I didn't think he was much of a president, but Jimmy Carter was the closest
we got to an honest man in the White House in my life time. I respected the
fact that he never got rich, lived in the same four bedroom house he and his
wife built in 1960 until he died (yesterday). I may not have agreed on a lot
of his decisions, but he lived his beliefs and I respected him for that.

May he rest in peace.

--
“Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy
what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

RonB wrote:

>I didn't think he was much of a president, but Jimmy Carter was the closest
>we got to an honest man in the White House in my life time. I respected the
>fact that he never got rich, lived in the same four bedroom house he and his
>wife built in 1960 until he died (yesterday). I may not have agreed on a lot
>of his decisions, but he lived his beliefs and I respected him for that.
>
>May he rest in peace.

Yeah, the rare successful politician who was actually a good person.

On 2024-12-30 02:14, RonB wrote:
> I didn't think he was much of a president, but Jimmy Carter was the closest
> we got to an honest man in the White House in my life time. I respected the
> fact that he never got rich, lived in the same four bedroom house he and his
> wife built in 1960 until he died (yesterday). I may not have agreed on a lot
> of his decisions, but he lived his beliefs and I respected him for that.
>
> May he rest in peace.

Before it was brought up by President Trump, I had no idea Jimmy Carter
gave away authority over the Panama Canal. I already thought that he was
the dumbest human being after Joe Biden, but this just bumped him up to
the biggest cretin the White House has ever seen.

--
Andrzej (Andre) Matuch
Telegram: @AndrzejMatuch
Zephyrus G14 GA401QM on Fedora 41
KDE supporting member

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 10:06:39 -0500, Andrzej Matuch wrote:

> Before it was brought up by President Trump, I had no idea Jimmy Carter
> gave away authority over the Panama Canal. I already thought that he was
> the dumbest human being after Joe Biden, but this just bumped him up to
> the biggest cretin the White House has ever seen.

There is some history there. Panama was part of Columbia but when a treaty
fell apart in 1903 the US supported the brave freedom fighters in their
revolt against Columbia and the achieved independence.

The US has been plagued by desperately wanting to be an empire without
having the appearance of being an imperialist nation. Sometimes the scheme
doesn't work and it wound up with an albatross like Puerto Rico.

Still, it was a mistake giving away the Canal Zone. Torrijos and later
Noriega were supposed to keep a lid on it.

To his defense Carter inherited a huge bag of shit from the Nixon/Ford
handling of the inflation brought about by the oil embargo.

rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 10:06:39 -0500, Andrzej Matuch wrote:
>
>> Before it was brought up by President Trump, I had no idea Jimmy Carter
>> gave away authority over the Panama Canal. I already thought that he was
>> the dumbest human being after Joe Biden, but this just bumped him up to
>> the biggest cretin the White House has ever seen.
>
> There is some history there. Panama was part of Columbia but when a treaty
> fell apart in 1903 the US supported the brave freedom fighters in their
> revolt against Columbia and the achieved independence.
>
> The US has been plagued by desperately wanting to be an empire without
> having the appearance of being an imperialist nation. Sometimes the scheme
> doesn't work and it wound up with an albatross like Puerto Rico.
>
> Still, it was a mistake giving away the Canal Zone. Torrijos and later
> Noriega were supposed to keep a lid on it.
>
> To his defense Carter inherited a huge bag of shit from the Nixon/Ford
> handling of the inflation brought about by the oil embargo.
>
i did his RIP yesterday , you're way late

On 2024-12-30 13:56, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 10:06:39 -0500, Andrzej Matuch wrote:
>
>> Before it was brought up by President Trump, I had no idea Jimmy Carter
>> gave away authority over the Panama Canal. I already thought that he was
>> the dumbest human being after Joe Biden, but this just bumped him up to
>> the biggest cretin the White House has ever seen.
>
> There is some history there. Panama was part of Columbia but when a treaty
> fell apart in 1903 the US supported the brave freedom fighters in their
> revolt against Columbia and the achieved independence.
>
> The US has been plagued by desperately wanting to be an empire without
> having the appearance of being an imperialist nation. Sometimes the scheme
> doesn't work and it wound up with an albatross like Puerto Rico.
>
> Still, it was a mistake giving away the Canal Zone. Torrijos and later
> Noriega were supposed to keep a lid on it.
>
> To his defense Carter inherited a huge bag of shit from the Nixon/Ford
> handling of the inflation brought about by the oil embargo.

