Carter To Address Democratic National Convention

[ProSense]

Carter To Address Democratic National Convention

Former President Jimmy Carter will address the Democratic National Convention in September by video, the DNC announced Tuesday. The speech will get a prime-time spot on Tuesday, Sept. 4.

“President Carter is one of the greatest humanitarian leaders of our time and a champion of democracy around the globe,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the 2012 Democratic National Convention chairman. “A lifelong champion of human rights and investments in education and energy to spur economic development, President Carter will provide unique insight into President Obama’s ability to move our country forward and why we need his vision and leadership for a second term. President Obama is fighting for the next steps in our nation’s economic recovery, to reclaim America’s promise on behalf of hard-workers, the strivers, the dreamers, who ask only for a fair shot and a fair shake.”

Democrats are slowly announcing their own speaker lineup while the Republican’s schedule gets lots of media attention. So far, Bill Clinton, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are also on the agenda in Charlotte.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/carter-to-address-democratic-convention

Wow, and Republicans are fighting over Palin!

[Ninga]

1. President Carter has lived his life large and with his morals and values in tact.

As a member of the human race, he has had his less than notable moments, but forgettable in the face of the accomplishments he has had on the world stage.

Thank you Jimmy Carter! Look forward to giving you a standing ovation when you speak in Charlotte at our convention!

[malaise]

2. Oh yes

Rec

[freshwest]

18. +1

[WI_DEM]

3. too bad he can't be there in person.

[hifiguy]

4. About time. Jimmy Carter is a great humanitarian

and has done immense good in the world for the last 30+ years.

Hell of a lineup, even moreso when contrasted with the assortment of pinheads, mouth-breathers and circus geeks at the Repig dog-and-pony show. They'd be better off with bears on unicycles.

[Scuba]

5. James Earl Carter stands apart from other Presidents....

... in more ways than one.


<a href="http://imgur.com/sTBYW"><img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" /></a>

[woo me with science]

13. He is working against Mitt Romney,

and thank you, President Carter, for that.

But no....No way he is a supporter of indefinite detention, "kill lists" and drone wars, pre-emptive war as administration doctrine, spy centers for mining or surveillance of all phone calls and email without a warrant, internet IDs and internet-censoring measures like ACTA, military drones in American skies, coordinated violent crackdowns against peaceful protesters, strip searches for any arrestee, bailouts and settlements for corrupt banks, and austerity budgets in an economy that has already impoverished its middle class.

Jimmy Carter, Elizabeth Warren....Wouldn't it be nice if this administration's everyday policies actually reflected a commitment to the values of the speakers they choose to represent them during election season?

We the people need a plan for after the election. That is a great picture, btw.

[Scuba]

15. He's my all-time favorite Prez; you listed many of the reasons why.

[Ed Suspicious]

35. Same here. Love that man. n/t

[kitt6]

23. A picture is worth a thousand words

Thank you!

[JI7]

38. the one in the middle should never have been President

he is such a fucking joke. that so many voted for him. even taking into account Gore actually winning, still too many fucking idiots voted for that dumbass.

many did so because he was a dumbass like them.

[Scuba]

39. The missing captions read....

(Barack Obama - "Your son is an idiot.&quot

(Bill Clinton - "Your Dad's agreeing with Barack.&quot

[RedStateLiberal]

6. K/R for President Carter

A man I admire. Great addition to the convention even if only by video message.

[ejbr]

7. K & R n/t

[greenman3610]

8. I still say one of the best presidents of my lifetime

tragedy, tragedy, that he lost.

[NCTraveler]

9. I was in church with him a couple of months ago.

He was leading the Bible study. He was great.

[Animal Chin]

10. we will regret not listening to this man

when he was trying to turn us into a solar power in the 70s.

[Fumesucker]

21. Welcome to DU!

And you are completely correct..

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, ProSense.

[barbtries]

12. in my opinion

the most underrated president of my lifetime.

