The Carter Canonization

Littlechild@emperorsnuclothes.com/ January 1, 2025/ Uncategorized

Dear readers, I’m afraid, in this essay, that I’m going to have to violate an ancient warning, expressed in Latin as “de mortuis nisi bonum.” In English we would say: “only say good things about the dead.” In ancient times, the fear was that if you were so bold as to defame a deceased individual, that his or her’s ghost would come back to haunt you. Whether that’s true or not, I guess I’m going to find out, because HERE I GO.

The individual that I’m about to defame is none other than former President Jimmy Carter. The reason that I’m writing this now is that I’ve been nauseated by the avalanche of eulogies and hagiography that have been proffered on the occasion of Mr. Carter’s passing. Side stepping all the fawning adulation, I would simply say that:

1: Mr. Jimmy Carter was a failed president.

2: Mr. Jimmy Carter was a failed ex president.

The first of these assessments, I think, is the easiest to support. I don’t believe there’s ANYONE who’d beg to differ. On his “watch” we saw terrible problems both domestically and abroad.

Domestically there was monstrous inflation (Democrat spendthrift budgets ALWAYS have a way of impoverishing the middle class, don’t they?), soaring interest rates and decreasing buying power. We had fuel shortages and, in a country blessed with immense quantities of petroleum resources, we had LINES AT THE GAS PUMPS! Even worse than the economics was the the sinking of America’s spirit. In psychiatric terms, under Jimmy Carter, America became depressed. Even Carter himself called it a “malaise.”

Internationally he was even worse. We had innocent American embassy workers held hostage by Iran for years while feckless Carter did NOTHING. The one tiny military operation he did authorize was so poorly organized and under manned that complete failure was inevitable.

In a broader sense, Carter’s refusal to support the secular (and staunch American ally) Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, set the stage for ALL of the Middle East based terrorism that followed (including the first World Trade Center attack, 911, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and a plethora of other terrorists). The resultant death toll is THOUSANDS.

Carter’s globalist tendencies (at one point he claimed to be a “citizen of the world,” pointedly, therefore, not of the United States!) did NOTHING to burnish our reputation abroad, but did contribute to the “malaise” noted above.

Further, Carter hobbled America’s intelligence networks (both the CIA and FBI) with Presidential directives such that they became so ineffective, that they were unable to predict 911, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and other major events that should NOT have been surprises.

All of this, and more, brought America to its knees. A sorry state of affairs it’s clear. Thank God, he was held to a one term presidency and Ronald Regan rode into the scene like the character in the Clint Eastwood movie Pale Rider, to set the nation straight again.

The second assessment, that of a failed ex president, is, likely a bit harder to defend, but none-the-less, is true. 

In the words of commentator Afshine Emrani: 

“Let’s not forget, this man, who paraded around with a veneer of holiness, had a troubling inability to tell right from wrong. 

Carter, the so-called “man of peace,” thought Yasser Arafat was a model leader, even advising him behind the scenes on how to polish his image. His disdain for Israel was palpable; he smeared the nation with baseless accusations of apartheid in his book’s title and beyond, and didn’t shy away from slandering Judaism itself.

And let’s not overlook his bizarre admiration for the Ayatollah Khomeini, whom he had the gall to call a “saint” and liken to Gandhi. His judgment was so clouded that he saw divinity in a man whose regime would plunge Iran into decades of darkness and oppression.”

In addition to Carter’s blatant anti semitism, ex President Carter displayed a penchant for meddling in America’s affairs of state, criticizing and denigrating America and her allies (he once called British Prime Minister Tony Blair “George W. Bush’s ‘lap dog!”) any chance he got.

Carter’s supporters sometimes claim that he “founded Habitat for Humanity.” NOT SO. That organization was founded by Millard and Linda Fuller. Carter did swing a hammer for Habitat, but with a portfolio estimated at over 10 million dollars, and LOTS of leisure time on his hands, such activity would hardly be considered the sacrifice that it might be for you or I.

In short, Jimmy Carter was a terrible President  and a flawed ex President as well. Neither qualifies him as deserving of the canonization he is currently enjoying.

Now about that ancient warning….