Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

This fight is for everything.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

In after Baud. Damn.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Jimmy Carter, Good President, Great Man (we won’t see the likes of him again)

Jimmy Carter, Good President, Great Man (we won’t see the likes of him again)

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Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter.

That’s how I think of him, because of the book by that name, where I first learned about Jimmy Carter all those years ago.

You can also watch or listen to the funeral or read a great Jimmy Carter story at this link.

h/t Raven

Jimmy Carter 1

Jimmy Carter, Charles Kirbo and a Billy Goat named Mac

by Jeff Hullinger

…So Mr. Kirbo and then-Governor Jimmy Carter traveled to Plains because they knew Billy Carter (the governor’s brother) had a goat for sale.

The perfect Christmas gift. A Billy (Carter) goat.

“Governor Carter then drove the goat [3 and a half hours] back to Atlanta from Sumter County,” Kathy continues. “They put the goat in the offices across from the state capitol, the Trinity Washington Building, until Christmas; so I wouldn’t see it.”

Governor Carter brought the goat through the basement of the government building.

And who was this Charles Kirbo?

Jimmy Carter

One of the greatest attorneys ever produced by the University of Georgia.

“He was my closest friend,” President Carter has said, “Without his wisdom, sound judgment and guidance, I never would have been a state senator, governor or president of the United States.”

Now back to the hidden Christmas goat.

Read the whole thing at the link above.

 

Reader Interactions

139Comments

  2. 2.

    Bupalos

    Carter was a really bad president in most ways Mostly because he followed pretty cluelessly conservative economic and regulatory policy behind a kind of rhetorical moral gloss that would make you think the opposite. He did a fair amount of Reaganing before Reagan and without the rhetoric.

    gatuitously terrible on labor at a critical time.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    @Bupalos:  Why you have been pied for ages.

    In the real world:  Ted Mondale is speaking of JEC’s legacy on climate change, and how he helped to advance women.

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    Stuart Eizenstat up now.

    C-Span originally misidentified Steve Ford as Eizenstat.  Strange to see him as an older and balding man; had not seen him in decades.

  8. 8.

    MazeDancer

    The Ford and Mondale eulogies were wonderful.

    Wonder if Mr. Carter asked them to write the eulogies. Every detail was said o be planned by him.

    ETA: Yes, that was Andrew Young who did the first reading.

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Bupalos: ​
      “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven.” This probably isn’t the one for that.

  11. 11.

    Bupalos

    @Elizabelle: I just don’t know why “good person” can’t be enough for the epitaph, there’s so much to say there. He wasn’t a good ”climate change” president- as was the style at the time he considered energy use entirely in geopolitical terms of “independence” and sought to massively expand oil production (as any president at the time would have.)

    NPR had an interesting segment about the “malaise” speech. Which was actually a kind of moral harangue  that never used the term malaise and didn’t dwell on economic stagnation. And the professor said he showed it to his students and they had a shockingly positive reaction to it and wished modern politicians talked that way. Which makes me wonder if he just missed his time.

  12. 12.

    MazeDancer

    This service is reminding me how much I am a Carter-Mondale-Biden-Harris Democrat.

    Loved Mr. Obama. But understanding the importance of Women, the Arts, the Environment matter.

    And dedication to quiet excellence.

  13. 13.

    tobie

    Is it just me or does it seem like Bill and Hillary Clinton are the only two who are appreciating the eulogies?

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    @tobie:  Bill and Hillary seem the most relaxed.

    I am glad to see Al Gore there.

    Grandson Jason Carter up now.  They called him “PawPaw” (sp?) and Rosalyn “Mom Carter.”

    Laugh that the Carters spent the other 96 years not in the White House in Plains

    And, the nuclear engineer struggling with his first cell phone.

  17. 17.

    p.a.

    He was a great man with a great legacy.  He was right about big issues but his presidency was dogged by external black swans but also by his lack of connection, and ability to connect, to congressional Dems.  Compare to Clinton, a governor who also never served in Congress.

    Could have had a second term if not for the second case of Republican treason in a generation; Reagan’s sotto voce outreach to Iran, similat to how Nixon scuttled the Paris Peace Talks.  And a preview of 2000 Rehnquist court election overturn.

  18. 18.

    Elizabelle

    @Jackie:  I think the EPA might have been Nixon, actually.  (It was, December 1970.)

    Humorous and humanizing eulogy by Jason.

  21. 21.

    tobie

    @Elizabelle: It’s a beautiful eulogy and really brings home that Carter lived his faith and that his public service was part of that faith. So impressive.

  22. 22.

    Elizabelle

    All the eulogies have been good, but I am really enjoying Jason’s.  And he is such a natural speaker.

  23. 23.

    Bupalos

    @MazeDancer: Those are pretty odd pairings.

    Seriously I know it’s a funeral and as Omnes says “not the time…”

    But I have no self control on this topic. Carter has at best extremely mixed liberal credentials and is the only one in the line through Biden that doesn’t have the excuse that the really egregious anti-labor or deregulatory things he did were a compromise. Politically speaking, no one from our team ever did less with more political runway. Carter chose conservative economics. And the fact that he ran conservative policy behind liberal rhetoric wrecked us for a generation. 

  24. 24.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    @tobie: maybe because Bill’s the next oldest and they’re paying attention. I haven’t watched that much but Bush seemed to be paying attention as well. Maybe because it’s not been that long since his parents had their funerals.

    BTW it’s odd seeing a much older Amy Carter than the the tween Amy Carter image I have  in my head.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    Re cable:  this was a gem.

    From satirist Andy Borowitz, now on Substack:

    Jimmy Carter Says Best Part of Heaven is He Will Never See Trump.

    HEAVEN (The Borowitz Report)—In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday, former President Jimmy Carter said that the best part of Heaven “by far” is the knowledge that he will never see Donald J. Trump again.

    “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for the gift of eternal life,” he said. “But an eternity without Trump is the greatest gift of all.”

    Carter said that he was “far from alone” in appreciating his Trump-free existence, adding, “Nelson Mandela just said the same thing.”

    Asked if he had seen Trump on cable news criticizing his sale of the Panama Canal, Carter responded, “We don’t have cable news up here. I’ve heard it’s on nonstop in the other place.”

  30. 30.

    Soprano2

    @Mai Naem mobile ¹: I was listening on NPR for a few minutes, and one of the commentators said it’s like the presidents are watching their own future funerals because much of what they do is the same at each funeral.

    I would love to have “The Lord is my Shepherd” from John Rutter’s “Requiem” performed at my funeral. I’m not religious, but that’s the most beautiful rendition of Psalm 23 I’ve ever heard in musical form.

  32. 32.

    tobie

    @Mai Naem mobile ¹: Good point. I was struck at the Dem Convention this past summer that Bill Clinton is thinking a lot about his mortality and whether he’ll be alive in four years. Age hits us all but, boy, did Jimmy Carter live a long and eventful life.

  33. 33.

    Elizabelle

    @Jackie:  Probably not.  Bupalos has digital Tourette’s, or whatever passes for it online.

    No judgment, sadly. I hope he and his mother are relishing the upcoming Trump return to power.  Surprise!!

  36. 36.

    MazeDancer

    Phyllis Adams sang Amazing Grace. From Tamara Keith on bsky:

    Now, you may not have heard of Phyllis Adams. She is a long-time Delta flight attendant and vocalist. The Carters saw her perform in 2017 at a Carter Center event and were so wowed they asked her to sing at the former president’s funeral. These details say a lot about Carter’s approach to life.

  37. 37.

    Soprano2

    Boy, all the MAGA’s are going to be screaming about BIden’s eulogy. It’s a tribute to Carter, but also a rebuke of TCFG, and they’ll all know it.

  38. 38.

    Torrey

    @Elizabelle: Now The Navy Hymn. We know Subaru is tearing up.

    She is not alone.

    Also, yes to Jason Carter. The cell phone incident. And the point about the Guinea worm living from before the beginnings of humanity until Jimmy Carter. [Want to use the heart emoji at this point, but one follows the rules, one does.]

    ETA: also very glad that Jason Carter talked about the villagers as partners, not objects of charitable actions.

  39. 39.

    dww44

    @Bupalos: You have your views  with which I mostly disagree.  I suggest you might benefit from revisiting some of the CSPAN archival footage to get a more balanced view.  Try the  2006 call-in interview when he was 82.  He answered all the call in questions with honesty and facts full detail.

    Respectfully now is not the time for negativity.  I came here because I wanted to avoid a repeat performance from Erik Loomis.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    @Soprano2:  And The Felon has to sit there and take it.

    Good on Biden.

    Started out mentioning a “decent country” and then opened up.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    “To be the country we say we are.  To say we are the country we want to be.”

    Early November is hiding in the back.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    I like Biden speaking, several times now, on purpose.

    I think a lot of Americans are searching for that, now.

  45. 45.

    Bupalos

    @Jackie: I don’t have disdain for Carter at all. I think he’s a great man.  My version of honoring someone just doesn’t include forcing them in to a particular shape or specifically inverting their warts into beauty marks. He doesn’t have to have had a great presidency to be a great person.  I think that’s kind of the implication of this particular kind of revisionism.
    I think a more fitting tribute would be to cite the way he dealt with and transformed the near train wreck that came of his American political career into an ethical and moral example that transcended that. To me, that’s  his real greatness. It’s not a linear story. He rose to the height of power, went to Washington… and failed pretty spectacularly disappointing friends and foes alike.

