A Parting Reminder From Jimmy Carter

Steve Ford, son of President Gerald Ford, reads a tribute written by his late father, during the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter on January 9, 2025, at Washington National Cathedral. Ben Curtis/AP

I tend not to get all dewy-eyed about bipartisanship. It was bipartisanship that gave us the Vietnam War and the Iraq War, deregulation of the financial sector that caused economic disaster, the bloated military budget, trade deals that undercut American workers, and protection for rapacious corporate interests, including energy conglomerates that long denied and covered up evidence of climate change. But I found it hard not to tear up on Thursday morning during Gerald Ford’s eulogy of Jimmy Carter, a posthumous tribute that demonstrated that political division can be overridden by shared values. Or, at least, once could be. 

Ford died 18 years ago. But before he passed, the 38th president of the United States penned a eulogy for the 39th president. Prior to his death, Ford had asked Carter to deliver the eulogy at his funeral. Carter agreed and asked if Ford would do the same at his funeral. It was a bit of a joke: who of the pair would be the one to show up and deliver the second eulogy. At Carter’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral, Ford’s son, Steve Ford, read the testament to Carter that Ford had left behind.

In the 1976 election, Carter, running as a let’s-clean-up-government Democrat who vowed “I will never lie to you,” defeated Ford, who was weighed down by the stench of Richard Nixon and Watergate (and perhaps his pardon of Nixon), by 2 points in the popular vote. Five years later, a year after Carter was trounced by Ronald Reagan, Carter and Ford found themselves together on Air Force One flying to Egypt for the funeral of Anwar Sadat, the assassinated Egyptian president with whom Carter had negotiated the historic Camp David Accords (with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin). The two one-term ex-presidents hit it off and for the next 25 years enjoyed a friendship.

In the eulogy, Ford noted that during the 1976 contest, “Jimmy knew my political vulnerabilities, and he successfully pointed them out. Now I didn’t like it. But little could I know that the outcome of that 1976 election would bring about one of my deepest and most enduring friendships.” On the return trip from Egypt, they discussed their families, faith, and values—and the bother of having to raise money for a presidential library. They decided they would jointly declare that that Palestinian issue needed to be resolved to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East—not a popular position within the Reagan administration. “It was the first time, but by no means the last time, that our unlikely partnership ruffled feathers in the Washington establishment,” Ford recalled in his eulogy. The pair also agreed to hold a series of conferences on arms control—at a time when the Reagan cold warriors were looking to rip up previous nuclear weapons agreements, expand the US nuclear arsenal, and beat the Soviets in an arms race.

Ford, in this tribute, praised Carter for his integrity: “He displayed that honesty throughout his life.” He hailed Carter for pursuing “brotherhood across boundaries of nationhood, across boundaries of tradition, across boundaries of caste. In America’s urban neighborhood, in rural villages around the world, he reminded us that Christ had been a carpenter. And in Third World villages, he successfully campaigned not for votes but for the eradication of diseases that shame the developed world as they ravaged the undeveloped one.” He cited Carter’s work promoting democracy overseas: “The American people and the people of the world will be forever blessed by his decades of good works. Jimmy Carter’s legacy of peace and compassion will remain unique as it is timeless.”

It was a lovely moment—and a gesture showing that politics need not be an arena of hatred. As Steve Ford spoke his father’s words, it was nigh impossible to consider Donald Trump’s presence in the cathedral—he was in the second row, sitting next to Barack Obama—and to not contemplate how Trump has intensified the animosity that does flow through American politics. Could Trump pen such words about a onetime rival and display graciousness and compassion? No, his go-to schtick is one of cruelty, mockery, and mean-spiritedness. During the campaign, he repeatedly claimed Carter was a happy man because he was now “considered a brilliant president” when compared to President Joe Biden, whom Trump repeatedly derided as an imbecile and moron.

Politics for Republicans has long been a blood sport. Nixon exploited racism with his Southern strategy; Reagan teamed up with the religious right that accused Democrats of hating God and country; Newt Gingrich encouraged Republicans to brand Democrats as traitors and the enemies of American families and children; Sarah Palin assailed Obama as a commie who despised the United States. But Trump has embraced malice and brutality unlike any president.

