Op-Ed: Is Jimmy Carter's Gumball Diplomacy Coming To An End?

Former POTUS Jimmy Carter, who single-handedly ushered in the age of Islamic state terrorism, has been a thorn in the side of nearly every president since he left office. A request by a GOP Rep, if honored, may have Mr. Carter cooling his heels soon.

Former President James Earl 'Jimmy' Carter, Jr. needs no introduction. Since leaving in his wake a disastrous presidency that resulted in soaring inflation, interest rates over 20%, gas lines around the block, a national 'malaise', the ushering-in of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the resultant 444-day-long Hostage Crisis, he has been a political and diplomatic loose cannon, undermining US government foreign policy at nearly every step. In 1990, Carter worked overtime to actively undermine then-US President George H.W. Bush's attempts to assemble a UN coalition to drive Saddam Hussein's raping and pillaging armies from the streets of Kuwait, writing personally to each member of the UN Security Council and urging them to vote against the US-drafted resolution. In 1994, Carter conducted ad-hoc freelance diplomacy which sabotaged then President Bill Clinton's attempts to convince the UN to sanction North Korea for its then-recently discovered nuclear activities at its Yongbyon facility. As a foreign election observer he has often done more harm than good to the cause of democracy, certifying and blessing questionable and possibly fraudulent elections like Venezuela's in 2004. And he has made a habit of bending knee and kissing cheek of some of the most egregious and brutal dictators the planet has ever seen, such as the Hamas leaders he is sucking up to this week. If, however, US Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) has her way, the Nobel Prize-winning modern day version of Neville Chamberlain may soon be cooling his heels more locally. Rep. Myrick has formally requested that the State Department revoke Carter's passport in a press release, which states: “Former President Carter has acted in contradiction of international agreements to isolate Hamas. He has acted in defiance of both United States policy and international policy. His actions reward terrorists, lend support, and provide legitimacy to their belief that violence will eventually get them what they want,” said Rep. Myrick.' It is well within the purview and authority of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to do so based on Supreme Court precedent, which was also detailed in Rep. Myrick's public statement: 'Congress granted the Secretary of State the power to grant and verify passports. In 1981, the United States Supreme Court held in the case of Haig v. Agee that the Secretary of State has the implied power to revoke passports as well (453 U.S. 280).' There has also been a bill introduced by US Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) to strip any and all public funding of the Georgia-based Carter Center based on his most recent infringement and sabotaging of US and even EU policy vis-a-vis Hamas, which refuses to renounce terror, acknowledge Israel's right to exist, and acquired their present status as the warlords of Gaza by abrogating a power-sharing agreement with Fatah and seizing power in a bloody coup that saw Fatah members knee-capped, summarily executed in the streets and thrown from rooftops. These are the 'peacemakers' Carter is so fond of. So, is it likely that Carter will have his passport revoked? Probably not. Is it also likely that he will have taxpayer funding stripped from his beloved Carter Center? Not very, in a house controlled by liberal left-wing Democrats who feel the same about Carter as closeted homosexuals feel about each other: they will privately share their affections, but in public it is The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name. One thing's for sure. Jimmy Carter is probably the only living American who could walk the streets of Gaza alone and come out of the experience looking like a conquering hero instead of a slaughtered goat. Not that that's a good thing, either for us or American and EU foreign policy.