Opaque Lucidity

Billy Beer, Anyone?

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy.

I'm still recovering from shock. Does it surprise me that President Carter would make statements such as the ones he did? No; after all, he's been spouting off like somebody's crazy uncle for almost 25 years now. What I find shocking is that Jimmy Carter would characterize Bush 43 as the worst President in history in terms of foreign affairs. Did he include himself in that analysis?

Let's take a look at President Carter's one term in office. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Carter's response? Boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Wow...I bet Stalin shuddered in his grave.

Also in 1979, the communist Sandinistas grabbed power in Nicarauga. Carter's response? There wasn't one.

And, finally, in 1979 as well, 52 Americans were taken hostage by Iran. Carter's response? A rescue mission that ended in disaster, despite the fact that senior officers in the Pentagon were ready to pull off a much larger offensive operation that would have had a much greater chance of success.

President Carter did not believe in the idea of containment with regard to the Soviet Union, a policy that had been in effect since the Berlin Airlift 30 years before. As a result, the Soviets made gains in Asia, Central and South America and Africa. The only thing that stopped this advance was the election of Ronald Reagan.

I can promise you that leftist historians are now busy re-imagining the Carter presidency. Thankfully, there are millions of Americans who remember well what an embarrassment Jimm Carter was.

Some things never change.