As Carter’s fundamental decency, intelligence, devotion to faith, commitment to public service at home and abroad, and generosity of spirit were celebrated by the eulogists—who included two Carter grandsons; former Vice President Walter Mondale’s son (who read the eulogy his deceased father left behind); Andrew Young, the civil rights leader who served in Carter’s administration as UN ambassador; and Biden—Trump was the elephant in the room. The question hovered: How have we come to this? About to reenter the White House is a grifting and deceitful narcissist who relishes insults, who incites violence, who encourages savagery. And how many houses for the poor did Trump build after his first White House tenure? What efforts did he make to improve the lives of the less fortunate overseas? Trump’s own foundation was shut down, and he was forced to pay a $2 million fine because he had inappropriately used it for business and political—not charitable—purposes.

During his presidential campaign, Carter released a book titled Why Not the Best? After Watergate exposed the sordidness of American politics, he suggested that we as a nation could do much better. When Trump was considering a presidential run in the spring of 2015, I asked one of his aides if his crew was worried about Trump’s well-known liabilities: his history of misogynistic remarks, his many business failures, his mob ties, his relentless hucksterism, his ego, his obnoxiousness. None of that, the aide said, was of concern to Trump’s team. “That’s all baked in,” he said. The strategic premise guiding Trump and his minions was that voters wanted an asshole who would be their asshole. It’s as if the Trump campaign motto would be “Why not the worst?”

As a person, Carter was the antithesis of Trump. Sure, as a politician he was no saint, and his presidency had both accomplishments and serious flaws. But for four decades after leaving the White House, he showed the world how a politician could serve without putting himself first. With Trump returning to power, Carter and all the tributes he has received are counterprogramming showing us that the leader of America need not be a cruel, callous, and vicious megalomaniac.

Trump has adopted crassness as the currency of the realm of politics. He has demonized Americans who are not within his MAGA cult and attempted to delegitimize political foes and critics (as well as the press). He has waged war on decency. In the coming stretch, he can be expected to continue this crusade and further infuse and debase American politics with hatred. Those not entranced or enthralled by his reliance and promotion of animus will need to find in our national discourse and in our own lives acts and moments of decency that can counter the rancor and enmity that Trump seeks to enshrine within the American spirit. This will make the darkness less dark, and from the grave, Carter and Ford have reminded us that is possible.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com.

At the last virtual meet-up of Our Land readers, I said I’d try to hold these sessions on a monthly basis. After January 20, we may need the camaraderie. So our next Zoom get-together will be on January 21, Tuesday, at 8 p.m. ET. By now, most of you know the score. These soirees are only open to premium subscribers. On the day of the event, they will receive a Zoom link. Click on that and one of the highly trained Our Land bouncers will let you in.

Of course, if you are not yet a premium subscriber, you can sign up here. Once again, let me thank those of you who have joined this noble band. Because you part with a few of your hard-earned bucks each month, this newsletter can continue. I’m tremendously grateful for your support and look forward to seeing you online soon. As always, it’s BYOB.

Thanks to the holidays, it’s been weeks since the judges had to deal with the same-old/same-old stupidity. But after a long break, they are back on this thankless beat. The horrific fires in Los Angeles prompted the usual conspiracies on the right. The judges were too disheartened to sort through them. You can see some of this nonsense here:

With the anniversary of the January 6 riot in mind, they did nominate Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who popped off: “Democratic politicians support criminals more than cops. They want violent criminals back on the streets. If you want less crime, vote Republican.”

It’s remarkable, as I noted on social media, that the Republicans get away with this crap. Cotton was pushing this ridiculous claim days before Congress would—without being threatened by insurrectionist riots—certify the election of a convicted felon who incited the attack on the US Capitol in which more than 140 cops were beaten and injured. Because Democrats respect election results and the rule of law, there was no violence or election denialism after the 2024 election—and no law enforcement officers attacked. Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to pardon the MAGA cop-beaters of January 6. That’s not how you support the police.

The judges were saddened to see that Trump and his minions can’t stop exploiting tragedies to promote their lies. After the awful terrorist attack in New Orleans, Trump and his acolytes falsely insisted it was the result of lax enforcement at the US-Mexico border. Not so. It had nothing to do with immigration. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Penn.) had another dumb twist. Asked if homegrown terrorism was “the new threat,” he said,

The priority of the last four years has been DEI, if you will, not IEDs. That’s the truth. You talk to anyone who is willing to speak within these agencies, that’s what their focus has been. Not on this level of high preparation. Let’s face it, [FBI] Director [Christopher] Way raided [Trump’s] home. The amount of time and energy and intelligence and funding that had to go into something as useless as that.

