[MD] Clouds

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[Platt]
Jimmy Carter, the worst president in U.S. history. Inflation rates at double
digits, interest rates likewise. Completely feckless in the Iranian hostage
crises. The leader of national "malaise."

[Case]
Another man disqualified for public service by having personal integrity. The
only US president to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. The president who promised
never to lie to us and paid the price for keeping his promise.

[Arlo]
Jimmy Carter is still MY president. Carter inherited a vile situation in Iran,
fostered by the inept regimes of Nixon and Ford, not to mention an inevitable
backlash from OPEC. From Wikipedia, "In 1973, during the Nixon Administration,
OPEC (The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) agreed to reduce
supplies of oil available to the world market. This sparked an oil crisis and
forced oil prices to rise sharply, spurring price inflation throughout the
economy, and slowing growth. Significant government borrowing for items such as
the Vietnam War and the nuclear weapons stockpile helped keep interest rates
high relative to inflation."

For a good indicator of the trend Carter inherited, here is an index of
inflation by year.

http://www.miseryindex.us/indexbyyear.asp

The trend began by Tricky Dick, and worsened by the inept Ford, was unstoppable.
All we could do was weather it out. And so the wisest man to ever hold the
office gets blamed for something that was not his creation.

As for the hostage situation. This from Wikipedia, "Although the Carter team had
successfully negotiated with the hostage takers for release of the hostages, an
agreement trusting the hostage takers to abide by their word was not signed
until January 19, 1981, after the election of Ronald Reagan. The hostages had
been held captive for 444 days, and their release happened just minutes after
Carter left office."

No one is without flaw, and no president has ever not made mistakes. But rather
than press on  with arrogant indifference, Carter accepted and was humbled by
his mistakes. If nothing else, his actions post-presidency have cast shame on
all other living presidents, including Clinton and Pappy Bush.