Did the Secretary of State call the former president a liar?
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday the Bush administration explicitly warned former President Jimmy Carter against meeting with members of Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip and which is regarded by the U.S. as a terror group.It sounds to me that neither Rice nor Carter are lying per se, but that Rice inadvertently gave Carter the loophole he needed to slither through in order to go and to claim that no one said not to. Here's how.Rice, attending a regional meeting on Iraq's security and future, contradicted Carter's assertions that he never got a clear signal from the State Department. Rice told reporters that the U.S. thought the visit could confuse the message that the U.S. will not deal with Hamas.
"I just don't want there to be any confusion," Rice said. "The United States is not going to deal with Hamas and we had certainly told President Carter that we did not think meeting with Hamas was going to help" further a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.[SNIP]
In an interview with NPR, Carter said the State Department did not warn him off the trip.
By saying that a meeting with Hamas wouldn't be 'helpful' to a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, Rice assumed that Carter wanted to be helpful to the Bush Administration goals and assumed that he desires a peaceful settlement--with peaceful meaning that none of parties in question is pushed into the sea.
Therefore, she assumed that merely expressing disapproval without using the explicit words "don't go or we'll revoke your passport" would work--especially on a former Head of State. Unfortunately she forgot with whom she was dealing. Jimmy Carter couldn't care less about the goals of a Republican Administration or about those of any set of Jews.
The only things that this particular former president cares about are: making himself look good and shaking off the tarbaby of his failed but mercifully short presidency. Good luck with that.
I joked about Carter being beset with dementia, but, on the real, he's got every narcissistic marble that he's ever had.
(Thanks to Lucianne)
