Jimmy Carter: "When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that's the dictator, because he speaks for all the people."

[one...two...tree 2,762]

let's see what happens if you throw in some reagan-bashing into the mix...

No kidding....or lets have a thread of outlandish things, Presidents past and present have said and see who gets the grand prize.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think you would have to want to believe that Carter would say something this nutty and mean it the way its been interpreted.

As I say - I think its badly worded, but you don't need to look that hard at it to see where he's coming from. Its a rhetorical question to ask which interpretation is more plausible

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

let's see what happens if you throw in some reagan-bashing into the mix...

No kidding....or lets have a thread of outlandish things, Presidents past and present have said and see who gets the grand prize.

"More and more of our imports come from overseas"

[joelunchbox 0]

How many have read "Peace not Apartheid" cover to cover.

I have.

Jimmy Carter is not an idiot--he is a caring person with a long, deep history of interaction in the middle east.

Contrast that with the present President.

My I also suggest reading Madeline Albrecht's book on US foreign policy-very insightlful.

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

Let me make it real simple for you:

1) Carter did not run this country into an illegal war that claimed tens of thousands of innocent lives and destroyed hundreds of thousands more.

2) George W Bush will never be a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

The latter may not mean much in Rush's little bubble but in the real world, it counts for something.

and i'll make it simple for you:

- we are not talking about gwb. this thread is about jimmy carter.

[Nagishkaw 510]

How many have read "Peace not Apartheid" cover to cover.

I have.

Jimmy Carter is not an idiot--he is a caring person with a long, deep history of interaction in the middle east.

Contrast that with the present President.

My I also suggest reading Madeline Albrecht's book on US foreign policy-very insightlful.

So caring he placed a wreath on Arafat's grave....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Anyone politician who mediates in the middle-east is going to attract controversy.

[pedroh 21]

"In a democracy, I realize you don't need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels," he said over the weekend, responding to a question from an Israeli journalist who noted that Mr. Carter had been snubbed by most of Israel's top leadership and reprimanded by its president, Shimon Peres. "When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that's the dictator, because he speaks for all the people."

What's the controversy in the above statement? I don't see it.

A dictator speaks for all the people? Hardly. He may have power over all the people but he does not speak for all of them.

Carter has lost his mind.

Gary, apply it to a real life situation. Imagine if Carter were to go to N. Korea and go talk to the people there to find out what they really think. I think it's kind of obvious what he was saying.

Put it in the context he did. "In a democracy, I realize you don't need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels," Meaning to get an idea of how the people are doing and how they are feeling. "When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that's the dictator, because he speaks for all the people." In other words in a dictatorship the dictator will tell him how his people are feeling. What they really feel like isn't important. Savy?

ahh.. yeah.. and he tells them what to watch, what to read, what to think of everything else.. that's why it's a dictator

[Nagishkaw 510]

Dictator : What you get when you cross a potato with a #######.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Let me make it real simple for you:

1) Carter did not run this country into an illegal war that claimed tens of thousands of innocent lives and destroyed hundreds of thousands more.

2) George W Bush will never be a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

The latter may not mean much in Rush's little bubble but in the real world, it counts for something.

and i'll make it simple for you:

- we are not talking about gwb. this thread is about jimmy carter.

Just wanted to put Carter's accomplishments towards the promotion of peace into proper perspective.

[HAL 9000 96]

And so you did.

[mawilson 2,133]

"More and more of our imports come from overseas"

Maybe he meant it literally, as in "beyond the sea". In other words, not from Canada or Mexico.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

"More and more of our imports come from overseas"

Maybe he meant it literally, as in "beyond the sea". In other words, not from Canada or Mexico.

He probably did. I think the guy uncharismatic, oratorically ineffective and generally mediocre - but I don't think he's so stupid that he doesn't know the difference between "import" and "export".

Its easy to seize on wording and ignore the intended meaning.

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

Let me make it real simple for you:

1) Carter did not run this country into an illegal war that claimed tens of thousands of innocent lives and destroyed hundreds of thousands more.

2) George W Bush will never be a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

The latter may not mean much in Rush's little bubble but in the real world, it counts for something.

and i'll make it simple for you:

- we are not talking about gwb. this thread is about jimmy carter.

Just wanted to put Carter's accomplishments towards the promotion of peace into proper perspective.

if doing nothing while rome burns counts as an accomplishment, then so be it.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Let me make it real simple for you:

1) Carter did not run this country into an illegal war that claimed tens of thousands of innocent lives and destroyed hundreds of thousands more.

2) George W Bush will never be a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

The latter may not mean much in Rush's little bubble but in the real world, it counts for something.

and i'll make it simple for you:

- we are not talking about gwb. this thread is about jimmy carter.

Just wanted to put Carter's accomplishments towards the promotion of peace into proper perspective.

if doing nothing while rome burns counts as an accomplishment, then so be it.

Rome wasn't buring. Until someone else set it on fire.