Think Progress

MSNBC Airs Multiple Segments On C-SPAN Caller Smearing President Carter»

During an interview yesterday, an anonymous C-SPAN viewer called former President Jimmy Carter “a bigot and a racist and an anti-Semite,” and accused him of “cozying up with every dictator, thug, Islamic terrorist there is.”

Video of the exchange is being promoted by several popular right-wing websites, including the Drudge Report and Michelle Malkin’s Hot Air.

Apparently, the rantings of this random C-SPAN viewer are considered “news.” MSNBC has already run two segments today on this irrelevant non-story, one titled “Carter Controversy” and another called, “Pres. Carter: Anti-Semetic?”




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105 Responses to “MSNBC Airs Multiple Segments On C-SPAN Caller Smearing President Carter”

  1. Jim Miles Says:

    Whatever takes the focus off the RELEVANT issues, I guess…


  2. Ruble Says:

    President Bush is a lying, incompetent, evil thug who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of Americans.

    Okay…. where’s MSNBC? I should be getting a call about an on-air interveiw any second now. The segment will be called “Bush Controversy” or maybe “President Bush: Murderer?”

    Okay, I’m waiting……


  3. ForTruth Says:

    Carter smiled through it all too. Fine Repigs, focus on Carter, he’s not in office or anything.


  4. RUCerious Says:

    Nuze? Nudes? Nooze? These idiots can’t even manufacture anything relevant!!!!!! My WTF-Incredulator siren has the neighborhood mutts howling!


  5. S.D. Says:

    “Anti-Semite”? What, For helping to negotiate a Peace agreement between Israel and Egypt??

    Huh??


  6. Larry from C Says:

    We all know who owns MSNBC and we know their politics. That they try to “manufacture” a story smearing Jimmy Carter is no suprise. Despicable yes, but surprise no.

    If it wasn’t for Keith Olberman I wouldn’t even surf over that horrible channel.

    By the way MSNBC here’s a story suggestion for ya’. Why not investigate the conflicting interests of a media conglomerate reporting on a war that they themselves are profiting from.


  7. AshenShard Says:

    If anything the quetions shouldn’t be about Carter but what caused the warped, uniformed opinion of the caller. obviously Carter is not an anti-Semite, but a humanitarian. His humanitarian work has led him to support the immediate creation of a Palestinian state and immediate withdrawal of Israeli occupiers. It is in the mind of the right wing sheep like the caller, that disagreeing with the policies of Israel is anti-semite. Rather than sticking to these false talking points you think they would have something intelligent to say.


  8. The Trucker Pundit Says:

    This story, the “Koran vs. Bible Swearing In” story, all that… more proof… they got NOTHIN’!!!


  9. ForTruth Says:

    Waiting for MA to show up and talk about how much she still loves Jimmeh.


  10. tarazan Says:

    Give Carter a credit for establishing peace between Egypt & Israel. He was the only US president that was able to create a long lasting peace treaty. Clinton worked to get one between Palestinians and Israelis…Clinton almost made it…but he did not twist arms like Carter did. Since Bush administration came to power , the whole policy in the Middle East has been one sided pro Israel..right or wrong…and peace became an illusion in the area..and with this Iraqi war,and Israel bombing of Lebanon…we are getting less and less friends in the area..and peace hard to find. You can criticise Carter all day,but he is the most respected president in the Middle East…he sees problems in the area with objectivity and not just listening to religous Right wingers & zealots.


  11. linda Says:

    By the way MSNBC here’s a story suggestion for ya’. Why not investigate the conflicting interests of a media conglomerate reporting on a war that they themselves are profiting from.

    ever wonder why there’s never, ever been any news report on india’s recent nuclear moves that has the rest of the planet unnerved. it couldn’t possibly be because general electric gets first dibs at that lucrative contract, could it:

    Reuters July 23, 2005
    With Bush’s help, GE courts Indian PM, nuke sector
    In-Depth Coverage

    By Adam Entous

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just over an hour after the White House’s surprise pledge to help India develop its civilian nuclear power sector, the head of General Electric, the American company that could benefit most from the policy change, sat down for a celebratory dinner.

    The host was President George W. Bush; a few feet away was India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and his top aides. GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt, a contributor to Bush’s presidential campaigns, had a coveted seat at the president’s table.

    Bush’s announcement on nuclear trade with India — followed by a formal dinner in the State dining room — was not just a victory for Singh. For GE, the only U.S.-owned company still in the nuclear business, it marked a possible turning point in a years-long push to re-enter the Indian nuclear power market, which it was forced to leave in 1974 when India conducted its first nuclear test.

    “In the short term, it’s really business as usual. … But if things unfold the way it looks they may, then clearly it is a significant opportunity for us,” said Peter Wells, general manager of marketing for GE Energy’s nuclear business.

    While the policy change may benefit GE and other companies in the long term, critics contend Bush’s move closer to accepting the world’s largest democracy as a nuclear weapons state could weaken decades-old prohibitions against atomic arms.

    http://www.globalsecurity.org/ org/ news/ 2005/ 050723-ge-india-nuke.htm


  12. Tenoch Says:

    Fundamentalists are well skilled at such Fear-and-Smear tactics.

    When you don’t have facts to back you up, unsubstantiated, childish name-calling is always the most respectable route to take.


