SwiftVets.com

[Wynne]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3693354.stm

Voting arrangements in Florida do not meet "basic international requirements" and could undermine the US election, former US President Jimmy Carter says.

Since when are US elections held to 'basic international requirements'?
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TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE VICTOR

[Steve Z]

More whining from the peanut gallery--Carter is only worried that Bush might win Florida fair and square!

If Carter is really worried about Florida having a fair election, he should gather his Habitat for Humanity folks together and start putting roofs back over people's houses, blown off by four hurricanes. Voting machines work better when they are dry, and when the electric power is available!
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The traitor will crater!

[3rd gen Navy]

Amen Steve Z! As a Florida resident, and former submarine volunteer, I was disgusted by Carter's crass and ill conceived remark. The people of Florida are not important, only the convicted black felons who supposedly would vote for Kerry. I read this article this morning. Incredibly misleading, as it primarily dwells upon convicted black felons who have lost their franchise.

Like many that belong to this forum, my politics are NOT Bush party planks all the way down the line...there is much about this current administration that I am staunchly opposed to. Far too many points for me to set out here.

Due to his humanitatrian efforts, I have been an avid apologist for Jimmy Carter in the past. My refrain has been that he's just a naive, but incredibly good-hearted man. This last is too much. After three hurricanes in almost as many weeks, the people of Florida deserve more than this biased, misleading, partisan garbage. As a student with only part-time employment, I am having to reach deep to support both the SBVT and American Red Cross Disaster relief efforts. Couldn't Jimmy do the same? Couldn't he set aside the deliberate distortions and use his influence as a former president to aid the people of Florida, rather than fannning in the politics of fear with these half truths?

It is the latest in a long series of publicized statements from Carter that are deliberately geared to fomenting biased Anti-Bush misconceptions and sentiments. I will apologize for this man no longer. Lack of compassion/consideration for each other, lack of reason, patience, critical thinking, objectivity, these are the keys to our country's downfall. Jimmy is winning. My disgust and disappointment are effecting my ability to clearly and concisely lay out my unhappiness with his latest. I'm going to take my sadness and go clean up hurricane damage.

Please give the American Red Cross Disaster Relief efforts.

http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html

Me and mine are basically fine, but there are many in South Central Florida who have been just devastated.
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Warm Regards,
Sean G. Smith,
RN, BSN, EMT-B, U.S. Navy, 1994 - 2003.
BS Biology, Business Administration, Nursing
The Deal with Life: Make decisions based on what you might gain, not on what you may lose.
!!!!!! LET THE WILD RUMPUS BEGIN !!!!!!

[rekcutt]

Having grown up in Oklahoma, (where alcohol was illegal until 1959), my grand-dad gave be two pieces of advice.

1) never buy from a bootlegger that deliver his product in a screw top mason jar, and

2) never listen to anyone that grows peanuts for a living.

America should have paid attention to my grand-dadin 1976,

rek
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SwiftVets, keep up the GREAT work, truth will win out over spin.

[Chukkal]

Never take advice from anyone with a brother named BILLY BOB.......who was photographed whizing on the tires of his brother's Secret Service limo.

[MJB]

Get a copy of the new book, A Matter of Character - Inside the White House of George W. Bush. Written by a Gore 2000 voter, Ronald Kessler, this book is fascinating not only for the description of Bush and colleagues - but Kessler's research into past presidents and their character as well.

Ronald Reagan - as warm and genial in person as you saw on TV. Always concerned about others.

George H.W. Bush - also a good man, both he and Barbara were down to earth and realistic. Great anecdote about Barbara - a couple of White House staffers had made reservations for a game of tennis on the White House court. When they arrived, they found some Bush grandchildren playing. They were turning around to leave, when Barbara barrels out of the house (White) chastising the children. She wanted to know why they weren't getting off the court if the staffers had reservations.

Clinton and spouse - nut cases. Always screaming at each other, more of a business arrangement than a marriage. Another tidbit - Hillary came upon a White House janitor/staffer on a ladder changing a light bulb in a hallway. She went into screaming tirade against the man, warning him that maintenance people were never to be seen by the family.

And, President and Mrs. Carter. Hypocrites. They made such a big deal about not serving alchohol in the White House - yet they had drinks in the evenings all the time. Carter, man of the people, carrying his own garmet bag all the time - once upon Air Force One, he would hand the bag to a steward without even looking at the man.

Kessler interviewed retired staffers and Secret Service people for his book. Those sources said the behaviors of many presidents and families would shock most Americans.

What is most telling, is how the President and family treat the staff and agents. The current occupant, George W. Bush and Laura are always concerned that the Secret Service people are fed and attended to. They consistently put others first, even though they are in such positions of power.

