I'm not a churchy person but I went up to Plains, GA, to see Jimmy Carter preach at his church

[Sarah Ibarruri]

I consider him one of THE BEST presidents we have ever had, and I'll argue anyone into the ground about that.

But aside from politics, here are some details of my visit.

The secret service was there, and frisked us, searched our purposes (lol), men's wallets, etc.
I sat in the front row, and he preached in a very interactive fashion. He asked us to tell where we were from.
He stands very straight and seems very fit.
He wore very sensible clothes, nothing at all flashy or expensive. Very plain man, like the town he is from (Plains, GA). lol
He has a memory that is astounding.
He used no cards to preach.
He is a lib through and through and made mention of some things that ordinary preachers might not, about poverty in this country and the world.
At the end, we were allowed to take 1 photo with him and his wife, if we desired (which everyone visiting did, as everyone visiting was ready with a camera)
His wife looks lovely.

Here's the Maranatha Church website, which has a photo of him preaching:

http://www.mbcplains.org/sschoolpix.html

[XemaSab]

1. What was the sermon about?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Ummm... some verse in the Bible? I'm not too into the Bible, so I spaced out a little, as I often

do in church LOL! I actually have been known to nod off in church.

However, he wove into the verse or verses he was discussing, the poverty we are ALLOWING to exist.

Unlike most preachers which talk about donating food, clothes, etc., he said we are PERMITTING poverty to exist, and that this is WRONG and not in the spirit of Jesus. And we are. Allowing poverty to exist, I mean.

That's what Occupy is about, by the way, pointing out things like that. I LOVE OCCUPY!!!!

[ixion]

2. I agree with you. He's definitely been the best one in my lifetime, hands down.

And no doubt one of the best of the 20th century.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. Absolutely!! nt

[limpyhobbler]

5. sounds like a nice trip Jimmy Carter is a good man.

I think we would be better off today if he had been re-elected in 80.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. I agree wholeheartedly. Ours would be a good country today. Instead, we have a disaster. nt

[libinnyandia]

40. Whenever I see the term "Reagan Democrats" I cringe.

They never had a clue how they were destroying their futures and those of ther children and grand- children.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

41. I agree. In my view, there is no such thing as a Reagan Democrat. One is either a Democrat,

or one is not.

[Robb]

10. No doubt in my mind of it.

Great man.

[RiffRandell]

7. I love Jimmy--my parents were so sad when he lost to Reagan.

Not that he could, but did he advocate voting Dem? He is such a smart, kind man. Please advise!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. He preached about Bible verses, which I'm not too informed about, to be honest. He did

talk fully like the diehard lib he is. No mention of anything related to voting. LOVE THE MAN!

[riverwalker]

8. a great man

and ahead of his time.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. WAY ahead of his time! And a tough guy, too! Unafraid.

And did you know he was part of a clean-up crew once of a radioactive facility?

Look at this:

Chalk River was also the site of two nuclear accidents in the 1950s. The first incident occurred in 1952, when there was a power surge and partial loss of coolant in the NRX reactor which resulted in significant damage to the core. The control-rods could not be lowered into the core, because of mechanical problems and human errors. Three rods did not reach their destiny, and were taken out again by accident. The fuel-rods were overheated, resulting in a meltdown. The reactor and the reactor-building were seriously damaged by hydrogen-explosions. The seal of the reactor-vessel was blown up four feet. In the cellar of the building some 4.500 tons of radioactive water was found. This water was dumped in ditches around 1600 meters from the border of the Ottawa River. During this accident some 10.000 curie or 370 TBq was released.[3] Future U.S. president Jimmy Carter, then a U.S. Navy officer, was part of the clean up crew.[4][5] Two years later the reactor was in use again.[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_River_Laboratories

He was peeing radioactive urine for a while after that.

[Sancho]

12. I met Jimmy Carter when he was running for President...

and he was one of the most impressive and intellectual speaker I've ever heard. I was also disappointed that he wasn't reelected.

He really was ahead of his time, a lover of peace, and always humble.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

22. You did? How fortunate. Yes, his humility and strength is what sets him apart. He's a strong man

and brilliant, but his heart is in the right place.

