President Carter should be congratulated on his humility ... as should President Truman. Both retired to modest estates.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/jimmy-carter-lives-in-an-inexpensive-house.html
The Iranians are especially thankful to EX president Carter for Ayatollah Khomeini.
30 years of oppressive theocracy is the best thing could have happened to them.
Not to mention the 444 days of captivity for the American embassy staff.
Yes, congratulations are due.
I almost forgot. A terrorist sympathizer and an antisemite to boot. Like the last president.
(https://www.thejc.com/image/policy:1.84426:1480905886/Jimmy-Carter.jpg)
Jimmy Carter sued for Israel apartheid book (https://www.thejc.com/jimmy-carter-sued-for-israel-apartheid-book-1.20938)
(http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer2/02012008/1446066/JRL116_wa.jpg)
Carter, wife Rosalynn lay wreath on Arafat's grave (Photo: AP)
We can't all be as perfect as you ;-)
I voted against Mr Carter in 76 and 80 ... but not for those reasons you mentioned. I used to have more prejudice against Southerners and labor union supporters. I wasn't as upset over the mishandling of the Shah and the Hostage Crisis. At the time, I was in favor of nuking Iran.
A prior generation would have criticized Mr Truman for firing General MacArthur and for not nuking China.
I don't think anyone would say Carter was the best President. But he has done a lot of good since he left office. Especially his work with Habitat for Humanity. And he doesn't just give it lip service. He goes and helps with the construction.
Quote from: LoriPinkAngel on December 31, 2018, 02:35:09 PM
I don't think anyone would say Carter was the best President. But he has done a lot of good since he left office. Especially his work with Habitat for Humanity. And he doesn't just give it lip service. He goes and helps with the construction.
Indeed, Carter has been an exemplary Ex... But that has nothing to do with his failures as President. Only a couple of pre Civil War Presidents and Trump will score lower on the ratings...
AT least Carter never started a war.
He was a man who didn't feel the need to prove how big his dick was by sending some kid out to get his shot off.
Quote from: Minimalist on January 05, 2019, 01:19:54 PM
AT least Carter never started a war.
He was a man who didn't feel the need to prove how big his dick was by sending some kid out to get his shot off.
("ass" left out) I agree completely. But he was also the only Democrat I didn't vote for for President. I didn't vote for Regan either. I meant to vote for Anderson, but the line was WAY too long for a protest vote.
No, I meant "his [dick] shot off." But either way works for the point.
Hey, Ronald (The Hero) Reagan attacked Grenada. What a warrior he was!
Quote from: Minimalist on January 05, 2019, 01:57:10 PM
No, I meant "his [dick] shot off." But either way works for the point.
Hey, Ronald (The Hero) Reagan attacked Grenada. What a warrior he was!
Different phrases for different folks... I hated Reagan (in fact, I never even get his name right most of the time).
But I would take him back in exchange for Trump...
You know what scares me though? Every Republican President after Ford (and he escapes by just being a decent guy who tried his best) is worse than the last.
1. Reagan was just acting the role.
2. Bush Sr said he didn't consider atheists to be "citizens".
3. Bush Jr was dumb as a rock.
4. Trump is dumber than Bush Jr.
I would take Nixon back. At least he was "competent".
Yes, Nixon was competent, hence Watergate to get rid of him and replace him with Ford ;-)
OK, so you hate some people. You and billions of other people. So what makes you so special?
Quote from: Baruch on January 05, 2019, 03:11:41 PM
Yes, Nixon was competent, hence Watergate to get rid of him and replace him with Ford ;-)
OK, so you hate some people. You and billions of other people. So what makes you so special?
Because sometimes I can't decide whether seeing you as the newest poster on a thread OR dropping a bowling ball on my foot is the least annoying option?
I'm serious, you are a thread-killer. Mostly I just wait until someone else posts over you before I return to a subject.
Quote from: Cavebear on January 05, 2019, 03:19:45 PM
Because sometimes I can't decide whether seeing you as the newest poster on a thread OR dropping a bowling ball on my foot is the least annoying option?
I'm serious, you are a thread-killer. Mostly I just wait until someone else posts over you before I return to a subject.
