This:
Former President Jimmy Carter announced Sunday that his brain cancer is gone, NBC News reported.
Carter, 91, said an MRI earlier this week revealed the good news, which he broke to a Sunday school class he teaches in his home state of Georgia, according to NBC News.
Not even remotely a cancer doc, me, but I do know that while a clear scan does not mean one is cancer free forever, it sure as hell is better news than the alternative.
Jimmy Carter is a great human being, the best ex-President in history (and much maligned and under-valued in his presidency as well, IMHO). Given this summer’s announcement, it has to count as very good news to know we’ll have him on the planet with us a while longer.
And with that — this thread is of the species that is open.
Image: Masolino, The Healing of Tabitha, c. 1420s.
Tokyokie
Great news! Although I’d resigned myself to accepting what a full and exceptional life he’d already led, I’m glad to know that he can lead it for a while longer.
Baud
The guinea worms are freaking out.
Good news.
shell
For Heavens Sake, thats remarkable ! If anyone deserves such a great outcome., its him.
Now if only all cancer patients could be so lucky.
Wag
God works in crystal clear ways. No mystery about this. A direct rebuke to the GOP from on high.
Meant only half in jest.
Mike in NC
Good news, and an everlasting shame that we got Reagan instead of a 2nd term for Carter.
pete
Yay! Remember, the race is on for longest-married President: George & Barbara or Jimmy & Rosalyn.
Seriously, I was really touched by Carter’s saying in the announcement a few months back (IIRC) that he was at peace but his wife was really upset. I hope she is feeling better.
p.a.
Great news. When I heard brain cancer I thought glioblastoma. One doesn’t come back from that. Guess they’ve made good progress against melanoma; I think just 10 yrs ago if it metastasized you were done.
Anoniminous
Good news about Carter!
Are we doing taxonomy? King Phillip came over for green salad?
Suzanne
DAMN. good for him. Adore him. We need him every minute we can get him.
gogol's wife
Good news.
Now if only my blood pressure can be brought down, after glancing at the front page of the NYTimes, which conflates the San Bernardino attack with 9/11 and seems to be trying to equate Obama to GWB.
Betty Cracker
Weird coincidence: hubby and I are driving out in the country, and just a few minutes ago, we passed a sign that said, “Jimmy Carter for Cancer Survivor.” Kinda unexpected for this neck o’ the woods too!
Amir Khalid
Woe is me! Liverpool have just conceded a goal at Newcastle!
Baud
@gogol’s wife: They have to make up for their front page editorial on gun regulation.
Schlemazel
On very rare occasions the universe tries mightily to convince me that there really is a giant benevolent space daddy the rewards good and punishes evil. This is one of those times.
Yutsano
Huzzah and happy news on this Hanukkah eve indeed!
@Amir Khalid: I guess Liverpool is getting coals from Newcastle then?
Amir Khalid
@Yutsano:
I guess Liverpool used up their goal quota for the week in Wednesday’s 6-1 League Cup win over Souethamption.
mellowjohn
glad to hear it.
he was my first winning presidential vote. and, unfortunately, my third losing presidential vote.
Scapegoat
Wonderful news!
History refresher desired: what were some of his greatest presidential achievements and why is he not viewed more positively by some?
(Always been incredibly impressed with his Habitat for Humanity efforts.)
WereBear
So happy about this. Always love to see Karma at work.
Litlebritdifrnt
I am slightly panicking right now my home town of Lancaster, England is under water right now after they got a months worth of rain overnight due to Storm Desmond. 60,000 homes without power. Can’t get hold of any of my family. All roads in and out are closed, train lines under water, no cell service.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m so glad you front-paged this great news, Tom! I posted it in a comment downstairs at almost precisely the same time, but it was well down in an old thread and the news certainly deserves highlighting.
@Baud:
LOL, Baud, what a perfect comment!
Baud
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Wow. Hope they are OK. Let us know when you hear from them.
pat
hmm, do we have to reassess our belief that prayers don’t work?
Should have mentioned that this is GREAT news. I’m so happy for both of them.
Tehanu
Good news for a change! Very happy for him, his family, and all of us.
Amir Khalid
Five minutes of time added on. Liverpool had a perfectly good goal disallowed today for offside when Alberto Moreno was onside by many yards. I guess this is just not our day.
