End of the Line for a Weakling President

In the endpoint of a life, it always comes down to what a person did. What atoms did she smash? What novel can be seen as his magnum opus? It is all about the actions. It is all about what the person did during their time dancing or remaining in stasis in the universe.

James Earl Carter Jr. lived a life full of contradictions, indecision, wrong turns, simplicity, complexities and charity.

What he will most likely be remembered for is his bungling of the American prisoner of war situation from 1979. That act of Islam’s overbearing force emboldened the enemies of the United States through the decades. What did Carter do? Little to nothing. Instead of sending in forces to fight totalitarianism, he sat on his hands and flashed his famous chompers every chance he got.

When he could have delivered the fifty-two diplomats and civilians to their families, he oversaw the 444 days that they spent under the harsh conditions and unpredictable events. They were sometimes tortured physically and psychologically and that didn’t prompt Carter to take action.

The Salman Rushdie debacle with The Satanic Verses, the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the bombing of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the USS Cole disaster, and 9/11/01 all came because Islam doesn’t take the US seriously.

All because of the limp, wet paper bag response that Carter showed, the paper tiger, the giant with clay feet, the hollow missile known as the United States of America lost two recent wars. Over six thousand young souls perished fighting because of the inaction that Carter showed at the beginning of the “Death to America” chanting of Iranians.

It is impossible to know just how many other lives could have been saved had Carter shown potency during his presidency. If he had just provided a fist to crush all of Iran’s intentions to erode the confidence of the noblest nation in history.

While America continues to aid Ukraine, the US ought to remember that Iran and Saudi Arabia are still threats to the country. Carter couldn’t contend with the idea of ensuring the prisoners were freed and then nuking the country. So America rattles down the road in a clunker of domestic policy towards a dead end.

But it doesn’t have to be that way forever. There’s still a spirit in America that even Carter would have said is evident. In his administration, he approached the idea of deregulating the airline and trucking businesses with sincerity. As the former president opened up the space for entrepreneurs to enter and maintain the fields of air and road transportation, he boosted the soul of a country that teetered on an economic fiasco.

Away from the White House, Carter raised homes as part of Habitats for Humanity.

While some may see this as obvious altruism, the fact that Carter wanted to build these structures is an example of rational self-interest or selfishness.

Carter demonstrated that you can rise from the rural setting of Plains, Georgia to the highest office in the land. While he could have been the flamethrower to annihilate the wasp nest in the Middle East and he could have deregulated all private industries, he should be remembered as a man who could have been and knew it.

In the rankings of American presidents, he will be low in thoughtful lists. If people are serious and clear-eyed instead of mushy about the critiques, they will declare Carter as a terrible leader who precipitated the deaths of thousands of Americans.

To take into account the idea that he was mixed at best should be the defining word on his Administration and life.