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Hungry for Media Attention, Jimmy Carter Tacks Left

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About six months ago, I defined a term, Huffingtonitis to describe an individual who “defines his political views and makes public statements in order to win social approval and/or acceptance.” I also think some people take certain political stands in order to get media attention.

Thanks to reader Peter Hughes, I learn that Mrs. Huffington, for whom this condition is named, has gotten into a fight with Time reporter Joe Klein “about which one is more anti-war.” It seems this woman needs to out-anti-war Klein in order to prove to the leftists to whom she is now trying to appeal that she has really shed her past conservative views.

I have often wondered if former President Jimmy Carter has drifted to the left since the left the White House in order to keep his name in the headlines. As if he needs the media attention to compensate for his repudiation by the American people now over twenty-six years ago. But, I don’t know if the media attention makes him any happier.

He is quick to lash out at anyone who criticizes his latest book, not by taking issue with their arguments, but by accusing them “falsehood and slander” without detailing the particular instances of dishonesty or misrepresentation. He has been particularly sensitive to criticism of his latest book as being both anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.

It seems he has so lashed out because his critics have challenged the ideology which has given meaning to his life. Had Carter’s book on Israel not been so controversial, it would not have generated the media attention it did. Had it not generated the media attention, few people would be paying attention today to the former President from Georgia.

It’s not just in Hollywood where people do certain things in order to generate publicity. Pundits and politicians do it as well. They seem to think that celebrity — or at least media attention — confers meaning on their lives. They might find more happiness in life if they sought that meaning in productive activity — and enduring relationships.

– B. Daniel Blatt (GayPatriotWest@aol.com)

Comments

  3. People should be aksing who the main contributors ($$$) Of The Carter Center are?

    “Folks” on the left and right are being bought by The Arab Lobby, and selling us Americans out.

    Disgusting.

  5. I can forgive anyone almost anything, but Carter slandering the Simon Wiesenthal Center is more than I can take.

    Someone send him and Helen Thomas to the Middle East – permanently.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  6. They seem to think that celebrity — or at least media attention — confers meaning on their lives.

    Why do you think lord BJ won’t go away? He has no legacy, so he’s making sure nobody forgets him by staying in the spotlight. Even going so far as to have the family dog run over.

  9. Well, if JimmineyCricketCarter stays on this present course… he will become THE Democrat Party Ultimate Statesman… having pushed GeoMcGovern and RamseyClark out of the way for good. I’m not sure it’s an improvement, though.

    I think he’s already eclipsed MikeyDukakis in the patheon of strong, resolute Democrat leaders.

    And nobody hates Jews more than Jimminey… unless he’s Louis Farakhan or Jesse Jackson.

    Racists and bigots in the land of Diversity Preachers. Who’d have thunk it?

  10. #10 – MMatt, so much for the “big tent” theory of the Dhimmicrats. I’ve always said that the party of tolerance is the most intolerant party of them all.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  11. Even going so far as to have the family dog run over.

    That’s a pretty serious charge. Is there any actual evidence that Clinton had his dog run over on purpose?

    Or did you just make that up?

  14. keogh, sometimes stress brings out the worst in us… even Presidents.

    Back in the spring ’80, Carter was suffering from low voter approval, the lasting impact of a TeddieKennedy challenge for the nomination, botched plans to rescue the American hostages held at our former Iranian Embassy in Tehran, and a very effective campaign by RR to highlight Carter’s gross incompetence.

    During the Kennedy challenge, the very Left Jewish leadership in the DNC backed Kennedy –money, press, votes. The conservative Jewish lobby in the GOP was loudly backing RR and portraying the ’79 Camp David Accords with Egypt-Israel-US as a sell out.

    Guess what Carter is purported to have said in a supposedly closed door campaign meeting with senior staff from the White House and the campaign? “If I get back in, I’m going to f*ck the Jews”. And you know what… he would have if he had gotten back in but the American voters denied him that opportunity… as they should have 4 years earlier.

    Additionally, in the ’76 campaign, when it appeared that maybe Scoop Jackson –the last sensible Democrat and patriot– looked like he had locked up the Jewish vote among Democrat voters and Jewish leaders… Carter told his staff to lay off press statements about changing the Middle East (then in crisis) because “Jackson has all the Jews anyway… we get the Christians”.

    Those two stories are well known in DC. When I worked on the Bush 41 race, I heard those two stories retold by campaign veterans who used them as an example of when your own candidate’s words can screw the campaign. Both of those comments, made in relative private, remained so until later… but I think they show the True Carter.

    Go ahead now… follow up on Peter’s challenge… find two instances where Carter has proven he’s not anti-Jew. Go ahead.

