Denounce Carter

By Ralf Seiffe

Republicans have the chance to take the kind of jab at Democrats that the Democrats have served up to our side forever.  The question is whether the Republicans will recognize the opportunity and have the sang froid to exploit it.

Jimmy Carter, who poorly emulates Woodrow Wilson’s grasp of the good intentions of despots, indicts the U.S. and Israel for failing to support Hamas because he believes these terrorists “won” the elections in the formerly occupied territories.   Carter’s remarks have been widely reported and are breathtakingly foolish.  They show that the international sponsor of Ayatollah Khomeini and Yassir Arafat’s partner in peace still does not understand the dangers to the United States and to western values a religious-based political movement engenders.  One wonders if Carter is suffering the ravages of Alzheimer’s without exercising the good judgment his successor demonstrated when he was struck by that disease.

Carter’s ravings need to be denounced in the strongest possible terms.  Republicans presidential candidates should step up and use this opportunity to show Americans that Republican common sense trumps the anti-America views that have captured the Left and are now apparently championed by the failed, former president.  Starting today and certainly by the next debate, Republican hopefuls should remind Americans of Carter’s incompetence.  They should pointedly ask when the Democrat candidates will also recognize Carter’s shortcomings or if they agree with Carter.  By positioning this as a binary choice, they will perform the public service of forcing the Democrats to reveal their real thinking about the Islam-fascist threat.  Then, they should make the case that Democrat’s posturing on the malignancy of Hamas cannot be done without first denouncing Carter.

This is the kind of trick-box one imagines that talented Democrat strategists spend their waking hours devising.  A good example is the demonization of Dick Cheney’s association with Halliburton to rally their base.  Never have they shown any impropriety and they pointedly ignore the facts of Cheney’s charity.  Nevertheless, these empty charges have proven politically effective.  Now, the Democrat’s association with the former president presents the same opportunity to Republicans--the difference is that this time, the Republicans have a true bill.

Comments

[TheReallyRightGuy]

Good journalism would provide the URL of the complete Carter statement, so we can reach our own conclusions, instead of a one-word snippet.
It does not befit a principled conservative to question the mental competence of individuals who disagree with us. Its fine to call a policy nutz or counterproductive, but ad homonims are pointless.
If Hamas did win the elections, then that settles it: they are the legitimate representatives of those who elected them. To believe in democracy, we have to trust arithmetic.

[John Ruberry]

Jimmy Carter. Worst president of the 20th century. Worst ex-predident of the 20th and 21st centuries.

[Jerry]

"If Hamas did win the elections, then that settles it: they are the legitimate representatives of those who elected them. To believe in democracy, we have to trust arithmetic."

Dude. Who cares if Hamas controls the Palestinian electorate? Just because they got the most votes of this pathetic rabble doesn't change the fact that they are a group of lawless terrorists, and no foreign vote forces us to recognize them.

By your lack of logic, Roosevelt should have been neutral on Hitler; after all, he never attacked the U.S., it was Japan. Why on earth would we invade the France that Germany took over fair and square?

Your anti-semitism and moral equivalence have gotten the better of your sanity...

[Jerry]

"If Hamas did win the elections, then that settles it: they are the legitimate representatives of those who elected them. To believe in democracy, we have to trust arithmetic."

Dude. Who cares if Hamas controls the Palestinian electorate? Just because they got the most votes of this pathetic rabble doesn't change the fact that they are a group of lawless terrorists, and no foreign vote forces us to recognize them.

By your lack of logic, Roosevelt should have been neutral on Hitler; after all, he never attacked the U.S., it was Japan. Why on earth would we invade the France that Germany took over fair and square?

Your anti-semitism and moral equivalence have gotten the better of your sanity...

[TheReallyRightGuy]

Correct, no foreign vote forces us to recognize them. However, it would be a good idea to do so.
Calling the Palestinian voters "pathetic rabble" is the kind of name calling that has no place in reasoned debate.
Finally, Jerry, attacking me personally tells more about you than it does about me. Its your hang up not mine.

[Ralf Seiffe]

Usually, I would agree that "ad hominim" (sic) attacks are something to be avoided but in this case, the man is the issue. Jimmy Carter's ideas are surely wrong but his failure to understand the consequences of his ego-fueled endorsement of the international enemies of western values is the real problem. I stand by the article and believe anyone who values the principles that make the "liberal" west what it is should denounce Carter, too.

[TheReallyRightGuy]

We should be debating the issues, not the man.
The only issue Ralf raised is that Carter thinks that Hamas won the last election. As I vaguely remember, Carter was one member of a multi-national committee overseeing the election and that their conclusion was that the election was clean enough by third-world standards, so that one can trust the results. Carter has boots-on-the-ground firsthand experience here, so I value his opinion as having a factual basis. Lets hear the facts from the other side.