  13. Dumb_Fox Says:

    I agree it’s not much of a news-story, but I wouldn’t actually object if they framed the story as “Wingnut bomb-throwers” or “Michelle Malkin fan-club: Stupid extremists?”

    Let’s be honest, there are people out there who do see the world this way. CSPAN put one on air. The fact MSNBC have spun this as Carter’s fault that there are some crazed, ignorant nutjobs out there is what’s ridiculous.


  14. katy Says:

    more mountains out of mole hills… they’re so good at it…
    second to lying, of course…


  15. veritas Says:

    Faux news would think this is “newsworthy”….some imbecile calling an ex president and making a fool of himself….interesting that GWB never appears and takes calls…can only wonder what people might ask him…hahaha! ALL MEDIA WHORES…..MSM!


  16. -jay- Says:

    Right-wing radicals always seem to be trying to tar everyone else with their shortcomings. When I think of anti-Semitic, anti-Hispanic, anti-Catholic, racist, intolerant, neo-Fascist, KKK, skin-heads, “whites-only,” lunatics, I think of the Coulters, O’Reillys, Hannitys, Scarboroughs, and others of their ilk.


  17. attaturk Says:

    Hey, you people forget that Jimmy Carter is “history’s greatest monster”


  18. Kathleen Says:

    Just proves what Carter is saying about the mainstream media in the states. They focused on the two minutes of a radical right winger, instead of the three hours and 28 minutes of an incredible and worthwhile, informative interview with President Carter about the Israeli/Palestinianconflict and much more!

    ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO WATCH THE COMPLETE C-SPAN INTERVIEW WITH CARTER!

    ORDER IT AND GIVE IT AS A HOLIDAY GIFT!


  19. Jason M. Hendler Says:

    Just wait, I knew the American Jewish community would finally react to the Dems undermining the US ability to stop muslim nations from weaponizing, and now you are going to get both barrels - this is going to be so much fun.


  20. RantingTommy Says:

    They always have to say “islamic terrorist”. I used to think it was just an attempt to equate islam with terrorism, but now I see it’s because they have no problem with christian terrorism.

    Religion of any kind is bogus and should be ridiculed at every opportunity.


  21. Swordsbane Says:

    “Anti-Semite”? What, For helping to negotiate a Peace agreement between Israel and Egypt??

    Huh??

    Comment by S.D. — December 4, 2006 @ 1:30 pm

    Don’t you remember…. anyone who wants peace is already obviously anti-American. If you want peace between anyone and Israel, then you clearly don’t support the obviously correct Israeli position, therefore you are anti-Israel, and therefore anti-semitic.

    While we’re at it, why don’t the execs of MSNBC convince themselves that red is green and go play in traffic?


  22. Jeffrey Stewart Says:

    I saw part of President Carter’s appearance on MTP yesterday. It was so refreshing hearing an intelligent, informed, experienced, coherent president discussing the Middle East. This compares to the bizarre humbug the current president spouts every time he is without a prepared statement.

    If Smirky McFlightsuit wasn’t coddled by the capitalist, corporate media and their profits weren’t at stake, the truth is he would be referred to as a war criminal and an impeachable, incompetent, incoherent babbler!


  23. tablogloid Says:

    This story means peanuts to me.


  24. dlet Says:

    So these Cons want to smear President Carter? Its like their favorite past time. First they have Clinton and now Carter….who’s next…Grover Cleveland?


  25. DS Says:

    No surprise that Scarborough is leading one of those discussions.

    The man wouldn’t know a real news story if it showed up dead in his Congressional office.

    At least he has the now ubiquitous question mark to hide his cowardice and slander behind.


  26. Rebel In CA Says:

    “During an interview yesterday, an anonymous C-SPAN viewer called former President Jimmy Carter “a bigot and a racist and an anti-Semite,” and accused him of “cozying up with every dictator, thug, Islamic terrorist there is.”

    He sure did.

    Thugs like Menachem Begin and Anwar Saddat at Camp David where the only lasting Middle East Peace Agreement was signed between Israel and Egypt. It has lasted close to 30 years.

    He is a bigot.
    He keeps getting involved with Habitat for Humanity where he shows up, picks up a hammer and builds homes for the poor and disadvantaged who are mostly black. Only a bigotted racist would do that right?

    He started an Austerity Program where he cut all the frills on board AF1 and the WH because he believed government should spend the mony on the citizens and not the politicians. What an idiot.

    He has been a UN election monitor and observed elections in some of the most god-forsaken parts of the world and as a result more democratically elected governments were installed than there would have been if he had not participated. Of course Shrub has done that with Irag and Afghanistan.

    I can go on but my sarcasm is turning to rage. I better get off before somebody slaps me with a ticket for Web-rage.


  27. pmse57 Says:

    Here we go, Prez Carter attacked as an anti-semite for offering a view of Israli policies and actions in regards to Palestine as less than perfect. Anyone who critisises Israli actions in Palestine will be attacked relentlessly. And the worst part is until Israel and the U.S. honestly deal with with the Palestine situation there will be no peace in the Middleast and neither Isralis or Palestinians will be safe.


  28. The Witch Says:

    Whaaat? I called into C-SPAN on Dec. 2nd and criticized the whole GOVERNMENT! Don’t I get at least a segment, if not face time ??


  29. barfly Says:

    Just wait, I knew the American Jewish community would finally react to the Dems undermining the US ability to stop muslim nations from weaponizing, and now you are going to get both barrels - this is going to be so much fun.

