The ever-alert James Taranto provides us with this contrast in today’ Best of the Web:
A Clear Difference
- “Bush Embraces Pope Benedict XVI”–headline, ABCNews.com, April 15
- “Carter Embraces Hamas Official”–headline, Associated Press, April 16
The contrast between Bush and Carter is striking. President Bush has a profound repugnance for dictators; Jimmy Carter has a soft spot in his heart for them. Bush has spent his presidency supporting the spread of freedom; on Carter’s watch, it receded. Jimmy Carter spoke about human rights; George W. Bush acted to promote them. Jimmy Carter spoke about his concern for the African continent; George W. Bush took unprecedented steps to help those with AIDS and malaria.
During his presidency, Bush understood the threat posed by totalitarianism; Carter, who once spoke about America’s “inordinate fear of communism,” never did. During the Bush presidency, America confronted the threat posed by radical Islam; during the Carter presidency, radical Islam gained perhaps its greatest modern victory (the revolution in Iran). In 2002, Bush sidelined the corrupt and malevolent Yassir Arafat; yesterday Carter reverentially laid a wreath at Arafat’s grave. President Bush is arguably the best American friend Israel has ever had; President Carter is among Israel’s most irresponsible critics.
This list could go on. Suffice it to say that George W. Bush will be seen as a great liberator of oppressed people, whereas James Earl Carter will be judged as one of the weakest defenders of freedom ever to sit in the Oval Office. Carter is in a league by himself: an awful president and an awful ex-president. He qualifies as one of America’s greatest mistakes.