I appreciate the additional context. I had no idea about most of this.

--
Andrzej (Andre) Matuch
Telegram: @AndrzejMatuch
Zephyrus G14 GA401QM on Fedora 41
KDE supporting member

On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:29:52 -0500, Andrzej Matuch wrote:

> I appreciate the additional context. I had no idea about most of this.

Jimmy had some bad ideas but he also had his share of bad lucky. When he
set out to rescue the hostages in Iran who would have thought the finest
US helicopters don't work in sandy conditions.

He did appoint Volcker which took some courage.

https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/january-2005/
volckers-handling-of-the-great-inflation-taught-us-much

That was a rough era. It was difficult to pitch any capital improvement
when a company could get a better return on money by putting it in the
bank than any realist ROI could show. I hope the Fed doesn't come down
with a bad case of cowardice and cook the figures to justify easing money
again.

On 2024-12-30, Andrzej Matuch <andrzej@matu.ch> wrote:
> On 2024-12-30 02:14, RonB wrote:
>> I didn't think he was much of a president, but Jimmy Carter was the closest
>> we got to an honest man in the White House in my life time. I respected the
>> fact that he never got rich, lived in the same four bedroom house he and his
>> wife built in 1960 until he died (yesterday). I may not have agreed on a lot
>> of his decisions, but he lived his beliefs and I respected him for that.
>>
>> May he rest in peace.
>
> Before it was brought up by President Trump, I had no idea Jimmy Carter
> gave away authority over the Panama Canal. I already thought that he was
> the dumbest human being after Joe Biden, but this just bumped him up to
> the biggest cretin the White House has ever seen.

Congress gave up the Panama Canal. It was passed both by the Senate and
House. Without that bill, Jimmy Carter wouldn't have had anything to sign. I
don't know if I even disagree with that decision any more. Back at the time
I didn't like it. Frank Church (Idaho Senator) lost his long-held Senate
seat because he voted for that bill.

--
“Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy
what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

On 2024-12-30 21:23, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:29:52 -0500, Andrzej Matuch wrote:
>
>> I appreciate the additional context. I had no idea about most of this.
>
> Jimmy had some bad ideas but he also had his share of bad lucky. When he
> set out to rescue the hostages in Iran who would have thought the finest
> US helicopters don't work in sandy conditions.
>
> He did appoint Volcker which took some courage.
>
> https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/january-2005/
> volckers-handling-of-the-great-inflation-taught-us-much
>
> That was a rough era. It was difficult to pitch any capital improvement
> when a company could get a better return on money by putting it in the
> bank than any realist ROI could show. I hope the Fed doesn't come down
> with a bad case of cowardice and cook the figures to justify easing money
> again.

After watching The Big Short (which I recommend wholeheartedly) and
knowing that those practices haven't been stopped, I am weary of the
idea of putting money in an American bank.

--
Andrzej (Andre) Matuch
Telegram: @AndrzejMatuch
Zephyrus G14 GA401QM on Fedora 41
KDE supporting member

On 12/30/24 8:23 PM, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:29:52 -0500, Andrzej Matuch wrote:
>
>> I appreciate the additional context. I had no idea about most of this.
>
> Jimmy had some bad ideas but he also had his share of bad lucky. When he
> set out to rescue the hostages in Iran who would have thought the finest
> US helicopters don't work in sandy conditions.
>
> He did appoint Volcker which took some courage.
>
> https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/january-2005/
> volckers-handling-of-the-great-inflation-taught-us-much
>
> That was a rough era. It was difficult to pitch any capital improvement
> when a company could get a better return on money by putting it in the
> bank than any realist ROI could show. I hope the Fed doesn't come down
> with a bad case of cowardice and cook the figures to justify easing money
> again.
>

How tall was this Volcker. Carter, even Reagan standing by him look like
midgets.