No, I will not get into a debate on here whether Donald Trump has indeed been a disappointment of a US President so far. Rather, my point is I don’t think Jimmy “Peanut” Carter is qualified to make that judgment – given he thinks he himself was a successful President.
Former President Carter offered a damning indictment of US foreign policy and domestic affairs Tuesday, saying money in politics makes the nation more like an ‘‘oligarchy than a democracy’’ and casting President Trump as a disappointment on the world stage.
Carter’s criticisms, offered at his annual presentation to backers of his post-presidency Carter Center in Atlanta, went beyond Trump, but he was particularly critical of the nation’s direction under the Republican president’s leadership.
The 39th president, a Democrat, offered this advice to the 45th: ‘‘Keep the peace, promote human rights and tell the truth.’’
Carter, 92, did not mention explicitly Trump’s threatening exchanges this summer with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, but the former president said the US should engage directly with the insular leader and discuss a peace treaty to replace the cease fire that ended the Korean War in 1953.
‘‘I would send my top person to Pyongyang immediately, if I didn’t go myself,’’ Carter said, noting that he’s been three times to the country, even as successive US administrations have refused to deal with the regime.
The North Koreans, Carter said, want a treaty that guarantees the US will not attack unless North Korea attacks the US or an ally, particularly South Korea. ‘‘Until we talk to them and threat them with respect — as human beings, which they are — I don’t think we’re going to make any progress,’’ Carter said.
‘‘Keep the peace, promote human rights and tell the truth.’’ Jimmy Carter was a failure at all three.
For one instance of his failing (and there are so many more), consider North Korea, which he sees fit to give advice on
When it comes to the belligerence of North Korea, Carter’s past involvement has done considerable damage. In the early 1990s, Carter traveled to North Korea on another of his “peacekeeping missions” and brokered a deal with dictator Kim Il Sung. He did so without the blessing of the Clinton administration, although, at the behest of then-Vice President Al Gore, President Clinton later agreed to adopt Carter’s deal. The United States ended up providing aid, oil and, incredibly, material for building light-water nuclear reactors to the North Koreans in exchange for their abandoning their nuclear weapons program. The problem is they didn’t abandon their nuclear weapons program; they just said they did. And in 2002, they admitted as much.
Naturally, Carter also opens his piehole on Israel
He also dismissed Trump’s optimism that he can engineer Middle East peace. Trump has tasked his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with handling the issue that has vexed US administrations for generations, but the president notably backed off the long-held US position calling for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
Carter said he is ‘‘practically hopeless’’ that anything Trump comes up with would give ‘‘justice to the Palestinians.’’
‘‘I don’t think Trump or his family members are making any process in that respect,’’ he said. Carter criticized both Israeli and Palestinian leaders for a lack of flexibility, but he singled out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu, a Trump ally, for having ‘‘no intention at all of having a two-state solution.’’
Of course, this is not surprising from the dark Sith lord who has claimed Hamas wants peace, but Israel doesn’t.
The only thing Carter has succeeded at is living a really long time. Much longer than he deserves.
