Jimmy Carter Was No Friend of Union Workers Like Me

Fuck man, to get back to a US president that actually cared about labor you probably need to go all the way back to FDR. JFK is debatable - RFK (not the junior fuck) would have probably been a strong advocate but JFK was more centrist.

We really gotta stop using "centrist" instead of pro-corporate. That's just establishment sleight of hand to make pro-corporate policies look like the defaults.
- centrist is just “weakly pro billionaire”. Which is still pro billionaire.
- If you like - personally centrist, in my mind, just means "Doesn't stand for shit except self enrichment"
- Especially because the corporate support increases from center to right. Libertarians want to eliminate regulations on businesses, and the far right wants to accelerate inequality by lifting regulations on, and subsidizing the overhead for, the wealthiest corporations.
  I agree that pro-corporate makes far more sense than centrist. “Not far-left” would also work, but it’s clunky.
- So ... Neoliberal
People like fdr only cared about white workers
- People like fdr only cared about white workers
  Hmmph... with a mindset like that, you could read settlers, lmao (It's just a joke, never read, in my life)
  But then again, this book might be too extreme for your tastes.

Kind of a weird question— and I’m not defending whatever the article is alleging— but what’s the point of trying to smear Carter’s memory?

He’s dead. Nobody praises the bad things he might have done. This feels like an attempt to instill even more tiredness into an already exhausted society— “see? Even the guy everyone likes sucked! Nobody should be thought of as good, you must keep this in mind.”

This doesn’t help unions. This doesn’t help the left. This doesn’t help anyone. Americans are rightfully haggard and all remaining energy should be spent trying to keep the upcoming administration in chaos to minimize harm or supporting good people. Why waste time trying to diminish the memory of a man who, far as I can tell, has done nothing but good the past 40 years?

And fuck, haven’t we had enough negativity? Many days I avoid social media entirely because it’s just negativity upon negativity. I genuinely can’t fathom a single positive or useful takeaway from media like this.

Why shouldn't someone that felt betrayed by a politician write about their experience? Why shouldn't people learn about these perspectives?
"Can everyone quit being so negative" is an awful take when talking about politics/politicians.
- because it only makes sense in a vacuum, if you compare carter's time to anyone else's, it holds up fine if not great.
  it's bullllllshit
- Why shouldn't people learn about these perspectives?
  Well yeah, that’s why I’m asking what the point is. What is there to be learned from a bad story on this particular dead individual? I said a few times that I can see no discernible societal benefit. I’d love to see even a hypothetical of how this could lead to positive change.
  I hate to be so results-oriented. Really, I do. But the left has lost and lost and lost so I struggle to see a purpose in aiming leftist attention away from the upcoming grim future.
  "Can everyone quit being so negative"
  I’ve noticed that people are more likely to respond to the last thing said, as if the rest was skimmed or forgotten. When I said it was more important to keep the upcoming administration in chaos, did you think I meant by praising them? Negativity is obviously useful when targeted correctly.
  If you reread the comment, it’s pretty clear that my issue is with seemingly pointless negativity— the comment literally begins with “what’s the point?” Like I said, absolutely nobody is praising the bad things Carter may have done. The full focus is on the 40 years of civil service following his presidency. It’s almost always preceded with “he may not have been a good president, but…”
  Aiming the limited public attention space at dead Jimmy Carter’s actions from over 40 years ago serves only the people presently planning on killing unions. Yet instead of trying to convince voters that unions aren’t that bad— something I’ve convinced even business owners of, when it’s not their employees— people would rather sit here and turn the never-ending stream of negativity on Current Famous Person.
  So really, just tell me the point. If you have one I’m happy to give you that, and if it somehow outweighs the downside of leftist infighting, I’d be thrilled to admit wrong. I’m not here to pick fights and genuinely want to believe the left is trying to generate positive results or that this is article will do that. It’s been pretty hopeless recently watching the right surge forward while the left goes at each other and manages nothing.
  Hell, Luigi Mangione alone changed more for society than we’ve managed in years. Probably because he wasn’t (allegedly) aiming at the wrong guy.
Baffling.
We need to whitewash a genocidal war criminal because civility politics and uniting against trump. Because unique to one of 'our good ones' the event of their passing IS NOT a good time to retrospect their lives and impact. Because aren't we tired of the divisiveness of questioning our betters?
Starting to think liberals' brains haven't actually been fried by trump, they've always been feckless monsters
- Liberals brains were fried by Bill Clinton. Starting with him they couldn't see the entire party's hard march to the right.

He also provided support to the Khmer Rouge

Plus he was president and APAB

A neoliberal and a war criminal.

