Yet another crazy C-SPAN caller

Yes, it's time for another C-SPAN whacko transcript!

Former president Jimmy Carter appeared on C-SPAN's Book TV yesterday (here's the video; transcript begins at 55:30), and he took some calls. (Props to The Raw Story's coverage for bringing this to my attention.)

HOST: Aurora, Illinois.

CALLER: Yes, um, Mr. Carter, thank you for making me a Republican, um, because of your incompetence in handling the Iranians, with stagflation, and your cozying up with every dictator, thug, and Islamic terrorist there is. But more importantly, I find you to be vile, because of lack of heart, in part because you're an anti-Semite.

And let me explain why I think you're a bigot, a racist, and an anti-Semite.

HOST: I think, Caller, that the name-calling is, is enough. Thank you. [To Carter] But, these are the strong questions that are coming from people.

CARTER: I didn't quite understand her, but I think I can understand it. Can I comment?

HOST: Sure. Please do.

CARTER: Well, I think if you look at the history of my public career, the last thirty years, the preeminent goal that I've had in my mind is to bring peace to the people of Israel. And, um, I've worked on this without cessation during my adult life in politics. I was the only one, by the way, who ended the series of wars - four wars in twenty-five years - between Israel and Israel's major adversary, that is, Egypt ... yeah, Egypt. I sat down with them and negotiated a peace agreement in April of 1979, not a word of which has ever been violated. No one else has done that. Israel's never had a day of war with, or conflict with Egypt since.

And this book is not cover [sic], at all, anything inside Israel, as I pointed out earlier in this program. It's designed to cover the nation of the Palestinians. Palestine is the name of the book. And the next word in the title is peace. I hope for peace, for Israel and the Palestinians. And then the last two words is [sic] not apartheid. I don't want to see any persecution or separation of Israelis and their neighbors inside Palestine. And that's what is happening now.

So, I don't, you know, have to go any further. But for people to say that I'm against Israel when the book doesn't mention anything [against] Israel, or that I'm against - or that I'm an anti-Semite, is something that, obviously, I reject with, uh, with enthusiasm.

The grace with which President Carter handled this attack is testament to his character. Would that a certain current occupant of the White House had half as much tact and aplomb.