In Bob Greene`s Dec. 17 column ”The gift of honor for special birthday,” he apparently sees the emperor arrayed in a splendid set of new clothes, when in reality he is naked as a jaybird.
Jimmy Carter is merely following the traditional pattern of opportunistic American politicians (Richard Nixon, to name another): After a disastrous term in office, he allowed for a discreet cooling-off term out of the public eye and is now trying to make a comeback as an ”elder statesman.”
To this end, he is loudly touting unremarkable activities such as hand-crafting furniture, as if this made up for his failures as president. Yet when a constituent accords Carter the respect and admiration he seems to seek for this hobby, Carter curtly rebuffs him, like a movie star, with an autographed picture of himself!
Honor? I call it self-serving hypocrisy.