Amir Khalid
Newcastle 2-0 Liverpool. Pout.
scav
@pat: Great news indeed, although it is my belief in random sometimes happening to deserving people in a positive direction that is re-enforced.
pat
@scav:
mine, too, and the wonders of modern medicine when vigorously and appropriately applied to an important national figure….
Ultraviolet Thunder
FSM bless Jimmy Carter and long may he thrive.
Making GWB look worse with every day.
scav
@pat: Health care works!?! Anyone ever think of applying that stort of stuff more generally to test if it works on less financially blessed and high-media-profile people?
pat
@scav:
ah who cares about those people/
snark
mai naem mobile
Excellent news! Black Jimmy Carters going to have to do even more in post-presidency to match White Jimmy Carters post-presidency. We may just kick malarias aiss yet this century.
Also too, somewhat appropriately, I’ve had the stoopid ‘Everything is Awesome’ from the Lego movie earworm stuck in my head today.
Whaddaya
@Litlebritdifrnt: Sorry to hear about the flooding in Lancaster, UK. My great-grandmother’s family name was Lancaster and her family came from Lancaster, UK. I know– not very original in picking names, were they? But they were enterprising people who came to the US to farm and establish small businesses. Certainly hope you hear from your family soon and wish them well. Whaddaya
Ultraviolet Thunder
@mai naem mobile:
Sorry about that. You should recover fully.
I’m glad to share my earworm today: Rockpile’s Play That Fast Thing One More Time.
So infectious it’s practically an epidemic all by itself.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@p.a.:
I’m pretty sure they didn’t say it was a glioblastoma when they first announced it — that’s the tumor that got my father-in-law, so I would have remembered.
There’s a lot they can do against brain tumors with chemotherapy these days — we were very lucky that my FIL’s tumor responded to Avastin and we got almost two years of good quality of life when the initial prediction had been 6 months.
bystander
@gogol’s wife: The MSNBC clowns have said every time they can, “The worst attack in the Homeland since 9/11.”
@Baud:
I’m still waiting to hear some repub lament the eradication of guinea worms by that busybody.
? Martin
@Scapegoat:
Well, you need to start from the viewpoint that shit was bad in 1976. Maybe not 2008 bad in that there was no single massive crisis, but there were a ton of different problems all simmering alone, some just plain intractable.
The biggest central problem was our oil consumption and our increasing dependence on somewhat fragile middle eastern governments that were constantly being played as Cold War pawns. So long as voters were going to treat oil as a critical good, we were going to keep getting screwed in that region – and we were. The first shock came under Ford, and Carter tried to get us to reduce our consumption so that we would not be so badly played. That was probably the first real concerted environmental effort in this country – and its one that California never backed off of. But from that we got Congress mandating higher fuel mileage standards, we got a much larger strategic petroleum reserve, and we got the interstate natural gas system, which allowed most of the western growth to rely on natural gas instead of home heating oil, and made it easy to transport natural gas around the country lowering its price. He also made some significant changes to the US nuclear industry, phasing out the use of reactors that could be used to create weaponizable material and toward light water reactors. Some of these things we didn’t fully realize until after he was out of office, though.
One of his other achievements, again which we wouldn’t recognize it until after he was out of office was appointing Paul Volker to be Fed chairman, who took the right actions to end stagflation. The near-term effect was a shit-ton of unemployment which Reagan got credit for fixing, but long term it basically wrote the book on how to manage employment, interest rates, and all that. Its where we learned that printing money like a maniac, provided we had a plan to unwind the effort was worth doing. It’s how we got out of the great recession as quickly as we did.
But Carter also bucked the traditional liberal programs of heavy industry regulation. He got rid of trucking regulations which opened up jobs and lowered prices. He started the move on airline deregulation as well. Basically, unlike most previous Democrats, he didn’t agree to the idea of heavy-handed local control which is how a lot of Democrats rose through the ranks and kept their seats. Unlike now where we talk about international trade, back then it was making sure the trucking company from Topeka wouldn’t face any competition from one in St Louis. Carter broke with that tradition and in some ways also paved the way to eliminate earmarks and the like.
Carter’s biggest problem was that 1979 was a really bad year for him. The Iranian revolution brought a 2nd oil shock as Irans oil was taken out of the economy and we had a few hundred Americans taken hostage. Three Mile Island was that year. That was also the year the US formally recognized PRC which meant cutting Taiwan loose. That wasn’t well received in many corners and here in SoCal to this day there are a lot of Taiwanese that refuse to vote for Democrats because of that action.
