Jimmy Carter and the Blogosphere

When I started researching today's posts, I was struck by a secondary feature of CNN's story on the Carter trip, "White House urges Carter not to meet Hamas leader" (CNN (April 10, 2008)). At about 4:30 pm Central time, that article's "From the Blogs: Controversy, Commentary, and Debate" read "No blog comments about this page" - which just wasn't so. Granted, the article had been updated 1 hour, 39 minutes previously: and might be less than two hours old.

This might be a case where a human being outpaced a cybernetic system. By 4:30, I'd found over a half-dozen blog posts on the Carter-Hamas meeting.

I've written this post, partly because I think there might be value in a quick look at the four blogs CNN found, and the five that I selected: and partly because I hate to see good research go to waste.

Bloggers, on Jimmy Carter and Khalid Meshaal: CNN's Selection

Now, some six hours later, four blog posts are cited by CNN: one is mine, under "Blogs linking to this story". One of the other three is an imaginative piece which included this purported (and, I presume, utterly fictitious) dialog: " 'It is so good to finally meet you,' Jimmy Carter said to the leader of Hamas. 'I hope this discussion can help further peace.' 'Kill the jooooos!' yelled the leader of Hamas...." It's a post in IMAO (Unfair - Unbalanced - Unmedicated).

The remaining two blogs now cited by CNN are more conventional op-ed pieces:

• "State Dept to Jimmy Carter: Don't Meet with Hamas"
  Little Green Footballs (April 10, 2008)
  "You know Jimmy Carter’s gone a little too far when even the State Department disapproves: State Department: Carter should not meet Hamas chief.
  "It’s just pathetic he should even need to be told."
• "Carter’s Hanging With The Enemy"
  PollPundit.com (April 10, 2008)
  "Former President Jimmy Carter, probably one of the top 3 worst president’s in our history and continues to be one of the more despicable human beings out of office, will be meeting with the leader of the terrorist group Hama: [sic]"

Bloggers, on Jimmy Carter and Khalid Meshaal: My Selection

I don't think CNN, or the service CNN uses, was skewing the selection of blogs toward anti-Carter viewpoints. I had a hard time finding one blog post that mentioned Carter's proposed meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in a positive light.

I did find one, though, as well as quite a few with varying degrees of disapproval of Mr. Carter, his trip, and his character. Here's a selection:

1. "Carter Loves Hamas Because He HATES Menachem Begin"
   Avid Editor’s Insights (April 9, 2008)
   "Carter hates liberty and truth and loves receiving money from Islamo-Fasicst form Fraudi Arabia. Carter not only wrecked Iran, forced Israel to give up land, and destroyed the US economy he is now meeting with terrorist. After lying through his teeth with him book and trying to poison the minds of future generations he is trying to empower the terrorist. Can he die already?
   "Carter Loves Hamas Because He HATES Menachem Begin: 'Its almost old news already, the worst president in United States History, Jimmy Carter, will be meeting with Hamas in a few weeks:' "
2. "Jimmy Carter wants to meet with Hamas"
   Tel-Chai Nation (April 10, 2008)
   "Clearly, this man is evil incarnate. In complete ignorance of US law, he's going to meet with Hamas leaders ...."
3. "Jimmy Carter Continues His Love Affair With Hamas"
   Blue Star Chronicles (April 10, 2008)
   "Would someone PLEASE tell Jimmy Carter that he’s not the President anymore??? What is wrong with him? I'm embarrassed for him and I'm not even kin to him.
   "I originally posted the cartoon above in January 2006, so this isn't new behavior on this man's part!!!!"
4. "Hamas, the ex-president, and the blindness"
   Meryl Yourish.com (April 10, 2008)
   "The New York Times reports that Hamas is currently engaged in its largest weapons buildup ever, thanks to Iranian arms, money, and training. Hamas' goal? The bombardment of Israel.
   "An Israeli study says Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, is engaged in the broadest and most significant military buildup in its history with help from Syria and Iran. It adds that Hamas is restructuring more hierarchically and using more and more powerful weapons, especially longer-range rockets against Israel's southern communities...."
   "In spite of evidence like this that Hamas has absolutely no intention of maintaining any kind of real peace with Israel, Jimmy Carter is plowing ahead in his determination to be the first world leader ever to sit down with terrorists who openly and unashamedly admit they want to destroy the Jewish State. The Washington Post spins this decision as a 'political bind' for the Democratic candidates, neither of whom are condemning Carter."
5. "proportional representation"
   Secondat (April 10, 2008)
   "Earlier this week we spent our dinner hour watching Jonathan Demme's film, Jimmy Carter Man from Plains. It's a fine movie though its eulogistic tilt can be annoying (however much agreed with). Discussion of opinion within Israel about the rights of residents in the Palestinian territories reminded me about the perils of proportional representation, a well-intentioned electoral policy from which Israel suffers.
   "Today, the papers tell us Carter will soon be meeting with an exiled Hamas political leader in Syira. [sic] The accounts bear out something that's made plain in Demme's film: While popular with Jewish voters in the U.S., Israel's policy of ostracizing Hamas is not universally approved within Israel. A recent poll, reported by the Israeli paper, Haaretz, showed a surprising 64 percent of Israelis to favor direct talks with Hamas. I've quoted the article below."

