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cal04

(41,505 posts)
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 04:09 PM Jul 2015

Nicholas Kristof:We in the media (and, frankly, lots of other folks) owe Jimmy Carter an apology

Jimmy Carter, His Legacy and a Rabbit
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/opinion/nicholas-kristof-jimmy-carter-his-legacy-and-a-rabbit.html?_r=0

Quiz time: Which American president was attacked by a “killer rabbit”?

It was Jimmy Carter, although the incident says more about the news media than it does about Carter. He was fishing from a boat in a pond when a rabbit swam frantically for the president’s boat.

(snip)
The press and chattering class have often been merciless to Carter. Early on, cartoons mocked him as a country rube using an outhouse or associating with pigs, writers pilloried him as a sanctimonious hick, and in recent years it has been common to hear that he’s anti-Israel or anti-Semitic (This about the man whose Camp David accord ensured Israel’s future!).

(snip)
Carter, the one-termer who was a pariah in his own party, may well have improved the lives of more people in more places over a longer period of time than any other recent president. So we in the snooty media world owe him an apology: We were wrong about you, Mr. President. You’re not a lightweight at all, and we can’t wait to see what you’ll do in your next 90 years!
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still_one

(92,219 posts)
2. Carter did some good thing, and also some not too good things, deregulation of the airlines for one.
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 04:16 PM
Jul 2015

However, I do not agree with his view that President Carter is a "pariah" in his own party. That is simply NOT correct.

Yes, the republicans despise him, but they also despise every Democrat. As for the media, they have become obsolete, and belong to the "Entertainment Tonight" class, because they sure haven't been doing their job for some time

dsc

(52,162 posts)
3. Not now but he was for a quite long time
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 04:58 PM
Jul 2015

I am not sure he even went to some of the conventions in the late 80's and 90's.

still_one

(92,219 posts)
4. Organized labor wasn't happy with him, and unfortunately many of those folks,
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 05:09 PM
Jul 2015

the Reagan democrats helped propel him to victory, which probably set labor back 40 years, and they are still suffering from that

Other than that, democrats knew Jimmy Carter was a very honest person who tried to do the right thing

 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
10. In an industry where Lara Logan = Mike Wallace-caliber journalism,
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 05:46 PM
Jul 2015

lol, the best days of the American media lie VERY far in the distant past.

When did Lara Logan ever do a story like the one dramatized in "The Insider"?

But she's pretty, so I guess that trumps Pulitzer-winning research and chutzpah and dogging newsmakers for interviews.

hlthe2b

(102,292 posts)
5. I've met him on a couple of occasions. It is intensely painful to see his disparagement
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 05:30 PM
Jul 2015

and that it seemingly continues, even among major Democrats.

I don't always agree with him, but I've always respected him--tremendously.

malaise

(269,054 posts)
6. Thankfully Carter ignored them all
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 05:33 PM
Jul 2015

and has contributed way more to humanity than any of them. What's more he doesn't deliver speeches for money. I love Jimmy Carter

 

elias49

(4,259 posts)
8. Yup. The man no-one knew.
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 05:38 PM
Jul 2015

My wife and I were having dinner at a small diner in our home town in NH and who walked in but his son..."My Daddy's running for president" Didn't know him at the time. He's a good man!

pamela

(3,469 posts)
11. The most under-rated president in my lifetime.
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 08:10 PM
Jul 2015

His (so-called) "malaise" speech was downright prophetic but Americans wanted sunshine blown up their asses.

1939

(1,683 posts)
12. Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 08:17 PM
Jul 2015

Both were very intelligent men, both were very compassionate men, both got mangled by the events of their times, and both gave more after being president than any of the other 44 men.

 

stevenleser

(32,886 posts)
13. A little unfair on your last point to folks like FDR and Lincoln since they had no "after
Thu Jul 9, 2015, 08:22 PM
Jul 2015

being President". Nor did Kennedy who would have been a very young 'after' and would have had a lot of time to do stuff.

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