Jimmy Carter now a centenarian

[bmasters9]

Jimmy Carter votes in Georgia, fulfilling wish to live long enough to cast ballot for Kamala Harris

Former President Jimmy Carter, the first president in U.S. history to reach the age of 100, cast an early vote in Georgia.

www.cbsnews.com

His grandson Jason said "when we asked him, was he excited about his 100th birthday, he said, I'm excited about that but I'm really excited to vote for Kamala Harris."

I hope he lives long enough to see her inaugurated as President.

I hope so too (but even if not, at least he has become a centenarian [something not many of us do in itself]).

 

[Angela Channing]

Maybe not USA's greatest President but possibly the country's best former President, Jimmy Carter has died aged 100.

Jimmy Carter, longest-lived US president, dies aged 100

Former president faced series of economic and foreign policy crises, including Iran hostage affair and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

www.theguardian.com

 

[bmasters9]

Like I said, at least he made it there, and he will forever be missed.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Longest-lived U.S. president and the longest-married.

He was mostly-inclined to avoid warfare, so the establishment had no use for him -- and experienced media blowback from Watergate.

 

[Frank Underwood]

I wasn't alive when Carter was president, so I can only go off of my perceptions. From what I gather, most of the issues during his presidency were based on his inexperience and disdain for getting down in the mud (sadly, politics is a dirty business.) Of course, when it comes to the American hostages in Iran, the Reagan campaign likely sabotaged their release (they just happened to be released shortly after noon on the day Reagan was inaugurated.) When asked about his presidency, Carter said "We kept the peace, we never went to war, we told the truth, never lied to the American people, never misled the American people, so in general terms, I feel perfectly at ease with my term." Diplomacy is extremely important to me, so the fact that Carter wasn't a war monger like his successors is enough to place him head and shoulders above them in my book.

Carter also seemed to have genuine concern for the American people, and his work with Habitat for Humanity speaks volumes about his character. I think it's safe to say that his post-presidency was more productive overall than his presidency, but at least he made it a point to do good in the world. That's more than you can say for most politicians.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Of course, when it comes to the American hostages in Iran, the Reagan campaign likely sabotaged their release (they just happened to be released shortly after noon on the day Reagan was inaugurated.)

The Iran hostage situation was a CIA operation, beginning one-year-to-the-day before Carter was up for re-election (correct my math if I'm wrong). And -- after the 1980 election, I believe -- soon-to-be Vice President George H. W. Bush went to Paris to negotiate a delay in the hostages' release, so it wouldn't look like Carter was responsible for ending the crisis. Thus, their release the day of Reagan's inauguration.

Carter also seemed to have genuine concern for the American people

And the system despised him for it, turning him into "the worst president in American history" rhetorically long after he was booted from the Oval Office, with Ronald Reagan breaking with tradition and protocol in blaming his predecessor for each-and-everything that went wrong on his own watch throughout the 1980s.

That said, Carter's White House staff found Carter aloof and cold. And it's no wonder: Carter himself marveled at how he, now president of the United States, would tell staff to do this-or-that and they just wouldn't do it.

But anyone in power with a genuine peace agenda is viewed contemptuously as "weak." One of JFK's secret service guys (perhaps Abraham Bolden?) revealed that the service fellows hated JFK, even though -- or perhaps because -- he was always nice to them. Based either on instinct or whispers (or both) they knew his days were numbered.

Nothing can work.

 

[Jock Og]

Sad news! Eternal rest to America's 39th President.

Jimmy Carter, (01/10/1924 - 29/12/2024).

 

[KayLloyd]

Certainly our most moral president that we've ever had. Good son, husband, father, and humanitarian. Gave up his Navy career to go back to GA to run the struggling family farm when his father died. And we have him to thank for the early success of Dallas because no one could afford a babysitter and going out to eat or to the movies, they were home watching t.v. .

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

In real money, the average citizen actually had less of it at the end of Reagan's 8-year term than they had at the beginning, mythology to the contrary.

But the rich certainly got richer. So that's something.

 

[KayLloyd]

In real money, the average citizen actually had less of it at the end of Reagan's 8-year term than they had at the beginning, mythology to the contrary.

But the rich certainly got richer. So that's something.

Every family that I knew was much better off financially under Reagan. They were able to afford vacations and better cars. Many people even had the money for second homes. Nobody that I knew had the money for any of that during Carter's term.

 

[Karin]

I think Jimmy Carter will be remembered for three things, being the first US President of ever making it to the milestone of being 100 years old, his long marriage with Roselyn and his charity work for habitat for humanity. Seems to me like he lived a full life.

