Why I won't be seeing this...


I am old enough to remember living through this fossil's tenure as President. 23% prime rate...asked to wear sweaters and turn down the heat...he was just full of ideas. I have never seen anyone, in any capacity, so obviously and completely out of his depth. Nobody cared about his opinion then, and it is even less relevant now. His bitterness over his own failures comes through loud and clear as he vainly attempts to rewrite his 'legacy' with his anti-semitic diatribes.

If you remember this turkey with a sense of nostalgia, knock yourself out. I think I can speak for the vast majority in saying this is one President best forgotten.

reply

The documentary is well made and is not really about his tenure as President.

Regardless of your feelings about him as Commander in Chief, it is still a good look at what a person of his stature goes through on a book/promotional tour.

He is still active almost 30 years out of the White House. He cares about the world, and is building houses for the poor around the world. I don't think he even plays golf. There are a lot worse ex-politicians you could blast than Jimmy.

reply

Perhaps the 23% prime rate was a legacy of his predecessor, one of many things which could also be heaped upon the predecessor of Bush. Think as history moves forward more and more will see how good a President Carter was. He broke Opec with the often unwilling help of the US citizens by cutting back consumption. He implemented great alternative energy programs most all of which Reagan scrapped. Where we might be today had those programs carried on to fruition. Peace between Tsrael and Egypt. Has anyone accomplished a similar feat in your lifetime?
Carter may have been the victim of some bad luck, primarily being the Opec and Iran crisis. Removing those two from the equation and the light shines through.
How I pray for a man of intellect in the White House again.

reply

In typical fashion, the left-wing apologists come forth to try and put a decent face on this repugnant, dispicable ex-President. Forget that Jimmy Carter is easily proven to be the worst president in the last century. There is no contesting that -- the facts speak for themselves. And obviously the American people more than validate this by they're swift boot in the butt for this clown in 1980! All that aside, no preseident before or since this bafoon has gone out and visciously attacked the policies of current presidents. No one! This man is a classless jerk! It is poetic justice that this film has been completely and utterly rejected by the American moviegoing public and is playing to empty theatres. It is quickly dying in theatres as well it should!

reply

To call Carter's criticism of Bush's regime, "viscious..." is pretty scary. Criticism of any kind I think falls under the category of "free-speech" and to call someone who practices that right, "classless" is more scary. If he's so "easily proven to be the worst president in the last century," then you may have to try for us. I was too young to vote at that time and know little about Carter's presidency, but I do know that filmman56-1, from his rant, shows a fascist turn in the perception of the role of a U.S. citizen.
Also, considering Carter had nothing to do with the making of this film it's hardly "poetic justice."

reply

You ever hear about a guy called Herbert Hoover? He went after FDR like there was no tomorrow in the 1930's. Or how about Theodore Roosevelt, who was so against his successor that he reentered politics just to try and unseat him (though I've seen evidence that they patched things up later on). For that matter, if you want to go even further back, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson has a long running feud too.

Now you clearly didn't like living during Carter's term, fine. I can honestly say that I think we as a nation were better off under Clinton than we are under GW. Oppinions are like @$$holes, everybody's got one.

But if you're going to go off on some anti-anybody rant, I'll ask you to at the very least have a little intellectual honesty.

You had to wear sweaters to school because it was cold, bummer, really. However Carter didn't have a weather machine, and though it may have been largely symbolic, he at least turned the heat off in the White House too. Oil prices were skyrocketing (they were actually bouncing higher and higher throughout the 1970's, and I haven't read your anti-Nixon post yet), what was he supposed to do? Encouraging an immediate investment in alternatives to oil sounds like a good idea to me... oh yeah, he did that. In 1979, there was great hope for the next generation of nuclear power plants, they were relatively clean and could produce a lot of needed power to electrically heat homes, but the Three Mile Island accident helped to put the kybosh on that. Nobody wants to live next door to a potential horrible death of radiation poisoning (actually the likelihood of that is pretty low). And even if a total effort was made at exploiting all domestic oil, it would have only provided a few years worth of supplies before high American comsumption caused that to run out, and in the end it wouldn't have been a solution to anything.

In American history, there have been presidents who get lucky; they don't seem to do anything and the good times roll. There are those who get unlucky; they work their butts off to try and solve the problem, but it's just too much of a hurdle to be easily delt with in the instant gratification way that seems to permeate post-World War II culture.