[xxqqqzme]

14. Agree - 100%

n/t

[xxqqqzme]

16. It is about time the Democratic Party

started treating Jimmy w/ the respect he deserves. Energy independent by 2000 - if only......

[1-Old-Man]

17. It has been reported that Elizabeth Warren will also get a prime speaking spot at the Convention

And to be absolutely honest about it she and Jimmy Carter are the only two that will speak that I give a dam about hearing. Obama, Biden, or either of the Clintons just don't interest me very much.

[senseandsensibility]

19. He gave a "barn burner" speech at the last convention but was ignored by

the corporate media and mainstream dems.

[RedSpartan]

20. Our convention will only help. Theirs will only hurt.

They have pushed all their chips to the far right of the table. They will have Walker speaking against unions, Ryan opining about his offensive budget, and I expect Santorum will put Pat Buchanan's famous culture war speech to shame, preaching God, Guns and Gays. And I can't even imagine the vitriol being spit by Palin, Newt, Bachman or Perry. In the end, the tone of their convention is - - and has to be - - about not having ideas, just about hate and about being against Obama (and it likely will overshadow Willard himself). Throughout the primaries they pandered to the base and, in so doing, I think turned off a lot of people in the middle. Their convention will continue that and I think it will be a net negative.

Our convention, on the other hand, will be about sticking up for the middle class, about providing health care to all, about marriage equality, about bringing our troops home, about saving Detroit, etc. We'll have Carter, Warren, The Big Dawg, and will close it out with perhaps the best speaker in a generation, Our President. As such, I see us coming out of the conventions looking like the better, more thoughtful and more rational choice to undecideds.

Then come the debates, where we bury Willard for good.

[JNelson6563]

47. +1 Well said!

[klook]

48. The Repuke convention will be a Defeat Lap for the Klown Kar. (n/t)

[kitt6]

22. Wonderful

Good Man. My professor brother and I always said we trust President Carter enough to sleep sound :

[Douglas Carpenter]

24. knr

[Wounded Bear]

25. You know, I've been around a while now, and i've noticed something...

You ever notice how Democratic Presidents, when they retire, go out and do shit, usually something good? Sure, they make some bucks doing it but they generally have been humanitarians when they retire from the office.

Republicans just seem to fade away and disappear into the ether except for the occasional photo op or PR event.

You ever notice that?

BTW, It's always a good thing when Carter speaks.

[Auntie Bush]

28. Sorry to remind folks...but "W" has been very active helping with Aids.

I don't remember what he did but it was substantial. I only remember because I was so shocked! Probably the first and only humanitarian thing he's ever done in his life.

[Wounded Bear]

29. Yeah, that's true, I guess....

but I can't help but think he has ulterior motives. I think of it as just a grander version of clearing brush on his 'ranch.'

Still trying to polish the turd that Turdblossom grew out of.

[RZM]

33. I'm not so sure about that

Nixon was a disgraced figure after he left office. So it's understandable he wouldn't want to be out there. Ford was an accidental president who never even served a full term, though he didn't seem to do much after. By the time Regan left office, he was pretty old and was already experiencing mental decline, so it's also understandable that he wasn't out there either.

Not sure what all W has been doing, but as mentioned above, he probably has some charity stuff going on. It has also been in his party's interest that his name be absent from the headlines, given his widespread unpopularity at the end.

[Drunken Irishman]

54. Ford was the reluctant president...

I don't think he ever wanted to be president and certainly wasn't used to the limelight like others. That might explain why he decided to return to private life after '76 - though Betty sure made a positive impact!

[charlie]

55. First thing Reagan did out of office

was accept a million dollar honorarium for a speech to business leaders in Japan. It didn't go over too well over here.

His brain may have been broken, but his nose for money was as keen as ever.

[RZM]

56. I was aware of that speech in Japan

But my main point was that by the time he left office, he was already in decline and really didn't appear much in public after his presidency was over. And that was understandable, I guess. To contrast, Clinton and Carter were relatively young and did not experience the metal decline that Reagan did. They had many years of public life ahead of them as ex-presidents. Reagan really didn't.