    Comment by Jason M. Hendler

    Reagan was the biggest “weaponizer” of Muslim nations, Jason. I seem to remember you posting over thirty times,saying how much you were going to enjoy our defeat at the polls. Don’t you ever tire of being wrong?


  30. Anon1 Says:

    God bless Jimmy Carter.


  31. Zimzone Says:

    Jimmy Carter is a real man.
    Real men help people, regardless of color or religion.
    Real men can speak of issues w/o talking points on a teleprompter.
    Real men promote peace, regarless of nationality or geographic location.
    Real men can ‘take the heat’.
    Real men don’t call a ‘B’ rated news show to slam someone out of office.
    There. Jason, that’s a real man; what’s you excuse?
    Now. I was a Reagan Democrat, Jason.
    How’s that sit with you?
    He was the original ‘flip-flopper’. Once he flipped, he helped set up one of the most deadly undercover, misguided, illegal & murderous regimes we’ve ever seen.
    Proud of that, Jason?
    Jason, you couldn’t carry Carter’s underwear.
    Go find that Ann Coulter photo & make yourself happy. We don’t care.
    Just quit trying to comment on an adult blog.
    Piddles…


  32. not impressed with the U.S. Says:

    Just wait, I knew the American Jewish community would finally react to the Dems undermining the US ability to stop muslim nations from weaponizing, and now you are going to get both barrels - this is going to be so much fun.

    Comment by Jason M. Hendler

    You are such a f*cking idiot, it boggles the mind! OooooH, I’m soooo scared of the “American Jewish community”.


  33. oxillini Says:

    During an interview yesterday, an anonymous C-SPAN viewer called former President Jimmy Carter “a bigot and a racist and an anti-Semite,” and accused him of “cozying up with every dictator, thug, Islamic terrorist there is.”

    The caller forgot to add Nobel Peace Prize Winner. Take that! He can’t be that great, though, it’s not like he has a Presidential Medal of Freedom!


  34. WWB Says:

    Nico, come off it. Though hearing Carter get called out for conservatives’ complaints about him will unsurprisingly make conservatives happy, there doesn’t even need to be a partisan angle here — a former president was subjected to an uncomfortable situation on live national television. That’s not newsworthy at all?

    Mental exercise: If George W. Bush got heckled at a press conference and MSNBC devoted a segment to that, would Think Progress complain?


  35. darker Says:

    VICIOUS PRO-ISRAEL “AT ALL COSTS” LOBBY has already cost thousands of American troops lives in Iraq War. This was was pushed by the pro-Israeli lobby and profiteer-corporations. Both would “win”. One politically, the other through profiteering & corruption.

    Then Bush’s pro-Israel “at all costs” advisers ran like rats off a sinking ship, and are nowhere to be seen, except to issue complaints, kvetches on the current mess, as if they were “not responsible”. Pro-Israel cowards.

    It’s extremist and cowardly to attack former President J. Carter. It’s also A LIE to do so. Carter’s the one person who has tried to be fair to both sides in the Israel-vs-Arabs CHRONIC MESS.

    Israel RIGHT WING LOBBY will continue to destroy any chance for peace in the Middle East. Rightwing warhawks wanted US’s Iraq War to knock out one of their enemies. USA is left HOLDING THE BAG.

    Let Israel RIGHTWING WARHAWKS fight their own wars, and NOT con the USA to fight a war for Israel’s benefit. They are bigtime liars and shyster meisters. USA should get out of the business of being Israel’s
    POODLE.


  36. Jose Chung Says:

    Yes, tarazan

    The irony of the situation, which is completely lost on those on the Left, is that Jimmy Carter IS the most popular president in the Middle East, among those who DON’T WANT PEACE, such as terrorists groups like Hamas.


  37. dlet Says:

    including the Drudge Report and Michelle Malkin’s Hot Air.

    Her site is really called “Hot Air”? She picked this herself? Quite appropriate and funny.

    Saying that Carter is a racist and a bigot is like saying that Bush gets together with Stephen Hawking to discuss quantum physics.


  38. AbortAllChristianBabies Says:

    WWB:

    Dubya would get heckled ALL of the time if he were really put in front of the people instead of his “staged” GOP invite only crowds.

    Exercise that fool.


  39. big dan Says:

    This is a tactic by shills who know what they are doing! They purposely say “Hitler” or “anti-semite” or “holocaust” to suppress any debate on Israeli policy. We all know it!!! This person knew exactly what they were doing, and furthermore, they knew that someone like MSNBC will pick up on it…pro-Israeli corporate mainstream media will pick up on it…probably on purpose, too.


  40. n69n Says:

    WOW, all one has to do is call into cspan & its a “CONTROVERSY”?!?!?!?!
    i better get my ass on those CSPAN lines!
    Susan & Connie Cspan, here i come!!!


  41. Jose Chung Says:

    The Father of Terrorism, Yaser Arafat, who died in France of AIDS, said that Jimmy Carter was his favorite American president because he was the only president whose thinking Arafat could affect.


  42. SpudgeBoy Says:

    Mental exercise: If George W. Bush got heckled at a press conference and MSNBC devoted a segment to that, would Think Progress complain?

    Bush was heckled by the press on November the 8th and the press didn’t even cover their own heckling. That is the story here dumb ass.


  43. Flaco Says:

    Carter worst President ever!


