Sandwiched neatly between the U.S. papal visit and the Keystone Primary, former President Jimmy Carter picked an excellent time to visit U.S. State Department-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) Hamas and yet receive scant press coverage.
Yet Carter's embrace of Hamas, his newfound respect in the state-run Iranian media, and his all-but-explicitly leveled allegations of a Zionist conspiracy behind U.S. foreign policy present a strong case for media scrutiny, as well as the media's role in presenting the comments for denunciation by presidential contenders Sens. Clinton, McCain, and Obama.
For its part the Los Angeles Times appears to be taking notice, judging from the coverage from its Middle East affairs blog Babylon & Beyond. From an April 21 posting by Borzou Daragahi in Beirut and Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran (emphasis mine):
Today, Carter told a news conference in Jerusalem that Hamas is willing to recognize Israel so long as a peace settlement is approved in a Palestinian referendum. Some Hamas officials later backed away, saying they might not accept a referendum, and Carter, a 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner has heaped scorn on Hamas for its continued rocketing of southern Israel.
Nevertheless, the man who was burned in effigy by Iranian demonstrators in Tehran three decades ago has become a respectable statesman in the eyes of the Iranian media.
"Former President Carter puts blames on the Zionist regime for refusing talks with Hamas," said a report on state-controlled Iranian television.
A report published by the official Islamic Republic News Agency under the headline "Carter criticizes US for excluding Hamas from peace talks" notes that the man from Plains, Ga., "criticized the US for lobbying to exclude Hamas from the Middle East peace talks."
The hard-right English-language daily Tehran Times published excerpts of an opinion piece by Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar originally published in the Washington Post:
Now, finally, we have the welcome tonic of Carter saying what any independent, uncorrupted thinker should conclude: that no 'peace plan,' 'road map' or 'legacy' can succeed unless we are sitting at the negotiating table and without any preconditions.
Baghdad & Beyond noted in a separate blog post by Ashraf Khalil that Carter has all but alleged a big, bad Jewish conspiracy in American politics:
"There’s no chance for debate there,” he said, because the public discourse is hopelessly tilted in favor of Israel. “You can have the debate in Israel, but you can’t in America.”
“A debate in America is an absolutely hopeless dream,” Carter continued. “There is not a single candidate in America, for governor, for House of Representatives, for Senate or for president that would dare say anything that was not acceptable to Israel.”
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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Funny how tyrants always
April 21, 2008 - 15:09 ET by mattmFunny how tyrants always warm up to appeasers and how they hate it when some "war monger" stands up to them.
Traitor
April 21, 2008 - 15:11 ET by SemperrightThe enemy of my enemy is a peanut farmer
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference.
The MARINES don't have that problem."
President Ronald Reagan - 1985
I heard a brief mention last
April 21, 2008 - 15:17 ET by marpelI heard a brief mention last week that the State Department was thinking of revoking Jimmy Carter's passport. That would be rich...
I wish someone would tell that traitor something. Oh, I forgot...he's a Democrat, and they can do whatever the hell they want. They can associate with who they want (i.e., Barack). My mistake.
Normal for him, I think
April 21, 2008 - 15:23 ET by Saint ZeroIsn't this type of behavior normal for ole Jimmy? I seem to recall this as being his MO when cosying up to dictators and hate-mongers.
Jimmy the Dhimmi, the prince
April 21, 2008 - 15:31 ET by BlazerJimmy the Dhimmi, the prince of appeasement,......I mean peace. This guy has done some wonderfull work in this country concerning the poor, but unfortunately he know's what his real legacy is and he's decided to spend the last of his year's being the Neville Chamberlain to the Islamist world.
Iran 'is' Jimmy Carter's main legacy along with inflation and high gas prices, every thing this man has touched that wasn't a hammer or nail's has turned to crap. Unfortunately it also seem's in his old age Mr. Carter has also become a bitter anti-semite, of course some will say he was alway's an anti-semite, but to me he's been projecting his own failures confronting radical Islam on Israel all of these year's, I mean liberal's alway's have to have someone to blame dont' they?
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
Carter - a thorn for many years now.
April 21, 2008 - 17:04 ET by Gary HallThis is exactly that which is dangerous to the concept of freedom, human rights and the success of freedom on this earth:
It is interesting to note that Carter didn't just start begin this process of undermining American presidents - and it's not limited to Republican administrations. The difference is the role of the media; when he was attacking the actions or policy of Democrats, the media will keep the information away from the public. For example:
Shh.
I can think of nothing more
April 21, 2008 - 18:50 ET by TheGunslingerI can think of nothing more interesting than the prospect of Jimmy Carter achieving peace in the Middle East.
While the odds are slim, it would go down in history as the greatest comeback of all time.
Mideast Peace
April 21, 2008 - 19:39 ET by Jerry MackIn my life time I have heard that we have peace in the mideast several times. In reality what we had was a time out. Everytime, the time out was used for rearming by all sides. Jimmy isn't going to succeed.