Here was a MAGA-naut taking advantage of a terrible event to push the right-wing’s anti-DEI agenda and, worse, suggesting that somehow the New Orleans attack might have been averted had the FBI not investigated Trump for stealing top-secret documents. The FBI has about 10,000 special agents. It can both investigate a former president and pursue counterterrorism probes. It should be noted that a lone-wolf assault from a person with no criminal record is especially hard to prevent. It’s tough to blame the FBI for that.

One of the dumb ideas Trump has recently pitched is renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” And—presto!—Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) introduced legislation to do so. She tweeted: “It’s our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America.”

Not really. It’s never been called that. And it’s not our gulf. The US recognizes that territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from the shoreline. That means most of the Gulf is not US property, though US laws govern 24 nautical miles into surrounding bodies of water and the “exclusive economic zone” that covers natural resources stretches 200 miles from the shore. (The same would go for Mexico, which borders much of the Gulf.)

Trump’s New Imperialism—let’s take over Canada and Greenland!—is sparking plenty of salivating and stupidity on the right. Fox Host Jesse Watters certainly isn’t missing this train. Talking about Canadians, he said, “The fact that they don't want to become part of America makes me want to make them.”

But it is Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) who wins the week with a comment on this subject: "President Trump is bringing us into a golden age of America. This is the new Manifest Destiny. Reacquiring the Panama Canal, acquiring Greenland, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. This is the light of America expanding."

Let’s not forget that Manifest Destiny led to the deaths of millions of Indigenous people. And with Trump vowing to deport millions and pursue economic policies likely to cause economic hardship for many Americans, a “golden age” does not loom on the horizon. But Gill, the son-in-law of Dinesh D’Souza, the felonious right-wing provocateur (who was pardoned by Trump), is no champion of truth. He was a marketer for D’Souza’s so-called documentary, 2000 Mules, which claimed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump through the machinations of Democratic operatives who flooded the electoral system with phony ballots. The film was roundly debunked, and D’Souza last month conceded he had been wrong—that is, that the Big Lie he advocated was a lie. Seems like deception runs in the family, and the judges expect to see more DCotW trophies in Gill’s future.

With the holiday break, the mail certainly did pile up. The mailroom operators apologize if we didn’t get to yours.

Responding to the recent issue that questioned why Democrats were not more fiercely challenging Trump during the transition period, Chris Randall wrote:

The Dems are afraid of Trump, as they would be of any other mob boss with that much power. Otherwise, it’s mostly a party of way too old, career politicians. Joe Biden, Steny Hoyer, Jerry Nadler, et al. Give me a break! The Dems, for the most part, are either feckless or complicit. That Donald Trump, a criminal fraud, is president, makes me sick, but it’s who we are. The greedy “get mine now” world is turning to shit, but hey, at least we lead the world in number of billionaires.

That’s pretty dark. I’m not sure the Democrats are scared of Trump. But they certainly have not figured out how to confront him with a coherent and vigorous opposition that can connect with voters. Will they get around to that? I have no prediction.

Deborah Dobson asked:

What do you say about Sen. Elizabeth Warren? Because I see her as a proactive, intelligent, clear-thinking fighter!

I concur. She’s always been a favorite. But it’s hard for a single senator to lead a charge. Also pay attention to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). He, too, has been trying to whip up some Democratic fight.

Teresa Harper didn’t like that I criticized Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) for stating he’s willing to work with Trump when it comes to government waste:

I like how Ro Khanna is throwing Trump's words of the past in his face. Rep. Khanna is pointing out that Trump policies are like the wind (ever changing in direction). In saying he'll work with the Department of Government Efficiency, Ro Khanna is agreeing that certain agencies have waste. No government agency has more waste than the Pentagon. I don't think working with the Trump administration makes Trump seem reasonable. I see the Democrats' move as pointing out to his cult followers that he doesn't mean a thing he says. And if they agree with the Democrats, they can affect public opinion to get Republicans to move on something positive. But I do agree that Democrats need to speak loudly about the clowns Trump has put forward as his appointees. 

William Falcone wrote:

Have average Joe Dems, like me, decided to lie low in the woods? What I'm hearing (and I share the sentiment) is that the most radical thing to do is nothing. Let Trump be Trump. First of all, he's too slippery to take the fall for any illegality, with exception of civil court. And half the country likes this whack job. So let it happen. I think we can survive four years of fascism. Unfortunately, many who voted for him may pay the price by losing government benefits, etc. But suffering may be what is needed to wake this country up. If not, then we're totally effed.

