Should I forgive Jimmy Carter for being "Against Women's Right to Choose?"

[KoKo]

Should I forgive him for serving on the "Election Commission" with James Baker where he didn't discuss the "disenfranchised AMERICAN VOTERS?"

But...I have to say I did love seeing him on Matthews tonight. (and yes! I vowed NEVER TO WATCH Matthews agains after he trashed Howard Dean saying Dems were connecting "Scalito" to the MOB."} He brought it up again tonight about "evil Dems" trashing "Scalito."

But...I have to forgive Tweety just tonight for Carter..for the good stuff against Torture and Against the Chimp "Doctrine of Pre-Emptive Strike."

There was always so much good with Carter...but so much BAD. (and I was around for Carter and worked for him...so I don't say this lightly. He was a disappointment to those of us Dems who saw him as the "Second Coming." I know he has worked hard to support Democratic Causes since the Repug/Reagans trashed him witht he "October Surprise." He was "blindsided" but has cozied up to the Repugs ever since. He likes CONSENSUS...more than this Democrat does. Because "CONSENSUS" got us into IRAQ and down the road of HELL we live with.

[kstewart33]

1. Is 'forgive' the right word?

He doesn't need forgiving. He has a right to his beliefs about abortion like the rest of us. I'm a proud Dem who is personally anti choice, though I believe that every woman has the right to make her own choice. I don't think that makes me any less of a Dem and I think the same goes for him.

[Beaverhausen]

3. you are not anti-choice if what you wrote is true

you wrote: "...though I believe that every woman has the right to make her own choice"

That makes you pro-choice. Welcome! :hi:

[OhioBlue]

5. kstewart33

I think you meant to say that you are against abortion and pro-choice. There is nothing wrong with that position at all. Many pro-choice people feel the same way. I too feel that every woman has a right to make her own choice.

[kstewart33]

11. You both make good points. I guess my major point is

that we should stop sitting in judgment of Dems like Jimmy Carter who are against abortion except in the case of rape, incest or when the woman's life is at risk. I am so tired of one-issue Dems just as I am of these Repubs who absolutely must have a justice who will overturn Roe vs. Wade.

We are all Dems, part of a large, great, enveloping tent. That's what separates us from the Repubs. Alittle more tolerance concerning opposing views on abortion among loyal Dems should be the norm, not the exception.

[kestrel91316]

17. I'm probably one of those - RABIDLY pro-choice, but I don't know

if I could ever have an abortion personally. I might not. But the whole point is, it should be MY CHOICE, not somebody else's and certainly not the government's or some religious nut's.

Pro-choice means pro-CHOICE. It's pretty simple, plain English.

Pro-choice equals personal autonomy and the right to bodily integrity and ownership. Anti-choice equals reproductive enslavement.

[WI_DEM]

2. I was around when Carter was president too and he was a damn

fine president who was ahead of his time on many issues and worked tirelessly for peace. As far as his personal stand on abortion, that's his business. All I know is that he appointed more women and minorities to the federal bench than all the president's before him--and most of them were/are pro-choice.

[KoKo]

4. Carter's views on Energy Crisis were way ahead of his time....he

managed to get Congress to put in "Energy Star" appliance conformance...to get folks to check their attics and crawl spaces to make sure that they were insulated...and he wore sweaters and told us to turn down our thermostats. For a couple of decades we monitor the appliances and HVAC installations we did in our homes because of the "gas lines" and inflation rate he inherited and really tried to do something about. He was "right on" with Energy Dependence" But when Reagan came in he said: "Don't WORRY! I'll bring down the Berlin Wall and you can all do what you want!" :-(

He was "ahead of his time" on many issues. He's a complicated man and LIFE is complicated.

But, he always had a tendancy to put his "foot in his mouth" and it caused him to be reviled. He stopped our American Participation in the Olympics during his term because he had a problem with the Communists...and he has an "old school Southern View of Life, where he feels American should be more Evangelical than it is.

I love much about Carter..and feel his Presidency got a bad rap on some issues...but I was glad to see him only serve one term.

:shrug: Like Carter I guess we Dems always have "differences."

[Greyhound]

6. A second Carter term would've been infinitely preferable to the

disaster that followed.

[sdfernando]

7. You imply you supported Reagan

"but I was glad to see him only serve one term" ????? This implies you supported or even voted for Reagan.


Reagan was such a disaster. I don't see how you can seem to say it was better he got elected than Carter being re-elected.

The election between Carter & Reagan was my very first Presidential election and I proudly cast my vote for Carter....I did it then and I'd do it again today if ran again!

[KoKo]

8. Carter was a Disaster....believe me on this. Reagan's Smile seemed so

Good after the Carter Years.

BUT!!!! Huge Caveat...Carter had the Right Wing against him from the beginning of his Presidency just like Clinton did.

