Former President Jimmy Carter accuses US government of "widespread abuse of human rights"

True, but I thought we learned from that History? Looked back and made Agreement to be a better People and World. If we're not going to stand by our own ideals WE as the winners of WW Two put in place, then what's it matter who wins? What does that do to the respect of Law and Justice?

Personally, I think President Carter is correct. We have sacrificed our values for several compelling reasons the last decade(s) or so. But compelling is not enough, as our Pyramid of value is starting to look upside down.

You fix that, put the emphasis on Human Rights, Truth, and Systems of real Justice as was intended from our start.... and we will no longer be divided, everything else will start to swing up. As a United People, we can do any freakin' thing WE set out to do, United we are unstoppable.

Division only helps those who like things this way. Have no problems to solve.

that sad bitter little guy has his own Nobel Peace Prize on the merit of his accomplishments rather than being gifted after winning an election. He is and has always been too intelligent and caring a man too survive in any political arena...he is the kind of individual this country needs to replace every fool that thinks their job serving the people is secure.

Strange, to me he comes across as a person filled with compassion for his fellow man and the willingness to speak honestly about our country.

If "mainstream Democrats" think institutionalized torture, detention without trial, and push-button murder of any one in the world and their families and friends by a US official without due process of any kind, I guess I'll have to re-think my previous support for them and start to share the weight of the chip that Jimmy carries.

Speaking truth to power is not bitter. He's exactly right about what he says. What's been happening in this country is un-American. Arbitrary murder, indefinite detention, illegal surveillance, etc. Mainstream Democrats have not abandoned Carter, the party leadership has abandoned mainstream Democrats.

Here, here!

This is a pretty low brow comment by someone I expect more from.

Hear, hear!

I'll 2nd that emotion. bro.

Good example of how difficult it is for an honest man to function
effectively as President, no ?

Honesty gets you nowhere in this world anymore....especially in the WH even when it is the best policy.

You sound demoralized, ma'am. There's a flip side to that though.
Margaret Meade said: Never underestimate the power of only a few
dedicated individuals to change this world for the better. Throughout
History they're the only ones who ever have. Without leadership,
there generaly is no following, and no results. First comes the idea,
then a leader to defend it's message, then the following, then the
movement, then the struggle against evil THEN the triumph. So
long as the sheeple keep watching TV, expect to see honest news...
So long as they feel they still have it so good, won't protest the
rotten to the core rigged system they mistake as affording them
the good life...So long as they're afraid of their own shadows...
Then, yes, the darkness will spread. What's realy disgusting is
to see these frightened sheeple in awe of the weakling parasites
who cackle their evil & spread their overly confident presumed
" omnipotence " as the pretense they're trying to get people to
believe is the truth. Evil can only triumph when good people do
nothing to counter it. As a firm believer that human life is a
comedy of errors for the amusement of the Gods, a dilligent
observer seeing Murphy's law result when people are negligent...

I NEVER get demoralized. Leen61 I've had to persevere through
40 years of FBI oppression before I could get into position to nail
them to their cross in 2012. Sometime during the Summer of 2013,
when I no longer have to live in New York, I can head back home
to Colorado, quit the rat race and become fully retired w/Medicare
as a disabled/retired citizen of 64. By then I reasonably expect to
have enough behind me to travel. There's a place in Northern Italy
where the Alpine lakes present such an awesome vista that the
only other place in the world compares to them are some lakes in
Switzerland where I've lived, & the Rocky Mountains.

You can see that vista yourself in the 9th episode of the TV documentary
series The Alps From Above; The Pale MMountains. It's on the HDNET
channel, in high definition, #130 carried by Dish satellite TV. It's on from
6-7 PM Eastern time today, Saturday June 30,2012. Check it out. And see
why persistence gives even the most ordinary human the power of DemiGods.
I myself am no DemiGod. But the Indians have taught us that the areas
of this world that climb high into the mountains are closer to GOD HIMSELF.
Never underestimate the power of prayer expressed from a virtuous soul Leen.

Correction, that's channel # 362. They've expanded the HD NET channel
as it's one of the premiere channels featuring concerts, Dan Rather World
New Reports, Smallville, Baltic Coasts, Alps from Above, original series. WOW !

