Carter's Angry Insults

By David Aikman

Does winning the Nobel Prize entitle a former American president to mouth off indefinitely against politicians he doesn't happen to like? Jimmy Carter seems to think so. Having previously labeled the Bush administration "the worst in history," Carter recently decided that Vice President Dick Cheney is "a disaster" and "a militant."

Now, when President Bush leaves office will he call President Carter "a wimp" or "a peacenik," because Carter failed to deal with the hostage crisis in Iran or underestimated the Soviet Union? I don't think he will.

Throughout modern times there has been a gentleman's agreement that former presidents do not harshly criticize their successors in public. Reagan didn't criticize Carter, and Clinton didn't criticize Bush. So why the angry insults from former president Jimmy Carter?

One possibility: Jimmy Carter may be a Nobel laureate, but he is not yet a gentleman.

This type of thing happens time and time again whether it's Carter, Bill Clinton, John Kerry - the list is endless - and then you have the left say we have lost our respect around the world. Gee, how can this be?

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