I got involved and am here on DU...because of what I've seen and I DON'T WANT IT EVER REPEATED!!!

The Right Wing Repugs and the Mainstream Repugs in collusion...have underminded EVERY DEM PRESIDENT!

They probably "offed" John Kennedy.

Where I come from is very complicated....as is what we are living through today. :shrug:

[QC]

21. Should I forgive you for having been a Reaganite? n/t

[cally]

9. I love President Carter

I was in college for the Carter administration. I remember being disappointed in him but I didn't really understand politics and the pressures he was under. I look back at his energy policies and his human rights stands and I see him as a visionary president. I wish he had a second term. Reagan destroyed many of the gains he made. His is a voice of reason and moral values in the national discourse.

[Rebellious Republican]

10. The Difference between Carter being "Against Women's Right to Choose?"

and say pretty much any republican. Is that he would not use his position as a President to push an anti-abortion agenda. I would say that he has a right to believe whatever he wants.

Being such a public figure, he has to open up his personal feelings to the world. Whereas we do not have to do this, as we all know, there are many people here at DU that have different opinions on many topics. However we are all still fighting to preserve the same basic ideology.

He gets my vote for your forgiveness .

:toast:

[KoKo]

12. But...he has that "loveable quality" of always sticking his foot in mouth

for his "principles" at the WRONG TIME!

That's why he wasn't re-elected.

[mandyky]

13. Carter is NOT "against a woman's right to choose"

He said he thought Jesus would not condone abortions, among other things.

I am not FOR abortion, I would probably never have one, but I do not want to see the choice taken away. Carter also mentioned WIC and other programs for "mothers" who can't afford another child.

Carter doesn't need my forgiveness, nor does any other Dem who sees alternative and additional choices to abortions.

[kestrel91316]

18. Correct. I heard the interview on NPR. Carter is personally anti-abortion

and wishes it didn't ever have to happen. But he is most certainly pro-choice, because that is the law of the land and he (unlike so many in government these days) respects the law.

He's the last person you would ever see butting into some woman's most personal, private decisions.

This is the man who created WIC so women would be less inclined to have an abortion - they would be guaranteed food for themselves and their infants/children. It's called putting your money where your mouth is.

[heidiho]

14. To be pro-choice is to allow for everyone to make their own choice

and sometimes their choice is that abortion isn't right - for them or for others- and I support their right to think that just as I want them to respect my views.

[never_get_over_it]

15. Wait a minute

are you saying that Jimmy Carter believes that abortion should be illegal - or that he personally is opposed to abortion. There is a huge difference - I personally would never have an abortion - except under extreme circumstances - but I am 100% pro choice.

On edit answering my own question:

from http://www.prospect.org/web/printfriendly-view.ww?id=7572

"What about abortion? How would you speak to moderate evangelicals who withhold support for Democratic candidates on that single issue?

This was an issue that I had to face when I was campaigning 25 years ago. I have always been against abortion; it’s not possible for me in my own concept of Christ to believe that Jesus would favor abortion. But at the same time, I have supported the Supreme Court ruling of our country as the law of the land. And the present arrangement, whereby a woman is authorized to have an abortion in the first trimester of the pregnancy, or when the pregnancy is caused by rape or incest -- these are the things that moderates who have beliefs like mine can accept as the present circumstances in our country. The liberality of abortion is anointed by the laws of our country, including the ultimate ruling of the Supreme Court. "

The title of the post is completely misleading and inaccurate.

[DivinBreuvage]

16. No. Every candidate must be 100% ideologically pure

Reality and the possible have no business in progressive politics, just as idealism and virtue have no place in conservative politics.

[Ellen Forradalom]

19. Dude's a Baptist

One of the good ones, really lives his religion, shows us what it's all about, but face it, Baptists don't sit on the board of Planned Parenthood.

[mtnsnake]

20. Carter is the perfect example of what both sides of the fence lack...

....a mutual respect for a difference of opinion.

Besides that, Jimmy Carter has done something that most other presidents were afraid of doing: He's said the tough things people don't like to hear and he's proposed doing tough things that might inconvenience all of us for the sake of our own future wellbeings. When he proposed that we all cut back on our energy consumption, the entire country just about jumped down his throat. In retrospect, Carter was way ahead of his time, and he was right.

[donkeyotay]

22. I saw a wonderful thing in Carter

I held my nose and watched Larry King because Carter was on. What struck me about Carter's views on abortion was that they were proactive not judgmental. He was saying, how can we reduce the number of abortions, given that the right to one is part of the law of the land. Works for me. Pro-choice doesn't mean anyone thinks abortion is great and everyone should have one. That's what gets me about these pharmacists trying to limit access to birth control. How can you be against something that reduces the demand for abortion?