hayden, I don’t get the comment. Jimmy Carter is a former US President and thus has a legacy which will always be discussed. He’s also 90 years old, a point that also is important to how someone like me sees this. If the idea is that I, for example, should be more “gee that’s too bad; he was a nice man” then what exactly is the point of discussion if we’re all supposed to not say anything except “gee, that’s too bad; he was a nice man”?
Here’s a funny example to me. On the way home from Maine today, I flicked on the Red Sox radio station because I could see a blimp in the distance and wanted to make sure the game wasn’t about to start. From the conversation, it was obvious something bad had happened to someone. We couldn’t tell what or to whom because the radio people were being so delicate about it. After several minutes of them saying nothing but platitudes, it became generally clear that the manager John Farrell had something happen to him. Eventually - and I mean a good 10 minutes - they came around to the point that this was related to some surgery which maybe possible uncovered something and isn’t that a good thing but without telling us what. We finally gave up, changed the station and in less than a minute learned he’d been diagnosed with Stage 1 Lymphoma, which is treatable. So then I flipped back to the Sox station as they hyped a charity auction trip to Montreal with the Bruins. Within seconds, the discussion drifted from the Montreal pre-game arena spectacular to euphemisms for Montreal strip clubs. Same station, same people, conversation separated by less than a minute. In the first, extreme delicacy that informed no one and essentially turned cancer, which is extremely common, into something that can’t be mentioned because heaven forbid and then hey strippers! The first a useless conversation and the other insensitive and the guys never even thought about that.
I hope that during his remaining days (hopefully months), that he is able to enjoy being with his friends and loved ones and is kept comfortably. I hope the cancer hasn’t traveled to his bones. My dad found that to be most painful.
Jimmy and Rosalynn have 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. What a blessing!
I just read that the cancer has spread to Mr. Carter’s brain. I will hold him and his family in my prayers.
As for having lunch, politics aside, I wouldn’t do it. I’ve read extensively about Mr. Carter and he has a reputation for being prickly and not the most pleasant person going back decades. I disagree with Mr. Clinton’s politics, as well, but would probably have lunch with him because I have met him and he is very entertaining. I wouldn’t let my daughters have lunch with him, but I would!
What’s somewhat odd about his cancer is that it’s melanoma, but the site of origin has not been located yet. It is a site that is not visible from the outside, but started on the inside. This is not common for melanoma at all. So they are truly lucky when they caught it when they did.
Fourteen years ago when my dad’s lung cancer spread to the brain (they initially thought it was metastatic melanoma since he’d had melanoma before), they basically said they couldn’t cure it and the only treatment he sought was some brain radiation to minimize the symptoms of spasms he was having in his hand. But the treatment that Carter will get now is a new approach to treating cancer (the on-air journalists stated the treatment that he will get which has just recently got approval got its start in research about the time Carter was president) that H is familiar with from being in the industry.
I actually did have lunch with Jimmy Carter. He was visiting my college campus during the run-up to the 1980 election, and I was working with the group that invited them there. Granted, I wasn’t the only one at the lunch (…just me and a hundred of my closest friends!..) but I do remember him visiting every table and talking with every student there. From what I remember, he was warm, gracious, and surprisingly witty.
Since then, like zooser, I’ve read that he could be diffident, prickly, and distant. I saw none of that during my one personal encounter with him, brief as it was. I kind of like the prickliness he showed the Southern Baptists when he finally walked away from that group over their treatment of women.
Yesterday I watched his press conference where he talked about his diagnosis. Again, I was struck by his warmth, grace and wit. I hear he still plans to teach Sunday school this Sunday.
I think if someone said to me you’ll live to be 90 with all your marbles, but you’ll get cancer, I’d sign on for that.
A group of oncology nurses were asked, Would you prefer to drop dead of a heart attack or would you prefer to have terminal cancer? Many if not most lay people would opt for the drop dead suddenly scenario. But every nurse picked cancer. They said that when you drop dead suddenly you tend to leave a mess behind. But with cancer, modern pain management makes the end comfortable, and you have an opportunity to get your affairs in order and say your goodbyes.
Scout, your observations are probably closest to the true personality of President Carter. I never got the impression he was unpleasant, nor have I ever read such a critique prior to today. My estimation is, Carter simply was not inclined to suffer fools, particularly in light of the way the Congress treated him during his term as President. I mean, the guy had to endure more than a few less than amicable and tolerant opponents in the Georgia State House, the U.S. Congress, and even back home in Plains, where there were still vocal segregationists (including some Carter relatives) who rejected Carter’s modern views on race and didn’t give a hoot that he was now president of the U.S… I don’t expect U.S. presidents to be boy scouts. Sometimes the strong will of an S.O.B. is needed in that office, which is why I have some admiration for President LBJ. But Carter is a gentleman.
“The only US president in history I would refuse to have lunch with.”
I think that’s a spectacularly classless thing to say.
When GWB was in office, we had a family friend who worked for Karen Hughes, who tried to arrange for our family to meet with GWB privately (it was not to be, though we did see his helicopter landing on the lawn up close and personal which was pretty cool). We were not GWB supporters. But it absolutely would have been an honor to have met him. These men are serving our country at a level and with responsibilities that we cannot possibly imagine.
(As it so happens, my H did have a private audience with GWB on a particular legislative topic, and while he had not voted for the man, he reported that GWB was a lot more intelligent / articulate 1:1 than he came across in larger settings. For what that’s worth.)
I respectfully disagree. I’ve read about Mr. Carter’s career and life in some depth and he was known to be personally not the easiest person in the world, but actually in my opinion, that makes him a lot more interesting than the faux saint that some want him to be presented as. I like to read about real people and the entirety of who they are. So, interesting, but not someone I’d want to sit down and have lunch with.
I havent read this thread yet, and I hope it does not have disrespectful comments. I wish him and his family peace and comfort on this final journey. He is facing it with class and grace.
**ETA well update- read a few, IMO tacky posts here. Good grief. It reminds me of the posters who chided Ted Kennedy when he died. Not appropriate, IMO.
FWIW, I met him, very briefly… in the early 80’s when he was visiting a patient in a facility i worked at. He did not need to make this effort to do so but he did. That speaks volumes to me. And I happened to be at the Carter Center with a friend a few weeks ago. Makes that visit even more special now…
No one is a saint, but neither do we need to kick someone when they are down.
As a matter of personal opinion, I think one can be interesting and imperfect while still being a good Christian. In fact, I think it’s those quirks and imperfections that make one a true Christian. I have a “thing” about canonizing people as if only perfect lives and blameless people are worthwhile. I also don’t think Mr. Carter ever did that, himself, he is the first to admit his own humanity, which I find extremely honorable; but there are people who have chosen to whitewash him for their own purposes. As I said earlier, I hold Mr. Carter and his family in my thoughts and prayers, which I do in the literal sense of verbally praying for them.
Oh, I agree with you completely, zooser. The fact that Jimmy Carter could be prickly and aloof as well as warm, gracious, and witty just means he’s a human being. Even though I called him a hero of mine earlier I can certainly acknowledge his faults.