Former President Jimmy Carter took another swing at our amoral Veep yesterday, saying that Dick Cheney, "hasn't been right on hardly anything." Carter went on to call Cheney a "disaster" with "undue influence" on the president.
I'm sure that conservatives and the whacko right will come down hard on Carter for his comments, as they usually do. You see, they can't refute what he says with facts. Because the facts rarely support their efforts to cover up for wayward Republican presidents and officials. Instead, they'll try to dismiss Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and go back to thinking of new and creative ways in which to spin the the unspinnable.
They'll also spout out some kind of hullabaloo about former presidents not speaking ill of the current administration. Which is always a hypocritical route to take considering that former President Reagan spent 8 years distorting the records of Carter and even fellow Republicans Ford and Nixon, just to deflect any criticism from him. I guess when Carter started firing back at Reagan they thought that they were entitled to some sort of presidential exception.
But frankly, I appreciate it when the former president calls upon his wealth of knowledge and experience to pass opinions - both good and bad - about how the current occupants of the White House are doing. It's not like he held his tongue when Bill Clinton was in office. So if Republicans stomp their feet and give in to their usual anti-Carter rants, just suggest to them that they should actually consider what he's saying. Because all Carter did was state the obvious.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Al Gore, 7 years removed from having the 2000 presidential election stolen from him, can feel a certain amount of gratification. Draft Gore launched their last best move in which to attempt to lure Gore into the 2008 presidential race. I more or less gave up any real hopes that Gore would enter the race during the summer. Since then I've operated on the assumption that I'm going to have to choose from the current crop of Democrats to support. If I voted my heart, I'd probably go with Dennis Kucinich. If I went with our best chance of winning in 2008, I'd vote for John Edwards. However, it would do my heart good to see Al step in this race, and step over Hillary and give us a real shot at changing the fortunes of this country.
Instead, we may have to settle for supporting Gore's chances for a Nobel Peace Prize. Still, it's great to see so many people embracing Al. He's possibly given more to us than we've given him.
3 comments:
I respect Carter for speaking out. He has proven himself on the world humanitarian stage and history has shown his dealings in Iran were correct. Republicans are dismissive of his and treat him poorly, which is what they do to everyone that they are afraid of.
I too have given up on Gore but I have signed all the draft petitions I can find.
I find it interesting that no former republican president has been nominated for the Nobel Prize that alone should scream volumes to everyone.
Isn't it amazing. After the election was stolen from Gore and the Democrats turned on him, now millions are clamoring for his return.
nytexan, that's a great observation on former Republican presidents. Although it does remind me that while Carter is famous for lambasting sitting presidents, he's also good at giving them credit where its due, including Reagan, and H.W. It's just that the criticism gets more attention. In fact, this morning on MSNBC, Carter was quick to credit Reagan and H.W. for their efforts on Middle East peace - and used that as a partial basis for his disappointment in W.'s lack of diplomacy there as well as everywhere else in the world.
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