Is Jimmy Carter losing his grip on reality?

Carter: US now more isolated than ever in its history

Published on December 10, 2003 By Draginol In Politics

Jimmy Carter was on NPR...again on Monday. During the obligatory Bush bashing, Carter said something totally insane:

"I can't think of a time in this country's 200 year history when we've been more isolated politically."

Really? One can almost picture Dolly Madison, freshly transported from the ruins of the freshly destroyed White House due to the British in 1812, into 2004 hearing that and slapping Carter across the face.

Is Carter really that ignorant of American history? His statement is completely absurd. Besides the example where the United States was war with Britain in 1812 with no allies to aid it, there are much better examples, shockingly enough, than the one that ends with the white house being burned to the ground by the British.

Fast forward to 1862. The United States vs. The Confederate States. The CSA economy was largely based on slavery. The USA, market capitalism. And despite that massive distinction, France and Britain provided aid to the CSA and were very close to recognizing the CSA. Think about that. France and Britain basically hoped that the CS would win its independence of the United States. You can argue whether that was a good position for them to take or not. That's not the issue. What is beyond dispute is that the United States definitely didn't have very good political clout if most of the powerful nations on Earth (not just UK and France) sided against the United States in the US civil war in which the opposing power was to varying degrees (depending on who you talk to) fighting for its right to have slaves.

Can you imagine Lincoln hearing Carter's words. The USA, in 2004, has British, French, and dozens of other nations working with it in Afghanistan. The US and many other nations are working together in Iraq. It is part of countless international organizations. It's made great strides towards establishing a free trade zone in the western hemisphere. And Carter thinks we're more isolated now than we were when those same countries were rooting for the slave holding states to defeat it in the civil war?

What's amazing is that if Bush had said something that ridiculous, he would have gotten tons of jeers from the media. His intelligence would have been called into question. But Carter says something utterly idiotic and what was Diane Rhem's response? "Why do you think this administration continues this course of isolating itself from the rest of the world?"

Clearly, Bush hatred has the same affect as mild lead poisoning on the left. It makes them crazy and a fairly dense at the same time. They despise him so much that they can't seem to think straight. And that's the friendly explanation. The alternative is that these people are just so incredibly ignorant of American history that nothing they say about anything should be taken seriously. I.e. if they'll speak on history when they clearly have no idea what they're talking about then who knows what else they talk about that they know nothing about. Those are the options: Temporarily insane or stupid. In Carter's case, probably both.

Comments

Anthony R

on Dec 11, 2003

Did it take this one particular interview for you to come to the ultimate revelation that Carter was completely detached from reality?

Draginol

on Dec 11, 2003

It took this interview to make it clear how little this man knew American history.

messybuu

on Dec 11, 2003

I never really cared for Carter, but after reading that, I dislike him even more, for either he knows nothing about the country in which he was President, or he is another bleeding liberal who will make up the most ridiculous exagerations to further his wicked agenda.

bakerstreet

on Dec 12, 2003

Carter is oblivious because he didn't have to work for a pool of allies; the basic structure was already cut-out for him by of the Cold War. Now, though, he promotes unrestrained diplomacy in an era that requires us to be submissive to get what he had once been given because of strength. If Europe is able to live as if they were a big retirement home, why can't the US? Right?

People constantly compare the US to sleepy European nations in terms of pollution, social problems, defense spending, or trade, with no clue that we are simply a different kind of society with different needs. It's no different than the liberals that wonder why the rest of the country can't be run like Beverly Hills, and if it can't it must be because our values or intellect is flawed. "Can't they eat cake?"

Carter and the rest of his ilk are so isolated from reality by their supposed importance that they have lost the moral authority to impose change on it.

GemCityJoe

on Dec 12, 2003

Jimmy Carter never has had a grip on reality! The only grip that I can recall him ever having was the one that Iran had on his presidency.

Patty O

on Dec 13, 2003

You got that right!

Patty O

on Dec 13, 2003

Carter's reality is this: he is a democrate, period. One correction: The CSA's economy was not mostly based on slavery. There were some if not few major slave owner's who benefited from that situation; The majority or southerners during the unfortuate War Between the States were small farmers, small town folks, shop owners, workers in the iron industry and lots of other industry. Writers of Southern History have done us Southerners a terrible injustice by blaming the Civil War on Slavery, when the war was really initiated by Congressman debating state rights and the addition of new states to the Union ,whether those states being slave state or free state should be admitted to the Union.. Surely, there were landed gentry who supported this mess, the secession of Southern states, but it was less about slavery and more about the power of a few in Congress. The debate about slavery was an aside, but has become the "cause" over the last century. This comes from one who lives in the "Capitol of the Confederacy!"

alex

on Dec 20, 2003

your comments are historically correct, however, it serves no purpose but to abuse President Carter.

President Carter was not trying to rewrite history when he said what he said. He was making a sensationalized argument,
which all humans and all Presidents have done in the past. Listen, if we were to base presidential intelligence based on
what each president have said, then no one can aruge that President Bush, using your own criteria, would be deemed a moron
because he has said so many ill conceived, grammatically incorrect phrases in the past and continue to do so.

Draginol

on Dec 20, 2003

He was making a senationalized argument? What does that mean? Is that a nice way of saying "He was lying to make a point"?

Words mean things.

Pyromaniac

on Dec 21, 2003

I believe that statement actually has a point in certain respects, never in american history has so many countries been utterly against us, even the ones that "support" us do so because they fear economic and worse, militariy retaliation from the bush administration. during the war of 1812, there was countries that supported us genuinely, but never like now, we have alienated europe, asia, and not to mention the middle east

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