter, the benefit as to the doubt as to his good intentions.

The gross insults are out of place on a Christian forum and violate the rules for posting. Whoever does so in that manner undermines their own arguments thereby.

Uh, Wolverine, I can see just from the URL that the review was written by Alan Dershowitz, who has an immense dislike for Carter and anyone else who speaks strongly about Israel's obligation to abide by human rights principles vis-a-vis the Palestinians. Dershowitz has tried to interfere with DePaul University's awarding of a department chairmanship to Norman Finkelstein for this reason. He has written that there are some instances in which torture is acceptable. He defends pornography and opposed the feminists in the Deep Throat hearings in the early 70's. All in all, he makes enemies very easily. Don't think his post on the Huffington blog will go down without controversy--
I doubt even Huff herself agrees with it.

Don:"...the worst relations with our allies, the worst relations with our adversaries..."

Funny, Kissinger should talk. He's the guy who overturned elected democracies and replaced them with dictatorships.


Mick: "Carter's years in office and legacy was failure..."

Mick, I suggest you Google "Sadat" and "Begin" and "Carter." Perhaps Kissinger is jealous that Carter did something he could not do.

Posted by: Don | April 5, 2008 10:33 PM

The comments attributed to Henry Kissinger were posted by another Don, not me, the one who usually posts under that name.

I and I:
I was going to say something about Dershowitz's not being exactly an unbiased observer, but you already did.

But Carter hates conservatives and blames Israel for everything , which makes him popular among liberals

Well, there's an over-generalization if I've ever seen one.

D

Don:

No worse than:

I can see just from the URL that the review was written by Alan Dershowitz, who has an immense dislike for Carter and anyone else who speaks strongly about Israel's obligation to abide by human rights principles vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

Wolverine

There is a reason why Dershowitz dislikes Carter. It's not just his fashion sense. It is interesting that his critique of Carter is deemed illegitimate because he has criticized Carter. By this standard, we can dismiss literally any critique.

Well, I actually read the column in Huffington that Wolverine directs us to. In it, Dershowitz claims that Carter erred in his reporting of history in his book on the Palestinian situation. I'm not familiar enough with the facts to determine whether Carter got these details wrong or not. But given Dershowitz's biases, I'm not sure I can fully trust his "corrections" either.

Regardless, Dershowitz's comments don't prove Carter's dishonesty, which was the reason Wolverine sent us there. Even if Dershowitz's version of the facts is correct, it doesn't prove that Carter deliberately misstated and misrepresented them, which is what we would need to know if we wanted to accuse Carter of dishonesty. I'd need to see more evidence to accuse Carter of dishonesty.

Mick, your statement is over-generalized because:
1 you claim that Carter "hates" conservatives. Hates is a strong word. Prove to me that he hates conservatives. Maybe he dislikes their policies and ideals, but I doubt whether he hates people who hold those ideals.

2. You claim that he likewise blames Israel for everything. Ignoring the fact that you don't define what you mean by 'everything,' since Carter brokered the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state, I question that sentiment. And it isn't 'blaming' Israel to point out the fact that in their treatment of their Palestinian neighbors, they have become what they themselves have claimed to hate--Nazi-like authoritarians. This sounds more like Carter is offering tough love than simple blame. You can take issue with that characteristic if you want--but demonstrate with facts and examples--but you can't claim that Carter blames Israel for 'everything.'

There is a reason why Dershowitz dislikes Carter.

Dershowitz's first line is: "I like Jimmy Carter. I have known him since he began his run for president in early 1976. I worked hard for his election, and I have admired the work of the Carter Center throughout the world."

Peace,

"The single most intelligent economic policy idea of Carter's Presidency was his plan to make independent of foreign energy sources. "

Just think where we would be now had we continued in those footsteps. We'd be independent of foreign oil by now. Alternative energy technology would be in the same place computer technology is today, perhaps even farther along. There would be no Iraq wars. No 9-11. Unless of course, they attacked us in some weird way to FORCE us to use their oil.

And this accusation of dishonesty really does need to be further supported. A person can believe very strongly in a cause, and may not have all the facts right, but that doesn't necessarily make that person dishonest. And if you disagree, do you also think Bush was being dishonest in starting the Iraq war?


Kevin S., I didn't say Dershowitz' review was illegitimate. I said it probably did not represent the views of a lot of the writers on the Huffington Post. Wolverine seemed to imply that its appearance on that blog meant that it was representative of a view widely held by liberals.

What I was saying was illegitimate was the following statement: "Carter's years in ofice and legacy was failure."

And if anyone brings up the Iran hostage crisis, I would ask them, what would Reagan have done better? What DID Reagan do to free the hostages? Nothing.

Regarding Dershowitz, we also need to consider whether he represented Carter's views correctly. As we've seen with the examples of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons, it's pretty easy to take someone's words out of context and make them seem to say whatever one wants them to say.

That said, I never read Carter's book about Palestine. Has anyone hear read it to verify whether Dershowitz represents Carter correctly?

Peace,

Part of the protocol of posting on a blog is to not use the same name as someone else on the thread or who is a blog regular. I appreciate "Other Don" making the distinction, but there seems to be a third Don who is not the one who often posts on GP including on this thread.

Given what was happening in those times between Vietnam and the Middle East, thank God we had a Jimmy Carter making decisions in that office and not a George Bush.

Heaven knows where we would be by now. Iran?

We should have so much appreciation for what the next president will be faced with as we repair what Iraq is doing to our economy.

Post a Comment

Are you aware of our Rules of Conduct?







 

 
Recent Posts
God's Politics Has Moved!
Just the Facts (by Jim Wallis)
A Colombian Peacemaker's 'Option for Civil Resistance' (by Janna Hunter-Bowman)
Beyond Just War Theory (by Valerie Elverton Dixon)
Verse of the Day: 'Stand at the crossroads'
Daily News Digest (by Duane Shank)
Voice of the Day: Lawrence Kushner
Ohio After Ike: On the Ground, In the Dark (by Virginia Lohmann Bauman)
Ten Reasons Why This Election Should Be About Issues and Not Personalities (by Jim Wallis)
Catholic Bishops Denounce Immigration Raids as Anti-Family (by Jennifer Svetlik)
 
 
 

 
Explore Beliefnet
News & Society
Today's Headlines
Complete Politics Coverage

More Faith & Politics
Interview with Jim Wallis
Conservative Blogger Rod Dreher
Responding to a blog post? Read our Rules of Conduct first.