  15. Go ahead now… follow up on Peter’s challenge… find two instances where Carter has proven he’s not anti-Jew. Go ahead.

    But Carter said he’s not anti-Jew, isn’t that good enough for you?

    You probably didn’t believe Liberace when he said he liked boobies either. Cynic.

  16. Nope, won’t work for me, VdaK. Carter lies and sells out this country like a JaneFonda Wind-up Doll. I sure as heck don’t believe him.

    Or the Liberal Left when they said ManBearPig is to blame for global warming… errr, climate change…. errr, warmer weather… err, being mean to the cuddly seal pups (which DO taste like chicken).

  17. #12
    That’s a pretty serious charge. Is there any actual evidence that Clinton had his dog run over on purpose?

    Or did you just make that up?

    Harumph, harumph. You’re silly.

    Can you prove he didn’t? Got him on the news, didn’t it? How many people call the news when their dog dies? I wouldn’t, David Gregory be damned.

  19. “”Those two stories are well known in DC.”
    Nothing like the retelling of rumors to indict someone!

    “find two instances where Carter has proven he’s not anti-Jew. Go ahead.”
    Ridiculous
    From his saving the Israeli state with the Camp David Accords to his countless praise, support and protection of the Israeli people your “challenge” is simply absurd and made with an obviously uninformed mind.
    Second of all:
    I was in the occupied territories during the first Palestinian election. I witnessed Israeli police beating Palestinian women and children. I witnessed Palestinian children throwing rocks at police while other Israeli police showed marvelous restraint in not firing into the crowds.
    One thing became very clear during my time there. Someone must tell the story of the Palestinian people…
    Carter was there monitoring the election and working hard to ensure the Palestinian people had fair, democratic elections. If you bothered to learn about how hard he has worked to end suffering through peaceful means, you have to admire such a man.

    The rightist attacks on him are callous, made without knowledge, and so very off base.
    Get informed, recognize that criticism of Israel’s policies does not make one an Anti-Semite and retract your rabid dog attacks on a man who has done so much to make this world better.

  21. keogh, it’d be hard for you to accept that your HeroWorship of Carter is misplaced… but the story of Carter’s anti-Jew comments are found here:

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2006/12/13/cstillwell.DTL

    The money quote: “But this was hardly the first time that intimations of anti-Semitism have tainted Carter’s career. In an article titled “Jimmy Carter’s Jewish Problem,” Jason Maoz, senior editor at Jewish Press, reveals that “during a March 1980 meeting with his senior political advisers, Carter, discussing his fading reelection prospects and his sinking approval rating in the Jewish community, snapped, ‘If I get back in, I’m going to [expletive] the Jews.'” Maoz also references the 1976 presidential campaign during which Carter, fearing that his opponent Senator Henry (“Scoop”) Jackson had the Jewish vote in the Democratic primaries locked up, “instructed his staff not to issue any more statements on the Middle East. ‘Jackson has all the Jews anyway … we get the Christians.'”

    I think my “rumor” got the classic story nailed spot-on… although I had the wrong time frame in 1980 by about 2 months.

    Second, if you care to press your luck at stopping your head from exploding… there’s lots of company you’re fond to attach yourself to as TruthTellers in DC trying to abate the damage from JewHatingCarter’s last PR nightmare… Like JohnConyers saying the use of “apartheid” in the title was flat out wrong… or HowieDean screamin that Carter doesn’t represent the modern Democrats. Look about you, pal… the ship is taking on water and you’re going to be the last rat onboard.

    And frankly, keogh, for you to “show” how Carter isn’t an anti-semite by pointing out he helped gain credibility for the terrorist supporting, terror fomenting Palestinian people only shows Carter’s love for a long-standing enemy of Israel and a class of people noted for their murder of innocents.

    There’s no problem here with being “informed” as you put it. I am; you’re the bugger who is blinded by HeroWorship.

    And now that your pro-Palestinian stance is visible, I’m guessing your defence of Carter is meaningless… of course you’d defend him… he’s the only leader to shill for the PLO, Arafat and others.

    BTW, keogh, most Israeli observers view the CampDavid Accord between Israel-Egypt-US as a capitulation to American pressure… for Sadat, it led to his murder. For Israel, it led to countless deaths in the streets instead of on the battlefield. For the US, it meant taxpayers shelled out about $135b (yes, that’s billion keogh) MORE to Israel and MiddleEast countries because of the Accord.

    Ok, keogh… that’s called “sticking it”. Not even a good try on your part.

