Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Osazuwa Okundaye [Click to enlarge]

The office of our nation's president comes with a certain responsibility to lead and play a major role in the politics of the world. However, once a president's term is up, the pivotal influence once held can be hard to relinquish and some presidents have difficulty stepping away from the political arena.

The most recent former president to wear out his performance in the world's theater is Jimmy Carter. A president who accomplished nothing original in his own term, Carter now mettles with the term of the current president. Although the experience of having mismanaged four disastrous years in office allows Carter to have a unique insight into a fellow president's screw-ups, his opinions and political playdates would be best kept to himself.

Jimmy Carter has publicly criticized the last two sitting presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, on more than one occasion. No one should really lend him an ear. The man has chosen to interject himself into the political sphere with undignified comments. In 2001, he criticized Clinton's presidential pardon of Marc Rich for embezzlement, calling Clinton's decision "disgraceful" and seemingly implying the fringe view that the president votes in the best interest of his campaign contributions.

In a statement to The Associated Press in 2006, Jimmy Carter blasted Prime Minister Tony Blair for not checking Bush's aggression.

"It's a shameful and pitiful state of affairs," said Carter. "I hold your British prime minister to be substantially responsible [for the war in Iraq] for being so compliant and subservient."

It only stands to reason that a man well-experienced with botching delicate situations in the Middle East would be able to call another one when he sees it.

Carter will not limit himself to merely criticizing political figures; he also seeks to undermine the current administration in the War on Terror. President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain have refused to consider peace talks with the terrorist political group Hamas. However, Carter met with the group in 2008, touting himself as a "peace promoter" while discussing a formation of Palestine.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools