Trouble No More Jimmy Carter has liver cancer. Jimmy Carter is 90 years old. Jimmy Carter is one of the great Americans, if you count a globetrotting sense of adventure coupled with near-constant service to his nation and our earth. And he is fer fucking sure the greatest ex-president alive today.
I remembered it was early (I was in California) but thanks for looking it up.
He didn't have a chance electorally in California, but there were other races on the ballot, as you note, and plenty of polling time left on the Best Coast. Fortunately I have forgotten which races got screwed by this.
Someone posted maps of California's election results by county from 1980-present recently to a group I follow and the only counties Carter carried were San Francisco, Alameda (Oakland/Berkeley), and Yolo (home of UC Davis and an undergraduate farmgirl). Even before the combination of changing demographics, overt racism in electioneering, and a big shift to the social-conservative right by the Republican party that pushed California into "safe Dem" category in the mid-90s, the Dems usually took a few more of the counties.
Except that Iran has an enormous, well-equipped, ideologically fervent standing army and a 4000 year history of making short shrift of would-be invaders. Not that that would have any influence on the people who Make Their Own Reality.
Perhaps not the Greatest President Ever. Maybe not in the top ten. But damn, he's a great human being, and the planet will be a little poorer when he reaches the clearing at the end of the path.*cracks open a precious Billy Beer and raises it in toast... ye gods, this thing is skunky...*
I was too busy being a punk rocker during his presidency to pay attention to him or his policies, but I always admired him in his post-presidency days. He actually walked the christian talk. Kind of surprised to read here that he was a bit of a hard ass!
I finished college and got married during the last year of the Ford administration and then launched my working career in earnest, got my drivers license and started grad school during the Carter administration. All in that order. I had a lot going on during that short stretch of time.
There was a lot of uncertainty during that period. We had the post-Vietnam funk and the economy was stagnant, and then we got the oil shocks and Three Mile Island. Everyone was wondering where we were heading from there. People weren't really mad at Carter, they were just mad. Or rather, anxious. Really anxious.
People complained that Carter was ineffective as President, but he actually got a lot done that few gave him credit for. His actions and policies helped to set the country up for the economic recovery of the following decade. Reagan got all of the credit for that, but it was Carter and his appointee, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, who actually got the ball rolling. They were the ones who finally figured out how to slay the two-headed beast of stagnation and inflation (stagflation) that had eluded economists since the start of the Nixon administration. His two Republican predecessors couldn't do anything about it. (Republican administration policies are consistently bad for the economy per the historical record.) It was the policies and actions of the Democrat Carter that finally subdued the beast and started the process of recovery. And yet the GOP succeeded in tagging him for the blame for the decade's economic woes that actually began during the previous Republican presidencies. (Sound familiar?)
I got to interview Carter for the newspaper I was working for when the man I call "Uncle Jimmy"* led a push to revitalize his home town with the renovation of the old hotel and lending his celebrity to the effort. Even his SS crew seemed to be relaxed and laid back. Carter was modest and charming.On another occasion I was sent up to interview him after he taught his Sunday school class at a Plains church to get his thoughts on the imminent invasion and demolition of Iraq. The SS people told me he wouldn't give me an interview, but said that I could have a picture taken with him afterwards. Oh, well.I have a crazy fRight-winger older brother who claims to be a Christian. I once brought up Carter's example in one of our many arguments, and he responded: "Jimmy Carter is not a Christian." Yeah, my brother loves to deny reality when it runs counter to his warped view of the world; if Jimmy Carter isn't a Christian, there never has been a Christian. Ever. My brother also thinks that Satan buried fossils all over the place to confuse people. He's a fucking loon.Unfortunately, Carter helped bring the evangelicals out of their anti-politics cocoon and after supporting him they went "a little funny in the head. -- ... You know, just a little funny in the head." -- and started voting for the most vicious, anti-Christ people they could find on the ballot.
* My mom had a cousin, or aunt, or something who lived in Plains. We only went there when I was really young, but I remember that the child in that household, who was a few years older, had a caboose as his playhouse in the back yard and that we could see Gov. Carter's modest brick residence from their front yard.
I worked Jimmy Carter's first campaign for President out of Baltimore, MD. I loved him then, I love him now, and I know in my heart of hearts when he says he's ready for his next adventure that he will be welcomed with open arms into heaven. Until then Jimmy, may your life continue to be active and blessed. You are a true original. I admired you as our President and even more so as the good man that doubters came to know.
Although this comment is 2 months late I have two things to contribute. 1) I could not believe that Reagan carried California after what he did to us as Gov! 2) Although I voted for Carter's re-election bid, I did not vote for him initially. I am ashamed to admit that at that time, I did not trust Southern politicians, even the Dems (many of whom were Dixiecrats). That was the ONLY time I ever voted Republican and if it hadn't been Ford, I wouldn't have voted at all for Prez.I still have that innate distrust of most politicians from the South (compounded by living in GA for over a decade) but now, they are almost all GOP so it's a non-issue.
Thank you for this, Rebecca, not just for what you wrote, but for what it inspired others to write in response.
The hundreds of heartfelt, heartwarming, and occasionally heartbreaking remembrances, anecdotes, and not allowed comments that precede mine make this, to me, one of the most sincere and human Wonkette threads in recent memory. Thank you for sharing, friends – I read every last word.
So, I guess that we can now add "Nasty Vile Little Snark Mob Pacifier" to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s improbably long list of hard-earned, all too often unsung, accomplishments, eh?
In late March of 1999, I asked my wife to join me at a Habitat for Humanity volunteer day. It was our first date, and we wore matching denim overalls like common peanut farmers gone a’courtin'. We also helped frame a house. (Who said romance is dead?) President Carter wasn’t there, but his kind spirit sure as heck was, in an almost tangible sense.
In late March of 1979, I was a young kid excitedly awaiting my first plane ride to visit my grandparents for Easter break. When Three Mile Island went rods-up, their house in Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania, fell within the 20 mile evacuation radius, and they opted to decamp to a motel a safer distance away. I have a visceral memory of my family and me being glued to the TV – and to the phone – as we awaited updates. I also remember being almost as concerned for my grandparents’ safety as I was for whether my first plane ride was about to be scuttled.
And it would’ve been, were it not for President Carter.
When my grandfather – a lifelong Navy man – saw footage of Navy man Carter touring the site a few days after the meltdown, he immediately checked out and headed back home. If it was safe enough for the Commander-in-Chief, it was safe enough for him. And if it was safe enough for him, it was safe enough for his Navy vet son-in-law, his daughter, and grandkids. We flew out as scheduled, and all I have to show for it now are some priceless memories and a beloved “I Survived Three Mile Island” glow-in-the-dark t-shirt that I no longer actually have because my mom tossed it out a decade later when it began to glow on its own due to mold or bacteria or something. Dammit, Mom!
After beating lung cancer, my grandfather died of liver cancer six years ago. My dad survived liver cancer after surgery and treatment last year. While my personal sample pool puts President Carter’s odds at 50-50, I’m going to operate under the assumption that he’s going to pull through until I hear otherwise.
The world’s greatest living optimist deserves nothing less.
I remembered it was early (I was in California) but thanks for looking it up.
He didn't have a chance electorally in California, but there were other races on the ballot, as you note, and plenty of polling time left on the Best Coast. Fortunately I have forgotten which races got screwed by this.
Someone posted maps of California's election results by county from 1980-present recently to a group I follow and the only counties Carter carried were San Francisco, Alameda (Oakland/Berkeley), and Yolo (home of UC Davis and an undergraduate farmgirl). Even before the combination of changing demographics, overt racism in electioneering, and a big shift to the social-conservative right by the Republican party that pushed California into "safe Dem" category in the mid-90s, the Dems usually took a few more of the counties.
Well, the Iran hostage crisis really lost him that election. But, yeah.
Except that Iran has an enormous, well-equipped, ideologically fervent standing army and a 4000 year history of making short shrift of would-be invaders. Not that that would have any influence on the people who Make Their Own Reality.
(sorry for the mispelling [sic] )
That...was fabulous.
Perhaps not the Greatest President Ever. Maybe not in the top ten. But damn, he's a great human being, and the planet will be a little poorer when he reaches the clearing at the end of the path.*cracks open a precious Billy Beer and raises it in toast... ye gods, this thing is skunky...*
I was too busy being a punk rocker during his presidency to pay attention to him or his policies, but I always admired him in his post-presidency days. He actually walked the christian talk. Kind of surprised to read here that he was a bit of a hard ass!
The Pepsi Syndrome! I remember it well.
I finished college and got married during the last year of the Ford administration and then launched my working career in earnest, got my drivers license and started grad school during the Carter administration. All in that order. I had a lot going on during that short stretch of time.
There was a lot of uncertainty during that period. We had the post-Vietnam funk and the economy was stagnant, and then we got the oil shocks and Three Mile Island. Everyone was wondering where we were heading from there. People weren't really mad at Carter, they were just mad. Or rather, anxious. Really anxious.
People complained that Carter was ineffective as President, but he actually got a lot done that few gave him credit for. His actions and policies helped to set the country up for the economic recovery of the following decade. Reagan got all of the credit for that, but it was Carter and his appointee, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, who actually got the ball rolling. They were the ones who finally figured out how to slay the two-headed beast of stagnation and inflation (stagflation) that had eluded economists since the start of the Nixon administration. His two Republican predecessors couldn't do anything about it. (Republican administration policies are consistently bad for the economy per the historical record.) It was the policies and actions of the Democrat Carter that finally subdued the beast and started the process of recovery. And yet the GOP succeeded in tagging him for the blame for the decade's economic woes that actually began during the previous Republican presidencies. (Sound familiar?)
I got to interview Carter for the newspaper I was working for when the man I call "Uncle Jimmy"* led a push to revitalize his home town with the renovation of the old hotel and lending his celebrity to the effort. Even his SS crew seemed to be relaxed and laid back. Carter was modest and charming.On another occasion I was sent up to interview him after he taught his Sunday school class at a Plains church to get his thoughts on the imminent invasion and demolition of Iraq. The SS people told me he wouldn't give me an interview, but said that I could have a picture taken with him afterwards. Oh, well.I have a crazy fRight-winger older brother who claims to be a Christian. I once brought up Carter's example in one of our many arguments, and he responded: "Jimmy Carter is not a Christian." Yeah, my brother loves to deny reality when it runs counter to his warped view of the world; if Jimmy Carter isn't a Christian, there never has been a Christian. Ever. My brother also thinks that Satan buried fossils all over the place to confuse people. He's a fucking loon.Unfortunately, Carter helped bring the evangelicals out of their anti-politics cocoon and after supporting him they went "a little funny in the head. -- ... You know, just a little funny in the head." -- and started voting for the most vicious, anti-Christ people they could find on the ballot.
* My mom had a cousin, or aunt, or something who lived in Plains. We only went there when I was really young, but I remember that the child in that household, who was a few years older, had a caboose as his playhouse in the back yard and that we could see Gov. Carter's modest brick residence from their front yard.
I worked Jimmy Carter's first campaign for President out of Baltimore, MD. I loved him then, I love him now, and I know in my heart of hearts when he says he's ready for his next adventure that he will be welcomed with open arms into heaven. Until then Jimmy, may your life continue to be active and blessed. You are a true original. I admired you as our President and even more so as the good man that doubters came to know.
Rebecca, thanks for this touching piece.
Although this comment is 2 months late I have two things to contribute. 1) I could not believe that Reagan carried California after what he did to us as Gov! 2) Although I voted for Carter's re-election bid, I did not vote for him initially. I am ashamed to admit that at that time, I did not trust Southern politicians, even the Dems (many of whom were Dixiecrats). That was the ONLY time I ever voted Republican and if it hadn't been Ford, I wouldn't have voted at all for Prez.I still have that innate distrust of most politicians from the South (compounded by living in GA for over a decade) but now, they are almost all GOP so it's a non-issue.
Not a bad theory.
Thank you for this, Rebecca, not just for what you wrote, but for what it inspired others to write in response.
The hundreds of heartfelt, heartwarming, and occasionally heartbreaking remembrances, anecdotes, and not allowed comments that precede mine make this, to me, one of the most sincere and human Wonkette threads in recent memory. Thank you for sharing, friends – I read every last word.
So, I guess that we can now add "Nasty Vile Little Snark Mob Pacifier" to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s improbably long list of hard-earned, all too often unsung, accomplishments, eh?
In late March of 1999, I asked my wife to join me at a Habitat for Humanity volunteer day. It was our first date, and we wore matching denim overalls like common peanut farmers gone a’courtin'. We also helped frame a house. (Who said romance is dead?) President Carter wasn’t there, but his kind spirit sure as heck was, in an almost tangible sense.
In late March of 1979, I was a young kid excitedly awaiting my first plane ride to visit my grandparents for Easter break. When Three Mile Island went rods-up, their house in Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania, fell within the 20 mile evacuation radius, and they opted to decamp to a motel a safer distance away. I have a visceral memory of my family and me being glued to the TV – and to the phone – as we awaited updates. I also remember being almost as concerned for my grandparents’ safety as I was for whether my first plane ride was about to be scuttled.
And it would’ve been, were it not for President Carter.
When my grandfather – a lifelong Navy man – saw footage of Navy man Carter touring the site a few days after the meltdown, he immediately checked out and headed back home. If it was safe enough for the Commander-in-Chief, it was safe enough for him. And if it was safe enough for him, it was safe enough for his Navy vet son-in-law, his daughter, and grandkids. We flew out as scheduled, and all I have to show for it now are some priceless memories and a beloved “I Survived Three Mile Island” glow-in-the-dark t-shirt that I no longer actually have because my mom tossed it out a decade later when it began to glow on its own due to mold or bacteria or something. Dammit, Mom!
After beating lung cancer, my grandfather died of liver cancer six years ago. My dad survived liver cancer after surgery and treatment last year. While my personal sample pool puts President Carter’s odds at 50-50, I’m going to operate under the assumption that he’s going to pull through until I hear otherwise.
The world’s greatest living optimist deserves nothing less.
Wonderfully written yourself!