Hmm... how about I throw some links at you as well, to make your point
On Brzezinski, the national security advisor https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/05/john-helmer-zbigniew-brzezinski-svengali-jimmy-carters-presidency-dead-evil-lives.html
Foreign policy
https://afflictthecomfortable.org/2020/11/19/jimmy-carter-is-a-saint-now-was-a-war-criminal-then/
East Timor genocide funding https://web.archive.org/web/20170226181104/https://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/indoarms.html
Wow, and to think he's one of the least bloodiest presidents...
- We’re still living in Brzezinski’s shadow today in Ukraine. This is the proxy war he would have wanted, with the goal of collapsing the Russian state and balkanizing Russia. Weaponizing Europe, Countering Eurasia: Mackinder, Brzezinski, Nuland and the Road to the Ukraine War
Seriously, people look at these guys like they’re perfect shining examples of world leaders because the last presidents were so horrifically bad. I am not going to pretend that these assholes aren’t still huge pieces of shit because they did CONTROVERSIAL THINGS like stopping supporting Pinochet…. THAT SHOULD BE A NO BRAINER WTF WERE YOU GUYS SUPPORTING HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE? Like I feel like I’m losing my mind here. These are not good fucking people. Some people being worse does not make something else good.
is there a president that didn’t commit war crimes?
- I'm pretty sure that the President of my University never committed war crimes...
  Oh you mean those presidents...
- ...of the USA? Not in my lifetime.

The modern "heroization" of Jimmy Carter by people who never experienced his presidency has frustrated many of us who did experience it. Those were difficult times. But...

While I appreciate this dose of reality, I don't think the occasion of his death is the appropriate time to post it. Give the man and his family some respect.

He was a moral man who tried his best, made mistakes, and was possibly a little better person than we all strive to be. He brokered a Middle East peace treaty that was ground breaking. No need to shit on him now.

Supported the invasion of East Timor by the (then) fascist Indonesian government
Backed apartheid South Africa's invasion of Angola and supported right-wing militias in the country
Blocked reparations to Vietnam after the failed US invasion and occupation
Backed fascist militias in Afghanistan in opposition to the democratic government
Supported the destabilisation of Grenada after the election of a socialist government leading to the eventual invasion and occupation by his successor's administration
Facilitated and supported a fascist coup in Liberia
Established the 'Carter Doctrine' which publicly asserted US imperialist designs on the Persian Gulf, particularly its oil, and has informed US neo-colonial policy in the region ever since
Supported murderous dictatorships in Cambodia, El Salvador, Iran, Somalia, South Korea, Turkey
He was a monster
- He was a monster
  Yes! Thank you! Felt alone in here lol
Counterpoint fuck that guy. He deserves to be shit on. No one in the US ruling class deserves respect
- Yeah, I guess... on the other hand, Idk why he had a "tankie" turn post-presidency
I don't think the occasion of his death is the appropriate time to post it.
no, this is exactly the time to post it because now is when everyone else is jacking off his corpse.
Fuck respect. He was as much of a war criminal as Kissinger.
No need to shit on him now.
Hear it not, Carter, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.
He was a moral man who tried his best, made mistakes, and was possibly a little better person than {most average U.S presidents} strive to be.

Maybe less so than FDR, but at least Carter lived to atone his former sins somewhat
- Emkay... seems good
  Still doesn't exonerate from introducing Ted Lasso liberal finance capital fascism (also known as Neoliberalism)
  Introducing the hawkish national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski who did the following
  
  But okay, I guess I'll respect that
- He supported Pol Pot
It's always appropriate to speak the truth.
- Presidents are faced with all kinds of choices between two bad options. They become known for the one they choose. We don't get that kind of reckoning.
  Like, I voted for Kamala. Looking at me through the eye of history's telescope, some would say I voted to support genocide in Lebanon. I could argue well, there was a worse option and I didn't vote for that one.
  Do we know what Jimmy Carter was rejecting when he chose the options he did? I don't.
  Like Pontius Pilate said to Jesus, "What is truth?"
He did not in fact broker middle east peace.
- That's not what I said.

He's also a war criminal

Every president since the founding of the country is a war criminal.
- Agree, I can't believe they wasted good tea by throwing it in the harbour

this article is garbage. taken by itself, his presidency had problems sure. compared to actual failures - including reagan - the man was stellar.

especially where it counted, piety without dogma, patriotism without jingoism, willing to risk his own life for a lifetime of service, carter was so much better than most of the schlubs we see.

reagan won through treason, never forget he pulled the same bullshit nixon did, conservatives never care if it requires dealing with hostage takers or prolonging wars as long as they get elected. fucking scumbags

Good thing Reagan was elected to fix that

👆 Whataboutism
- I was just getting a really strong "but her emails" energy from this post