Anoniminous
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Desmond is an amazing storm. 100 mph winds and a 8,500 kilometer moisture stream stretching back to the western Caribbean to southern Sweden.
Trust your family is OK.
FlyingToaster
@Litlebritdifrnt: According to the Guardian, the attempts to block the flood from the electrical substation failed, so there is no power at all in Lancaster and Morecambe; much of Cumbria is out as well. No rail running north of Preson. Electricity North West is saying that it will be at least Tuesday before Lancaster has power back. Folks are queued up at phoneboxes since the mobile towers are without power.
Felanius Kootea
Great news! Outside the US, he is one of the best known and possibly the most admired US president (largely because of his actions post-presidency). I remember being shocked that he wasn’t as well-regarded here when we first moved to the US from Nigeria. I hope the last Guinea-worm is vanquished before he goes.
Felanius Kootea
Jimmy Carter’s Eyes (Anya Jimmy Carter). A short story.
Feebog
I’m still convinced Carter would have been elected had the Iran hostage rescue been successful. And I’m also certain Reagan cut a deal with Iran to hold on to the hostages until after the election.
PurpleGirl
That is good news, indeed. His life and politics hasn’t been perfect but he has done the one thing we could ask of any man or woman — to live their faith as best they can.
He tried to encourage us to use renewal energy. Even put solar panels on the White House, which RWR took off. His speech about the country’s malaise was much made fun of but I think he was correct to try to pin down a problem with the national spirit. Many of us here have written that we can do something about our problems but we lack the will to do so. He was much concerned about that.
Wag
@Amir Khalid:
As a former Newcastle resident, I am cheering on Newcastle!
Calouste
One of my evangelical inlaws just shared a post from Ben Carson, a moron, on Facebook arguing that because someone from Pakistan filled in a wrong address on her application for a fiancee visa, the US shouldn’t allow Syrian refugees.
Yeah, the only way that makes sense is if you believe in the Green Scare.
hamletta
Thanks be to God! And to all the wonderful health care professionals who have healed that wonderful man. His life and work have been a great gift to the world, and I hope he can keep on giving for years to come.
hamletta
@Calouste: The director of our local branch of Lutheran Social Services held a meeting this morning about welcoming Syrian refugees, and it was packed!
Guess nobody cares what our governor (Larry Hogan R-MD) has to say. And considering what just happened in the Texas case, he can just go ahead and take all the seats.
Ruckus
@PurpleGirl:
Even put solar panels on the White House, which RWR took off.
I’ve noticed that a lot of red states are installing solar and even wind. They are mostly doing it quietly but they are doing it. And in FL there is a tparty leader who champions solar. Conservatives will bend to reason of people like Jimmy Carter but it takes them decades to see why they should. They don’t have the gift that he has, to look forward. And while some blame religion President Carter is very religious. But he doesn’t seem to let his religion get in the way of reality. It’s not a bludgeon, it’s a guide.
I wonder how long it will take till President Carter is recognized for the leader he really is?
rikyrah
I know he’s 91, but I want him around for as long as possible.
WereBear
They are always looking backwards, that is for certain. It is always a golden, soft-focus past and a stark, Terminator-like future for them.
Bill Murray
@Baud:
is that the new hip term for Republicans?
Keith P.
“He’s history’s greatest monster!”
Great Simpsons scene.
Frans
My wife was told something quite similar in October 2011. She died January 20th 2013. Not to put a harsh on your mellow, but some cancers are extremely dangerous.
J R in WV
If Reagan hadn’t conspired with national enemies, Carter probably would have been re-elected.
Technically Reagan and his co-conspirators were committing treason, and I never did understand why so many people were apparently OK with that. Treason has a technical definition spelled out in the constitution, and working with foreign enemies of the constitution is it.
There should have been an impeachment movement with real teeth the minute the facts leaked out.
Instead of congressional hearings and criminal cases against the underlings, they should have started at the top, with Reagan, and put that brain-damaged monster out of office.
Ruckus
@Frans:
Sorry for your loss.
My sister went into remission twice with breast cancer. The third time they opened her up and found it again. She lasted a week. All cancers are bad, some are much, much worse than just bad.