John Ranta expressed a similar thought:

The Dems should do nothing right now, and not just because they have no leverage. Anything the Dems try now to oppose Trump would require support from SCOTUS or Republicans in Congress. That’s futile. The Dems should announce, “We are going to sit and watch the Trump agenda unfold. We’ll wait until the disasters start to happen. When they do, we’ll be here, ready to bail the country out, just like we did in 2020.” The only way that MAGA learns its lesson about electing an incompetent, corrupt racist is to live through the damage and chaos. Now, make a nice batch of popcorn, put your feet up, and enjoy.

I’m not comfortable with letting Trump deport millions and perhaps wreck the economy. There will be too many people hurt, many of whom did not vote for Trump. They deserve our support.

My interview with Bill Adair, the founder of PolitiFact and author of the recent Beyond the Big Lie: The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Can Burn Down Our Democracy, provoked much email. Carol Moore wrote:

At the end of your excellent and very interesting interview with Bill Adair, you guys are talking about your epiphany (that for Trumpists, Trump is the source of facts/news), and you are trying to figure out why Trump has been such a successful liar. "He is the ultimate influencer" Adair states, "in ways that confound us, he has mastered podcasts and these emerging forms of media." 

I think you miss a crucial, essential factor in understanding Trump's appeal and power: his 10-year run on The Apprentice, a reality show that millions of Americans watched, where they learned to believe that everything that came out of Trump's mouth was true, was real. They were groomed, as it were, and he played his role brilliantly. He has continued to play this role in living rooms of those same millions of Americans every night. Reality TV shows fundamentally changed how we consume media and entertainment. Trump seamlessly moved from TV star into politics, bringing the same audience and the same methodology with him. It hasn't failed him yet. 

Tim Turner had a similar response:

What all the postmortems miss is "what do Americans vote for?" I think your point that "Trump is the media" gets close. My conclusion is that Americans vote as if they were watching American Idol, and Trump won because Americans liked The Trump Show more than that contestant from California.

Judy Pang had this to say:

I wonder what that cause—that all important "epic struggle" that Bill Adair mentioned—could be that justifies any and all lying in the mind of Republicans other than to preserve the privileges, status, power, influence and wealth of (Christian) whites, especially white men. 

You are exactly right about Trump being his fan's primary media source. For one thing, he validates, encourages and reinforces their need to preserve the white traditional culture at all costs. Secondly, and in response to Adair's point, it’s much easier to have large rallies and speak to podcasters and new media, when just about everything out of your mouth is a lie—about your record, your actions, your plans, your opponent's record or plans, anything and everything. No need to study, prep, learn facts, worry about the consequences, nothing. After all that lying, many people believe the lies and don't bother to try to hold you accountable for them anymore. When you "flood the zone with shit," it's hard for others to wade through the mess, and I don't think Democrats want to emulate that. 

My take on the new Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, was well received by Our Land readers. Heidi Rosvold-Brenholtz noted:

Exceptional review of A Complete Unknown. I wish more people would up and say what you have: “Great movie. Still don’t know the guy.” 

Mechelle Schneider shared this recollection of Dylan:

A Complete Unknown was an excellent film. Maybe it is as close as we are going to get to knowing Bob Dylan, a man who doesn’t want to be known. I have been a lifelong fan of Dylan. The only time I have seen Dylan in concert was in the 1970s after he converted to Christianity. I was serving as an usher. It was a great job. The boss at the arena would let me select which events I wanted to work. Of course, I wanted to usher for the Dylan concert. But as is brought out in the film, Dylan was an asshole. Normally the ushers arrived to work a couple of hours before showtime. The artists generally warmed up for a while and then headed backstage. As ushers, we would watch the performers as they readied themselves for the concert. But Dylan was different. We each had to stand at the opening doors to the arena with our backs to him. His instructions were if any usher turned to look at him, he would cancel his performance.

Dylan was unique. His music was unique, too. What creates that? Genius? Introversion? Arrogance? A combination of these traits and more. The music though stands on its own. We are all better off for it.

“We have a snow day! This is great. You can’t go to work. We can play all day and go for long walks.”
“Not really, Moxie. Thanks to the internet, there are no snow days anymore.”
“We have to go back inside?”
“Yes, back to the computer.”
“This internet thing stinks.”
“It sure can, Moxie.”