Today is Jimmy Carter's (GASP!) 94th birthday, and we cats are seeing good wishes for him flying all around social media. That's a warm and fuzzy feeling — even if we are a bit bewildered. Having served in his campaign and Administration, we well remember how everyone hated us in 1981 and couldn't wait for us to leave town. Now, there are Carter groupies everywhere. Amazing!
Not that there isn't reason for that. In retrospect, the accomplishments of the Carter Administration are earning new appreciation. Championing human rights, opening China, achieving Middle East peace, defending the environment and bringing honesty and accountability to government are just some of the achievements of Carter's that Americans, after two years of the Trump nightmare, must look back on with yearning.
And then there's women. You may have noticed these last few days that people have been talking a lot about who really respects and supports women, and who would champion their rights on, say, the Supreme Court. (That little thing called the Kavanaugh hearing has seared itself permanently onto our brains.) But Jimmy Carter was in office 40 years ago. How good was he on women's rights?
"President Carter appointed a record 41 women to federal judgeships," White House domestic policy adviser Stuart Eizenstat reports. "When he took office, there was only one female federal judge. While Carter never had the opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice, he appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the US Court of Appeals. In a recent interview, asked why she was a judge, Ginsburg replied, 'Because of Jimmy Carter, that's why.'
"He appointed three women as Cabinet secretaries...He also appointed a record number of women to subcabinet officer positions. With help from First Lady Rosalynn Carter, he worked to extend the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and established the first National Advisory Commission on Women."
(Hmmm, interesting. Lots of folks are saying we could use that Equal Rights Amendment now.)
Of course, there was that Playboy interview and lusting in his heart. But how positively quaint that is compared to all the pussy grabbing and Devil's Triangle-ing and boofing of today. We cats wish President Carter the happiest of birthday celebrations. And of course we PURR.
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