Hitchens to Carter: Shut. Up.
May 22, 2007 at 11:25 am by David Lee Simmons in Randomly NotedWhen it comes to just about everything, author, commentator, essayist and general curmudgeon Christopher Hitchens is about as subtle as an enema. Hitchens was in Atlanta recently pushing his new (and typically unsubtly titled) book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. (Previous titles include The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, and No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family.) So it should come as no surprise to anyone who follows Hitchens to read his hyperbolic screed in Slate against former President Jimmy Carter after Carter’s recent criticism of President George W. Bush’s so-called foreign-policy decisions.
Here’s but a taste:
“[Carter’s] combination of naivete and cynicism — from open-mouthed shock at Leonid Brezhnev’s occupation of Afghanistan to underhanded support for Saddam in his unsleeping campaign of megalomania — had terrible consequences that are with us still. It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that every administration since has had to deal with the chaotic legacy of Carter’s mind-boggling cowardice and incompetence.
I come and go on Carter, who seems to hold the alternate (and rather dubious) titles of bad president and best ex-president ever depending on who you talk to — although many agree that both titles probably apply. His Nobel Peace Prize is certainly well-earned. But Hitchens, through all his bluster, does make a cogent point about Carter as historical revisionist. At his worst, Carter often seems to right his dubious record as president, with some of his interviews carrying a subtle “I told you so†quality about them. At his best, he’s a hell of an ambassador of goodwill, an elections observer and home-builder. I’ll leave it to others to decide what his ultimate record of achievement will be, and continue to be entertained by Christopher Hitchens’ general anger at the world.
What do you think?
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Advice for Carter:
For every finger you point, there will be four more pointing back at you.
May 28th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Election observer – certified Chavez becasue he feared violence in Venezuela. Imagine that, Chavez might actually ACT like a dictator. Carter refuses to recognize the legitimacy of US Presidential elections. Let’s see, a strongarm dictator might kill people, so Carter certifies his election, yet our elections complete with rule of law, court hearings, lawsuits, numerous press investigations and pregnant chads are not legitimate. So much for President Carters integrity.
Except for Habitat For Humanity, please tell me what he has done as an ex-President that is so positive. Do any of them outweigh his flouting of President Clinton so he Carter could broker a nuclear deal with North Korea? Any idiot can broker a deal where you give the other guy everything he asks for and get nothing in return. This would be the deal that accelerated North Koreas atomic bomb program.
Carter should follow the example of previous Presidents and politely SHUT THE HELL UP!