I'm not really demoralized per se. I've just learned to accept the reality of life around me, PressCore. If there is a great movement to change how things are, sign me up. Unfortunately, I don't see that charismatic leader that movement would require (think MLK)currently in our prescence. Especially one that would survive the media who thrives on taking down people......specifically people who aim to change the status quo. Sadly, I don't have the HD Net channel.

I costs me $ 85.51 a month to subscribe to the middle tier of 3 of
the levels of service, Leen61. I'm not motivated to sell their services
so much as to simply pass on what a decent deal that is. If there's
nothing airing fit to record that I'd want to see, I listen to their music
channels. Dish has it's own music channels but it also features the
Sirius network's music channels too.

Thanks for the info, PressCore.

You're very welcome, ma'am. You did me a great favor. The least I
can do to return the decency.

Actualy, there is a movement for a Constitutional Amendment to overturn
Citizen's United led by Senator Sanders. In his own way, he's as charismatic
as MLK. There are many movements each fragmented somewhat with its
orientation or focus that I get Emails from online. I can't afford to give them
money, but I do subscibe their petitions. The OWS protest Movement is the
one I support too. If they''re persistent and can maintain their resolve they
may evolve into something like a National Voter's Union or 3rd political party.
( Though I don't wish the political party status on them because that would
only make them a target for corruption as the Republicans & Democrats. )

Things are not likely to get better in the USA with 99 years of a disastrous
central Banksters element possibly getting it's bobblehead support in 2013
to extend their insanely corrupt Corporate charter another 100 years. I'll
be heading to Switzerland where I've already lived before that happens. I've
lived through the USA's long steady decline since 1965. But there's hope
that Americans will smarten up yet, stop watching their God damned boob
tubes expecting to get news, in favor of real educational TV channels like
H2, Nat Geo et al. I won't bet $$$ on it, but there's always hope if you look for it.

It will take a widespread financial crisis affecting all the 99.99% to get the
snowball rolling into an avalanch. I'm not the Communist that criminal FBI
agents Stalking me have slandered me as. But if Nikita Kreuschev was
refering to the .0001% when he said: " We will bury you ", lets hope the
popular avalanch comes sooner rather than later. We can't have them
possessing all of others' money despite their obsession with greed & power.
Tragic when you consider that one kind word, and one person who cared
might have channeled all their energy into constructive purposes at some
point in time when they were still developing into adults. As Eric Fromm
put it, respect is one of the 4 cornerstones of Love, which like Superman
" can change the course of mighty rivers " Yeah, the Encore Action channel
has the 4 original 1970s Superman movies marathon scheduled for July 4th.
Cheers !

I am a big fan of Sen. Sanders as I always was of Dennis Kucinich. It is a shame that the media always diminishes people like these two great men who are both true populists. But I do agree with you, that it will take a great economic meltdown similar to the Great Depression to get the 99.99% of the citizenry energized to take the country away from the control of the richest plutocrats.

Jan, they wouldn't even waste the ordinance, despite how obscenely
the .0001% profit by it, if these countries didn't exist in a part of the world
either containing Oil, or in a stategic geographic location nearby. If you
examine how many military bases exist in the Middle East Oil fields, then
calling in an airstike or " hit " is as convenient as calling a cab in the
wealthiest part of town. A drone strike is a more advanced form of cruise
missle is a more advanced German V1 aka " buzzbomb ". The citizens
of WW2 London called the V1 and V2 " terror weapons " precisely because
they were developed to be launched against civilan targets. Pablo Picasso
first brought this to the attention of the world in his painting depicting the
daylight civilian bombing of Guernica, Spain by the forces of Hitler & Franco.
The V1s were a flying rocket propelled bomb. Like the Stuka dive bomber
it gave of a siren sound using psi warfare to induce terror in all it's victims.