When you get that diagnosis your life changes, regardless of the badness. That only determines how fast it changes.
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
Not disagreeing with you but there is, in our government the idea that we can change government by voting. We did so with the current president. And he has done nothing about the last guy for a very specific reason. Bloodless transfer of power to whomever we elect. If we start second guessing ourselves for our crappy choices in the voting booth, the road to not having that choice is very short and can be very brutal.
Now I’m not sure it would always work that way and I agree that our president shouldn’t be totally without responsibility for the crap some of them do but I don’t know how to make that work any better than it does here/now. (The fact that we didn’t really elect the last guy is a separate issue that can only be changed by electing better candidates that will make better choices for USSC.)
FortGeek
Awesome.
He’s one helluva standup guy and one of only 2 presidents in my lifetime who’ve got my respect and admiration.
The other one is, of course, George W. [snrk…bahahahaha…can’t finish that with a straight face]
Makes me wonder what Mr. Obama will do once he’s released from White House Hell.
TriassicSands
Being president of the United States with the American people as they are (and have been for a long time) is difficult. Whatever the merits of the presidencies of both Carter and Obama (and they are considerable), they would be much better presidents if the American people weren’t so lame. As they are, the people need to be babied, coddled, and treated like petulant children. They’re fickle and often respond reflexively rather than thoughtfully.
Both presidents would also have been helped immensely by more intelligent and responsible news coverage. In that respect, Obama is even worse off than Carter was. Sadly, there is no way to improve the American people — they are immune to being informed and expecting them to suddenly grow up is pure folly. As for the media, I see no plausible path from where we are to where we need to be. In fact, I expect it to get worse.
When one considers the people and the media it is a wonder either of these men was even elected, and Obama’s re-election is extraordinary. In truth, his re-election probably had more to do with the quality of his opposition and the complete collapse of the GOP as a sometimes responsible governing partner into a mob of science-denying, religion-driven bigots. I fear for the future of this country and by extension the planet, since the US plays such a pivotal role in world affairs.
It’s hard to know how historians will view the Obama presidency. There are certainly things for which he can be criticized, but I have no idea how they will deal with his much-too-long (in my opinion) efforts to cooperate with a party whose only goal was to see him fail to be re-elected and that refused to cooperate on virtually everything of substance. The media have never given Obama a fair shake on those efforts, but rather fell immediately into the “both sides do it” narrative that so distorts coverage of US politics today. Serving eight years with a resolutely obstructionist opposition, Obama has accomplished remarkable things. Even when I disagree with him, there has never been even an instant when I wasn’t relieved that he was president and not a Republican — any and every Republican.
Carter’s legacy as president will probably always be overshadowed by his post-presidential accomplishments, which must be unequaled in US history, at least since the earlier days of the country when presidents remained politically active after leaving office. (Only Gerald Ford’s efforts to play golf every day come close.) Carter has lived a full life and were his cancer to return it wouldn’t be tragic in the way that death for children and young adults is. Still, the planet will always be a better place as long as Jimmy Carter is alive. By contrast, when Nixon, Ford, Reagan, GHW Bush, and GW Bush left office they may as well have disappeared from the face of the earth.
It would be great to see Carter make it to 100. I would expect him to still be teaching Sunday School.
Scapegoat
@? Martin: (Been offline all day, sorry.)
Greatly appreciate the detailed insights!
Scapegoat
One of the criticisms I’ve heard of Carter is that his failure to achieve more stemmed from a tendency to micro-manage. Any truth to this claim, or is this simply an effort to undermine his seemingly very progressive achievements?
mai naem mobile
@Scapegoat: It seems like he picked up.that trait from Adm. Rickover his supervisor on the nuclear submarine who was a micromanager because he didn’t want a nuclear accident on his watch.
Scapegoat
@mai naem mobile: Makes sense. During any perilous effort, careful attention to details is ultimately the only way to be sure one’s efforts don’t self-destruct. Toes may get stepped on (leading to resentment) but greater confidence is undoubtedly the result.
Leadership. It’s a tricky business.
billb
I voted for Jimmae, and he is the only person I have voted for. I am not a religious person, but JC had a moral center, that we needed then, surrounded by psychopaths like nixon/reagun. Since then all the candidates are slaves to money, I can’t vote for whores that do what Wally Street orders [lookin at you Barry/Hills] Long Live the Bern !