Tell me that lurking in your family tree you don't have a relative that embarrasses the crap out of you every time he or she shows up at a family function and I'll say, "Lucky You," you haven't met everyone in your family yet. He's an uncle or she's an aunt, a cousin, a brother-in-law or sister-in-law, or worse yet, a brother or sister that some how in their misspent youth managed to evolve into an adult devoid of all common sense. No matter how clandestine the rest of the family makes their attempts to keep the next scheduled family gathering a secret from this individual, he or she somehow manages to ferret out the location and soon after their arrival, much to the obvious chagrin of all other attendees, there transpires a sure fire submission to America's Funniest Home Videos. And if you think your family has issues, let me introduce you to the class clown of American politics...
Perched on one of the limbs of the heritage tree of U.S. presidents, squats the 39th occupant of the Oval Office, James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, arguably the worst and most ineffectual president these United Sates has ever had the misfortune to install into the highest public office in the land. And we thought his brother "Billy" was the one totally out of touch with reality. Hardly...
Initially it appeared that President Carter, once he was soundly defeated for a second term by Ronald Regan, would quietly retire once again to the peanut fields of Plains, Georgia, never to be heard from again except for those rare perfunctory occasions where formed U.S. Presidents are expected to make dutiful and respectful appearances. Jimmy, being a restless and enterprising soul, abstained from such constricting isolation and favorably reinvented himself as an ambassador for Habitat For Humanity and as a world statesman respected for his efforts to broker fair and impartial election proceedings in fledgling third world countries. That is certainly all well and good and an arena in which Mr. Carter should have been content to restrict himself. But, bless his little peanut pickin' heart, Jimmy just can't pass up an opportunity to thrust himself into the national spotlight in which to interject his personal opinions that are neither solicited nor appreciated. Case in point...
This past week during an interview on NBC, Mr. Carter opined, in essence, that the American citizens who vocalize their differing opinions to President Obama's stated policies and programs are motivated to do so out of a thinly veiled persona of racism. Let me clarify further that statement: we folks, who number in the hundreds of thousands, who are jumping up and down in protest of Obama's quest to take this nation down an irretrievable liberal and socialistic path are doing so because he is a black man. Who knew? Thanks Jimmy, for clearing that up for us. I thought that I disliked President Obama just because he has the audacity to take off his suit jacket and roll up his shirt sleeves when he pontificates before large, pre-selected groups of adoring worshipers. How narrow-minded of me.
Listen Jimmy, even though I vehemently uphold your constitutional guarantee to exercise your free speech right to express any vapid opinion that comes into your head, you might want to take a clue from the current administration, which without hesitation fell over backwards distancing itself from your comments, and do us all a most appreciated favor by heretofore refraining from expressing any additional musings that venture beyond the limited scope of selecting the best type of fertilizer to be utilized on virgin peanut seedlings.
In America, everyone has the right to be stupid. Like that distant uncle who insist on donning a lampshade at every gathering of the family clan, such antics grow tiresome very quickly. That having been said, "Thanks for coming to the party, Jimmy. Now go home."
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