The use of these surgical ballistic airstrikes is collateraly intended to
infuse sheer terror in the hearts & minds of any civilians giving aid &
comfort to the individuals targeted. Except than unlike their cruder WW2
prototypes, they are now the invisible, silent death. This overall pattern
is called psi ( psychological ) warfare. During the feud between George
Bush sr.& Manuel Noriega after he took sanctuary in a religious order,
the U.S. Military forced him out by blasting heavy metal head banging
music at the religious sanctuary day & night. After the heavy stress,
and several sleepless nights, the religious clerics had to give Noriega
up or face death from total exhaustion as sleep deprivation has always
been used as a form of torture. That's another example of psi warfare,

If you watch the movie The Patriot, the atrocities by Tories/Brittish forces
against the American Revolutionaries were rooted in the atocities done
by both French & Englsh Indian allies against colonists and vice versa
during the French and Indian War. The use of terror tactics is as old as
the hills. It was simply rediscovered because it's their new cash cow since
9/11. I'm glad I voted for Mr.Carter in 1980.

http://were.ar

Hey, bro. Did you know that the TV channel called Angel Two carries
that original 1949, 1950 B.& W TV series, Better, they're now into the
1951 season which is shot in full color and Panivision as movies of the
time were. It's on channel 266 of the Dish network lineup. Channel 264
KTV has carried this series this past spring, and may again. I recently
recorded the 1st of 2 Lone Ranger full length movies copyright 1955.
Ben Mankiewitz who hosts the Turner Classic Movies channel in tandem
with Robert Osbourne did the host intro into the background History of
this exciting saga. I have even the episodes featuring John Hart alongside
Jay Silverheels before the studio chose Clayton Moore to do all the 1950s
TV serials. When the lawyers representing the intellectual property told
Moore he could no longer wear the mask in his speaking tours, in true
Hollywood style, he merely exchanged them for dark glasses. What a star !

You've read your Chomsky, I see.

Yep, and others.

thanks for the information

Sure.

Help me to understand this since most who read here have probably never heard of East Timor apart from Amy Goodman, as a young journalist there, survived it (barely... and that's a good thing).
Clearly US policy toward Indonesia/East Timor was put into place by Carter's predecessor, Gerald Ford. With Ford little more than the placeholder after Nixon's exit, Kissinger formulated policy and few questioned, much less argued.
It's clear that Ford ok'd the invasion and the worst of it occurred in 1976, while Carter was running for POTUS to take office in Jan/77.
Carter may well could (and should) have done something to change the scenario after he took office but I think he saw himself stuck with the policy of the previous administration (like Obama is). He was "stuck in the middle".

"Clearly US policy toward Indonesia/East Timor was put into place by Carter's predecessor, Gerald Ford. With Ford little more than the placeholder after Nixon's exit, Kissinger formulated policy and few questioned, much less argued.
It's clear that Ford ok'd the invasion and the worst of it occurred in 1976, while Carter was running for POTUS to take office in Jan/77.
Carter may well could (and should) have done something to change the scenario after he took office but I think he saw himself stuck with the policy of the previous administration (like Obama is). He was "stuck in the middle"."

Everything you have said here is true, and during his run for POTUS, I will even give the befit of the doubt because of Ford and Kissinger (although the Obama comparison I believe is a poor argument) but the genocide went on LONG after Carter became POTUS, and he did nothing (other then symbolic gestures) to stop it, he could have, but he didn't, and that is the fact of the matter.

Fair enough.

Actually I think it's called being human.

not to change the subject
all you needed for proof about WMD was iraq

I agree
all i hear is not in my back yard

but he lost to big money

we all have

i have heard that you can't beat city hall r big money
Well it has came true
Greece austerity measures are on the way
listen to the clowns that come out of thw wood work

yes , he did ....we all lost to that one .

Perhaps you don't care that this country descends to the same place as they, but many do. It doesn't warrant drone strikes and bombing of innocent civilians regardless of their ethnicity, religion or the color of their skin. Hopefully, one day we will get beyond the point of Jew against Muslim and vice versa and see this for the human tragedy it is.

I think the point is that we used to repudiate the crimes those countries carried out. Now we've found justification to commit those same crimes. Democracy was supposed to be better _because_ we didn't do these things. Since we now do them, one can only conclude that those countries had it right the whole time.

Carter's only fall down is what holds him up...he wouldn't delegate matters of importance to others and he wouldn't play the game as he was told to. Soooo, ruin his potential to address the issues and rubber stamp his concern as ineffective...one term and off you go so our actor puppet can be put into office.

I can see where you are coming from, and while you may have something of a valid point, I don't think Carter is attention seeking. I think he is coming from a place of sincerity, but perhaps that place of sincerity is what the US frequently finds itself in disagreement over.

