Jimmy Carter Was Right

**maxx** · April-01-11, 01:45 PM

about our need to conserve energy. Mark Hertsgaard, author of "Hot" which is about global warming, says that nuclear energy will just make things worse and that conservation of energy is the way to go. Republicans have made energy conservation a dirt word so no one dares mention it if they want to get elected. Their mouth-breathing base and they have long declared Carter a terrible president but he got the need for an intelligent energy policy over thrity years ago.

http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201104012

**gibran** · April-01-11, 03:40 PM

Of course he was right and has been since in many many ways.. and in many many different conflicts,, it is he seems to go against the protectors of status qou.

**firstandten** · April-01-11, 03:50 PM

Sometimes it takes 30 years before you can appreciate a person. Carter has shown he was right about a lot of things, but of course as a people we want things to happen right now. That kind of thinking will always work against a short-term pain vs long-term gain person like Carter.

**Ray1936** · April-01-11, 04:01 PM

The years were very kind to Harry Truman.

**gnome** · April-01-11, 09:18 PM

The problem for Carter was that he was not a leader. Not in his own party and certainly not on a national or international stage. His single accomplishment was the Camp David Accords and bringing Sadat and Begin together.

If you want to talk about a liberal leader talk about the guy who gave birth to the EPA, OSHA; the guy that indexed Social Security to inflation, the guy who knew how go lead both democrats and republicans: Richard F@ king Nixon.

Maxx, your inability to see beyond your narrow mindset is classic: the close-minded liberal.

Carter was bad because he was not a leader. He mint have been a smart man, a kind man, but he was a terrible President. Nixon on the other hand was a prick but was able to end the war in Vietnam and open China to the world. The liberal accomplishments of Dick Nixon far out distance anything Jimmy actually got done.

**firstandten** · April-01-11, 10:02 PM

In defense of Carter the historians put his presidency in the third quartile along with recent presidents G Ford, George HW Bush and Nixon the second quartile is Reagan, Clinton, Johnson and Kennedy. At the top is Ike. W is in the last quartile.

Carter had several things working against him. As the ultimate outsider he faced strong opposition from his own party and had to fight off Kennedy for the nomination. He is a thoughful man who didn't rush to judgment or make a lot of sound bytes for the media to run with. That worked against him as to peoples perception of him of not being a leader. He couldn't tame the stagflation the nation had thru out his term.

But he is thought of more highly now than he was in office. A poll in 2009 put his approval rating at 64% which is almost twice as high as when he left office.

**gnome** · April-01-11, 10:09 PM

J C is by far the single best ex president of all time. The only down side to that is he had to be President first.

Does anyone remember 17% interest on Home loans?

**firstandten** · April-01-11, 10:25 PM

People love Carter for his humanitarian services, economics wasn't his cup of tea LOL.

**Gistok** · April-02-11, 01:21 AM

Although I too didn't find Carter all that great... it is hard to beat him when it comes to his post presidential years... he has done a lot of good.

I also like how Clinton and G. H W. Bush work together for good causes...

**Bong-Man** · April-02-11, 05:18 AM

Yep....and when Carter gave that speech on national television, the only thing sophisticated Americans cared about was the sweater he was wearing.

**HistoryNotHisStory** · April-02-11, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

If you want to talk about a liberal leader talk about the guy who gave birth to the EPA, OSHA; the guy that indexed Social Security to inflation, the guy who knew how go lead both democrats and republicans: Richard F@ king Nixon.

Maxx, your inability to see beyond your narrow mindset is classic: the close-minded liberal.

Carter was bad because he was not a leader. He mint have been a smart man, a kind man, but he was a terrible President. Nixon on the other hand was a prick but was able to end the war in Vietnam and open China to the world. The liberal accomplishments of Dick Nixon far out distance anything Jimmy actually got done.

Dick Nixon accomplishments:
1. Take America off the Gold Standard.
2. Watergate
3. Open Trade to China so the U.S. workers are out of a job!

Yeah Right!!!

**HistoryNotHisStory** · April-02-11, 05:39 PM

No one ever gave America the truth the way President Carter did.

He was candid. His words rings true today.

**maxx** · April-03-11, 07:00 AM

gnome:

I limited my assessment of Carter to the issue of energy conservation, so I don't know what you were reading into it. And yes, I remember the sky high interest rates on money market accounts, but they were determined by the Fed. I don't know what Carter could have done . Nixon tried unsuccessfully to counter "stagflation" with wage and price controls . Nixon himself admitted that his forte was international rather than domestic issues. And more than one person quipped that only Nixon could have opened up China to the U.S. because anyone else who tried would have been labeled a red by Nixon. He was a real s.o.b. when it came to politics.