Hillary? When she found out one staffer had returned a phone call from Barbara Bush (he'd helped her get her computer up and running and she was calling for advice) she had the man fired.

There's a lot more in the book - and what's most interesting is how the staffers and Secret Service folks said you could see all this coming a mile away. The behavior patterns are obvious from way back. What you see is what you get.
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MJB
USAF '85-'92

[3rd gen Navy]

Objectivity will win the day. Please note that this is published in the BBC...a liberal, anti establishment forum, much like our NPR...it is so commercially unviable, that it requires Federal subsidy...a free market is the true test of a product's worth...

Carter has monitored more than 50 elections worldwide. Voting arrangements in Florida do not meet "basic international requirements" ...

What basic international requirements? Be Specific, NOT rabble rousing.
Furthermore, are we required in any way, shape or form to meet these requirements?

He said a repeat of the irregularities of the much-disputed 2000 election - which gave President George W Bush the narrowest of wins - "seems likely".

Oh really? I thought that for the most part, we had done away with the "butterfly" ballots? Seems to me that we would have new and exciting irregularites, not a "repeat"

Again, be Specifc, NOT rabble rousing! What irregularities are you speaking of?

Define "likely"? In terms of statistical probabilities, what is your estimate of "likely", and how do you back it up with SPECIFIC facts?

Mr Carter, a veteran observer of polls worldwide, also accused Florida's top election official of "bias".

Ummm... Define "bias". Be SPECIFIC, NOT rabble rousing! Give examples! Do NOT go for the old gimmick of "if we say it enough times, it must be true!"


In an article in the Washington Post newspaper, Mr Carter, a Democrat, said that he and ex-President Gerald Ford, a Republican, had been asked to draw up recommendations for changes after the last vote in Florida was marred by arguments over the counting of ballots. Mr Carter said the reforms they came up with had still not been implemented.

Umm, who asked you? The legally elected government of Florida? Why is anyone under ANY obligation to adopt ANY of your reccomendations, especially if WE didn't ask for them in the first place?

He accused Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood, a Republican, of trying to get the name of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader included on the state ballot, knowing he might divert Democrat votes.

So you're for freedom of speech, except when it contradicts your aims? As I mentioned earlier, there are many planks of the Bush administration platform that revolt me. I have personally championed EVERY independent candidates right to be on the ballot and right to be heard during debates for several election cycles now. I do it because it is the RIGHT thing to do, not because it hurts or helps a particular candidate.

He also said: "A fumbling attempt has been made recently to disqualify 22,000 African Americans (likely Democrats), but only 61 Hispanics (likely Republicans), as alleged felons."

Specifics PLEASE Mr Carter. NOT rabble rousing! What, when, where, who, how?

"It is unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral practices in any nation," he added.

I concur 100%. This is why I find the Democratic Party's attempts to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot in the land of the free and the home of the brave so incredibly repugnant!

"With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida."

Again, I concur 100%. Let's focus maximum public scrutiny upon all of those dual-registered voters, upon EVERY single unfair practice, that is unfair in reality, not a matter of Florida statute, such as disenfranchising convicted felons.
_________________
Warm Regards,
Sean G. Smith,
RN, BSN, EMT-B, U.S. Navy, 1994 - 2003.
BS Biology, Business Administration, Nursing
The Deal with Life: Make decisions based on what you might gain, not on what you may lose.
!!!!!! LET THE WILD RUMPUS BEGIN !!!!!!

[bsjracing]

If America hadn't been up to it's eyeballs in the fallout of Watergate and Ford's controversial pardon of Nixon, do you really think Carter would have been elected in the first place?
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A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

If you're going to burn the US flag, at least have the decency to wrap yourself in it first.

[Hondo]

Jimmy turns 80 this week. Perhaps he's getting senile a bit earlier than most.

Then again, on his most lucid days he never did make all that much sense to me . . . .
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"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse."
-- John Stuart Mill

[Kimmymac]

Carter was THE worst president of the 20th Century.

Period.

