Jimmy Carter, The Expert

Recently, Jimmy Carter considered going to Brandeis University, a university sponsored by the American Jewish community, to discuss his new book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid as a means to have students ask him questions and open up a dialogue about the situation in the Middle East. Not surprisingly, Carter's take is consistent with the faux left's: it's Israel's fault.

Then, the invitation changed from a one-man show to a debate with Harvard law professor and lawyer Alan Dershowitz. This got Carter upset and he cancelled his appearance. It wasn't the fact that he was scared to debate Dershowitz that caught my eye so much as it was what Carter said.

"I don't want to have a conversation even indirectly with Dershowitz. There is no need ... to debate someone who, in my opinon, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine."

Furthermore, he said the university's debate request was proof that many Americans aren't willing to hear an alternate viewpoint about the Israel/Palestine situation. He took it a step further by saying, "There is no debate in America about anything that would be critical of Israel."

To his credit, Dershowitz seized on Carter's statement and said, "President Carter said he wrote the book because he wanted to encourage more debate; then why won't he debate?" It's a legitimate question, and I have a legitimate answer.

Carter doesn't want debate on Israel; he wants to be able to bash Israel freely and without anyone of any credibility to question him. I don't agree with Dershowitz on a lot, but I will be the first one to admit he's not a dumb man. And with him being Jewish, I think it would add an interesting perspective on the Israeli/Palestinian situation, one I don't think Carter has fully considered. But that perspective won't be heard by Carter because he's pulling the "I know more than you do" card. This is something the faux left does when they want to squelch debate on a subject they're afraid of getting creamed by someone who might know more than they do on the subject the faux liberal is claiming intellectual superiority on. No matter what Carter says to the contrary, he cannot match Dershowitz's life experience, and that's what Carter can't accept.

But you really don't need to be a self-professed expert on Palestine to be one up on Carter. Go to any current world map or globe and try to find Palestine. It's not there. The only reason people like Carter mention Palestine is as a means to attack Israel for "stealing" the land, thus giving the Palestinians the presumed moral high ground. After all, according to the faux left, it's the Palestinians' land, so they have a rightful claim to it. Color me a cynic, but I want to see the deed to the land showing they own it before I hand over one square inch of it to the Palestinians. No deed, no property. It's as simple as that. Carter obviously feels differently and wants to hand over the land not because of any legitimate claims, but because of some odd disdain, if not hatred, of Jews.

And that's an area where Carter certainly can claim to be an expert.