Jimmy Carter’s always had something soft and vaguely pathetic about him that made me root for the guy. Maybe it was that whole earnest sweater beg. Or that vicious attack by a giant killer rabbit. Who knows?
But after reading Jay Nordlinger’s latest “Impromptus,” I think I’m finally ready to shed my long-standing Cartempathy.
Here’re just a coupla’ anecdotes Nordlinger offers:
For years, Carter has been a thorn in the side of presidents, acting as a kind of ‘anti-president,’ as Lance Morrow once put it in an essay for Time. You recall how Carter irked Clinton on Haiti and North Korea. His low moment, however, came during the run-up to the Gulf War, when he wrote members of the U.N. Security Council — including Mitterrand
Poor, poor Carter.
Once a great asset to presidents, in terms of his grand diplomatic image–that whole good cop/bad cop thing worked well for the US.
Now, he’s just another bleeding heart without an intellectual compass. Damned shame, that. He once possessed a distinguished intellect in equal proportion to his compassion–which is a rare and wonderful offering.
Huh.
Double huh.
Wow, my eyes are open even more.
Uh–can I take back my vote for him? Hey, I was a kid, it was my first election, I was a commiepinkosymp liberal.