It did not take long for the United States to have its first mass-casualty attack. On January 1, in New Orleans, a Christian-born American citizen who was also a retired member of the military plowed a large vehicle into a crowd of revelers, killing 15. He had also put out some bombs on the street beforehand that, thankfully, did not detonate.
He had an ISIS flag on the back of the vehicle. The person had converted to Islam and became radicalized. The attack had nothing to do with the border or immigrants coming in, but it did not stop Trump from repeatedly making that argument. With Trump, facts never mattered anyway so why so this be any different? The real problem is that it is very hard to identify these home-grown terrorists who have decided to act in support of ISIS.
Now to my main part of the column. In last week’s issue, Sergey Kadinsky spotlighted former President Jimmy Carter speaking in Forest Hills when he was running for reelection in 1980. This is not the only time that Carter came to Queens to speak at a synagogue. I remember when Carter was running for president the first time, he came to the Bayside Jewish Center to speak. I was in high school and could not go since it was on a Sunday and I had classes. At that time, I wanted to go not to see Carter but to see Bob Grant, a conservative firebrand who used to yell at callers with whom he disagreed to “Get off the phone.” Another catch phrase was, “They folded quicker than a cheap camera.” He was obnoxious in a time when it was unusual for talk show hosts to act that way. Today, it is par for the course. My views on politics have evolved since then. Some may say I did teshuvah, and others will say I went off the derech.
I have many issues with Carter. I did not support him for president in 1976 or 1980. Considering how he was as president, it was the right choice. However, some of the criticisms and the inability to give him any credit by some of my fellow columnists is a bit too much. At a funeral, you are supposed to emphasize the positive. I will do so with Carter.
Carter helped achieve the Camp David Accords between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Began and Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat. The agreement has held since its signing in 1977. Imagine what the situation would be for Israel today if there were no peace treaty with Egypt.
Carter did not use the presidency as a money-making operation either while president or afterwards. He was humble, and treated people with respect. Today, we have leaders who are the exact opposite. No job was beneath his dignity. He was a big supporter of Habitat for Humanity, and even in his eighties would help build homes. He started the Carter Project in 1984 for Habitat for Humanity, and in the last 40 years they had 108,000 volunteers building 4,447 homes in 14 countries.
The Carter Foundation helped to almost eliminate guinea-worm disease. In 1986, the disease afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people a year throughout 21 countries in Africa and Asia. The incidence of guinea-worm has been reduced by more than 99.99 percent to 14 human cases in 2023. The disease has been eliminated in 17 countries. The guinea-worm eradication campaign has averted at least 80 million cases of this devastating disease among the world’s poorest and most neglected people. There is no known medication or vaccine to prevent guinea-worm disease. This is only one of the activities that it does. I do not agree with all the Carter Foundation’s policies and everything they do, but they do accomplish a lot.
Carter’s intentions were noble, even if his policies were occasionally flawed. He was a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, who accomplished so much during his 100 years. We should be so lucky to help so many people during our lifetime as Carter did. He deserves to be praised for his accomplishments and not be viciously attacked.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
