January 15, 2007

The Worst Person in America

Why be content to afflict a nation with economic misery, international humiliation and psychological “malaise” when you can throw in – just for good measure – journalistic sloppiness, intellectual dishonesty and grist for the white supremacist mill?

It may be miserable being Jimmy Carter. Don’t ask me. It’s bad enough just sharing a country with him. The thought of associating with the man in any way is too much to bear, as a growing number of his erstwhile associates are concluding.

The Carter Center lost 14 high-profile board members last week – people who could not in good conscience continue to associate with a man whose recent book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” has set new standards for dishonesty, journalistic laziness and disingenuousness.

In a letter addressed directly to Carter himself, they pull no punches:

Your book has confused opinion with fact, subjectivity with objectivity and force for change with partisan advocacy. Furthermore the comments you have made the past few weeks insinuating that there is a monolith of Jewish power in America are most disturbing and must be addressed by us. In our great country where freedom of expression is basic bedrock you have suddenly proclaimed that Americans cannot express their opinion on matters in the Middle East for fear of retribution from the “Jewish Lobby.” In condemning the Jews of America you also condemn Christians and others for their support of Israel. Is any interest group to be penalized for participating in the free and open political process that is America? Your book and recent comments suggest you seem to think so.

Those are just the themes. The specifics are scintillating.

His one-time supporters take him to task for misquoting UN resolutions to make them sound more antagonistic toward Israel than they actually are. (Imagine that.) They skewer him for treating bald lies by Yasser Arafat as if they were credible statements. They admonish him for pretending peace talks that everyone knew about never took place. And they nail Mr. Peace and Love to the wall for a statement in which he blatantly excuses the use of suicide bombings against Israel unless and until Israel caves in to all the demands of its tormenters.

It goes on and on, but they save the best for last:

Your use of the word “Apartheid,” regardless of your disclaimers, has already energized white supremacist groups who thrive on asserting Jewish control of government and foreign policy, an insinuation you made in your OPED to the LA Times on December 8, 2006: "For the last 30 years, I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced discussion of the facts.” According to Web site monitoring by the Anti-Defamation League, U.S. white supremacists have enthusiastically embraced your suggestion that the Israel lobby stifles debate in this country, saying it confirms Jewish control of government and foreign policy as well as and the inherently "evil" nature of Jews.

It is as uncompromising an attack as a group of people can conceivably make against one individual. And yet it still seems somehow insufficient.

Jimmy Carter is a despicable man. Whatever rage is aimed at him, he deserves more. Whatever ridicule he receives, it should be tripled.

It is no sin to be a bad president, and Carter was certainly not the first. And there is nothing wrong with seeking to atone for a bad presidency by doing good works. Herbert Hoover devoted his life after leaving the White House to addressing world hunger. He was exceedingly effective. Whether or not he did so out of a desire to repair his legacy, he achieved no small measure of redemption.

Jimmy Carter, by contrast, has pursued “peace” by cozying up to every malefactor from Castro to Chavez to Arafat to Kim in the hope that his unenlightened countrymen could only understand these complex men as he did.

What an utter fool. It would be merely entertaining if it did not embolden these tinhorns to heighten their anti-American rhetoric and actions – creating messes on virtually every continent for Carter’s more responsible successors (which would be all of them) to grapple with.

Carter’s book full of dishonesty, naivety and anti-Semitic vitriol should come as no surprise to anyone. It befits the man – a failure as president, a failure as a statesman and now a failure as an author too. Our 39^th president – a walking, talking, writing disaster who won’t go away, won’t shut up and won’t stop trying to convince us that he is not the complete disgrace that he is.

It is hard to think of a worse American. God help us if one exists.