  44. theswan Says:

    Corporate America will sell anything. Anything for an image of any stripe or sway. There is apparently “corporate value” in promoting some ignorant person’s remarks about a person he/she knows nothing about.
    Luckily this person still has some rights and is able to speak their peace. In a place like russia he/she would get a visit from the radiologist.


  45. H Says:

    This kind of smear certainly is consistent with the plainly stated views of MS-NBC’s General Manager, Dan Abrams. His attitude is well-known w/in the company & surely isn’t lost on his subordinates. At an absolute minimum, nobody will get called on the carpet for this kind of thing.


  46. Jake Says:

    Okay…. where’s MSNBC?

    Well, this morning there was a segment called “Bush: Worst President Ever?”

    This is after, “Is Bush an Idiot?” a few weeks back.

    Call it Fair and Balanced sensationalism.


  47. kathleen Says:

    ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO WATCH THE THREE AND HALF HOURS OF AN INCREDIBLY INFORMATIVE INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER!

    ORDER THE INTERVIEW WITH CARTER FROM C-SPAN BOOK T.V. IT IS A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR PEACE!


  48. kathleen Says:

    Encourage people to watch the full three and a half hours of the interview with Former President Jimmy Carter at C-span book t.v.

    Encourage people to BUY THE INTERVIEW AS A HOLIDAY GIFT FOR PEACE!

    GREAT HANNUKAH GIFT FOR PEACE!


  49. Republicans are the fear and smear party Says:

    gee, if an anonymous ranter said it then it must be true…


  50. Ian Says:

    Yeah, the same lousy network that lauded Bush over the “bubble” business.

    But it’s okay, because they’re attacking Bush.


  51. Dan Krisher Says:

    RAW STORY is just to much to blame.

    Lately, I’ve grown suspect of Raw Story’s agenda. They seem to be picking stories that have a subtle right-wing bias in terms of criticizing progressive voices. I think we as progressives need to hold our contributions to Raw Story and question their motives. I’ll give you three other examples:

    1) Erroneously reporting a year ago that AAR was filing bankruptcy when it actually hadn’t.
    2) Reporting for over a week the recent AAR financial reorganization with their own opining about the health of progressive radio.
    3) Last week they seem to try to fuel a pissing match between Ed Schultz and Al Franken since Ed Schultz was moving into the same time slot as Franken. Raw Story failed or neglected to report, that this would only affect listeners on the East Coast.

    C-Span is also suspect. I’ve seen interviews where there seems to be an obvious bias towards the “conservative” callers. A few years ago Helen Caldicott was on one of their interview shows and she was harpooned with conservative callers who phoned in, got on, didn’t asked questions but threw allegations at her, without being fielded by the host.

    The fact that Carter dared criticize the current regime in Israel may have been another factor. Raw seems to shy away from negative coverage of Israel in regards to Palestine where other blogs or news organizations (BBC, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor) will report on these issues.

    Finally, I like to know more about who is in control of Raw Story, where their money comes from and goes and what their actual agenda is.


  52. Robin Grant Says:

    When I hear Carter or Clinton speaking I sigh wistfully and say, “Remember when we used to have a President?”


  53. Brian Geoffrey Says:

    Hands up, how many people expect to see George W. Bush building houses for the poor with his own womanly soft hands after he leaves office?

    Anyone? Anyone? Bueler? Bueler?

    Carter is a good man, a real man, and Bush is a whining spoiled pussy.


  54. Benjamin Says:

    I didn’t hear the caller, but I think that Carter is much more pro-palestinian than pro-peace. similarly, bush is more pro-israel than pro-peace. peace comes from moderation of the two sides, not by picking one. (and an agreement in my moderation formula is that Israel get to remain a Jewish state in exchange for the territories becomming Judenrein)


  55. Jose Chung Says:

    Although I would never call Jimmy Carter an anti-Semite he is clearly anti-Israel and pro-Arab and decades ago abandoned any status he ever had as an honest broker.

    He once described Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin as a “psycho,” whereas he praised Syria’s dictator Hafez Assad and terrorist leader Yasir Arafat, Carter’s “friend.” Zbigniew Brzezinski (Carter’s National Security Advisor) and Cyrus Vance (Carter’s Secretary of State) both wrote in their memoirs that Carter’s anti-Israeli sentiments began during his presidency.

    While the center of world anti-Semitism was once Nazi Germany, today it is in the Arab world.


  56. Zooey Says:

    How was this a “Carter Controversy?” Some ass calls in and proves himself an ass, and it’s news?

    Yeah, that’s your so-called liberal media at work.


  57. Marie Says:

    This is ridiculous - an anonymous caller who doesn’t have any credentials, who apparently doesn’t have a lick of sense attacks Carter and the rant is used as a news story?! Any one of the rants on TP or any other blog could be used the same way - is that what Scarborough calls news? Is that what passes for a news item at MSNBC?


  58. maddy Says:

    The insane asylum is overflowing and we are really in Kansas now…yea I know, Brownback is maybe thinking about running for president, man he would show that liberal assed Carter a thing or two about what being an american is all about. No more making nice with these muslim fanatics who are obviously to blame for everything. The christian thing to do is kill ‘em all, praise the lord.