    He then picked himself up in an unfathomable way and went on to do as much good as a semi-private person can ever dream of. Becoming an almost mythical figure of morality and preserverance and personal agency for the good of humankind.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    Biden’s eulogy was shorter than a lot of the others’, and likely quite different from the one he would have given had American voters not screwed the pooch in November.

  47. 47.

    Soprano2

    TCFG and Melania hate having to do anything that isn’t about them. I just saw a glimpse of him, scowling like always. I try to think of him giving a eulogy for anyone, and I fail to imagine it.

  52. 52.

    dww44

    @Soprano2: I note that each time there  was a respectful chuckle from the Presidents gallery Trump  never joined in.  He really does not have a sense of humor.

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    How long has Andrew Young been Reverend Young?  Was he, during his political career?

    ETA:  He answered it; has long been a pastor, during Civil Rights era.

    Wonderful remarks.

    This service is grounded in realism.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    @dww44:  The Felon is lacking in so much.  The MSM may try to sanewash him, but you cannot miss it.

    Now that jail is not in The Felon’s immediate future, I am fine if Satan calls him home. Vance is also dreadful, but may be a slightly less gratuitous ride.

    Incidentally, is Vance at the service?

  62. 62.

    Soprano2

    @dww44:   He really does not have a sense of humor.

    The only time he thinks something is funny is when someone he doesn’t like is getting hurt. Otherwise, he doesn’t understand humor at all

    Oh man, and will they be screaming that two country singers are singing “Imagine” at Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

  72. 72.

    Bupalos

    @Elizabelle: Now that’s pretty interesting. I assume Carter’s own choice… kind of known for the atheistic line “imagine there’s no heaven”

  75. 75.

    Elizabelle

    I hope there will be a memorial to Jimmy Carter somewhere in DC.  No matter how small.  A place to pay respects.

  78. 78.

    wenchacha

    I’m fine with the felon’s funeral being held at Rudy’s Four Seasons location.

    Mistah we could use a man like Jimmy Carter, again.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    DC has better weather for pandas than for mourners.

    Another small thing to look forward to:  the pandas go on display at month’s end.

  89. 89.

    Kay

    @Elizabelle:

    The MAGAs on TikTok are freaking out because Karen Pence “snubbed” Trump. Did that actually happen? They’re often delusional.  Bravo if so. I didn’t know she had it in her.

  91. 91.

    karen gail

    Jimmy Carter set an excellent example for men; he gave up future in Navy to rescue family business; he supported Civil Rights when it wasn’t popular but above all he lived his Christian beliefs and to the best of his ability was a honest, trustworthy man.

    I was once told that a honest man was a terrible politician; so whatever failings he might have had as a politician he more than balanced the scales by his works.

  95. 95.

    JML

    I’m glad Carter is getting a more nuanced perspective on his presidency (not nearly as bad as the Reagan acolytes would have you believe, not as good as it could have been) and it’s also clear that the totality of his life is an incredible one and he’ll be remembered historically for that totality rather than just for 4 years, which is pretty remarkable for anyone who served as president. So few Americans who reach the presidency are abled to be remembered for anything else; it does cast a long shadow and Carter grew beyond that. That’s pretty amazing.

  99. 99.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: According to the people who came on after the funeral was over, Karen Pence refused to shake TCGF’s hand. Funny how they’re offended by that but not by the senator’s husband refusing to shake Harris’ hand.

  102. 102.

    Soprano2

    @Juju: I had to go to my grandmother’s funeral three weeks almost to the day after my father’s funeral – at the same funeral home! Do.not.recommend.

  104. 104.

    HeleninEire

    @Kay: Bush snubbed him too. Walked right past Trump and Melania and tapped Obama on the tummy! A very Bush move.

  106. 106.

    Another Scott

    It was a great service.

    It would have been wonderful if the whole country watched it, to get us all to slow down a little and think about the good things that unite us as humans.

    It might have only lasted about, oh, 10-15 minutes, but it would have been nice.

    ;-)

    Hang in there, everyone.  Peace and strength to the good people of Los Angeles.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    @HeleninEire:

    I’m very glad – thanks –  but the MAGAs hate Bush. They’re more conflicted on the Pences because the Pences are actual evangelicals.

    They feel “judged”! Uh oh. They’re probably going to destroy something now. Karen Pence made them.

  108. 108.