Carter has this concept of the US that may actually be something better than what we really are, and as such, his expectations for our behavior towards the rest of the world are not grounded in something as banal as 'war is evil.' He refuses to accept that premise as his starting point, and I think that is part of what makes him a bit of a national treasure. He reminds us that we do have options, and that those options are not limited to either 'send in the soldiers' or 'send in the drones.'

i agree
thanks for the good words

I think it is absolutely relevant. One has to look at their own actions before criticizing those of others. Counterpoints go both ways, and it is naive to think that the United States always acts in a reaction to some evil, and has never been an initial perpetrator. The best way to alleviate the atrocious actions against the United States is to stop committing atrocious acts against others.

One can not justify acts of atrocity by highlighting atrocities by the other party. If they are atrocious for them, they are atrocious for us. It's really that simple. To act and behave otherwise is in actuality saying those acts are only atrocious when SOMEONE else does them to you.

Iran and Pakistan are killing civilians indescriminately in foreign airspace with drone strikes?

i care, and my basis is in justice which requires accuracy in recognizing what is equality.two guys punch one another in the face, anything aside from equal condemnation of both men is a unequal standard that is a genesis of future conflicts thanks to selfish misjudgement.

i dont understand how some one can proceed to claim onjective interest and knowledge on such matters, while only evaluating them from one side as if the other doesnt exist, or at best is a foot note.

thousands of words to explain the malevolancy of drone strikes, and terrorist attacks like 9/11 get
an honorable mention (maybe).

no regards for quality vs quabtity.no interest jurisprudence or what laws state in general, unless it supports the prescribed bashing of one side.it is complete partisan bullshit exploiting human issues which is the most disgustingly selfish behavior possible.

i dont think that it was that democracy was better cuz we didnt do these things, but democracy was better cuz it gave us the freedom to rise above these low brow emotionaly driven pointless acts.all we did was fail ourselves by taking the bait that terrorists require.

it doesnt change what the terrorists have done or the nature of it cuz we responded in kind, nor is it valuable to cite what we do as negative without doing the same to those who also do the same, which then according to carters standard is the the whole world.

the 3rd world using obvious terrorism, and the western world using technologicaly advanced terrorism.

but he wont do that cuz then it would show he is a crazy old idealogue talking shit as he is complaining about what essentialy comprises the entire world.at least then he would be honest about matters.

we do suck, and in a variety of ways that should be fixed.but none of them deserve exceptional status, that is just lyin to ourselves

not crapping on what he has done previously.habitat for humanity,solar pannels,etc is all great, as well as being the guy to get the israelis and palestinians shaking hands.

it just doesnt change the nature of what he is doing presently

it may not be that brittany spears head shaving assault with an umbrella type of attention seeking, but it is still attention seeking none the less.more like the al sharpton "what can i say that will cause a stir in order to start a dialogue" sort of attention seeking.

and im sure he is sincere as idealogues tend to be.

but it doesnt change the reality which is he is calling out a crime on one parties part, without adressing the context, which is childs play.

or republicanism if anything.might as well complain about all the evil government regulations on guns whilst ignoring all that cuases it.might as well complain about redistribution of wealth while ignoring those who have it arent distributing it on their own.which is no different as complaining about a mechanized drone blowing up a building killing scores of innocent people if done by us, while ignoring the human drones who blow up buildings killing scores of innocent people done by others.

quite simply, what is the alternative?

we dont tolerate invasion, we dont tolerate covert ops,we dont tolerate this that and the other, while also expecting our security needs to be met.

so what is the alternative that should be done that we are not doing?

we all understand "civilians dead=bad" well before we graduate high school, and that their are people in the world who seek to attack us by killing our civilians.so what is the answer?what is it that we are supposed to be doing that we are not doing to defend ourselves?cuz our government does have a primary responsiblity to above all else defend us.so what is it they should be doing in lue that we arent doing?

cuz we send these people shit tons of money, shit tons of food,and shit tons of clothing as well, yet they eat our food, while discussing how to best use our money to blow us up, while looking stylish in last decades jeans and varnet tank tops.

no they are killing civilians indescriminately in domenstic and foriegn places using a variety of methods.or are you under the impression katusha rockets launch themselves?