  59. Juan C Says:

    While the center of world anti-Semitism was once Nazi Germany, today it is in the Arab world.
    Comment by Jose Chung

    Yeah, those damn arabs. And the palestinians are the worst of them all. How can they refuse to give up their land to the chosen people? /sarcasm off.

    Jose, its been a while since David became Golliath.


  60. tarazan Says:

    Anonymous caller….!! anybody with a brain will tell you that can be staged,either by group who do not like Carter,the media,or any crazy nut. So, why MSNBC and other television channels making big issue out of it….that is not hard to do…why this is news anyway?. Why not discuss what Carter was emphasizing on and discussing,instead of this “no news” by MSNBC.


  61. Russell Roberts Says:

    This is good news folks! A marketing manager at a firm that my family member work at is now suggesting their corporation to take down all the Reagan picture and put up JFK picture as they are beginning to feel the money crunch as client are now picking a company that promotes Democracy instead of Theocracy kind of Gov’t. I guess http://www.buyblue.org/ is working.

    The bottom line is that this is only news to the corporate that paid for it. Jimmy Carter is the biggest enemy of a military corporatist faction. Talk to any repug about why they hate Carter, and within second they’ll mention Panama Canal.


  62. Marie Says:

    #54 Brian


  63. Marie Says:

    #54 Brian
    how many people expect to see George W. Bush building houses for the poor
    I expect Bush would cut down brush for her - but he’d leave the debris on her sidewalk and driveway before he went home for a nap.


  64. count_schemula Says:

    I can understand some of criticism of Jimmy Carter. He was not the “greatest” President. But, to level personal attacks against the man is just flat out wrong. As a human being he’s truly great. So, to call him a racist and an anti-Semite just reflects poorly on anyone who would shamelessly utter the words.


  65. pete Says:

    the republican party countered the high intellect and strict morals of jimmy carter with the chimp.
    not quite the trade off they were hoping for.


  66. June Says:

    It is what the Media tends to do when high-profile people have a serious and/or potentially productive conversation. Like after Clinton in the Wallace interview… the story was of Clinton being “crazy” and that his socks were showing. Nevermind the substance that could lead to a better world. Who cares anyway, right?

    Larry from C:

    By the way MSNBC here’s a story suggestion for ya’. Why not investigate the conflicting interests of a media conglomerate reporting on a war that they themselves are profiting from.

    Amen to that. The media indeed has the largest lobbying structure in place in Washington (bigger than that of Big Oil). Massive conflicts of interest arrive many times each day and no one ever knows.


  67. M. Lauer Says:

    You people need to lighten up. That person was just saying what we’re all thinking, right?


  68. ian Says:

    how could you be an anti semite if you were aiming for peace between palestinians and israelis. THEYRE BOTH SEMITIC PEOPLES…


  69. Arne Langsetmo Says:

    IRI?!?!? Is that you?


  70. Mr. Todd Says:

    everyone go read the comments for this story at malkin’s blog. its insane. i’m not a huge fan of carter but my god, the kind of filth they throw at him.

    and what is the cuddling up with islamic terrorists charge about? assume for the moment that these charges about carter are true, then ask where the outrage over ronald reagan actually selling arms to iran is? or the outrage over him simply shoveling weapons to the mujahideen in afghanistan? by the standards they apply to carter, reagan should qualify as a class A traitor.


  71. impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    Quite amazing that a single caller into C-Span has such an impact, when 60% of the American people, who want this damn war in Iraq to end, can’t get their administration to do it.


  72. Karim Says:

    C-SPAN is becoming the next Fox News.


  73. impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    #

    how could you be an anti semite if you were aiming for peace between palestinians and israelis. THEYRE BOTH SEMITIC PEOPLES…

    Comment by ian — December 4, 2006 @ 6:45 pm

    Bingo! And it’s interesting that this historical fact is NEVER pointed out.

    And Jose Chung, you’ve been posting some pretty outrageous statements about Carter…but no backup. How about posting some legitimate links…oh yeah, and your screen name seems to be functioning as a disguise, rather than an expression of who you are.


  74. impeachcheneythenbush Says:

    #

    C-SPAN is becoming the next Fox News.

    Comment by Karim — December 4, 2006 @ 7:18 pm

    Not true. The moderator cut the (female) caller off right away. And if you watched C-Span you wouldn’t say something like this. Educate yourself.


  75. Robin Says:

    I don’t really understand why you (Nico) don’t consider this news. How many former Presidents on broadcast media are actually berated by the John Q Public? Doesn’t happen very much, does it?

    Not that I agree with the caller’s sentiment, but it does show we have a vibrant free speaking society.

    Relax, people.


  76. Benjamin Says:

    I’m glad our former president prefers the murder bombing innocent civilian killing palestinians over the self-defending terrorist targeting collateral damaging Israelis. This should surely be a move for peace.


  77. TomK Says:

    So Marty Peretz calls into CSPAN and slams Carter? Big deal….he says worse every day in his New Republic blog.


  78. TomK Says:

    So Marty Peretz calls into C-Span and slams Carter? Big deal….he says worse every day in his New Republic blog.