Nothing wrong with returning to subject. But when the Commissars here deviate from the OP, they are given a free hand ;-)
Nixon was as much a traitor as Trump. How many American soldiers died because he conspired with South Vietnam to scuttle Johnson's peace deal?
I voted for Nixon twice but at the end would have gladly opened the trap door to hang the motherfucker.
Quote from: Minimalist on January 05, 2019, 05:18:48 PM
Nixon was as much a traitor as Trump. How many American soldiers died because he conspired with South Vietnam to scuttle Johnson's peace deal?
I voted for Nixon twice but at the end would have gladly opened the trap door to hang the motherfucker.
I'll agree that hanging might have been appropriate. I was merely discussing "competence", not ethics.
Quote from: Minimalist on January 05, 2019, 05:18:48 PM
Nixon was as much a traitor as Trump. How many American soldiers died because he conspired with South Vietnam to scuttle Johnson's peace deal?
I voted for Nixon twice but at the end would have gladly opened the trap door to hang the motherfucker.
Ah, you know. Now we have to keel you ;-)
Ho Chih Minh should have assassinated LBJ, how is that for peace talks?
Didn't get to vote until 74. But my dad could never forgive him, or Ford for pardoning him (dad was Republican).
Nixon's sins were small compared to the new Watergate election interference run by Obama, Hillary and the Resistance.
QuoteNixon's sins were small compared to the new Watergate election interference run by Obama, Hillary and the Resistance.
Oh this should be highly entertaining. Which right-wing crackpot are you going to trot out now?
Quote from: Minimalist on January 05, 2019, 07:17:21 PM
Oh this should be highly entertaining. Which right-wing crackpot are you going to trot out now?
You mechanics love your Obama-tron and Hillary-bot. D-party never did anything wrong ... cough, cough.
Have you paid attention to the (campaign interference) treason by the Obama admin, the Hillary campaign, and the post election (operations) treason? This is why .. I don't want to be you, when the folks with torches and pitchforks are roaming about.
Quote from: Minimalist on January 05, 2019, 07:17:21 PM
Oh this should be highly entertaining. Which right-wing crackpot are you going to trot out now?
You have to understand that Baruch creates his own demons as required and thinks WE are them a lot of the time. He lives in a world of left-wing conspiracy (and "left-wing" to him seems to be is anything left of Nazis). And some nazis might be "iffy".
But mostly, he seems to be in the far-right-of-the-Vatican camp.
I used to think he was ordered to be here to annoy us atheists as a Jesuit, but his arguments aren't that good.
Quote from: Cavebear on January 05, 2019, 08:21:46 PM
You have to understand that Baruch creates his own demons as required and thinks WE are them a lot of the time. He lives in a world of left-wing conspiracy (and "left-wing" to him seems to be is anything left of Nazis). And some nazis might be "iffy".
But mostly, he seems to be in the far-right-of-the-Vatican camp.
I used to think he was ordered to be here to annoy us atheists as a Jesuit, but his arguments aren't that good.
Are you trying to insult my ex? Who was a Catholic Sister of Charity?
Yes, the whole psycho narrative from July 2016 forward, never happened ... put fingers in ears, say "la, de, da".
Quote from: Cavebear on January 05, 2019, 12:56:31 PM
Indeed, Carter has been an exemplary Ex... But that has nothing to do with his failures as President. Only a couple of pre Civil War Presidents and Trump will score lower on the ratings...
Now, I think you're selling Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover and Dick Nixon and Dubya short -- they were all pretty awful too, though for entirely different reasons each.
Carter's ranking has more or less stabilized over time as being a below average, but not disastrous president (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States#Scholar_survey_results), coming in at 26th out of 43 in the 2017 C-SPAN historians' survey (this survey does not include the current miscreant). It seems a fair assessment to me, noting both his strengths in pursuit of equal justice and moral authority, and weaknesses in public persuasion and crisis leadership.
Couple interesting take-aways from that list, too.
One: of 14 Democratic presidents on the list, nine are in the top half - 64%. Of 18 Republicans, six are in the top half -- 33%. Half of those Republicans come from before the parties switched ends on the political spectrum, and only two of those since the theocratic takeover of the GOP (Reagan at #9 and GHW Bush at #20). Of the Democrats, six of the nine are since the parties swapped ends, the others being Wilson (#11), Polk (#14) and Jackson (#18). The three Independents â€" Washington, who eschewed political labels; Tyler, who was expelled from the party by the Whigs; and Andrew Johnson, whose National Union party dissolved out from underneath him â€" are far too mixed a bag to be able to treat together.