[charlie]

57. I'm not letting Reagan off the hook

He's old and busted and he knows it, yet the first thing he does out of the box is cash in big, after Republicans spent most of the decade banging on about the Japanese Menace. It was crass and a telling measure of the man. More time might've made him more noble, but that's coulda, shoulda, woulda. He was dependably Ronnie to the last.

Japan: We suck? Okay, we'll buy your President. Oh, look, here he comes. So easy.

[hlthe2b]

26. Good... He deserves far more respect than he has been shown, IMO

[pacalo]

27. President Carter "will offer unique insights on Obama as a global leader".

He won't be attending in person but will speak through video to the convention.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/jimmy-carter-democratic-convention-speaker-barack-obama/1

My husband & I are huge admirers of President Carter.

[libodem]

30. Love that man

[Blue Owl]

31. Gimme some Jimmy

n/t

[AzDar]

32. Jimmy Carter ...

[TBF]

34. Julian Castro speaking is a very smart move. Up and comer - very popular here. nt

[derby378]

36. By video? Really?

Come on. I can see the Foxoids spinning this as "not even Carter is attending the Democrat convention in Charlotte."

[GoCubsGo]

40. He's 87 years old.

If the foxoids want to make an issue of him not wanting to travel, they can go fuck themselves.

[BumRushDaShow]

41. He'll be 88 years old this year

Although he still gets around, I would think that sometimes events like a convention can be tiring.

Neither Poppy or Shrub are going to be at the rethug barf-fest.

[JI7]

37. and the guy who was President just 4 years ago wont even be attending the RNC

hahhaha, isn't that a way of admitting what a failure he was ?

and of course there is the palin thing. last i heard SAntorum , Gingrich also weren't given slots. they kept saying it will be up to romney.

[femmocrat]

42. Excellent.

It will be wonderful to see him.

[Odin2005]

43. JIMMY!!!

[marble falls]

44. A very good choice.

[AlbertCat]

45. It's like a choice...

... between watching and listening to adults (Dem convention)


or going to a fundy pep rally of ignorant teenagers (Repug convention)

[Raine]

46. GOOD, it's about time. IMO Carter has been treated very shabby aby the DNC for years

and shame on them for that but at least hopefully they are giving him some well deserved credit.

[zentrum]

49. He was a better post-President

..than he was a President.

I find it disheartening that the Dems have to look so backward to have key speakers--Clinton and Carter. Carter was not a popular President nationwide at the time--way back in the 70's. I think it makes us look exhausted.

Wish the Party could have de-Rahmized itself so that now we could be showcasing the Graysons and the Finegolds, both of whom have been drummed out--but who are real Democrats.

[Scootaloo]

58. Sad truth is, we haven't had too many "big" Democrats in recent years

One of the side effects of thirty years of our party retreating from Republicans in every field. Grayson is a nice exception, as is Dean... But we have a dearth of invigorating Democrats at the moment.

Maybe when the party realizes that fuck it, Gov. Dean was right, we can win if we issue challenges, we'll get some new-generation heroes instead of the same old incumbents and retirees. You're right, it makes us look exhausted.

Push comes to shove? I'd rather look exhausted than look like a dumbfuck, like the RNC is doing with hteir keynotes.

[Rhiannon12866]

50. K&R for President Carter! Excellent choice and long past time!

He'll be wonderful, always is!

[Kalidurga]

51. Excellent

Democrats can show off their ex Presidents. And the GOP has to hide theirs.

[coalition_unwilling]

52. N.B. Villaraigosa presided over the brutal raid on the Occupy Los Angeles

camp at City Hall on November 30, 2011.

Villaraigosa needs to be blacklisted in the Democratic Party. He's a Grade-A philandering asshole and deserves no support or respect from DU or from any progressive Democrat.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

53. We'll hear many words of wisdom

from a man who should be listened to. Good on ya, President Carter.