  79. codepiranha dot org - Child killed in Nablus for throwing stones Says:

    […] Fifteen-year old Jamil Jabaji was shot and killed on Askar refugee camp in Nablus Sunday by the Israeli army. I’ve spoken with a very close friend in Nablus who first told me about the shooting. She works on Askar refugee camp in the social development center. Jamil used to frequent the center where I did volunteer work last summer. I don’t know if I ever met Jabil and I can’t find a picture anywhere that is clear enough for me to make out his face. Nevertheless, the Israeli army saw fit to put a bullet in his head for throwing stones at an armored military jeep. Even the Israeli army isn’t denying this one. An army spokesman said: “Palestinians hurled rocks at the soldiers who responded by firing at one of the leaders of the stone-throwers… I can confirm that they shot one of the rock-throwers.” [1] Meanwhile, one of the few prominent Americans that actually understands the situation was called anti-Semitic for speaking the truth. How Israel manages to continue to play the victim is beyond me. I think I’m gonna be sick. [1] http://www.news.com.au/ heraldsun/ story/ 0,21985,20866835-5005961,00.html5005961,00.html   […]


  80. JPark Says:

    Carter worst President ever!

    Flaco…Worst. Troll. Ever.


  81. JPark Says:

    #66 I think that is Glenn Beck.


  82. JPark Says:

    Not that I agree with the caller’s sentiment, but it does show we have a vibrant free speaking society.

    Interesting that only Dems put themselves in this situation. If you think we have a vibrant, free speaking society you are severely deluded.


  83. Poodle Head Says:

    translation: Attention all shut-in right wingers with no visible means of support! Wanted: hyperactive invective aimed at high profile Democrats. act today!


  84. Matt Phillips Says:

    If you oppose policies that you believe are bad for Israel, bad for America, and corrupting to Judaism and Christianity, as well as being devastating to the Palestinians, you are not an anti-semite. Jimmy Carter has not accomplished as much as we might hope through diplomacy. On the other hand, Bush has accomplished a lot through war, and its almost all bad.

    Joe Scarborough is a hack. Keith Olbermann is brilliant. MSNBC is an excellent website, but a so-so TV channel.


  85. Tom Murphy Says:

    MSNBC and Joe Scarborough obviously want to help smear Carter. The reason is Carter reveals too much. See this clip from the same interview that MSNBC is not likely to show: President Carter talks about AIPAC and Israel on C-SPAN
    President Carter reveals the intense pressures used to prevent public discussion of the facts concerning Israel. He admits that some Universities have actually turned him away, telling him that discussing Israel was “too controversial!”


  86. Tom Murphy Says:

    Opps, the link above was broken. Here, this should work: President Carter talks about AIPAC and Israel on C-SPAN


  87. John Deek Says:

    The Father of Terrorism, Yaser Arafat, who died in France of AIDS, said that Jimmy Carter was his favorite American president because he was the only president whose thinking Arafat could affect.

    Comment by Jose Chung

    Ah Juan Chang, the beautiful result of rubbing two brown things together…

    So tell me something Mr. “Brazil is more dangerous than Iraq” Chang, who do think killed more people… the Fatah party or the central american death squads your hero and saviour Ronald “Christ” Reagan funded?

    You willing to bet money its Fatah?

    I dont know who the “father of terrorism” is, but im pretty sure its someone who weilded more power than Arafart.

    If you think america hasnt funded terrorist organizations, your incredibly naive.

    Yes.. Heaven forbid any leader in the mideast other than an Israeli might be able to make an american think that his point of view has some legitimacy…. you know.. that could lead to like…. actual agreements and treaties and stuff…awful indeed..

    After all.. uhm.. god is on their side.. he told them so.. he wrote it down and stuff…

    Juan don’t you have some tamales to stir fry?


  88. John Deek Says:

    re: the person asking about Raw Story…

    this the only thing google came up with … try googling “raw story media”

    also maybe..

    :

    http://www.buzzlife.com/ forums/ archive/ index.php/ t-64998.html

    empath2005-09-28, 03:09 PM
    Raw story is run by a gay man. He’s got a ’sister’ site called rawstoryq that just runs gay news.”

    and there is, in fact, a : http://www.rawstoryq.com/

    drudge? sullivan? gannon? heheh who knows..

    I think the guys who used to spend their money bribing senators are now going on a media blitz


  89. John Deek Says:

    And Jose Chung, you’ve been posting some pretty outrageous statements about Carter…but no backup. How about posting some legitimate links…oh yeah, and your screen name seems to be functioning as a disguise, rather than an expression of who you are.

    Right right I wouldnt be ragging on this guy’s ethnicity if I thought he was anything but a born and bred klansman cracker….. probably Mighty HermAphrodites “man-wife” or Jesus Christ in disguise..


  90. David Carlisle Says:

    While I’ve seen it pointed out several times that anti-Semitism actually means “anti-Arabs, Anti-Jews and anti some other people”, it seems like nitpicking to me, and I don’t really get why it’s an important not to pick. The majority of the time (as far as I know) “anti-Semitism” is used and understood to mean “anti-Jewish”. It’s not etymologically correct but that’s how it’s used.

    Now, if there was a general lumping together of Israelis and Arabs in popular culture as “Semitic”, with like Semitic Restaurants which serve food from the the Semitic lands, then, yeah, it’d be stupid to think of “anti-Semitism” as only meaning “anti-Jewish”. But as it is, there doesn’t seem to be much point in pointing out the correct meaning, UNLESS you’re trying to change the discourse (like making the point that there’s a lot of similarities between Jews and Arabs).


  91. David Carlisle Says:

    darn. I meant to write “nit to pick”. I thought I’d been so careful.


