Postscript

Jimmy and Bill and George

To the Editor:

Molly Ivins’ so-called News Analysis (“Bad

Manners,” October 17th issue) attacked a negative

political commentary about ex-President Jimmy Carter

with a litany of his personal and after-office

accomplishments. I thought Bill Clinton and his supporters,

especially James Carville, whom Ivins cites as a

defender of Carter’s sainthood, recently established that the

standard of measuring a president had nothing to do

with his personal life, character, sense of honor, ethics,

or morals.

Clearly, there is much to admire in some of

Carter’s personal beliefs and work. But this does not

change his grossly ineffective performance as president,

no matter how much Ivins and others want to ensure

that history, or at least the average American, forgets it.

As president, Carter was a master of symbolism: the

cardigan, the fireside chat, etc. In reality, he spent

days on trivia such as low-level procedures or even

who had priority to play on the White House tennis

courts. He would order travel in limos instead of

helicopters or stay in private homes while campaigning to

publicize how he was saving a few bucks and what a

down-to-earth, great guy he was — never mind that the

lives of thousands more would be disrupted or that the

extra police and Secret Service protection would cost

tremendously more than was saved.

I personally saw the havoc that Carter wreaked

on the U.S. Armed Services. My first job after

graduating Memphis State in 1979 was as a civilian

engineer for the Air Force. I also enjoyed voting against

Carter for reelection because he came into office

holding Gerald Ford solely and personally responsible for

the U.S. economy yet ran for reelection while

blaming everyone in the country but himself for a far, far

more dismal economic picture. His sole presidential

accomplishment was a Middle-East peace that doesn’t

look very peaceful to most of us who read the news.

But even if all Carter’s very real failures aren’t

ignored, how shabby Bill Clinton still seems by comparison.

Herbert E. Kook Jr.

Germantown

To the Editor:

Some Republicans are upset because former

President Jimmy Carter won the 2002 Nobel Peace

Prize. Basically, they argue that he should be

disqualified because he has spent too much time working for

peace. Instead, in a claim that rivals the pronouncements

of Orwell’s Ministry of Truth, these G.O.P. partisans

actually suggest that President George W. Bush

would have been a much better choice.

Right. War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery.

Ignorance is Strength.

B. Keith English

Memphis

Response to Hypocrites

To the Editor:

I could not fully understand why you chose

to publish two letters from, presumably, Baptist

readers on the importance of God and the Bible versus

the lottery in Tennessee (Postscript, October 17th

issue). Intrigued, I read the section several times, trying to locate

a rebuttal or another letter endorsing the necessity of a state

lottery to help pay for improving our awful education system.

But I found nothing.

My search came to an end when I finally saw the huge ad

titled “There’s no comparison to Grand,” which featured two

exuberant middle-age women (who looked a lot like Baptists) rejoicing

jubilantly for having won at the casino. The best response to the

hypocrites was right there in front of me.

Marcello Arsura

Memphis

Tim Makes Merry

To the Editor:

On behalf of Merry Maids, I want to thank Tim

Sampson for mentioning our company in the October 3rd issue of

the Flyer (We Recommend). Merry Maids is a division of

the ServiceMaster Company and is headquartered right

here in Memphis. Each year, we host some 700 of our

franchise owners and managers for a convention of

learning, sharing, and, of course, fun and entertainment. It

was our gala Saturday-night event that Tim and his

friend accidentally crashed. To take nothing from the

ingenious Pat Tigrett and her Blues Ball, we think we throw a

pretty good party here at Merry Maids.

In the spirit of telling the Merry Maids story and

in bringing our family together for fellowship and

learning, we thank you for spending some time with us.

And we certainly want to thank you for including us in

the article. Dinner was on us, and it was the best $71.30

we ever accidentally spent for press coverage.

Rob Sanders

Director of Market Expansion, Merry Maids

Memphis

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