My condolances to his family and friends.

 

[Angela Channing]

Every family that I knew was much better off financially under Reagan. They were able to afford vacations and better cars. Many people even had the money for second homes. Nobody that I knew had the money for any of that during Carter's term.

Either you know little about history and economics or your are being deliberately misleading.

The inflation that caused the fall in living standards that the Carter administration had to deal with was caused by Richard Nixon unlinking the US dollar from gold and Reagan benefitted from decisions that Carter made to improve the US economy.

Reagan was more interested in cutting deals with Iranian extremists to stop them releasing the American hostages while Carter was still President and in condemning AIDS patients to death than he was in raising the spending power of Americans.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Either you know little about history and economics or your are being deliberately misleading.

The inflation that caused the fall in living standards that the Carter administration had to deal with was caused by Richard Nixon unlinking the US dollar from gold and Reagan benefitted from decisions that Carter made to improve the US economy.

Reagan was more interested in cutting deals with Iranian extremists to stop them releasing the American hostages while Carter was still President and in condemning AIDS patients to death than he was in raising the spending power of Americans.

Reagan also quadrupled the deficit over what it had been for 200 years. Reagan also, while preaching for the citizenry to go back to the "morality" of the 1950s, obliterated -- or significantly weakened -- the anti-trust laws of the '40s, the unions, and the progressive tax structure (where the more you make, the more you pay) which is why the caucasian American middle class was beginning to do so well back in those '50s.

To be fair, Bill Clinton (for whom I voted twice) delivered the coup de grâce by signing off on NAFTA and eliminating the fifty-year-old Glass-Steagall Act (which separated investment banks from commercial banks) leading to the crash of 2008/2009.

To be fairer still, Nixon was really pushed out of office for being more liberal in his policies than his rightwing mentors ever expected him to be -- deeply flawed as he was in other ways.

 

[Laura Avery-Sumner]

Either you know little about history and economics or your are being deliberately misleading.

Why not both? lol

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Well, the former presidents seem none-to-fond of each other while at Carter's funeral service today. Except for Obama and Trump, who seem quite chummy.

The Clintons didn't even seem to acknowledge each the Bushes -- and they were seated right beside each other (and I thought they got along!)

The ex-prezzes seemed more pleasant at George H. W. Bush's funeral a few years ago, even when they got all those post-mortem "Yes-we-killed-Kennedy-and-I'm-sorry" letters (I just made that up) from Poppy Bush.

**I've got to stop using the "seems" 47 times in every post.

 

[Frank Underwood]

Something I found odd was Garth Brooks performed John Lennon's "Imagine" at Carter's funeral.

That seems like an odd song choice to perform at the funeral of a devout Christian and Sunday school teacher.

Then again, I'm not sure why Brooks was invited to perform at Carter's funeral in the first place.

 

[Frank Underwood]

Well, the former presidents seem none-to-fond of each other while at Carter's funeral service today. Except for Obama and Trump, who seem quite chummy.

The Clintons didn't even seem to acknowledge each the Bushes -- and they were seated right beside each other (and I thought they got along!)

The ex-prezzes seemed more pleasant at George H. W. Bush's funeral a few years ago, even when they got all those post-mortem "Yes-we-killed-Kennedy-and-I'm-sorry" letters (I just made that up) from Poppy Bush.

**I've got to stop using the "seems" 47 times in every post.

I know Bill was close to Bush Sr., but I'm not sure he had as close of a bond with Dubya. They always seemed pretty cordial, though.

Trump and Biden were also pretty chummy with each other during their visit at the White House. Perhaps Biden and Obama's coziness with Trump is an F you to Harris.

There's a video on YouTube of Carter and Gerald Ford talking about their friendship, despite their bitterness during the presidential campaign.

There's a certain phoniness to politics, which makes it hard to gauge how the former presidents genuinely feel about each other.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Then again, I'm not sure why Brooks was invited to perform at Carter's funeral in the first place.

Well, Garth is a Democrat -- which is unusual amongst country music stars.

 

[Seaviewer]

Something I found odd was Garth Brooks performed John Lennon's "Imagine" at Carter's funeral.

There are a lot of songs that people get a general vibe from while being quite ignorant of what the lyrics actually say.

I know Bill was close to Bush Sr., but I'm not sure he had as close of a bond with Dubya. They always seemed pretty cordial, though.

I understood that Dubya was a little jealous of Bill's relationship with his father - but maybe that's just gossip.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Where was Big Mike??