That last post is, in a way, my favorite of the lot.¹

Five Bloggers on Carter: Summary

Let's see how Mr. Carter fares in these blogs:

1. "Can he die already?"
2. "Clearly, this man is evil incarnate."
3. "I'm embarrassed for him and I'm not even kin to him."
4. "Jimmy Carter is plowing ahead in his determination to be the first world leader ever to sit down with terrorists who openly and unashamedly admit they want to destroy the Jewish State."
5. "Today, the papers tell us Carter will soon be meeting with an exiled Hamas political leader in Syira. [sic] The accounts bear out something that's made plain in Demme's film: While popular with Jewish voters in the U.S., Israel's policy of ostracizing Hamas is not universally approved within Israel."

Five Bloggers on Carter: Evaluation

I picked these five blog posts for the diversity of approach they showed, and because they rose above the merely abusive.

1. "Carter Loves Hamas Because He HATES Menachem Begin"
   Avid Editor’s Insights (April 9, 2008)
   I'll grant that "Can he die already?" is, at best, simple abuse. However, I give this blogger credit for coming up with an imaginative motive for former President Carter's foray into international diplomacy: "Carter Loves Hamas Because He HATES Menachem Begin"
2. "Jimmy Carter wants to meet with Hamas"
   Tel-Chai Nation (April 10, 2008)
   I wouldn't call former President Carter "evil incarnate." Again, though, this post isn't simply abusive. The blogger asserts that Mr. Carter's act is illegal. Interesting. If true, we may find out whether former presidents are subject to the same laws that ordinary citizens are.
3. "Jimmy Carter Continues His Love Affair With Hamas"
   Blue Star Chronicles (April 10, 2008)
   "... I'm embarrassed for him and I'm not even kin to him."
   This blogger's feelings toward the former president are somewhat similar to mine, apparently. I do not dislike Mr. Carter. I even respect and admire the work he's done with, and for, Habitat for Humanity.
   As a global leader and international diplomat, however, I think he makes an excellent peanut farmer.
4. "Hamas, the ex-president, and the blindness"
   Meryl Yourish.com (April 10, 2008)
   "In spite of evidence like this that Hamas has absolutely no intention of maintaining any kind of real peace with Israel, Jimmy Carter is plowing ahead in his determination to be the first world leader ever to sit down with terrorists who openly and unashamedly admit they want to destroy the Jewish State."
   Although I brought up the possibility earlier, that former President Carter was meeting with Hamas in an effort to win another Nobel Peace Prize, I hope that Mr. Carter is not making this trip for personal aggrandizement.
   I prefer to believe that he is an idealistic, optimistic, well-meaning man without the slightest knowledge or understanding of the international situation as a whole, or the beliefs and goals of organizations like Hamas.
   This post stood out from the general run of 'anti-Carter' screeds in its lack of venom and clear arguments. The contrast was almost as sharp as the sort of anti-war/anti-American rants I've read, and the following post.
5. "proportional representation"
   Secondat (April 10, 2008)
   "Earlier this week we spent our dinner hour watching Jonathan Demme's film, Jimmy Carter Man from Plains. It's a fine movie though its eulogistic tilt can be annoying (however much agreed with). ..."
   For me, reading this post was almost nostalgic. I grew up in a culture very much like the one evoked in this eloquent monograph.
   I believe that the writer was not so much interested in Mr. Carter, or his proposed meeting with a terrorist leader, as he was with a rather theoretical discussion of political issues connected with certain aspects of the Palestinian/Israeli gestalt.
   As such, it's quite harmless, and even enlightening, in its own way.
   However, I think that this blog represents a problem that America has, dealing with Hamas, or any other terrorist group.
   America is a civilized country (Berkeley's opinion notwithstanding), and some Americans seem to find it difficult to understand just how uncivilized people can be.

---

¹ As I said, is a way, this was my favorite among the blogs I studied today. I'm in my fifties, a writer, a student of history and literature, among other things, and I'm fond of antique styles.

The blog's header reads,

"Secondat
'You have to study a great deal to know a little.'
Pensees et Fragments Inedits de Montesquieu"

"Pensees et Fragments Inedits de Montesquieu" is the title of an 1899 collection of work by the French Enlightenment political writer Charles de Montesquieu: You might know him for his comments on the separation of powers. My French is rusty, but I think the title translates as something like ""Thoughts and Fragments in edicts of Montesquieu".

Given the very high-tone header, and the editorial 'we' in the post, I thought that this blogger might be a twenty-something intellectual wannabe.

The top of the sidebar didn't change my mind. It starts with a widget that shows (presumably) "Cost to U.S. of the war in Iraq (from Congressional sources)."

A little farther down, there's "Diary of Sophia Carteret, Lady Shelburne / I've done a set of posts reproducing parts of this diary and giving notes on people, places, and events that it names."

That got me interested: this person seemed able to organize thoughts rather more effectively than the 'serious thinkers' I was accustomed to.

Even farther down, I found a touching -
"Days Since I
Retired: 42
Started Blogging: 1316
Got Married: 9666
Became a Father : 9016
Had a 2nd Child: 7976
Graduated College: 16013
Graduated HS: 17462
Was Born: 24104"

And:
"Current Reading
Consuming Splendor: Society and Culture in Seventeenth-Century England by Linda Levy Peck
Letters, 1928-1946 by Isaiah, Sir Berlin
powered by LibraryThing
Plan to Read Next
The young Melbourne, and the story of his marriage with Caroline Lamb by Lord David Cecil
An introduction to merchants accounts [electronic resource] : containing five distinct questions or accounts. 1. An by John Collins"

My guess is that I'm looking at the work of a recently-retired college professor.

I hope he enjoys his retirement: and his family.

Related posts, on Individuals and the War on Terror.