Lousy ex-president rips on lousy president

[bascule]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-03-carter-bush_x.htm

 

WASHINGTON — Former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that "fundamentalism" under George W. Bush has resulted in a "dramatic and profound and unprecedented change" in American policy that threatens the United States at home and abroad.

 

Carter, who is promoting a new book critical of Bush, faulted the Bush administration for "an unprecedented and overt ... merger of the church and state, of religion and politics."

 

At a breakfast with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Carter, 81, diverged from a time-honored practice in which ex-presidents refrain from criticizing those currently holding the office. He acknowledged making mistakes when he was president from 1977-81, and at one point declared: "I can't deny that I am a better ex-president than I was a president."

 

But he said Bush has made such significant changes to U.S. foreign policy and human rights doctrine, resulting in precipitous declines in the country's standing abroad, that he felt compelled to write "Our Endangered Values." It is Carter's 20th book since he was defeated for re-election by Ronald Reagan in 1980.

 

Carter was especially critical at the breakfast meeting of Bush's decision to invade Iraq and cut taxes and of what Carter said is the administration's dismissal of international arms and human rights agreements.

 

He said the natural "arrogance" of second-term presidents is exacerbated by a fundamentalism under Bush that causes many of his supporters and those who work in his administration to believe that "I am right because I am close to God (and) anybody who disagrees with me is inherently wrong, and therefore inferior."

 

Carter acknowledged that both he and Bush proclaim their Christian faith as part of their governing philosophy, but the similarity ends there.

 

"I don't have any doubt that he is very sincere about his Christian faith," Carter said of Bush. "There are some differences in interpretation. ... I have a commitment to worship the Prince of Peace, not the prince of pre-emptive war. I believe that Christ taught us to give special attention to the plight of the poor."

 

Bush, he said, "has committed himself to extol the advantages of the rich."

 

Bush and his allies credit tax cuts for lessening the effects of a recession and for helping the economy recover from the 2001 terrorist attacks.

 

The president has defended his decision to invade Iraq as a pre-emptive strike on a gathering threat under Saddam Hussein. And he has said that Sept. 11 fundamentally changed the way the United States should respond to such threats.

 

But Carter, who supported the invasion of Afghanistan, said public opinion in the Arab world has turned strongly against the United States since the invasion of Iraq, creating a deep impression among Muslims that the U.S. is on a "crusade" against Islam.

 

Carter said Arab leaders he regularly consults with believe the United States intends to maintain permanent military bases in Iraq irrespective of how that country's transformation to self-rule plays out. Removing U.S. forces from Muslim nations could reduce "95 percent" of the terrorist threat from Islamic fundamentalism, Carter said.

 

Carter also aims heavy criticism at fellow Democrats. He said John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign ignored the concerns of the "very religious" and that his party has overemphasized abortion rights.

 

"I have never been convinced ... that Jesus Christ would approve abortion," Carter said, adding that as president, "I did everything I could under Roe vs. Wade ... to minimize the need for abortion."

 

But many Democratic leaders today "are overemphasizing the abortion issue," Carter said.

 

"Many Democrats like me have some concern, say, about late-term abortions where you kill a baby as it is emerging from its mother's womb," he said. "And to make that a litmus test of democracy, I think, hurts our party."

[john5746]

Jimmy Carter can blame himself for giving the Democrats the reputation of Dove's. He was not a strong commander in chief. Too eager to compromise or give in to the enemy. Bush is on the other end of the spectrum, but people would rather have that in the current situation.

 

I thought it strange he brings up Bush fundie thinking, then mentions Jesus when talking about abortions. Jesus wouldn't fight the terrorists - so what?

[Douglas]

At a breakfast with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Carter, 81, diverged from a time-honored practice in which ex-presidents refrain from criticizing those currently holding the office.

 

I thought this was pretty humorous.

[Pangloss]

I actually agree with him on both this subject and his views on the Iraq war. I just think he goes way too far in drawing conclusions based on facts not in evidence, and acting on them to the detriment of the country in his personal diplomatic efforts. If I were a president, I'd be more comfortable sending Jesse Jackson on a mission that Jimmy Carter.

 

But he has a right to his opinion I guess. And I have a right to disregard it.

[Douglas]

If I were a president, I'd be more comfortable sending Jesse Jackson on a mission that Jimmy Carter.

I thought about this for a minute, then grudgingly agreed.

[LucidDreamer]

I think there is a great deal of truth in what he says, but I don't like the way he says it. It has a sort of "I'm a better Christian then Bush" ring to it."

[Sisyphus]

It has a sort of "I'm a better Christian then Bush" ring to it."

 

I mean... he is.