We send their LEADERS food and money. We install people like Saddam Hussein into positions of power because he is more receptive to U.S. Policy. (Saddam Hussein's leadership of Iraq was a direct result of American involvement) we pretend we care about the poor and suffering, while thousands in the Sudan are butchered, dictating that our reality is to keep our energy supply unburdened by archaic notions such as democracy.

If we changed our foreign policy to non involvement we would fare MUCH better than we are now.

not arguing at all that our meddling is ridiculous, but we didnt install saddam hussien.much like hitler, and with even less regard for process,saddam highjacked that government with no help from us.

which doesnt matter,cuz that has nothing to do with us in the end.so then every terrorist is valid in what they do by attacking us cuz of who we support, rather then the evil characters themselves?cuz you are laying out the terror apologist argument that validates killing lil jimmy in iowa cuz he is part of the machine, despite he himself not placing powers that be in charge.

yes we do send their leaders food and money, and it is their leaders who then fuck the people when they dont get it.so we are supposed to usurp their leaders sometimes, but are this evil empire when we do it?would it make sense for the poor to get mad at you for donating goods to the salvation army, if the salvation army doesnt give what you dontated to them?it is insane.

you have us running the impossible range the crybabies in the middle east who just want to stoke hate use.it is our responsibility to provide fo them, not their own, and then we are the bad guys for not doing enough, or also the bad guys for doing too much, like installing a leader.

i dont think we change policy so much as you bought into a false idea of what our policy is.we just like everyone one else do what is bebeficial to us first and fore most above all else.making it that we will stop saddam from gassing the kurds cuz that is our oil, and allow the sudan to go as it has as intervening would piss off more than it would benefit us.

im sorry if you think their is an ethical standard we hold ourselves to, but their just isnt.it is geopolitical manuevering just like it is with every other nation.which is why you wont see us do shit in regards to syria,cuz that is way to fucking close to the russian/chinese communist deal with iran.a conflict the likes of which would cost us more than we as global entity would gain from helping the syrians.

if we changed our policy to noninvolvement the world spins entirely without our influence what so ever.
ya want an example?look at the jews for the last 2k yrs.not being involved resulted in what?allowing themselves to play bitch to whomever needed a bitch to blame.

if we send food and money to the middle east and their leaders take it without giving it to them, which results in how they feel about us at present, what do you think it would be if we didnt even give anything to begin with?

by your own socialogical assessment, we are hated for trying and failing to help.what would then be the response to not even trying?

I hear you.

I agree with you there. I read a book by Jimmy Carter called 'The Blood of Abraham' back in the 1980s that proved that he had a deep understanding of Middle-Eastern politics. He has been given a bum rap by the right-wing fanatics, and yes, he was the last good man in that office. Also, if we had listened to his warnings about energy, and executed a few of his ideas, we would have been in much better shape at this time.

Despite what I said about Mr. Carter above, there was one thing that stuck in my memory about the time he left office.

Trying to not just talk the talk but walk the walk, of environmentalism, Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the white house, as soon as asshole B-actor (Raygun) got in there, the idiot in chef had them removed, it was a telling sign of many more bad and idiotic things to come for the next 8 fuckin years!

I still thank that there is no country or world leader that did what Carter did to sat with 4 hostile nation and worked out an agreement for peace

And now we have the see-saw price increases every year for gas, instead of having reliable and renewable energy sources. And the oil companies reap the profits.

not many in the arena could even get close

read "Hornets Nest" myself and found it a refreshing look at the South during the Civil War.

"not about you and your ignorant whiny needs for Clean Energy flowing like water out of a public free tap", what the hell are you talking about? (My guess is more Libertarian crap.)

Time to take your medicine, isn't it? Maybe you can try the slow breathing method. Ready? Breathe in, breathe out, (now repeat 100 times, but don't stop there. We wouldn't want to lose you.)

Call the paramedics.

There is a fifth dimension beyond those known to man. It is a dimension vast as space and timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area called the Twilight Zone.

I'll put that on my to-read list. Thanks for the suggestion.

There is nothing that I have that you will ever get, (because you would be incapable of receiving it).

"absolutely zero temperature anything inside you", what language is this, could it be English?

I remember Al's speeches on civil liberties well. They were inspiring. I wish he would make another one. We need his voice and others.

writing half assed books that are more divisive than anything else?this is the example of an ex pres?really?that is the high class shit?