October 03, 2024
On Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday it’s time to reflect on his years in the White House.
I volunteer at Habitat for Humanity. Although Carter didn’t start Habitat, he put it in the spotlight. Habitat is now international.
Carter’s contributions at Camp David, bringing Israel’s Menachem Begin and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat to peaceful accords, as well as Habitat for Humanity stand as his most noteworthy accomplishments. I’m not so certain about other things.
Carter added to the bureaucracy with the feckless Dept. of Education and Dept. of Energy. For the most part the Dept. of Education is just useless. The Dept. of Energy is a center of corruption and crony capitalism — picking favorites in crackpot energy schemes and zero interest loans to the well-connected.
Remember the Great Plains Coal Gasification boondoggle?
Carter also established the Senior Executive Service (SES) which has proven to be even worse in building an elite class of bureaucrats. The SES is comprised of about 10,000 self-serving Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Directors, Deputy Directors, and a few chosen sons like Anthony Fau Chi. These exalted High Priests are above the "G” scale in compensation. For the most part they are compensated by the size of their budgets and number of subordinates. The Washington bureaucracy took off. Political appointees in the SES can be replaced at the will of the President. Those who rose up through the civil service ranks cannot be fired. Fau Chi was one such golden boy. He was a Made Man in the Mafia.
The Iranian hostage crisis and the bungled rescue attempt highlighted Carter’s weakness on the world stage. This is one item that Trump sized up perfectly. We should have sent in the 101st Airborne in there to kicked butt. As Trump was quoted: "Nobody would have held us in abeyance.” Khomeini would have been deposed and the current turmoil would never come into being.
Paul Volcker just about wrung the neck of the economy with his monetary policies. Mortgages went to 14% and then the devious "balloon mortgages”.
In the waning months of his administration Carter came on the TV from the White House shivering in his cardigan because he had turned down the heat to set an example for the rest of us to follow. Then he proceeded to whine about "malaise” — all but blaming the American people for his problems.
Tim adds:
Don't forget Carter presided over "stagflation" something Keynsian economists said was impossible. He also triggered a massive energy price spike and shortages.
The man was a dufus too. Remember the "attack of the killer rabbit" when Carter was in a canoe and he beat a rabbit with his oar? Or his hemorrhoid operation while in office? Or his "I have lusted in my heart" interview with Playboy (to show he wasn't a shmoe)?
And let us not forget his brother Billy urinating on the tarmac in front of foreign dignitaries.
Democrat House Speaker Tip O'Neil said of Carter's administration "they came in like pricks and they went out the same way." Carter was imperious and arrogant. He also used foul language in private. When the Shah of Iran called Carter said "F@ck the Shah!" and wouldn't take his call. Carter thought Khomeini was a reformer for crying out loud.
I suspect Carter was a well meaning imbecile. His emphasis on human rights as America's foreign policy as opposed to our national interest served neither purpose. Here he was dottering around in his sweaters, and using solar panels on the roof of the White House and saying America was in "malaise" because we didn't like being poor and disrespected overseas. He seemed to blame the American People for the problems his administration caused.
Oh, and Carter was a major liar. He claimed to be a nuclear engineer. All he was was a tech on a nuclear sub and he took a course or two in nuclear physics. He had no degree in either physics nor engineering. It was on the basis of this lie that many people thought Carter the most intelligent President we ever had but it was all based on lies. See https://harpers.org/archive/2019/03/the-real-jimmy-carter/ for more on Carter's lies.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
07:00 AM
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But compared with Obama and Biden/Harris, he was pretty good, I think you'll admit.
Posted by: Dana Mathewson at October 04, 2024 12:07 AM (5O9A0)
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at October 04, 2024 07:27 AM (heagA)
Posted by: Dana Mathewson at October 04, 2024 11:39 PM (5O9A0)
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at October 05, 2024 07:55 AM (d4uhg)
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