Give Blood Today
God Bless!

reply

I'm amused that filmman has chosen to post his opinions on this film that he has neither seen nor has any compunction about not doing so, considering his passionate and derisive rants about the aforementioned . His response is emblematic of many of those that I hear from people while attempting to discuss President Carter's term and policies- empty, unfounded drivel that is grounded more in conservative spin and the subsequent myth-making around Reagan than in reality. I am not a Carter apologist per se, but I do find the persistently venomous and uninformed attacks on him to be unacceptable. Not in their conclusions, necessarily, but rather in the simplistic, trite, and intellectually amorphous reasoning with which they underpin their "analysis". i.e. "There is no contesting that- the facts speak for themselves." Oh, and don't forget the requisite exclamation points after every other sentence. Brilliant.

reply

And right wing apologists like you obviously believe Reagan and both Bush's were the greatest presidents, righttttt.... Compared to those right wing wackos and destroyers of middle class, he was harmless. Nothing can beat the radical christian right wing in America in terms of danger and harm to the society and its most vulnerable parts...

"Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world."

reply

[deleted]

Amen, brother. I am incredibly proud that the first vote I cast for president was for Carter. A great president and a great statesman, and, to date, the last honest man in the white house.

reply

I have never seen a person like you (Filman56-1) SO out of touch with reality.Go back to Kissing Mr Bush's A**. You obviously have your head stuck up it.

reply

Jimmy Carter is easily proven to be the worst president in the last century


One single letter falsifies that claim: W

As for the rest of your comment, Jimmy Carter's little finger alone did more good in this World than you ever will even if you live to be the oldest person ever...

reply

Attacking anyone who dares not to agree with everything that Israel does is begining to backfire. And if you think that wearing sweaters was a ridiculous idea, how about wrapping your house in plastic wrap to stay safe during an anthrax attack? That was Dick Cheney's idea. In retrospect Carter was brilliant and effective. We sure as hell weren't being attacked on US soil during Carter's term. And you obviously have not read his book on Israeli Apartheid- you are simply judging him based on assumptions. I did read it and he is extremely sympathetic to Israel. So in short, noone cares whether you will see this or not. Truth is a Jewish value. Even if it hurts. And there are a lot of Jews who know that Carter is no anti-Semite.

reply

Personally, I think that there were complicated mitigating issues that were beyond Carter's control that tarnished his presidency. To give him credit though, he adopted a "buck stops here" policy and didn't whine and make excuses.

But never mind about that. If you truly think he was a "turkey," you of all people should see this movie simply because those like yourself who are most critical of his presidency are going to be the most impressed by what he's done with his life since then. He might not be perfect, but what he's doing at age 82 is truly remarkable, even redemptive if what you think about his performance as Commander in Chief is true. Go see it!

reply

Well said, Fantastico!

reply

Hey Filman, Why do you think Iran so bad wanted Reagan elected, for Iran Contra maybe?

Great movie.

reply

"I am old enough to remember living through this fossil's tenure as President. 23% prime rate...asked to wear sweaters and turn down the heat...he was just full of ideas. I have never seen anyone, in any capacity, so obviously and completely out of his depth. Nobody cared about his opinion then, and it is even less relevant now. His bitterness over his own failures comes through loud and clear as he vainly attempts to rewrite his 'legacy' with his anti-semitic diatribes.

If you remember this turkey with a sense of nostalgia, knock yourself out. I think I can speak for the vast majority in saying this is one President best forgotten."
-frbank6



Have you read his book? It's not anti-semitic. Being critical of a nation's political actions is not being bigoted, it's being rational. The Middle East is a huge hornets nest, and the Jews in Israel are no less involved and no less innocent than their enemies. They are often aggressors themselves and have taken the first strike against their enemies in the past and are currently overstepping their boundaries in regards to the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

We have a skewed perspective of this because our country (USA) has a strong political ally with Israel and we also have a negative perspective of Muslim people and nations because we are currently at war with two of them. Also, we have had many difficulties in the past with Muslim countries because they are not as receptive of our culture as the Israelis are.

The Israeli gov't sometimes makes bad decisions and their prejudice against Muslim people (and the Muslim's prejudice against Jews) has slowed peace negotiations to a near stand still in the Middle East. Jimmy Carter is simply stating what he feels to be a truth based on empirical evidence that he observed throughout his visits to the Mid East.

What have you done to solve anything like this?? What number president were you?? Where is YOUR Nobel Peace Prize??

Jimmy Carter helped negotiate one of the biggest peace deals of the 20th Century, and perhaps in world history. Negotiating a long-lasting peace deal between Egypt and Israel is no small feat. Pres. Carter deserves his accolades and our respect for achieving such a monumentally important feat in Foreign Affairs.

