Matthew P. Maljevec – 6/3/07

This page was last updated on June 11, 2007.

Where are politicians’ kids?; Matthew P. Maljevec; Beaver County Times; June 3, 2007.

Since September 2005, Mr. Maljevec treated us with three letters (here, here, and here) with “Impeach Bush” in their titles, merely bashed President Bush in a fourth letter, in a fifth letter Mr. Maljevec asserted, “Rendell is one of the best governors Pennsylvania has ever had,” and in a sixth referred to Lynn Swann as a “wannabe” and to President Bush as “loser Bush.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“The news I heard the other morning was sad, very sad.

“Eight more young men have lost their lives because of an idiot we have as president of these United States. Just what is going on with these so-called lousy politicians in Washington? More than 3,020-plus young men and women have been killed in Iraq, and more will follow them.”

[RWC] Wow, Mr. Maljevec didn’t start name-calling until the second sentence.

“Nowhere in the history of this country has anything of this magnitude happened before, especially since we are not at war defending our country. Oil, oil and oil is the only reason. Bush, Cheney and Rice are all tied in with big oil in this country. To this day, they are indirectly reaping the harvest from this oil.”

[RWC] What is Mr. Maljevec talking about? More than 4,000 died during D-Day alone. Nearly 20,000 Americans died during the Battle of the Bulge.

If President Bush, VP Cheney, and Sec. Rice “are indirectly reaping the harvest from this oil,” where’s Mr. Maljevec’s evidence? FYI, since I own stock in at least one oil company and will have a pension (hopefully) from another, I too am “tied in with big oil in this country.”

“The Republicans are attempting to tell us that former President Jimmy Carter was the worst president. I beg to differ. Carter and his wife are humanitarians who still at this time help their fellow man.”

[RWC] Actually, Democrats – including Mr. Carter – are to blame for this. As a reminder, during a May 19^th interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Mr. Carter made the following statement: “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.” The saying about those who live in glass houses not throwing rocks comes to mind. If you’re going to call President Bush the worst president in history over and over again, don’t be surprised when the rocks come back at you when Mr. Carter is in your house.

A couple of days after Mr. Carter made his comment, he attempted damage control. During a Today Show interview Mr. Carter said, “They were maybe careless or misinterpreted” and that he “certainly was not talking personally about any president.” I’m not sure how anyone could misinterpret Mr. Carter’s comment; it was pretty explicit and is consistent with Mr. Carter’s nonstop bashing of President Bush for the last several years.

Even if we accept Mr. Maljevec’s assertion that “Carter and his wife are humanitarians,” Mr. Carter’s legacy should be driven by his actions as president. Therefore, it’s useful to recall Carter administration actions and legacies.

Though Iran was an ally when Mr. Carter took office, the U.S. had become “the great Satan” to Iran by the time he left. What happened? While Mr. Carter constantly criticized the Shah of Iran (He certainly was no saint.), he treated Ayatollah Khomeini with kid gloves. This was one of the factors that facilitated the Islamic revolution in Iran. Though it was likely not his intent, in effect Mr. Carter gave Khomeini the green light to overthrow the Shah and establish an Islamic “republic.” Despite all the bad things claimed about the Shah, Iran’s leaders since the Shah – beginning with Khomeini – have been far worse for Iran, the Middle East, and the world.

The results? Khomeini sanctioned the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the holding of 50+ U.S. hostages for 444 days. The hostages were not released until President Reagan’s inauguration day. Iran became a state sponsor of Islamist terrorism. The change of regimes also encouraged Saddam Hussein to initiate the Iraq-Iran War during which over 1 million Iranians and Iraqis were killed. It also left the Middle East with no local military power to counterbalance Saddam Hussein. Had Iran remained a U.S. ally, there’s no telling what the Middle East would look like today. I suspect it couldn’t look much worse, and possibly could have looked a lot better.

The late 1970s also saw an uptick of communism/Marxism in Afghanistan and Central America. Had Iran continued to be a U.S. ally, would the Soviet Union have invaded Afghanistan in 1979, eventually giving rise to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida?

In fairness, you could argue what happened in Iran during the late 1970s and the ramifications since would have happened regardless of Mr. Carter’s policy. We’ll never know, however. All we know is what did happen.

Mr. Carter gave away the Panama Canal, now operated by a company based in Red China.

On the domestic front, inflation, interest/mortgage, and unemployment rates all reached double digits and we had the “pleasure” of lines, rationing, and record high prices (in constant dollars) at gasoline stations. (My own mortgage rate was about 16%!) Prior to this time, liberal economists had claimed stagflation was impossible.

I don’t hold Mr. Carter solely to blame for the poor economy of his administration. After all, Mr. Carter inherited a poor economy from Messrs. Nixon & Ford and most presidents deserve neither full blame nor credit for the economy. That said, the aforementioned economic indicators worsened at least in part due to Carter administration policies.

During his post-presidency years, Mr. Carter played a major role in the 1994 Clinton administration treaty whose goal was to bribe North Korea not to pursue nuclear weapons. As we know, North Korea never honored the treaty and, in effect, we funded North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. In Venezuela’s 2004 elections, Mr. Carter certified communist dictator Hugo Chavez as the winner.

“Not Bush. Oh, no. He reminds me of an individual who drives around town holding his nose and fanning himself as though it stinks. He has no feelings whatsoever. Bush, if he had any common sense, would and should resign. If not, then impeachment is a must to get rid of him.”

[RWC] Mr. Maljevec appears to be writing from personal experience. <g>

Impeachment requires a crime, but Mr. Maljevec hasn’t cited a crime unless he considers passing gas to be a high crime or misdemeanor.

“Enough of this killing of our youngsters. Where are the children of both the Democratic and Republican politicians?

“Hiding, because they are cowards. You will not find them in Iraq but frolicking on some beach instead. This must end-now.”

[RWC] Using Mr. Maljevec’s definition, anyone of service age who’s not in Iraq is a coward.