And now, in an attempt to be specific, and not rabble rousing (although I confess that rabble rousing is really my forte in life) I will cite specifics wrt foreign policy:

1)Carter's decision to support Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista government of Nicarauga. This corrupt, communist, repressive regime was disgusting. Human rights violations were brutal, shocking, and common, and yet Mr. Carter presided over a US give-a-way of millions and millions of dollars to Mr. Ortega and his regime, while Ortega openly mocked the US. The Contras were given no help by the Carter admin or the democratic Congress, although the Contras embraced democracy and free elections, and were pro US. NOTE: One of the leaders of this genius plan was Sen Joe Biden. Recognize that name? Sure you do: he is currently Kerry's foreign policy advisor. And I know you remember "Iran-Contra"--it was Sen. Biden's extra-constitutional ammendment that tied Pres. Reagan's hands and made Iran-Contra neccessary. This ammendment usurped the Presidential powers and created an unconstitutional balance of power within our government. Iran-Contra was not illegal; the unconstitutional law passed by Biden and his ilk was what was illegal. Ollie North=hero. Sen Biden=villian.

2.) Mr. Carter, ever a patsy for any and all anti-American, anti-US interests, allowed the pro-US Shah of Iran to fall, allowing the Ayatollah Khomeini to come to power in Iran. (Khomeini was waiting out the fall of the Shah at his penthouse in Paris, btw) You know: the hostage taking, international law-defying, soon to be nuclear Ayatollah Khomeini Iran. So under Carter's watch we lost a pro-Western friend and ally in a strategic area, but we gained a nuclear weapon toting Islamofascist. Anyone care to expound on what that RETARDED decision meant for the balance of power in the Middle East?

These are just two examples of why Carter is the worst president of the 20th century. Carter and Kerry make Clinton look like a foreign policy genius, and how bad is that? I could go on and on citing examples of Carter arrogance and ignorance, and that is just in the foreign policy area. Do not EVEN get me started discussing Carter's micro-managing, absolutely assinine economic policies that resulted in, among other things: gas lines, double digit inflation and a national "malaise."

Carter needs to shut his mawing yap. He has no legitimacy on any issue, most especially international law. He couldn't hang as a naval officer (getting a discharge after about 3 days because the peanuts needed him back in Georgia)** he was a negative integer as a president, and he is an embarrassement in his bitter partisan attacks, while pretending to be some sort of Statesman.

It would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic.

**EDITOR'S NOTE: I am reminded Carter's career stretched over 7 years, 3 months, 4 days and 27 minutes, and he requested a discharge because his father passed away and the peanuts needed him back home, Billy Bob needed bail money, and Admiral Rickover had recently discovered Carter didn't know an algorithm from his elbow, let alone be of any real help in the Nul-clear submarine program, and thus was going to be reassigned to Supply and Kitchen Stuff ASAP. )It was also irritating to Admiral Rickover that Carter still hadn't learned to properly pronounce "nuclear")

So in the politically correct spirit of doffing one's hat to all who serve, regardless of how or what they serve, I shall say: Jimmy Carter served honorably; very much like John Kerry, but without quite so many medals.

[Wynne]

This posted tonight on Drudge:


JEB FIGHTS BACK
Mon Sep 27 2004 20:33:05 ET

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's office yesterday said charges by former President Jimmy Carter that the state is "likely" to have a repetition of the voting problems that plagued the 2000 election are politically motivated by
Democrats intent on undermining voter confidence in the state.

The WASHINGTON TIMES's Joe Curl will report on Tuesday: State officials also said the former president made no attempt to get up-to-date information before writing an opinion piece and never tried to contact the governor's office or that of Secretary of State Glenda Hood.

"This is a shockingly partisan opinion piece and it's unfortunate that a person such as the former president is being used by the Democratic Party for low-level political rhetoric," said Jacob DiPietre, press secretary for Gov. Jeb Bush.

Developing...
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TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE VICTOR

[Se7eN]

It's a load. They let us vote local and amendments early this year to test the voting machines.

The process was:

Hand in identification. Provide SSN. Sign a form. A person takes a card that has some information on it, like party affiliation, and inserts it into the machine. In my case, all Republicans were listed automatically and it took me through a step by step process through about 30 pages of touch-screens with clear and concise instructions.

[gia_lin_fo]

It was the Democratic Florida Supreme Court that tried to steal the election. Making new law whenever things were not going their way. If Carter wants to fix voting problems in Florida he should concentrate on the Florida Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court was correct in stopping their meddling.
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VietNam 1970-1971

[wwIIvetsdaughter]

Who with any lick of sense listens to Jimmy Carter? Isn't Carter the President who first let a rabble of Islamofascists make the Greatest Nation on Earth look impotent for 444 days back in 1979-1980 when they took Americans hostage at the embassy in Tehran? I also seem to remember that Carter's insistence on micromanaging the rescue attempt led to the needless deaths of our valient men in uniform!

PS I also seem to recall the Islamo-rabble released the hostages hours before Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President because they knew Ronnie would give them the whipping Carter lacked the cajones to deliver.

[Guest]

I think what Carter is doing is un-american and I am ashamed he was our President.