Soccer Dad

Jimmy's antidemocratic tendencies

Bret Stephens nails Jimmy Carter:

That's not quite what Mr. Carter said, however. He said the dictator "speaks" for "all" the people, just as the people in a democracy speak for themselves. Taken at face value, this is a reflection of every dictator's conceit: that his will is also the general will, whether the people agree with him or not. This is what Fidel Castro meant when he praised Cuba's elections, in which only the Communist Party is on the ballot, as "the most democratic in the world." Perhaps Mr. Carter has harbored similar views about the relative merits of his opinion versus the people's since he was turned out of high office by 44 states.

As I've noted before Jimmy Carter has used his prestige to legitimize the likes of Hugo Chavez and Yasser Arafat. Maybe it's because he was turned out of office so ignominiously that he has contempt for the will of the people.

John Podhoretz adds:

Those who believe this kind of relationship is the most and the best Americans can expect from a difficult world usually think of themselves as hardened by experience — serious, appropriately cynical, tough, and without illusion.

Incredibly Ha'aretz, with no sense of irony, claims that Israel owes Carter a debt of gratitude.

Whether Carter's approach to conflict resolution is considered by the Israeli government as appropriate or defeatist, no one can take away from the former U.S. president his international standing, nor the fact that he brought Israel and Egypt to a signed peace that has since held. Carter's method, which says that it is necessary to talk with every one, has still not proven to be any less successful than the method that calls for boycotts and air strikes. In terms of results, at the end of the day, Carter beats out any of those who ostracize him. For the peace agreement with Egypt, he deserves the respect reserved for royalty for the rest of his life.

Peace with Egypt was largely the result of Sadat's running from Carter's efforts to re-engage the Soviets in the Middle East. Here success was the residue of ineptitude. It's important not to give Carter too much credit here. As president Carter reached bottom; as ex-president - despite some successes - he continues to dig.

Crossposted on Yourish.