  92. DallasNE Says:

    Did anybody look into the background of the caller?

    I thought not.

    And what specific examples did the caller give to support his charges?

    None.

    MSM is at it again — clueless as usual. Unprofessional as well.


  93. Benjamin Says:

    David Carlisle- The term “anti-semitism” was coined to mean “anti-jewish”. The fact that semites are defined as sons of shem in the bible and are not people of middle-eastern lineage is not material to the definition.


  94. Tom Says:

    Love # 2. Hey, doesn’t this constitute harrassment? Should we contact the authorities?! And should not the Secret Security investigate Michelle investigate Michelle Malkin and Matt Drudge for furthering threats against one of our presidents? If the shoe were on the other foot….


  95. James Says:

    Notice how Scarborough who is very biased for Israel doesn’t even address the viewer caller who came a few calls later in that C-SPAN 2 (Book TV) broadcast with President Carter mentioning that it was a typical Zionist (Israel firster) tactic to use the ‘anti-Semite’ smear as the caller also mentioned the Mearsheimer/Walt paper on the power/influence of the pro-Israel lobby on the US political system (see the following URL link for how former Mossad operative Victor Ostrovsky conveyed that the anti-Semite smear is used as a tactic by such Israel firsters):

    President Carter, Mearsheimer and WaIt and The Israel Lobby

    http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=64098

    Joe Scarborough of MSNBC mentioned in a recent broadcast how Jane Harman should have been appointed to chair the intelligence committee but didn’t make any mention of her connection to the ongoing AIPAC espionage case which he won’t cover either:

    Feds Probe Neocon Dem Jane Harman’s Relationship with AIPAC:

    http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=61916


  96. Knemon Says:

    I’m not a huge fan of Carter, but - doing news segments about a C-SPAN caller? That’s paaaathetic.


  97. Sher Says:

    General Information

    Semites are peoples who speak Semitic languages; the group includes Arabs, Aramaeans, Jews, and many Ethiopians. In a Biblical sense, Semites are peoples whose ancestry can be traced back to Shem, Noah’s eldest son. The ancient Semitic populations were pastoral Nomads who several centuries before the Christian Era were migrating in large numbers from Arabia to Mesopotamia, the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Nile River delta. Jews and other Semites settled in villages in Judea, southern Palestine. http://mb-soft.com/believe/txo/semites.htm



  98. Kathleen Says:

    Dan Krisher…I agree! I have sent Raw Story articles about the Illegal west bank Settlements and other articles about what is taking place in the Israeli Palestinian conflict and they do not post them!

    Interesting that they look like they fall into the same category as the MSm in regard to Israel!


  99. kathleen Says:

    GREAT ARTICLE BY RABBI TIKKUN POSTED AT THE TOM PAINE WEBSITE. RABBI LERNER STANDS STRONG ON TRUTH!

    Thank You, Jimmy Carter
    Rabbi Michael Lerner
    December 06, 2006

    Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun magazine, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun synagogue, which meets in San Francisco and Berkeley, and national chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives. He is the author of Healing Israel/Palestine (North Atlantic Books, 2003) and
    Jimmy Carter was the best friend the Jews ever had as president of the United States.

    He is the only president to have actually delivered for the Jewish people an agreement (the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt) that has stood the test of time. Since the treaty, there have been bad vibes between Israel and Egypt, but never a return to war, once Israel fully withdrew from the territories it conquered in Egypt during the 1967 war.

    To get that agreement, Carter had to twist the arms of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. Sometimes that is what real friends do—they push you into a path that is really in your best interest at times when there is an emergency and you are acting self-destructively.

    When the U.S. government is following a self-destructive policy, even a policy backed by people in both major political parties, its best friends are those who try to change its direction and are not afraid to offer intense critique. That’s why a majority of Americans, and 86 percent of American Jews, voted in the 2006 midterm elections to reject Bush’s war in Iraq and his policies suspending habeas corpus and legitimating wire-tapping and torture. Not because we were disloyal, but precisely because we love America enough to challenge its policies even when Vice President Cheney questions our loyalty. We know that critique is often an essential part of love and caring.

    That is precisely what Jimmy Carter is trying to do for Israel and the Jewish people in his new book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.

    So it’s astounding to see the assault on Carter that has been launched by the ADL chair Abe Foxman, law professor Alan Dershowitz and a bevy of other representatives of the Jewish community. I recently received a mailing from our local Jewish Community Relations Council containing four such attacks on Carter, with zero representation of American Jews who support the Israeli peace movement.

    Of course, any selection of facts is always going to be a choice, and those who buy the mainstream narrative of either the Palestinian or Israeli partisans are going to be unhappy with moments in which their narrative is not the dominant one in this book.

    Carter recognizes the mistakes on both sides—precisely what the “You are either for us or against us” crowd in both camps cannot stand. Nuance, recognition that both sides have at times been insensitive to the legitimate needs of the other, insistence that both sides need to take steps that are currently rejected (by Hamas in the Palestinian world, by the Israeli government in the Jewish world—this is what makes for rational discussion.

    Here’s an easy way to tell an extremist on Israel/Palestine issues: Just ask that person if he or she can list at least three terrible errors his/her side has made in this struggle, errors that deserve moral condemnation. If they can’t, chances are that no amount of evidence or moral reasoning is ever going to open their minds.

