Jimmy Carter Dies

[timothyu]

He put his works where his mouth was

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[MehGuy]

RIP.

 

[RileyG]

May he rest in peace

 

[Tinker Grey]

He was a good man.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I found it interesting that the .new oldest former President will be leaving office in January and replaced by the second oldest former President.

 

[timothyu]

From the viewpoint of an outsider, he showed that church and state don't mix, not in the traditional way that it is thought of, but that it is impossible to run a secular world made in the image of self serving man, with the alternate ways of the Kingdom. Opposing values. That is better left to personal commitment and as far as governments go, the two don't mix. Yet.

 

[RDKirk]

From the viewpoint of an outsider, he showed that church and state don't mix, not in the traditional way that it is thought of, but that it is impossible to run a secular world made in the image of self serving man, with the alternate ways of the Kingdom. Opposing values. That is better left to personal commitment and as far as governments go, the two don't mix. Yet.

I worked closely enough to White House influence in my own job to know that you're right.

 

[jayem]

I'm a native Georgian, and I always liked Pres. Carter. He may not have been the best President, but beyond any doubt, he's our best ex-President. His humanitarian work is unrivaled, which led to his being one of the 4 Presidents awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As I see it, he's the undeniably best example of a Christian man.

 

[crixus]

He put his works where his mouth was

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Indeed he did. President Carter and his wife Rosalynn were both great humanitarians. May they both rest in peace.

 

[Servus]

Longest-lived US president in history. The record was formerly held by George HW Bush who passed at the age of 94.

 

[Chesterton]

...he's our best ex-President.

Not really. He was the first ex-President to break the long-standing unwritten tradition that an ex-President should not criticize a current President. (Okay so I guess now I'm the bad guy in the thread. )

 

[Lost4words]

RIP to a great guy...

 

[wing2000]

Not really. He was the first ex-President to break the long-standing unwritten tradition that an ex-President should not criticize a current President. (Okay so I guess now I'm the bad guy in the thread. )

President Carter believed strongly in seeking peace and taking steps to de-escalate Internatonal tensions...and, when he felt it necessary, criticizing the polices of presidents in power.

 

[Chesterton]

President Carter believed strongly in seeking peace and taking steps to de-escalate Internatonal tensions...and, when he felt it necessary, criticizing the polices of presidents in power.

Most of us "believe strongly" in something. That doesn't give us carte blanche to break rules.

 

[RDKirk]

Not really. He was the first ex-President to break the long-standing unwritten tradition that an ex-President should not criticize a current President. (Okay so I guess now I'm the bad guy in the thread. )

Breaking that tradition does not, by any means, counter an opinion that he was the best ex-president. A lot of presidents have justly deserved to have been criticized by someone who knows the job.

 

[durangodawood]

From the viewpoint of an outsider, he showed that church and state don't mix, not in the traditional way that it is thought of, but that it is impossible to run a secular world made in the image of self serving man, with the alternate ways of the Kingdom. Opposing values. That is better left to personal commitment and as far as governments go, the two don't mix. Yet.

I worked closely enough to White House influence in my own job to know that you're right.

In what way did his Christian values contribute to the failures of his presidency? My sense is his 2nd term loss was all about events and conditions that didnt really depend on his Christian perspective.

He did hamstring himself by his penchant for telling sometimes hard truths rather than drawing up a veil of lies and mystique about himself.

 

[RDKirk]

In what way did his Christian values contribute to the failures of his presidency? My sense is his 2nd term loss was all about events and conditions that didnt really depend on his Christian perspective.

He did hamstring himself by his penchant for telling sometimes hard truths rather than drawing up a veil of lies and mystique about himself.

In this fallen world, it's impossible to be an uncompromising Christian and at the same time an effective president. One or the other must give ground.

For one thing, Carter had a "do your job right" penchant that offended a lot of Washington bureaucrats. Part of that penchant involved him getting a lot deeper into details than people were comfortable with. I remember when I got to DC a highly placed civilian still griping about a time he'd written a report for Carter and got called to the Oval Office late one evening. Carter had the man's paper spread out across the top of the Resolute Desk covered with red ink notes of things Carter wanted changed...including grammatical errors. The man was still incensed years later. But one thing for sure...Carter had definitely read the paper carefully.

And, yes, that penchant for telling hard truths also offended a lot of people, including the Washington bureaucracy.

 

[Chesterton]

Breaking that tradition does not, by any means, counter an opinion that he was the best ex-president. A lot of presidents have justly deserved to have been criticized by someone who knows the job.

I guess I don't know what "best ex-President" means then. Was he a nice guy who did charitable work? Yeah but I know a lot of people like that. But as an ex-President he did pretty much the only thing an ex-President's not supposed to do.

 

[Palmfever]

He put his works where his mouth was

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Carter’s legacy: A misguided trip to meet Assad and Hamas in 2009 - analysis

Carter had a chance to speak truth to power to these regimes. He was a much more harsh critic of Israel and the Palestinian Authority than of Hamas and Assad.

m.jpost.com

... There is an interesting sentence here. Carter notes that the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh wants building materials. We know now where these materials went. They went to build tunnels and rockets. Carter doesn’t critique Hamas. He doesn’t critique it for illegally taking over the Gaza Strip or its abuses of political opponents.

He does say “after meeting with groups of wounded orphans and families of Palestinian prisoners, I delivered a letter from Naom Schalit to be given to his son, and made the same arguments as in Damascus for peace and reconciliation.”

The pattern is clear. This is Carter in his own words. He had ample time to critique Hamas and Assad. He critiqued Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He didn’t critique the Assad regime. Instead, he was part of the cavalcade of voices that appeared to want to give voice to Assad and his regime and bring him in from the cold. We know what Assad did.

 

[Pommer]

I guess I don't know what "best ex-President" means then. Was he a nice guy who did charitable work? Yeah but I know a lot of people like that. But as an ex-President he did pretty much the only thing an ex-President's not supposed to do.

At the time, Carter was still eligible to hold the Office of President, and his criticism of President Reagan could have been politicking.
You know, like how 45 did to 46.