[Sancho]

61. It was a long time ago, but he spoke at my college...

on the way in Carter stopped and talked to a group of us undergraduate students. I don't remember interference with the Secret Service or anything. I was curious to hear Carter. He was so intellectual and impressive that I knew instantly I would vote for him. He stood on the steps and answered questions, and said, "if you like my answers, then I'd like you to vote for me". He told us that he had experience with atomic reactors, and he thought we'd be smart to develop solar energy. He openly stated that wars like the Vietnam war were not worth the lives and cost - and that peace was a worthwhile goal.

I almost couldn't go home when I told my "ultra-conservative" family that I'd be doing what I could to help Carter get elected.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

62. How did you handle it from that point on? Was your family very angry?

Did you start concealing the fact that you were helping Carter get elected?

[think]

13. K&R for Carter. As president he cut off military aid to the right wing dictators

that the US government and multinational corporations propped up against the will of the people and in defiance of democracy. The fascists will always hate him for this.

His support of freedom for the people in those countries is why he will always have my deepest respect.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

21. Beautiful man. nt

[Brother Buzz]

34. K&R for Carter. As ex-president he severed his ties with the Southern Baptist Convention

[Lint Head]

14. I have never understood why right wingers have such distain for a man like Jimmy Carter.

I wish I could be as kind and diplomatic as he is. It seems like if you do things for the poor and unfortunate people in the world you are hated by conservatives.

[Cirque du So-What]

16. I've never understood why so many 'Democrats' have such disdain for a man like Jimmy Carter

I've seen on this board (its predecessor, actually) a LOT of criticism of Jimmy Carter - mostly taking the form of, 'if only he'd been more of a manly man, Reagan wouldn't have gotten elected' or somesuch tommyrot.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

20. Right wingers are sociopaths. Don't be so harsh on them. They can't help being monsters nt

[Drunken Irishman]

44. Because it plays to their narrative that Ronald Reagan was the greatest thing ever...

Jimmy Carter ruined this country and Ronald Reagan saved it. If Jimmy Carter is the worst president in American history, surely the guy who saved us from it must be the best!

He was the scapegoat to make their guy look good.

[Lint Head]

45. They also goes along with the Reagan took down the USSR myth.

People who do not have a grasp of world history or American history believe this. They forget that it took 50 years of US Presidents to bring down the USSR resulting in their economic collapse. That included Jimmy Carter who a real hero and not an actor.

[MineralMan]

15. I was on a commercial flight from The Twin Cities to Los Angeles

a few years ago. During the flight, I looked up from my book, and there was Jimmy Carter, walking down the aisle from First Class with a couple of SS agents. What he was doing was stopping at each row in Coach and speaking with the passengers. My wife and I were in the very back of the plane, but he made it all the way down the aisle. We both shook his hand and exchanged greetings with him.

The thing was that he didn't have to do that at all. He got on the plane after everyone else had boarded, so we'd never have known he was on that plane. As I watched, every single person wanted to shake his hand. Everyone.

A lovely man.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. He's living what I think of as a life well lived. Amazing man. What a great example. nt

[MineralMan]

23. I agree completely.

I wish we could elect more people like him at all levels of government. Both my wife and I were struck by his gesture of greeting everyone on that flight. He simply could have skipped that, but didn't. A big man.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

26. It doesn't surprise me that he'd greet everyone. He is a citizen of the world. Thanks for

that anecdote, by the way. It's beautiful to hear such things.

[waddirum]

17. What a great idea

I'd love to hear him speak, whether it's a sermon or a regular speech. I was fortunate to meet Sen. Paul Simon before he passed away.

I wish that I would have seen Leonard Bernstein conduct, before he passed away. Same thing for a number of other musicians.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. Here's his preaching schedule:

Go see him!

President Carter's Teaching Schedule



January 8, 15, 22, 29 - 2012

February 5, 12, & 26

[freshwest]

24. Thanks so much. Wish I could visit there.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

25. It's a great place to visit. By the way, I send you some DU email. nt

[WCGreen]

27. The first presidential campaign I worked on was for JC...

I was the campus coordinator at our community college which amounted to sitting at a table during the lunch crowd to hand out campaign lit...

I was at the disaster of a debate in 1980 here in Cleveland. The power went out for 45 minutes. Carter was very uncomfortable while the Gipper was use to standing around with nothing to do for long stretches of time. He was an actor, afterall...

What was amazing to me was that Carter, a man who actually was in uniform, was painted as weak on defense while RR was elevated to war hero status while he played war in Hollywood, never wore a uniform.

