The Anger of Compassion

Bush and Carter: Brothers under the Skin

Dr. Michael Hurd quotes this news bit about former president Jimmy Carter:

... 'My presumption is, and my belief is, that the president and his secretary of state and the Defense Department and others have adequately cleared the Dubai government organization to manage these [American] ports,' Carter told CNN. "I don't think there's any particular threat to our security.'"

Let's not dwell on the actual security aspects of this, even though we're dealing with Mr."Inordinate Fear of Communism" himself.

Instead, let me offer something not mentioned by Dr. Hurd: why should we even take Carter at his word? He has rarely "presumed" that any of his successors are doing anything right, or even minimally ethical. So now he "presumes" and "believes" that George W. Bush, along with key members of his administration, are doing just okey-dokey on the Dubai-ports thing? And we're to believe him? Is there a reason anyone still grants this guy any credibility at all?

Hurd supports the title of his piece with his conclusion:

Inconsistency in ideas must sooner or later evolve into consistency. Contradictions cannot be sustained forever. George W. Bush is moving towards consistency. And we can see which direction he's heading.

(Dr. Hurd compared Bush to his predecessor Clinton here.)

UPDATE: John Derbyshire on Jimmy Carter's book on "values:"

It is the little things that stick in the mind, those transient items that show up on an inside-page paragraph of one’s newspaper for a day or two, then vanish, forgotten by everyone else but oneself. Here is one of those oddities from the Carter years. In mid-September 1980 a Russian soldier sought refuge in the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Astoundingly — this, please remember, was nine months into the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, a geostrategic event of the first magnitude — there was no one at the embassy who could understand Russian. After a few days, during which the air in the embassy must have been well-nigh crystalline with embarrassment, a deal was struck — no doubt “assurances” were given — and the unfortunate squaddie was returned to the tender care of the Soviet military authorities. I often wonder what became of him. Better not to know, perhaps.

No shit.

Posted by Craig Ceely at February 24, 2006 06:52 AM