Those who read my three part book review (Part 1, Part 2 and Conclusion) of former President Jimmy Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid (and that should have been all of you!) know that I am not exactly our 39th President’s biggest fan.
While I had some major complaints about Mr Carter’s credibility in that book, they were primarily basd on his hugely one-sided presentation. But WLS, guest-posting on Patterico’s Pontifications, noted Chicago Sun-Times reporter Bob Novak’s recollections about Mr Carter’s first presidential campaign — and those recollections don’t speak well for Mr “I will never lie to you’s” truthfulness:
- Novak in his memoirs goes back to some of the earliest columns he wrote about Carter, one in the December 1975 before Carter shocked the Dem. establishment by winning in Iowa — and recalls how he pointed out with stark clarity the fact that the future President was a LIAR. His column pointed out 9 specific lies told by Carter in a couple of different forums, all of which he was able to fact check before reporting them.
WLS’ article is worth a read. One of the things that caught my eye was near the end:
- Novak goes on to state that notwithstanding the fact that he was the most-often invited guest as a print journalist on Face the Nation, his appearance that Sunday questioning Carter in 1975 was his last. He was never again called by CBS. He only learned later that Carter’s staff complained that Novak was biased against Carter, and stated that Carter would never again appear on the show if CBS continued to use Novak as a questioner.
That kind of statement would seem to have little corroboration — until you remember that former President Carter turned down an invitation he had previously accepted, to speak about his book at Brandeis, when it was suggested that he debate the points in his book at Brandeis with Alan Dershowitz. Not exactly corroboration, but certainly the same pattern of behavior.
When I went to the polls in November of 1976, I thought that Governor Carter was an honest man, for that was the image he very successfully presented. I am very sorry to say that I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 — the last time I voted for a Democrat for President — and his presidency was a real disaster for the United States.
