Ain't that the Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

Former President Jimmy Carter spoke out this last Saturday calling the Bush Administration “the worst in history” in international relations. He also derided Great Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair for supporting President Bush. My first thought when I heard this was, “ain’t that the pot calling the kettle black!”

The same president who brought the art of appeasement to an entirely new level further complained about President Bush’s environmental policies and his faith-based initiative funding. But maybe appeasement is the better way. After all, they didn’t attack us HERE when Carter was president.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not sure I would rate President Bush’s idea of international relations that high either, but I would certainly rate his presidency above that of the President who brought new meaning to the word appeasement. It’s definitely leaps and bounds ahead of the man who ridiculed Reagan’s plans to end the ‘cold war’.

Former President Carter should be commended for his excellent work for “Habitat for Humanity”, and should be congratulated for his Nobel Peace Prize (something President Bush will probably never get), but flinging insults at an outgoing head-of-state in Tony Blair and at a sitting President is something that traditionally, former Presidents have not done.

Obviously, in 1980, the American public believed the same when Carter was soundly drubbed by the voters when they selected Ronald Reagan as the new President. Of course, Carter’s horrific domestic policy probably had a great deal to do with his defeat. His introduction of double digit inflation, high unemployment and a new American recession probably did not make Americans happy.

But what Carter will ever be remembered for, is the 444 days that American diplomats and US Citizens were held hostage by the Ayatollah Khomeini in Teheran, Iran. Held captive by a group that included the current sitting President of Iran. Carter was the one that taught America’s enemies to look us in the eye and laugh at us with impunity.

What shame Carter must have felt when Ronald Reagan took office, and the American hostages were immediately released. So, please return to writing your Anti-Semitic books and promoting your Habitat for Humanity, and quit embarrassing yourself by calling the kettle black.