Remember when Gingrich was big on the word, civility? Is it possible that the Dems can hold things together in Congress? There's so much heat and so little light in political discourse. As an example look at the reaction to Carter's book. I don't know what he wrote, but he surely was serious in trying to solve the New East conumdrum. When he called off US participation in the Olympics because of USSR in Afghanistan, be was pilloried for it. And there was the famous sniping of Bill Clinton. He did a little sabre rattling over Iraq because they didn't stay in their fly lanes. Since he was having impeachment problems at the time, the newspapers said that he was using it as a diversionary tactic.
Tonight I re-visited Jerry Ford's acceptance speech at the 76 convention. At the time, I was disgusted because he bragged about beating inflation. On his short watch we had gas lines and the price went from 35 cents to 65. His WIN buttons were the butt of jokes. By the way, can one still buy the cleaning solution "Mr. Clean?" That is what people called him. I have no dispute with his handling of his caretaker government, except that he hired Cheney and Rumsfeld and came out for more military spending. On hearing it again, I realize the speech was a leadin for what we would hear from Reagan four years later.