  22. Camp David – 80% of the Israelis support it because it clearly allowed Israel to have a secure southern border…and of course Begin succumbed to pressure because if Egypt recognized Israel, there is no need to hold the Sinai. A lot of American Jews hated this deal, but again, the people who lived in Israel celebrated it.
    1980 meeting – OUT OF CONTEXT – others have said he was talking about the US Jewish lobby that was against him for the Camp David accords (Which the vast majority of Israelis supported Carter on and still do, he was not talking about the state of Israel, or the people)
    1976 Campaign – OUT OF CONTEXT, – others have said he was simply talking about where to allocate campaign resources.

    By-the-way an op-ed from another op-ed that quotes a guy who heard something is pretty much the definition of rumor and hearsay. A lot of people have said these quotes are purely fictional but nice try
    – What’s next, are you going to talk about the “memos” with his initials on the corner?
    Further,
    Condemning the Israelis for their actions in the west bank is not Anti Semitism and helping the Palestinian people has nothing to do with supporting terrorists. So if a desire to help the Palestinian populace through peaceful means makes one “Pro-Palestinian” then that is fine but it doesn’t make one an “Anti-Semite”

    So to quote that macro Cal uses:
    “BZZZZZZZT – try again” – or don’t

    I just hope you rethink your use of words when describing Carter

  24. Again peter,
    Your premature-jubilation syndrome keeps “popping out”.
    You must practice the start-stop technique.
    It might relieve some of that tension you feel between the shoulders.

  26. Peter, it is a trying day for keogh… his personal Hero is under attack for being exactly what he is.

    keogh, sorry but you’ve got it wrong. Context is everything and your “created and crafty” context –although appealing to anyone lacking a solid understanding of Carter’s record– is wrong. Nice try. The people present knew the context… not some Palestinian apologist still in diapers.

    And with this jewel: “What’s next, are you going to talk about the “memos” with his initials on the corner?” Ghee, it’d be great if they existed but I think SandyBerger may have taken those from the National Archives too.

    keogh, your own people –like Conyers, Dean, gReid and now Queen Nan in her press conference this morning– are saying Carter is hurting Middle East dialogue, not helping it. Try to appreciate that your misguided HeroWorship needs to adjust to the realities of your partisan leadership, will ya?

    As for the ficitional “80% of Israeli people supported the Accords”, wrong too –if you mean by that the “85% figure” quoted by the Jaffee Center. The Jaffee Center also argues for Israel to appease the PLO… their polling numbers are push-polls used to influence public policy, not guage opinion. The Jaffee Center long since lost credibility in Israel, keogh. Just ask your terrorist buds in the West Bank, ok? Jaffe Center and “80%” support… nice try, but that one is stamped “intellectually dishonest” by me, keogh. You gotta do a lot better. A lot.

    That’s 3:3 wrong now… 4:4 if we count in the one about Carter not being an anti-semite.

    And you still haven’t advanced two simple instances where Carter is in evidence of supporting Israel. If I had debated in school like you are doing defending JimmineyCricketCarter, the nuns would have kicked my butt down the hallway for a lack of being prepped and poor execution.

  27. If as you say “context is everything” why is your ridiculous “proof” based on out of context rumors and op-ed assertions? That just don’t “stick.”

    And if you think the Camp David accords were not received well by the Israelis you are clearly living in a delusional world where your whole concept of the Israeli state is based on a few opinions of op-eders. (Why do YOU think Syria and the USSR were so against it?) – I suggest you read Moshe Dayan’s book on the matter. You might learn a bit.

    Are you next going to claim the Jafree center is Anti-Semitic? Go ahead, I dare you.

    I highly suggest you go to Israel and talk to real Jews living their lives. Your eyes might be opened to a world that exists outside your fearful lens of politics and history.
    – While you are at it go to the West Bank and Gaza and see that not all Palestinians are evil and perhaps you learn that you can be sympathetic to their plight without being Anti-Semitic. That might open your eyes to Carter’s point of view.
    Further you have continually ignored Carter’s countless remarks on the justness of Israeli people and his tireless efforts to save that country from further harm. Which indeed I DID point out in comment in 21, you just choose to ignore it.

    If the nuns taught you to ignore what is front of you, they did a good job.
    They also would have taught you how to keep score.
    Alas, it seems your private education has failed you and a public schoolie is kicking you around…sorry

  28. keogh-

    excuse me if i don’t believe your sob-story about living in palestine. you simply use liberal talking points over and over again and fluff them up with your made-up experiences.

    email me a photo of you living amongst the poor palestinian terrorists and i might belieeeeve you (i channeled lester right there…)

  29. keogh, nice attempt at bait & switch there. Or is it dodge and weave?

