Mr. Hannity (Quoting Jeane J. Kirkpatrick): "'[The] Carter administration...actively collaborated in the replacement of moderate autocrats friendly to American interests with less friendly autocrats of extremist persuasion.'" (p. 66)

My response: This statement typifies a biased Republican slant on history, which holds that Carter openly surrendered our national interests to foreign extremists, particularly to Iranian radical Ayatollah Khomeini. In fact, this incorrect yet ingenious claim exhibits a quadruple negative, propounding a lie within a lie within a lie within a lie.

Jimmy Carter's timely criticisms of George W. Bush's executive stewardship call attention once more to another war and impeachment discussion with comments by a besieged Richard Nixon alongside a George W. Bush who has currently shrouded himself in escapist fantasy.

As Richard Nixon, after winning office through a successful joint effort with Henry Kissinger to jettison Lyndon Johnson's effort to secure a Vietnam peace agreement was hovering on the brink of impeachment when he escaped into historical fantasy by comparing himself to a revered American president.

Nixon compared his travail to that of Abraham Lincoln in his bleakest moments during the Civil War.  Bruce Catton, considered one of America's most eminent Civil War historians and a Pulitzer Prize winner for his thoughtful work, "A Stillness at Appomattox," delivered a terse comment concerning Nixon's putative parallel.

"I frankly don't see any comparison," Catton stated dismissively.

The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Gerald R. Ford, a man fate placed on a stage far bigger than his modest persona suggested he belonged is dead at 93. In August 1974 he was appointed America's 38th president when Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace because of the Watergate scandal. Had he not resigned Nixon surely would've been impeached in the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate.

Democrats are not pefect...and no Democrat would ever say they were. But Democrats are the political force that, more than any other, has moved this nation forward since the 1930's. Economic fairness, education, civil rights, the dignity of the working many, populism, progressivism, these have all been DEMOCRATIC values since the 1930's. And largely remain Democratic values despite intraparty infighting, political ups and downs, and despite all the attempts of Greens and Republicans to paint our party differently.

Where Democrats too often fail is not, as the Greens and Republicans would have it, in lacking ideas. The Democratic Party has been, for 70 years now, the primary source of new ideas for American politics even while Republicans simply try to restore pre-1930's ideas over and over again no matter how often they fail. Where Democrats too often fail is in having a lack of good leadership from within. But when that leadership emerges, great ideas and great policies often result.

The diary below was originally posted on my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal, on May 20th.

Progressives are struggling to synthesize a movement that can rise above identity politics and mobilize people under a unified theme. Robert W. Fuller, Ph.D. argues in his newly published book, All Rise (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.), that simple dignity is an elusive need that cuts across demographics of race, gender, age, and class. Fuller attributes this void to a culture of "rankism" which he defines as "abuses of power associated with rank." In his writings Fuller advocates for a grassroots effort to establish a "dignitarian society."

There are moments when you know the world is changing.  This morning was one of those.  

Did you notice?

President Jimmy Carter posted a diary on Daily Kos.  The diary is in support of the senate candidacy of his son, Jack, but the mere apearance of President Carter left many people -- myself included -- overwhelmed with emotion.

Jack's daughter Sarah, how has handled most of the family posting duties at DK, has offered to take questions from bloggers and pass them along to her grandfather.

What follows is my response to that offer.

Many emitted understandable groans over the prospect of none other than George W. Bush showing up at the funeral of one of America's civil rights legends, Coretta Scott King, and shamelessly attempting to pretend that he shares her vision.

The Bush vision is totally different than that of the departed African American leader.  As Texas governor Bush made a sweetheart deal with corporate polluters, which resulted in the befouling of the air in Houston.  

Those in Houston's poorest neighborhoods, African Americans and Hispanics who had their lungs invaded by the noxious poisons, incurred the major health detriment.  The very young and  elderly were most at risk.

"Blurring the line between church and state threatens civil liberties and privacy, says former President Jimmy Carter. That's the case he makes in his new book, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, which draws on Carter's experiences as a president and a Christian."