Two: the average rating of all Democratic presidents is 18.9; that of all Republicans is 23.1. Only the four Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and JQ Adams) do better (avg. 14.5); only the three Whigs (Taylor, Fillmore, and WH Harrison) do worse (avg. 35.3).
and Three: two, one is the countdown until Baruch goes off on some harebrained nonsense about leftist domination of academics being the only reason that Presidents Clinton and Obama aren't rated dead last in every category.
Academics do what they are told. The university and the media, are CIA controlled.
QuoteHave you paid attention to the (campaign interference) treason by the Obama admin, the Hillary campaign, and the post election (operations) treason?
No.
And now I will tell you why.
It only exists in the minds of nazi shitheads.
I think the term "Nazi shitheads" is redundant...
:-)
I got it from Eddie Izzard.
QuoteThere we go, Mr. Hitler. There we go... Like a bit of wine? Thank you very much...you Nazi shithead!"
Quote from: Minimalist on January 07, 2019, 05:01:46 PM
No.
And now I will tell you why.
It only exists in the minds of nazi shitheads.
Says Stalin ;-)
Quote from: trdsf on January 06, 2019, 02:24:05 AM
Now, I think you're selling Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover and Dick Nixon and Dubya short -- they were all pretty awful too, though for entirely different reasons each.
Carter's ranking has more or less stabilized over time as being a below average, but not disastrous president (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States#Scholar_survey_results), coming in at 26th out of 43 in the 2017 C-SPAN historians' survey (this survey does not include the current miscreant). It seems a fair assessment to me, noting both his strengths in pursuit of equal justice and moral authority, and weaknesses in public persuasion and crisis leadership.
Couple interesting take-aways from that list, too.
One: of 14 Democratic presidents on the list, nine are in the top half - 64%. Of 18 Republicans, six are in the top half -- 33%. Half of those Republicans come from before the parties switched ends on the political spectrum, and only two of those since the theocratic takeover of the GOP (Reagan at #9 and GHW Bush at #20). Of the Democrats, six of the nine are since the parties swapped ends, the others being Wilson (#11), Polk (#14) and Jackson (#18). The three Independents â€" Washington, who eschewed political labels; Tyler, who was expelled from the party by the Whigs; and Andrew Johnson, whose National Union party dissolved out from underneath him â€" are far too mixed a bag to be able to treat together.
Two: the average rating of all Democratic presidents is 18.9; that of all Republicans is 23.1. Only the four Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and JQ Adams) do better (avg. 14.5); only the three Whigs (Taylor, Fillmore, and WH Harrison) do worse (avg. 35.3).
and Three: two, one is the countdown until Baruch goes off on some harebrained nonsense about leftist domination of academics being the only reason that Presidents Clinton and Obama aren't rated dead last in every category.
I stand corrected. And well explained.
And I appreciate the acknowledgement that Democrats essentially changed sides with Nixon (a point I try to make sometimes). But yes, I did simplify presidential ratings. I shouldn't have done that. I was tired. And lazy, using old measurements from my college years.
Thank you.
Quote from: Unbeliever on January 07, 2019, 05:14:15 PM
I think the term "Nazi shitheads" is redundant...
:-)
So is communist cucks.
The last of the old school political observers ... Gore Vidal ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnom_ItxaMQ
This clip shows Obama, but it isn't about Obama. It is about the nature of political reality in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhNvlSBIV1Q
The only book of his, that I read, was Creation, which is a fictionalization of the Axial Age when much of the religion we have now got started. His Persian hero, went everywhere and met everyone from that time frame, from Confucius to Socrates. Was it history? No, it was a very creative and entertaining novel, that poked holes in icons of civilization.
More on his views in 2008 before the election ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHldmSOtYfk
I like to think that as a personality, Cavebear is much like Gore Vidal (though the details differ of course). Or perhaps I am projecting. Much of what I think matches Mr Vidal also. It might just come from being elderly.
Quote from: Cavebear on January 12, 2019, 01:00:26 AM
I stand corrected. And well explained.
