You knew it would only be a matter of time before the officials here at GraniteGrok would find reason to bestow the prestigious Dope of the Week award to former president Jimmy Carter. Pretty much any time he speaks, he qualifies. Additionally, he fits in rather well with past recipients.
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This week, we find the former president doing what he does best: bashing the US and its allies for a foreign audience. This time, it’s an interview for the German magazine, Der Spiegel. Calling Israel’s defending itself against Hezbullah rockets by attacking their strongholds in Lebanon as "unjustified," the former one-term president, after being reminded that Israel was attacked first, stated
I don’t think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon. What happened is that Israel is holding almost 10,000 prisoners, so when the militants in Lebanon or in Gaza take one or two soldiers, Israel looks upon this as a justification for an attack on the civilian population of Lebanon and Gaza. I do not think that’s justified, no.
It drives me nuts to hear people draw some form of moral equivalency between the Israelis and their (and ours) murderous enemies. Does he believe the prisoners held by Israel to be "hostages"? Did the Hezbulla aim their rockets at military targets? Why can’t dopes like Carter understand that most of the "civilians" ARE the Hezbullah- doesn’t he watch TV lately? Everyone they show picking through the rubble that was Beirut proclaims their "pride" in Hezbullah.
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Our enemy, the Islamofascists shout,"Death to Israel!" Some shout, "Death to America!" They are religious fanatics willing to die to kill us. What does Mr. Carter have to say about them? Not much- but he does have thoughts on "Christian fundamentalists" like George W. Bush here in the USA:
The fundamentalists believe they have a unique relationship with God, and that they and their ideas are God’s ideas and God’s premises on the particular issue. Therefore, by definition since they are speaking for God anyone who disagrees with them is inherently wrong. And the next step is: Those who disagree with them are inherently inferior, and in extreme cases — as is the case with some fundamentalists around the world — it makes your opponents sub-humans, so that their lives are not significant. Another thing is that a fundamentalist can’t bring himself or herself to negotiate with people who disagree with them because the negotiating process itself is an indication of implied equality. And so this administration, for instance, has a policy of just refusing to talk to someone who is in strong disagreement with them — which is also a radical departure from past history. So these are the kinds of things that cause me concern. And, of course, fundamentalists don’t believe they can make mistakes, so when we permit the torture of prisoners in Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib, it’s just impossible for a fundamentalist to admit that a mistake was made.
Click here to read the whole interview. You’ll remember why you were glad that he didn’t win a second term…