So we didn't get a head start on energy conservation because Carter was not a leader? Then the same could be said for all the presidents who followed him because the only energy policy we have had is what the oil and coal industries have dictated. Reagan didn't even try to extend the tax credit for solar panels. Telling the people what they want to hear is not leadership. That's pandering.

**Whitehouse** · April-03-11, 02:03 PM

Thing is, he is mostly remembered as the president who was held hostage by a hostile regime. And immediately Reagan resolved the situation after he got elected by giving away weapons to this bastards! Reagan served two terms and what a disaster that was...

Carter was seen as a failed president. He wasn't. He was just way ahead of his time back then. He still is a major figure in my book.

Originally Posted by firstandten

Sometimes it takes 30 years before you can appreciate a person. Carter has shown he was right about a lot of things, but of course as a people we want things to happen right now. That kind of thinking will always work against a short-term pain vs long-term gain person like Carter.

Can you imagine a project like our Delta Works in the US of A? That would never come off the ground. Republicans would not want to fund that. Even New Orleans is not safe after Katrina.

**maxx** · April-03-11, 03:21 PM

Even New Orleans is not safe after Katrina.

All the Republicans who are not bothering to argue with the global warming deniers among their constituents have written New Orleans off. After all, it was mostly Democratic. NPR did a story about how the Army Corps failed to use the right materials back in the 50s when they rebuilt the levee around Lake Pontchartrain. They didn't use pleistoscene clay this time either.

**gnome** · April-03-11, 07:52 PM

Maxx, Nixon instituted the 55 mph in 1974, it was abolished by Clinton in 1995.

**gibran** · April-03-11, 08:41 PM

Carter suffered from the hostige crisis becuase the Reagon folks cut a deal to hold up th erelease of the hostages til after the elections.. arms were funneled and the Iran Contra Israel triad was born. and of course we still are dealing with the neocons "New world order" today...

**maxx** · April-05-11, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

Maxx, Nixon instituted the 55 mph in 1974, it was abolished by Clinton in 1995.

I can think of a few industries that would have lobbied hard for the higher speed limit.

RE: Reagan negotiating with terrorists.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexpe...e/reagan-iran/
"As president, Reagan felt that "he had the duty to bring those Americans home," and he convinced himself that he was not negotiating with terrorists. .."

Cognitive dissonance at its finest.

**gibran** · April-06-11, 04:08 AM

the aftermathof the Reagan years are still being felt by the actions of the neocons today.. this is a legacy that has cost us in wolrd standing as much as his trickle down economics has killed our nations middle class..

**Papasito** · April-08-11, 12:51 PM

Carter wanted to strangle the American people and decapitate American industry.
The advantage across the globe since the days of Carter have gone to nations like China, Japan,and others who's leaders promoted strong, industrial nations who were not living in fear of harnessing and using their national resources.

Our country is a former shell of the Pre-Carter America.
Our factories are in Central and South America.
Our refineries are starving for fuel.
Our economy is at the mercy of third world countries.
Our manufacturing is extinct.
Our energy production is crippled.
Our future is in jeopardy.

Thanks to guys like Carter Clinton and the Bushes, America is in undeniable decline.
The glory days are over. They now belong to Red China.

Old America was pro growth, pro prosperity, and encouraged
you to be all you can be and do all you can do.
New America tells you what you can not be and what can not do.

**maxx** · April-08-11, 01:42 PM

Carter wanted to strangle the American people and decapitate American industry.

And he showed this by doing what? And Nixon's opening China to trade has had nothing to do with the decline of U.S. manufacturing? Nor WalMart? Nor Reaganomics? You know, trickle down economics that benefits the rich.

What energy production is crippled? Oil with peak oil passed? Coal? Maybe we shouldn't be concerned about the pollution it causes, the increase in childhood asthma?

I'd like to see a source that says that Carter oversaw the decline in U.S . manufacturing.

**gibran** · April-09-11, 08:38 PM

Reagone was so good for America he empowered the neocon movement; and with their "new world order"' all we have is the trickle down of yellow economics..[[urine that is)

**wcts** · April-09-11, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

J C is by far the single best ex president of all time. The only down side to that is he had to be President first.

Does anyone remember 17% interest on Home loans?

Yeah that was crazy. 3% adjustable were even worse.

**wcts** · April-09-11, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by gibran

Reagone was so good for America he empowered the neocon movement; and with their "new world order"' all we have is the trickle down of yellow economics..[[urine that is)

Things were much better during the cold war. IMO everything went to crap down right after the Berlin Wall fell. USS Cole never would have happened. The first bombing of the WTC. The Soviets kept the terrorist in line. I miss the cold war.

**gibran** · April-10-11, 05:29 AM

The emergence of the sole super power may have focused attention to it.. especially in the middle-east..but it is our policies that drive the hate not our people.. when you stick your nose into a hornets nest it might get stung..but when you wack it and then stir everyone up you do get stung... we wacked it with our policies and bias...[[neocon agenda)