And I appreciate the acknowledgement that Democrats essentially changed sides with Nixon (a point I try to make sometimes). But yes, I did simplify presidential ratings. I shouldn't have done that. I was tired. And lazy, using old measurements from my college years.
Thank you.
Always glad to provide data. :) And Presidential politics was one of my focuses in PoliSci.
The left/right swap pre-dated Nixon; it began under FDR, really. Isolationism moved the Republican party to the right, and Roosevelt shoved the Democrats to the left as the only workable response to the Great Depression -- certainly Hoover's "let's let the market work things out" wasn't working. By embracing the Southern Strategy, Nixon completed (rather than initiated) the left/right swap.
Quote from: trdsf on January 13, 2019, 07:50:39 AM
Always glad to provide data. :) And Presidential politics was one of my focuses in PoliSci.
The left/right swap pre-dated Nixon; it began under FDR, really. Isolationism moved the Republican party to the right, and Roosevelt shoved the Democrats to the left as the only workable response to the Great Depression -- certainly Hoover's "let's let the market work things out" wasn't working. By embracing the Southern Strategy, Nixon completed (rather than initiated) the left/right swap.
History has moved on from 1968. How do you explain how, in just 3 years, the Dems are now more war-mongering than the Repubs? Have they switched again? Will the current Repubs become flower power hippies? Or maybe a simpler explanation is better ... there is no R-L, just CIA, and total lies all the way down since 1963. The Repubs and Dems have no values, other than doing what they are told, by the Deep State, to avoid a trip to Dallas.
Quote from: trdsf on January 13, 2019, 07:50:39 AM
Always glad to provide data. :) And Presidential politics was one of my focuses in PoliSci.
The left/right swap pre-dated Nixon; it began under FDR, really. Isolationism moved the Republican party to the right, and Roosevelt shoved the Democrats to the left as the only workable response to the Great Depression -- certainly Hoover's "let's let the market work things out" wasn't working. By embracing the Southern Strategy, Nixon completed (rather than initiated) the left/right swap.
I'm not sure I would go THAT far, though nothing starts from nothing. But I mean that in FDR's time there were liberal Democrats and liberal Republicans in the North and West and conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans in the South and Central US.
It was Nixon's "Southern Strategy" (initiated by Goldwater's purge of liberal Republicans in the North of which I was a victim) that truly re-oriented the parties. All the conservative democratic "Dixiecrats" became Republicans in response to the Civil Rights activism and liberal Republicans (like me) had to turn to the Democratic party.
Today, that change is consolidated. And the Republicans have become more conservative than their parents ever were. When I hear the Republicans refer to themselves as "The Party Of Lincoln", I can only cry... I heard a female Republican crying that "I don't want my grandbabies to be brown" at a Trump rally.
I know history. I know that it started in places "we" don't much like. The Chinese, the Asian Indians, the Uraks (Iraq). They consider "others" to be barbarians, like the Persians (and they were at first). And in turn, they considered the Greeks to be barbarians (and they were). And the Greeks considered the Romans to be barbarians (and they were). And then the Romans considered the Germanic tribes to be barbarians (and they were at first). And the Germanic tribes settled and they considered others the same (the Scots and Celtic Irish).
Every established civilization (meaning "not them") thought the world was going to Hell in a handbasket. But damn if every new group didn't rise up and invent new things. There will be a time when the US is a backwater because other civs have advanced.
I don't care about race of ethnicity. All things change. I don't care about skin color (all an evolutionary consequence of sunlight exposure). We humans march on, some being in the trade routes which causes cultural wealth and therefore advancement.
Someday, we will all be vaguely tan and I don't give a rat's ass about that.
US politics completely changed 3 years ago. Anything before that, is irrelevant.
Quote from: Baruch on January 30, 2019, 08:41:22 PM
US politics completely changed 3 years ago. Anything before that, is irrelevant.
And the world was created 6 years ago. You know, when *I* say something stupid it keeps me awake all night. Does being constantly stupid ever bother YOU? I'm just curious...
Quote from: Cavebear on February 03, 2019, 06:22:52 AM
And the world was created 6 years ago. You know, when *I* say something stupid it keeps me awake all night. Does being constantly stupid ever bother YOU? I'm just curious...
My stupid is your genius ;-)