    KatKapCC

    @Bupalos:

    But I have no self control on this topic.

    Yes, you do. You are a human being with the ability to make choices, not a shitposting robot accidentally set to chaos mode. You are perfectly capable of shutting the fuck up, and I suggest you try it out. Besides, don’t you need to book a flight to wherever Carter’s grave will be so you can prepare to take a dump on it?

  109. 109.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    I knew Melania was as much a mean spirited jerk as he is.

    There’s a good reason The Slovenian Manikin is called Melanoma.

  111. 111.

    Juju

    @Soprano2: I understand that completely. I had to attend the funeral of a dear family friend three months after my father died, also at the same funeral home that took care of my father, though my father had a funeral mass. It was difficult for me.

  115. 115.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    People forget..Karen Pence AND THEIR DAUGHTER were with Mike Pence on January 6th.

    I dunno…I would hold a grudge if someone put me, my husband AND MY CHILD’S LIFE AT RISK

  116. 116.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:  Trust the MAGAs to glomm onto any disrespect shown so as to ignore the whole of the Christian service for Jimmy Carter, which took place in a house of worship.

    With lots of easily understandable words.

    But, can they talk about that?

  117. 117.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Snubbing is probably not easy for her. She was trained in that Right wing religious baby voice “niceness”. They’re not allowed to ignore men.

  119. 119.

    raven

    @Elizabelle: I just came from a meeting with an Occupational Therapist and she has a “facility dog” named Eroll! Big goofy lab who does a great job!

  122. 122.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @zhena gogolia:

    Maybe but the sharp poke it represents from Karen pisses off the reich-wing crowd far more I’m guessing.

    HOW DARE SHE?!!!!!!!

  124. 124.

    Another Scott

    Zooks. Biden was in Santa Monica yesterday. And gave a eulogy for Carter today, ~ 2500 miles away.

    WhiteHouse.gov:

    […]

    THE PRESIDENT: It’s astounding what’s happened.

    There’s only one piece of good news. My son lives out here and his wife. Their — they got a notification yesterday that their home is probably burned to the ground. Today, it appears that maybe it’s still standing. We’re not sure.

    But the good news is I’m a great-grandfather as of today. My eldest granddaughter. (Applause.) A 10-pound, 4-ounce baby girl — baby boy.

    So, I — I’m going to remember this day for a lot of the wrong reasons. But anyway.

    11:19 A.M. PST

    Indeed – a hellofa day to become a great grandpa! And that’s a big baby!

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  125. 125.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @HeleninEire:

    Bush snubbed him too. Walked right past Trump and Melania and tapped Obama on the tummy! A very Bush move.

    Just saw that clip, it’s already gif-ed, and gotta admit, I smiled and LOLed.

    As somebody said on Twitter, would have been better if Dubya had also tousled Hair Furor’s hair.  Now I can’t get that imaginary scene outta my head.

  128. 128.

    Elizabelle

    Incidentally, the Google doodle was interesting today.

    Just grey — no colors — and white.  And President Jimmy Carter – 1924 – 2024

    Very simple.

  130. 130.

    minachica

    @Kay: “Stay sweet!”

    ::vomit:

    ETA: That was the common phrase of “encouragement” to girls in the corner of religious fundamentalism that indoctrinated me as a child.

  132. 132.

    Kay

    @minachica:

    We had a big case with a Right wing religious sect where some of the girls broke ranks. I get a little…worked up and I learned to control my voice and leave loooong spaces so they would talk to me. They have to know you’re finished before they will speak. I thought they were brave. The sect were like bad, half ass farmers and the men didn’t do any work. They grew strawberries. They had the women and girls planting and picking by hand.

  133. 133.

    minachica

    @Kay: Yeah, thankfully my sect didn’t try to make us live entirely in a fantasy time/place, and I was able to go to public school and make an escape. My heart just breaks for pretty much every human trapped in those systems, and (having been one myself) especially for the girls. I’m glad that you have been able to help, like some teachers did for me.

  134. 134.

    billcinsd

    @Bupalos: The malaise speech was very well received at the time. Carter’s approval ratings went up 11%. Then Carter fired his cabinet and lost all that good will

  135. 135.

    Gretchen

    So Carter started FEMA, and tried to do something about climate change, health care, and women’s rights in the 1970s, and people still want to insist that he was a bad president because traitors delayed the Iran hostage release until after the election. Then we got Reagan, and nobody wants to talk about what a terrible president Reagan was. Weird.

  137. 137.

    Raven

    @Gretchen: He fell prey to the stupid “combined ops” notion that said all the services had to be involved. No fucking body knew that sand being sucked into aircraft engines would make them fail.

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