Carter may not have been popular with Americans during his presidency, but look at the country's state of mind at that point: Liberalism was dead, Conservatism held sway; Cocaine abuse was rampant; Disco was king; the Congress was heavily against him because we all know that CONgress is the opposite of PROgress; Americans were so obsessed and distracted by their own greed and self-interest that nobody cared about economic, political, or social crises.

Carter came into presidency at the worst possible time for himself. He faced major problems almost immediately after taking office: There was an energy crisis in which he urged people to cut down on oil and energy reserves which no one heeded: he urged people to use less gas, which no one did because everyone was lined up to gas pumps for blocks on end; he told people to cut back on heating which no one did. These are solutions that spoiled, introverted, bratty, self-absorbed, arrogant Americans did not heed!!!!

During World War II, we faced a resource crisis. We rationed our resources because it was in our and the worlds best interest to do so. We put our pride and greed on the shelf because we were faced with a real problem. After the war was won, we had a huge economic surge and everyone was sitting pretty and people became lazy, complacent and spoiled, a disposition still with us today. Today we are on the verge of an oil crisis. But do we ration our oil? NO!!! We use more oil than ever. WE ARE SPOILED AND SELFISH, MYSELF INCLUDED!!!!! I AM NOT INNOCENT OF THESE CHARGES!!

Carter also created the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a national energy policy and removed price controls from domestic petroleum production.

Also, he was a heavy player in the Camp David Accords between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar El Sedat which led to the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, which effectively ended 50 years of war between the two nations, and has lasted to this day. Not a drop of blood has been spilled between them.

Then there was the Iran Hostage Crisis. Popular opinion was that we should invade Iran and blow them back to the stone age. But Carter knew better and used DIPLOMACY (a word foreign to our current Prez.) rather than nukes to get our men back. And guess what? No one was harmed on either side and all the hostages were freed and returned home safe and sound. If this happened today, our current president would just bomb first and ask questions never. We would have started a WORLD WAR.

Carter is 100 times better than Reagan, Ford, Nixon, Bush 1 & 2 combined. History has been unjustifiably unkind to Carter. He may not have been the most effective president, but he had more against him than most presidents.

People don't like Jimmy Carter because they think that he's a wimp. He's not a wimp. He's a diplomat. Americans want a cowboy, someone who rides in on a white steed with guns blazing and kills the bad guys, gets the girl and rides off into the sunset. Well, guess what? That CRAP doesn't work in real life!!! We need diplomacy, tact, reason, wisdom, good will and most of all INTELLIGENCE!!!! These are some of the things that President Carter tried to impart to our country and to the world, and by and large, we rejected him. As presidents go, Carter was the last gasp of liberalism for the following decade and a half, until the corrupt, corporate hucksterism of Bill Clinton. In my opinion, Carter is the only truly respectable president since Kennedy.

And also, YOU HAVEN'T seen a president so out of touch with America and out of their league???? Does the name "President" George W. Bush come to mind??????? How about President Richard Milhous Nixon??? How about President Ronald Reagen???? How about Gerald Ford???? All of these men were total SCUMBAGS!!!! Just some of the most corrupt, evil, shady, incompetent men to ever be elected to American political office. They completely took advantage of their power, they took advantage of the American people and the people in other countries all around the world. They were all hateful, greedy, evil warmongers. If you think Carter is a worse president than any of these men, you need your head examined, because you might just be insane or a Republican, which is about the same thing.

reply

Awesome post sonicdeathmonkey-2. I couldn't have said it better my self!

Carter created the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, while Nixon created the DEA and War on Drugs which has ruined many innocent Americans lives and has been a factual waste of American tax dollars.

reply

I have seen this movie, both in the theaters, and on DVD. I found it engaging in the first viewing, and consider it to be a rewarding experience for those who would like a bit more understanding of our 39th president.

I have also recommended this movie to my family and friends, and of the four of them who have seen it (ranging in age from 16 to 76), they also came away pleased with having seen it.

Jonathan Demme does a good job in placing context around the launching of President Carter's book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid". The context he provides is a self-description of Carter's early life, Carter's interactions with members of the public during the tour, and a number of Carter's media appearances during the tour.

In complete contradiction to frbank6's comments, President Carter's legacy is secure, and his presidency will be long remembered positively by many Americans and many people around the world.

And for his unstinting humanitarian work after he left office, there needs to be nothing more said than Nobel Laureate James Earl Carter.

reply

you speak for a minority. You are jealous that a man who didnt get reelected by a mountain of unfortunate circumstances has redeemed himself to be a great man of peace and the best ex president in history while youre idiot genocidal moron of a president now will go down as the worst ever and has not chance in hell of redeeming himself in any way

soak in your bitterness loser

reply

Only a bitter jew would remember the prime rate over 20 years.

reply