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Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains

“Trevor, you spend too much time studying every aspect and nuance of what is happening in the Middle East, trying to figure out what is most just and the right thing to do. You do not understand that there is a spiritual war going on that we cannot see. The Jews are God’s people and we have to side with them no matter what so that our Lord and Savior can return. Your problem is you see things in black and white.” – My best friend in the middle of a debate with me.

The best way to think of the Middle East is to think of Israel as our girlfriend and the Arabs as our pusher giving us that drug we love so much, oil. We love our little lady even though at times she is loud mouthed, pushy, always letting her opinion known, but all we can see is her batting her eyes, telling us how cute we are. The Arabs that surround her are our pusher. Every junkie thinks his or her pusher is their friend, but no dealer has an ounce of respect for the one they are supplying. The problem is, every once in awhile, our dealers decide they are going to slap around our girlfriend because she is getting on their nerves and we are left rocking ourselves in the corner not knowing what to do. As long as we are having to rely on despots and thugs to meet our energy needs and cannot be rational when it comes to Israel, there will never be peace in the Middle East. When it comes to Israel it is almost impossible to be an informed citizen in this country, because almost everything, even among the liberal media, is seen through the lens of faith and we are going to take Israel’s perspective even when she is wrong.

For the rapture right, the Jews are just a means to an end. The Jews, who are God’s people, have to be in place in order for Jesus Christ to return in his glory. Once He has reestablished his Kingdom on earth, the Jews will be asked to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior or they will be cast into the eternal fire. In other words, those who are the most anti-Semitic are also the most pro-Israel. When someone’s faith enters the discussion about a problem, you might as well get up and head for the door because reason and logic are about as welcome as a gay couple in James Dobson’s home. It is also why America will never be able to be the moral voice which will help provide a solution to the Israeli/Palestinian situation. We live in a nation that likes to take a simplistic view towards the world and our role in it, and this is nowhere clearer than when it comes to the Jewish homeland. “Israel right or wrong” is the bumper sticker slapped across our psyche. Criticize Jerusalem and Nelly bar the door, you are going to be called an anti-Semite and attacked within an inch of your life. If you do not believe me, a person has to look no further than former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

While I believe historians will be a lot kinder to his Presidency than our talking heads currently are, Jimmy Carter’s term in office will never go down in history as one of the finest in our country’s history, but I believe along with Hebert Hoover, Carter is easily one of our greatest ex-Presidents. (In hindsight, if we had listened to Carter and followed his energy policies we would not be in the current sinking boat we are.) This is a fact that is almost impossible to argue with unless you are drinking Rush Limbaugh’s toilet water, claiming it smells like roses and lilacs. Instead of playing golf every day like most of our ex-commander and chiefs, through the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, President Carter has done more to help the poor, not only in America but across the entire world, than any other human being alive. Whether it is building houses, monitoring elections, negotiating with dictators, or providing physical and medical assistance throughout the third world, if there is a saint walking among us, it is the former peanut farmer, James Earle Carter, from Plains, Georgia. He might have had “lust in his heart” but there had been nothing but grace in his actions for the last 28 years. If anyone’s voice should be listened to when it comes to the Middle East it should be President Carter. One of the main Sisyphus-like activities that modern Executive Office holders engage in, is working on peace treaties in the Holy Lands, and by holy I mean those lands containing the god we love so much, oil. The problem is Israel is like the sand in that geographical region’s shorts. Year after year, term after term, decade after decade, diplomats fly back and forth trying to establish peace treaties and the only thing they seem to accomplish is building up frequent flier miles. Yet, Carter accomplished something that no one else could. He established real, lasting peace between two enemies, Egypt and Israel. The Camp David Accords have stood the test of time. While other peace treaties and diplomatic agreements have fallen apart faster than an Atheists for Huckebee rally, Carter negotiated one of the most stable treaties in the history of the region. Since leaving office he has been almost a constant presence in that area and has probably talked with more world leaders there than anyone else. Like him, dislike him, say what you will, you cannot say that he is ignorant about what is happening there. It is why I was happy to catch director Jonathan Demme’s documentary on this former occupant of the Oval Office.

Much like fellow Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, Demme (Silence of The Lambs) not only focuses on a particular controversial issue, but gives the audience scenes of personal insight into his life. Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains follows the former President as he goes around promoting his latest book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” The title is like the payoff to a slap bet across the face of anyone who believes that Israel is always right. It seems to be saying that what is happening in Palestine is akin to South African apartheid where a white minority dominated and oppressed a black majority. The only way he could have come up with a more provocative title is to have called it “The 21 Best Ways to Pickup Underage Boys.” In the book he tries to “shares his intimate knowledge of the history of the Middle East and his personal experiences with the principal actors, and he addresses sensitive political issues many American officials avoid. Pulling no punches, Carter prescribes steps that must be taken for the two states to share the Holy Lands without a system of apartheid or the constant fear of terrorism.” What could be controversial about that? Oh, he is basically saying the Bush administration is doing everything wrong and saying Israel, if it truly wants peace, it needs to change its approach. In other words, he is telling our girlfriend to stop acting like such a bitch. Following Carter around as he does his book tour and interviews critics, Demme tries to give everyone the space to make their points, but also shows the audience scenes of violence that are happening in Palestine that we rarely see on our evening news. The director also takes the time to show what a gentle, soft spoken man with an incredibly active mind (especially for a man in his early 80s) our former President is. In other words, Demme takes the time to show that not only is President Carter an expert in regards to the region but shows the moral framework and background out of which Carter makes his decisions. But then again, I have been told I see everything in black and white.

Verdict: A Nice Portrait Of The Greatest Our Greatest Ex-President