Former United States President Jimmy Carter passed away Sunday at the ripe age of 100 in Plains, Georgia having been the longest-lived POTUS.
Like many U.S. Presidents, especially when it comes to his successors, Carter’s one term in office was mostly highlighted by decision-making that benefitted American exceptionalism and hegemony which ironically was his downfall in the 1980 presidential elections. U.S. imperialism could be traced back to the Carter administration’s decision to confront the Soviet Union in Afghanistan which the world and especially afghanis are still feeling the effects of today as that country deals with another Taliban regime. Additionally, the “Carter Doctrine”, which aimed to “defend American interests” in the Middle East has become a sick outline for a lot of the suffering in the region while U.S. interventionism came to a head during the Iran Hostage Crisis.
Carter carved out a different legacy post-presidency
Carter’s redemption arc for some may have started when he began to introduce a system of policy to help deregulate neoliberalism in the United States and around the world. Unfortunately, this was largely undone by the election of Ronald Regan which put the United States and the rest of the World on a fast track to the capitalist hell hole we currently live in now.
Carter’s post-presidency though relatively speaking was probably the best among post-World War II presidents. Instead of cashing in on lecturing fees and Netflix deals, the southern liberal Democrat built back his reputation by building houses for the poor, teaching Sunday School, and calling out Israeli apartheid, even writing a book on the subject back in 2007 titled “Palestinian Peace, Not Apartheid”.
Well, I’ll try to make a perfect case. Apartheid is a word that is an accurate description of what has been going on in the West Bank, and it’s based on the desire or avarice of a minority of Israelis for Palestinian land. It’s not based on racism. Those caveats are clearly made in the book. This is a word that’s a very accurate description of the forced separation within the West Bank of Israelis from Palestinians and the total domination and oppression of Palestinians by the dominant Israeli military.
Carter’s position is even more remarkable as a former U.S. President, especially when juxtaposed with another former POTUS and liberal southern Democrat Bill Clinton who spent this last election cycle lecturing Arabs in Michigan on why they should vote for Kamala Harris despite the Biden/Harris administration supplying the bombs to kill civilians in Gaza.
As it stands now, Carter’s state funeral will take place on January 9.
