Jimmy Carter: Insane and Stupid

Dan has a post with a portion of the transcript from a recent Hardball episode. Chris Mathews asked Carter if there are any parallels between the war fought by the terrorist insurgents in Iraq and the American patriots who fought against the British in the Revolutionary War. Here is Carter’s answer:

Well, one parallel is that the Revolutionary War, more than any other war up until recently, has been the most bloody war we’ve fought. I think another parallel is that in some ways the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. It was an unnecessary war.

Had the British Parliament been a little more sensitive to the colonial’s really legitimate complaints and requests the war could have been avoided completely, and of course now we would have been a free country now as is Canada and India and Australia, having gotten our independence in a nonviolent way.

Dan deals well with describing how insane this answer is. I want to point out how genuinely stupid this statement is line by line.

Well, one parallel is that the Revolutionary War, more than any other war up until recently, has been the most bloody war we’ve fought.

Even the most charitable reading of this statement reflects a revolting amount of ignorance of our nation’s history and the struggles we have endured. Up until recently???? Is he thinking about very recently? Surely he isn’t saying that the current conflict is bloodier than the Revolution. Maybe he’s thinking of Vietnam. I guess some would call that recent. WWII?

Jimmy’s from the south. Has he ever heard of the Civil War?

I think another parallel is that in some ways the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. It was an unnecessary war.

Anyone who has studied a little bit of American history knows that it is very unlikely that the Revolution in the 1770’s could have been avoided. The taxes the colonists were asked to pay were not that substantial and while there were some real grievances (as listed here) they were not really that common. What if Britain had made some concessions and allowed the colonists representation in Parliament? Would they still have revolted at being forced to pay taxes and contribute to the Mercantilist system of trade if they had representation in Parliament? It is almost certain that they still would have revolted. The colonists wanted to be independent of Britain. There are very few concessions George III could have made (even if he had been willing to make them) that would have averted the war. A semester of high school level American History could have taught the former president about this time in our nation’s history. He could even have spent an afternoon in Colonial Williamsburg and learned enough to know that his statement was idiotic.

Had the British Parliament been a little more sensitive to the colonial’s really legitimate complaints and requests the war could have been avoided completely, and of course now we would have been a free country now as is Canada and India and Australia, having gotten our independence in a nonviolent way.

This statement reflects willful and aggressive stupidity. Why would Parliament have been a little more sensitive to the colonist’s complaints? What would have motivated this sensitivity? It was clear to them that the rebellion would be ended within a matter of weeks if it actually happened. How could the colonists have known that if they’d just hang on and deal with their second class status for another 150 years they’d eventually be able to have the same status as British subjects those in Britain had?

I used to think that we should give Jimmy Carter some credit. A lot of the military build-up that Reagan gets credit for as part of ending the cold war was started during Carter’s administration. I’ve argued a time or two that he wasn’t as bad a president as modern history accuses him of being. This exchange on Hardball makes me wonder. Is Carter a fool now that he is in his elder years or has he always been that way?

2 Comments

1. He’s neither insane nor stupid — just ‘elderly’

   Comment by Mum — October 20, 2004 @ 1:47 pm

2. Good one Mum, 20 yrs from now Jeremy will understand the sheer genius of your comment. I had to go his link to the Declaration of Independence to refresh my memory on ALL the reasons for the revolt and now I agree completely with Aunt Barb IT IS TIME FOR ANOTHER ONE. Thanks for the link Jeremy!!

   Comment by Deb — October 23, 2004 @ 7:56 pm

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