When RR beat JC in November, I knew we were headed toward disaster. exploding deficits, huge cuts in the budget for helping people who were down on their luck...

We haven't recovered from that disaster of an election.

We are still paying for the crap Ronnie and his cohorts started in on as soon as they took the oath.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

28. Oh yes. Repukes don't serve but pretend they are such patriots. They wear lapel flags but hate

Americans. They're disgusting. Love Jimmy Carter!

By the way, as sweet as Carter is, he does like things done well. I did notice that once when he, once he came out, walked over to one of the people making sure the visitors were in and comfortable, and told her to do something or other, and she went. He's used to leading.

[LanternWaste]

29. He was certainly the best in my lifetime...

He was certainly the best in my lifetime in my small opinion-- that despite taking LBJs Great Society into account....

A humble man of ethics-- and a very good President.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

32. And a tough man who wouldn't sell out! nt

[B Calm]

30. Wasn't Jimmy a nuclear engineer?

Talk about a man who knew all about the energy crisis and he had the answers to solving our dependency on oil. Very intelligent man and it's a damn shame how the smear mongering republicans crapped all over him.

[GoCubsGo]

31. Yes, he was.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

33. I believe he was! I know he is a brilliant man. It's evident just listening to him. nt

[Lochloosa]

35. Does he still have that twinkle in his eyes?

I met him at a book signing once. He asked me about the button I was wearing for a local politician.

That was the one thing I remember most about him were his incredible eyes.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

36. YES! He's fascinated with everything and really interested in everyone! nt

[Gregorian]

37. Lucky you! I love him.

Some time around 1980 my older sister mailed him a letter which he responded to personally.

When I think of the Carters I get a very pleasant feeling. Like going back to a nicer time.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

38. From what I heard, they still respond to all their letters! nt

[hfojvt]

39. Ted Kennedy and some liberal Democrats were not that fond of Carter

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/166

[Sarah Ibarruri]

42. Is it because Carter beat Kennedy? nt

[hfojvt]

43. No, Kennedy was running in the first place because he did not think Carter was liberal enough

The dislike came before the campaign, not because of it, although that probably did not help either. Plus, Carter's approval rating was 28% in June of 1979.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

48. Yes, his low ratings were because the Repukes crucified him...

like they did all Democrats.

[IGoToDU]

46. That is cool!

When I was a kid, I wrote Amy Carter a letter and she replied! A pic of her signed like this: "Thank you for writing to me. It's fun living in the White House and I am glad you are my friend".

[Sarah Ibarruri]

47. How funny! Isn't it awesome that they did that? nt

[Ilsa]

49. I may need to watch for another event like this

when I finally get relocated to GA.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

52. Definitely! The church has his preaching schedule. nt

[Odin2005]

50. Jimmy is a national treasure!!!

I love him!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

51. He is. Wonderful man! nt

[Edweird]

53. That's very cool. I'm an atheist but I would have enjoyed that.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

58. I'm not churchy either. :-) You'd love it. Honest. nt

[Nevernose]

54. I met him when his son was running for senator here in 2006

I was flirting with the secret service agent (and I think she was flirting back) before she turned her head and I noticed the thing in her ear. No one got frisked, either, mostly because it was a dozen or so campaign volunteers and highly informal. It was weird.

But mostly I was impressed with the man's deep, almost profound intelligence and ability to communicate that intelligence.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

57. ROFLMAO! You were flirting with the Secret Service agent? LOL! That's awesome!

And yes, the man is inordinately intelligent. He's other-worldly, that's how intelligent he is. And SO kind, humane, etc. Just remarkable.

[Aristus]

55. A great man, and my wife's favorite President.

Mine, too; but the surprise is, my wife is a conservative Republican!

(At least, she calls herself one; I think she's a Dem at heart. She loves Carter, despised Reagan, held W in contempt, and opposed the Iraq War.)

[Sarah Ibarruri]

56. You're joking! That's amazing! That would make a good post -

why your wife is a Republican!

[Aristus]

59. It would be a short OP.

Anti-choice. That's really the only issue.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

64. Oh! Well, as long as you get along. nt

[JI7]

60. i would probably go to church to hear Carter speak also even though i am Atheist

[Sarah Ibarruri]

63. And I guarantee you wouldn't regret it. It's an amazing experience to

be right there listening to him. I don't know if he prepares or not, but he used no cards no teleprompter, nothing.