February 12, 2006
RABBIT FOOD:
Beloved Bobs and a touch of flu (Sharon Burnside, 2/11/06, Toronto Star)
Middle East bureau chief Mitch Potter got the first email Jan. 27.The subject heading was Heads Up: The lies that are being told about you at Lucianne.com.
The message continued with content from the website — a paragraph from a Potter story published in the Star that day, followed by a comment that began: "Projectile vomiting alert." A long series of critical email posts followed.
Then his email address was posted.
After a recent interview with Jimmy Carter, Potter wrote: "At 81, clear eyed and calm, the former U.S. president ..."
Close to deadline, editor Peter Martyn changed the words to say, "America's most beloved ex-president."
The words "most beloved" prompted the rain of emails. Carter is not America's most beloved ex-president. Not even close.
"I had a brain cramp," Martyn said. "I was looking for an adjective and I used the wrong word."
Luckily for Carter, friends like Chavez, Ortega, and Kim Jong Il will always be there for him.
Posted by Matt Murphy at February 12, 2006 8:01 PMWe adore him. He came to Trudeau's funeral, along with Castro. Being Canadians, we were so thrilled we forget to ask why no one else came to the funeral of the West's longest serving leader of the era.
Posted by: Peter B at February 12, 2006 8:24 PMDon't forget all the thugs in the Middle East - Jimmy loves each and every one or them.
Posted by: jim hamlen at February 12, 2006 9:36 PMI saw him in New Orleans a year ago. He's awfully short, much shorter than you'd expect.
Posted by: Mike Morley at February 12, 2006 9:57 PM"I had a brain cramp," Martyn said. "I was looking for an adjective and I used the wrong word."
Here in the US we have this thing called a"thesaurus". Did Harper outlaw them or something?
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at February 12, 2006 10:30 PMJimmy Carter is, in my book, the most beloved peanut farmer ever to serve as POTUS. In fact, of all Georgians evert to serve in the office, he is undoubtedly the most beloved of them all.
Posted by: Dave W at February 12, 2006 10:34 PMI do hold him in higher regard than I do Warren G. Harding.
Posted by: Dave W at February 12, 2006 10:36 PMAt least Harding had the decency to die before his term expired.
Posted by: Gideon at February 13, 2006 12:24 AMNow, now, now, don't go doggin' Warren Gameliel Harding. According to Charles M. Jones' autobiography, President Harding was the inspiration for Daffy Duck; he also makes an appearance in Al Stewart's Past Present & Future. That's more contribution to the cultural richness of Western civilization than Jimmy Carter will ever do.
Posted by: Mike Morley at February 13, 2006 6:33 AMI think Jimmy Carter is personally a very great soul, but 1) he was a terrible president, and 2) he makes some very bad decisions.
He is big on the "love your enemies," but is terrible at rebuking the oppressors of the widow and orphan.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at February 13, 2006 4:46 PMJimmy Carter is a petty, bitter man who thought he could single-handedly reform D.C. when he got there (after Watergate). He treated Congress like dirt, talked down to the American people, thought his smile and personality would drive foreign affairs his way, and lost his soul in the process. His campaign in 1980 was one long attack on Reagan's sanity (pre-figuring the 2004 election quite nicely).
Because of the Israeli-Egyptian peace accord, Carter thought he could solve any problem. Bad move.
He had a chip on his shoulder regarding the military from day one, and thought politics was inherently corrupting. Strange conclusion for a politician to make (one that John McCain should ponder).
Carter is a deeply repellent man, much more so than Bill Clinton.
Posted by: jim hamlen at February 13, 2006 11:25 PM