    No, the charge STILL is for you to provide two examples of Carter’s pro-Israeli or constructive atittude toward Israel… you offered the CD Accord and the fact that he helped give Palestinians and terrorists marginal credibility in an election that has since led those people deeper into the abyss. Hardly sufficient since many discredit the Camp David Accords as a failure of little benefit to Israel… except in netting a bigger chunk of change from the US and World Bank.

    Nothing in my examples are out of context, despite your unwillingness to accept reality. They are well known in DC circles… often retold. I quoted you the source… you don’t like hearing JimmineyCricketCarter talk about the “Joooos”… There are more examples out there, kid.

    Schoolyard taunts from people who can’t spell, read or write like you aren’t impressive, bubba. Maybe you need to put down the dodgeball and get back in the classroom for some education… even public school if that’s all you can muster.

    Til then, further discussion or debate with you on this issue is worthless. Keep in mind that most Americans view Carter as the worst 20th C president… he eclipsed Hoover and Coolidge, for cryin out loud. He isn’t even on a par with Nixon and that guy resigned; he is far below Clinton and that guy was impeached.

  30. # 30 –
    I could email you any photo and since you have no idea what I look like it wouldn’t really matter.

    But I will find scan and email and send some to you later. When I do will you apologize for calling me a liar? Or is that to much to ask?

    I will reinvite you to my home if you come here for the 2008 repub convention in mpls. You could look over my whole photo album, see that indeed life over there is pretty rough and meet my dog!
    She is a cutie!

    Further, I wasnt meeting with terrorists.
    I was meeting with PEOPLE.
    Jeez..
    #31 – “many discredit the Camp David Accords”
    – Sure the Syrians, Soviets and some of the US Israeli lobby
    But not the Israelis

    “most Americans view Carter as the worst 20th C president”
    Does that mean he is an Anti-Semite? No, it does not. I could care less that you dislike him but don’t call him something he is clearly not.

    “discussion or debate with you on this issue is worthless”
    Indeed as you refuse to offer anything other than is rumor and innuendo and/or out of context policy decisions as your “facts” -which you now readily admit:
    “They are well known in DC circles… often retold”

  31. keogh, like Bruce suggests, it seems you’ve done nothing but “make-up” stuff including quaint retorts to well known, often told, insights that I provided links to about Carter’s anti-Semitic vent.

    Carter is an Anti-Semitic politician of the last century.

    In fact, it is so well known in DC and Atlanta that people responsible for providing names of candidates for consideration on the Board of the Carter Center don’t even put forward names that “sound too Jewish” to the former Prez because it’ll get shot down.

    Come on, that now makes 3 instances of Carter’s scandalous anti-Semitic inclinations… I guess it’s hard to accept that your hero is flawed. I guess it’s hard to accept that the only President who’s been a solid champion of the PLO and Palestinians would be anti-Semitic… is that why you can’t see beyond the blind loyalty?

    Finally, I’ve tried to help you understand that the Jaffee Center (not the Jafree center, btw keogh) isn’t about polling… it’s about using polls to advance public policy initiatives that should be characterized as “appeasement at any costs”. You suggest my criticism is the equivalent of calling the Jaffee Center anti-Semitic… how silly, keogh. I did nothing of the kind… I told you that their polling is suspect and their polling instrument for the survey –as they released it– is a push-poll.

    There’s a world of difference is using a push-poll to claim, as you do, that over 80% of Israeli support the Accord.

    keogh, I’m glad the GOP Convention is coming to MPSL. Maybe you can take some time to read the local rags and learn about politics and polling and public policy.

    From what you written here, you’ve got a long course of study.

  32. I thought that Jimmy Carter was one of the better ex-presidents. As President, he made an excellent choice of appointing Paul Volcker as Chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Other than that, I thought he was a weak President.

    I am disturbed though about some of his latest actions. I did read that he criticized Canada for withholding aid to the Palestine Authority when the people elected a terrorist party for their leadership. I can’t say I blame Canada, and extremely disappointed in Carter’s response. I haven’t read his book, but if some of the things attributed to him are true, then again I would be more disturbed.

    I would like to believe that most Palestineans want peace. But since it appears that a majority of them voted in such reprehensible leadership, it’s hard to believe. When Israel ceded the communities of the Gaza strip back to the Palestinean Authority, we saw the despicable vandalism that occurred afterwards. Israel, to be sure, has not been without fault. But they have consistently shown that they are willing to coexist peacefully with their neighbors, including the Palestineans. The current Hamas leader of Palestine could not even say that his goal is not the destruction of Israel. Sorry, but the burden has been and will be with the Palestineans to see if they are worthy of real independence and statehood, respect of the civilized world, and if they want to coexist peacefully with Israel. They have a long way to go.