Jimmy Carter Speaks Out On Wright, Obama, McCain

Former President Jimmy Carter appeared on CNN's Larry King Live on Monday, addressing everything from the 2008 election and Rev. Jeremiah Wright to his recent talks with Hamas.

In the first segment, Carter said he would not have left Wright's church after hearing his remarks, and that Wright wouldn't be "anything permanent or damaging" to Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy.

CARTER: I grew up in Plains, Georgia and we have 600 people and 11 churches. And the largest and most powerful church is the Lebanon Baptist Church, which is an African-American Baptist church, so I have heard this kind of preaching all my life when we visited their church and they came to mine. What I think he's teaching is a liberation theology and his origins... I think sermons are still shaped by the deprivation of racial discrimination that our country has felt for 100 years after the civil war.

Carter said he would not be endorsing a candidate during the primaries (despite the fact that "all of my grandchildren and all of their spouses and all of my children and all of their spouses were for Obama"), and predicted that the party would rally around a winner after the primary elections were over in early June. But he did offer praise to both candidates:

I think [Obama] has brought a new level of eloquence and inspiration to a lot of people. Hillary has also surprised a lot of people with her tenacity and her capability as a formidable candidate. I think at first she was kind of in the shadow of her husband. I think now she's blossomed forth in a very formidable fashion. If I were she, I would not withdraw until defeated and if I was Obama I would go forward as well.

In the second part, Carter addressed his recent trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, during which he spoke twice to representatives of Hamas. King played clips of John McCain challenging Obama to condemn Carter's meetings, and of Obama saying he personally would not have met with Hamas.

Carter responded:

Well, you know, I know the pressures that are on candidates running for president or Congress or governor or anything else in this country, and I don't blame Senator McCain for making what I consider a very foolish statement, telling Obama to tell me what to do. And I think Obama takes the right attitude by saying it's not his place to tell me what to do, but he would not go and meet with them. I think it's perfectly rational.

Comments

[Tellmethetruth]

"This is as openly radical... Wright is not an incidental figure in Obama's life, or his politics. The senator "affirmed" his Christian faith in this church; he uses Wright as a "sounding board" to "make sure I'm not losing myself in the hype and hoopla." ... "If you want to understand where Barack gets his feeling and rhetoric from," says the Rev. Jim Wallis, a leader of the religious left, "just look at Jeremiah Wright." ...

read his autobiography, the surprising thing — is the depth of radical feeling that seeps through, the amount of Jeremiah Wright that's packed in there. Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising. Obama's life story is a splicing of two different roles, and two different ways of thinking about America's. One is that of the consummate insider, someone who has been raised believing that he will help to lead America, who believes in this country's capacity for acts of outstanding virtue. The other is that of a black man who feels very deeply that this country's exercise of its great inherited wealth and power has been grossly unjust. This tension runs through his life; Obama is at once an insider and an outsider, a bomb thrower and the class president. "I'm somebody who believes in this country and its institutions," he tells me. "But I often think they're broken."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/13390609/campaign_08_the_radical_roots_of_barack_obama/print

[barackaide]

let me guess: you're voting for hillary. anything to say about jimmy carter? or the article above? rev wright rants should be on the thread over there---->

[KarateKid]

How nice; another Republican coming to Huffington Post to expand his narrow mind. Good luck, you have a lot of work to do.

[KarateKid]

Oh, I almost forgot, this article is about Jimmy Carter, not Barack Obama. Try learning to read.

[JamieStarr]

So, to support your position you surely have some facts, right?

Sure you do.

If you could just please cite an example from Barack's senate (state or federal) record and/or public statements that prove that he has "radical" views.

I'll wait right here.

[ChristianEcon.com]

The neocons and their Bush administration has been about as "radical" as any leadership our country has ever known, in terms of ideologically, how quickly they have sent everything into a tailspin.

Any effort to right the ship is going to be labeled "radical" by the neocons. Big surprise there.

Our country is extremely fortunate to have a man of moral integrity like Jimmy Carter around. It's a shame his presidency has been so badly maligned.

[kay]

Any dissent from the official line is marginalized as "radical".

It ensures cowardly, mediocre "leaders" with no real ideas.

In other words, it encourages the kind of leaders we have.

[nclayla]

What can be said about President Carter? He is fervent in his beliefs and committed to making them a reality. He works without a political or personal agenda but is astute enough to recognize the status quo and adroit enough to maneuver through it. He represents his opinions honestly, with a sense of humor, and, always, his wonderful sense of diplomacy. It really was a pleasure to her him.

[Kalima]

The truth from an honest man, what a nice change.

[Chuckwheat]

Former President Carter gave a great interview on Charlie Rose Mon. night. He spoke at length on many topics, always displaying his command of the subject.
At one point, I tried to imagine Bush saying the same words, although he has no claim to any of Carter's actions.
Bush's speaking abilities are 180 degrees apart from Carter's. No, make that immeasurable, Bush's speech is so mangled that any definition beyond ludicrous would be praise where none is due.

[KOisGod]

Thank you Jimmy Carter. Jesus would be proud, and when your days here are over, he'll say to you, well done my son, well done. You did not fail in your efforts to bring men together in peace, you opened to door, and more will follow.

Signed,

The grateful American's

[Forest]

Carter is mentally astute and speaks honestly about his views.

[JiminNC]

Always has and that's why the repugs did everything they could to destroy him. Lesser educated people in this country still consider him a horrible President rather than an honest man who was slimed by the Reagan/Bush administration to get their all-important win.

