The American Spectator

The Great Books Series

Jimmy Carter, who confided to NBC’s Brian Williams that “I feel my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents,” demonstrates what he means in a few brief passages from his White House diaries:

October 1 [1980] Fifty-six years old. If I’m reelected, I’ll be sixty when I go out of office-a good retirement age. […]

October 25 I went to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I found out later I called it “Cedar Rapids.” […]

October 26 I talked to Amy on the phone about the upcoming debate. I won’t see her again for about a week. She said that the atomic bomb was the most important issue, and we had a discussion about what a kiloton was, what a megaton was. She discusses international issues, including the hostage crisis, almost like an adult. […]

Monday, November 3 …Almost all the undecideds moved to Reagan. Strangely enough, my favorable [ratings] went up-both the way I handled the Iran situation and the percentage that thought it was used for political purposes. There was a general sense of rejection of incumbents. […]

November 4 …Chip and Jeffrey came up to Camp David, also Jody and Frank Moore and their families later on. We just relaxed with our children, extremely surprised at how well we all took the defeat. […]

November 6 I spent all day at Camp David making four very complicated little fly line drying reels. […]

December 10 …Rickover advised me to stay quiet for a good while-maybe a couple of years-and then run for president again. He thinks I would have no trouble in being reelected because Reagan is both dumb and incompetent… […]

Monday January 19 [1981] Fritz and Joan [Mondale] joined us in the limousine to drive to Andrews Air Force Base….The mood during the drive was one of excitement and levity. We made some disparaging remarks about the quality of Reagan’s inaugural address, but in general it was a pleasant drive.

(From: White House Diary, by Jimmy Carter. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 570 pages, $30)

The Progressive

Matthew Rothschild, editor of the Progressive, apparently after an afternoon spent at the ballpark:

What is happening to our country? I look around, and I do not recognize it. Bigotry and irrationality are holding sway, and the most precious American values are under attack. The very character of our country is at stake.

With economic pain at the highest level ever seen by most Americans, and with minorities especially hard hit, we’re seeing a revolt not by people of color, nor the unemployed, nor the foreclosed upon. Instead, we’re seeing a revolt by the white middle class. It’s a revolt against the very notion of a positive role for government in helping people. It’s a revolt against Latin American immigrants. It’s a revolt against Muslim Americans. And it’s a revolt against our black President.