    Instead, you’ll hear Palestinians who talk about their own refugee status but never acknowledge that, when Jews were refugees trying to escape the Holocaust in Europe, the Palestinian leadership convinced the British to not allow any Jews to come to Palestine. Nor will they talk about the human suffering that results when Palestinian terrorists explode bombs in cafes, movie theatres or dance halls in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Or you’ll hear the right-wingers in the Jewish crowd claiming, quite mistakenly as we’ve demonstrated in Tikkun, that Palestinians rejected a reasonable deal presented to them at Camp David in 2000. They’ll make the equally absurd claim that the Gaza pull-out of troops in 2005 “gave the Palestinians what they’ve been asking for and yet they continue to fight.” In fact, the Palestinian Authority had pleaded with Sharon not to pull out unilaterally but to negotiate an end to the occupation of both Gaza and the West Bank, recognizing that negotiations would give credence to the Palestinian Authority for being able to deliver something in return for the nonviolent stance it had taken since the death of Arafat, while unilateral withdrawal would give Hamas an important chip (which it was able to use to parlay itself to electoral victory, claiming that it was their violence that had driven the Israelis out). Similarly, the apologists for the current policies of the State of Israel simply ignore the ongoing suffering that constitutes collective punishment for the entire population of Palestine when Israel cuts off food and funds and allows tens of thousands of people in the Occupied Territories to suffer from malnutrition. The partisans always have to see themselves as “righteous victims” and the other side as “the evil other.”

    Carter does not claim that Israel is an apartheid state. What he does claim is that the West Bank will be a de facto apartheid situation if the current dynamics represented by the construction of the wall, by the passage of discriminatory legislation and by the inclusion of racists in the leadership—most recently that of pro-ethnic cleansing Israeli Cabinet member Avigdor Lieberman—continue. The only way to avoid Israel turning into an apartheid state is a genuine peace accord.

    In an interview that will appear in the January issue of Tikkun magazine, Carter points out that he is “not referring to racism as a basis for Israeli policy in the West Bank, but rather the desire of a minority of Israelis to occupy, confiscate and colonize Palestinian land.” To enforce that occupation of Palestinian land, Israel has built in the West Bank separate roads for Jewish settlers and Palestinians, built separate school systems, has totally different allocations of money, water, food and security for each population, wildly privileging the Jewish settlers and discriminating against the Palestinians whose families have lived there for centuries.

    What Carter is arguing is that the best interests of Israel and the United States are not served by the current policies. Some still cling to the fantasy that holding on to land in the West Bank will improve Israeli security, but, as the recent war with Hezbollah conclusively showed, increasing sophistication of military technologies makes holding land no serious barrier for those who wish to send rockets and bombs hundreds of miles away.

    The only real protection for a small country like Israel is to have good relations with its neighbors, and that is precisely what the occupation systematically undermines. The Geneva Accord provides a good foundation for the lasting peace both sides say they want. And it will eventually provide the foundations for any settlement: the creation of a Palestinian state on almost all of the West Bank and Gaza, with full control of its own borders; full recognition and security agreements for Israel with all of its neighbors; joint coordination on security and anti-terrorism between Israeli and Palestinian police and military forces; reparations for Palestinian refugees; and a peace and reconciliation process that dispels the lies and propaganda that have become “accepted truths” in the diaspora communities of both Jewish and Arab worlds.

    Jimmy Carter is speaking the truth as he knows it, and doing a great service to the Jews.

    Unfortunately, this peace is impeded by the powerful voices of AIPAC and the mainstream of the organized Jewish community, who manage to terrify even the most liberal elected officials into blind support of whatever policy the current government of Israel advocates. Ironically, this blind support has had the consequence of pushing many morally sensitive Christians and Jews to distance themselves from the Jewish world, which makes blind support for Israeli policies the litmus test of anti-Semitism. Younger Jews cannot safely express criticisms of Israeli policy without being told that they are disloyal or “self-hating,” and elected officials tell me privately that they agree with Tikkun’s more balanced “progressive Middle Path” which is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. But we’ve found that even Jews in the mainstream media have ignored or condemned our new organization, The Network of Spiritual Progressives, which is, among other things, trying to be an interfaith alternative to AIPAC.

    It’s time to create a new openness to criticism and a new debate. Jimmy Carter has shown courage in trying to open that kind of space with his new book, and he deserves our warm thanks and support.


  100. kathleen Says:

    Very sorry Rabbi Lerner! His website and publication is called TIKKUN!

    So worth going to their website and following what Rabbi Lerner has to say! He is honest, fair and balanced on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict!


  101. Political Kicks » Blog Archive » MSNBC makes a story out of a caller from CSPAN that slams Jimmy Carter Says:

    […] Video-WMP Video-QT Nico: During an interview yesterday, an anonymous C-SPAN viewer called former President Jimmy Carter “a bigot and a racist and an anti-Semite,” and accused him of “cozying up with every dictator, thug, Islamic terrorist there is.” […]


  102. taco Says:

    hahaha! Imagine Jimmy Carter in a KKK hood or a Nazi uniform….hahaha!!!

    Lets make it a federal crime for anyone who criticize Israel….maybe 10 years in prison?


  103. codepiranha dot org » Blog Archive » Child killed in Nablus for throwing stones Says:

    […] Meanwhile, one of the few prominent Americans that actually understands the situation was called anti-Semitic for speaking the truth. […]


  104. application form for government grants Says:

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