[barackaide]

YES.I'll bet carter sees a bit of himself in obama.

[RS]

Yes indeed JiminNC--at least Carter didn't trade arms for hostages like the Reagan administration did.

[KPea]

I didn't see this interview, but I do think Carter is a very viable voice. I was too young to be involved during his presidency, other than watching the news, but in the years following I think he has truely given his life to his cause. He is not running for any office, he has nothing to prove to anyone, he believes in his cause and the fact that you have to engage people that may not be politically favorable; and if all he cared about was his legacy he wouldn't dare to speak with people who would damage that. But in actuality, he cares about peace and the process that garners that peace no matter what it does to hs "favoribility" ratings. Personally I am prould of Jimmy and his effort and the fact that he pushes aginst the status quo.

[HumeSkeptic]

It is always a pleasure listening to Jimmy Carter. He's a national treasure.

I don't see Obama's point in not meeting directly with Hamas leaders if it would help bring peace.

(And don't anyone tell me that that's because Hamas is a terrorist organization. We declared them to be a terrorist organization) .

[Beowoof]

I know. All in the name of disassociation. Carter's not afraid to touch that third rail----Israel and Palestine.

[barackaide]

gawd, is that not the truth? he really is.

[kevenseven]

The declaration of "terrorist" is utterly political. The Chechens are terrorists only because we need the Ruskis to play ball. If we were talking about them twenty five years ago Reagan would be comparing them to the founding fathers. There is no way the US would cut off Sinn Fein the way we have cut of Hamas.

But Sinn Fein is a bunch of white Christians, so they can't be all bad, right?

[barackaide]

ok. you're spot on...they throw around the word terrorist so easily now and no one seems to really stop and think what they mean. like "insurgent." does that make the US troops "surgents"? is that somehow better?

try saying something i disagree with once in a while so i can at least look objective, ok keven? i'm really not a sycophant.

[HumeSkeptic]

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom-fighter.

[PrdAmerican]

Now here's a president I can be proud of...he has demonstrated that it isn't just the time you spent in office, but how you lived your life out of the office that measures the greatness of man.....of the three (soon to be four) former presidents, I think Carter has done far more good than the other's combined.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

I dont know what America you lived in back in 1979... Jimmy Carter was a one term president for a great reason

[Ontariocentric]

reasons:
- energy crisis (soon averted with an influx in mideast oil in the 80s)
- Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- Iranian Revolution
- American hostages in Lebanon
- Cold War paranoia, failure of Detente
- Olympics boycott
- Ronald Reagan and the rise of the New Right

which is the "great" reason?

[barackaide]

he was submarined by what would become the Reagan administration. not saying he was perfect, but he had a LOT of people with agendas working in concert against him. for example, don't you think it just a tad bit coincidental that the hostages were released on January 20, 1981...reagans' inauguration day? nicely coordinated. a flair for the dramatic.

[JoeBlough]

Wright's not running for office. It just doesn't matter.

However, we should be talking about Vitter and Craig. Vote out the slease.

[CC1]

I was born the year he was elected, so I personally don't remember much if any of his presidency. However, he has way more wisdom regarding foreign and domestic policy than the current administration or presidential candidates of today.

[munkii]

the most honorable former-president in history, can't wait to see the full interview on CNNi, should be in a few hours :)

[Lisette]

I treasure President Carter.
He is a good person and he
has done a lot of good for this Country.

[wickedzeus]

after leaving the white house...

[BatMasterson]

according to my supervisor, who was a career submariner in the Navy, Carter got the G.I.'s a 20% raise during his time in office. So you say whatever you want but Carter holds his own if you actually read about his administration.

[KYJurisDocto]

Why won't the good reverend do something good and just go away!?!

[Amerigucci]

How sad is it that what Reverend Wright said in those sermons made him so dangerous to the Clintons and the powerful establishment that they had to take his words out of context and destroy him.

This is America, and nobody has the right to do that to anyone. Wright had already been forced to retire from his church because it proved to be an embarrassment to Barack Obama. But the Clintons needed to get Obama's numbers down further, and so they hammered away past the time he'd retired. And you think he should "just go away".

To hold Wright responsible in any way is tragic. It's also tragic that it looks like Obama, who could be making chicken salad out of these chicken leavings, is going to try to pander, not shake the boat, and run out of the clock even if it means losing Indiana by one or two points.

We've been snookered by the Dem Party as a whole, and we're stuck with candidates who don't represent our values.

[outnow]

The mythology of American exceptionalism permits no inquires or self-reflection. Was in the mission of the British Empire to civilize the world, or was it greed and colonial avarice? was the Roman Empire beyond reproach? Nobody would even argue that. But it is treason to question any facet of the American Imperial policies. It is poison in today's political spheres to question the great moral authority. You will be labeled a communist or worse, a terrorist. You might be anti-white, anti-black, anti-semitic, anti-this or anti-that. The Clintons are fully owned and controlled as are the Bush's. Even Obama must bow and scape. Above all we need a common enemy to "unite" us because we have nothing in common - n shared values, attitudes and beliefs. We must therefore, united against the common threat - it is even "existential" !!!! Quick, double the Pentagon's budget. Sure wish I were a defense contractor in these times. Wow! I'd be a zillionaire! Better than the Wall Street game and all connected. Hmmm.

[digoweli]

Thank you Jimmy Carter. Digoweli