(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Jimmy Carter Made A Confession. The Men Around Me Laughed. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-21 Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour. In the autumn of 1976 I was looking forward to turning fifteen in a couple of months. My braces had come off, and I decided that one way or another I'd be ditching the Coke bottle glasses next. I had plans for a full-on makeover. (Which I eventually accomplished, by convincing my parents that contact lenses would help me do even better in school.) I was done with childhood. But my childhood habit of eavesdropping remained. At this time my parents still had a social circle that included people who didn't go to their church. A couple were even Democrats. Like my parents, most were artists, and when they gathered for weekend parties the conversation was always lively. This occasion was no exception. Because San Diego was generally pleasant in the autumn people would gather in the backyard to talk and drink and smoke, even if they didn't jump into our swimming pool. And so I sat quietly on the patio, a can of Tab in my hand, and just listened. One of Dad's friends mentioned the latest issue of Playboy. I knew what it was, several of Dad's friends subscribed to it. I'd seen copies of it in their homes, and on one memorable occasion my mom found a copy in Dad's nightstand. Finding the Anarchist Cookbook could not have elicited the outrage that Miss July in all her glory did that day. But the centerfold was not the topic of discussion. It was the interview with Jimmy Carter. The "peanut farming hick" and "goody two-shoes Sunday school teacher" (their words, not mine) had actually admitted, in a national publication with a readership of millions, to having committed adultery in his heart. Many times in fact. Apparently Mr Carter had repented, and God had forgiven him. (I never heard how his wife Rosalynn felt about it, then or later) My dad and his buddies absolutely hooted with derision and glee. What an idiot. He'd never be president now. What kind of dope does that? The November 1976 issue of Playboy Magazine. It was released weeks ahead of the election. My mom and the other wives present didn't say a word. I remember their tight-lipped, grim faced silence as they all went back into the house together. While their husbands chortled. My dad, whose one night stand with a coworker resulted in the kind of screaming violence that nowadays would get parents hauled off to jail and kids taken away by CPS; my parents separated for nearly a year after Mom found out. Dad's buddy Phil, I'd been the flower girl at his wedding seven years earlier; his wife had gone to their doctor for a pregnancy test which came back negative, but the odd pain she'd been experiencing turned out to be an STD. Phil was now divorced, "footloose and fancy free" as he put it. And Mike, the brilliant artist whose wife wept in our kitchen at her inability to have a baby while her husband carried on with college girls. Not one of them would have been so foolish as to make a full confession for the entire world to see. They just bragged about their adventures to each other. And let their wives find out later, one way or another. Young and inexperienced as I was, even I was struck by the irony of these men, who "lusted in their hearts" every single time they looked at Playboy, mocking the man who had openly admitted to it in an interview with that same publication. It astounds me to this very day. The dark horse peanut farmer won the election. My dad and his friends continued to make fun of him, and grumble about the way he worked as president. Decades later my parents voted for a man who not only admitted to actual physical infidelity but openly bragged about sexual assault. While making a point of telling everyone that he never, ever apologizes for anything. Never repents. Never seeks forgiveness. When that man finally passes away much of the world will breathe a collective sigh of relief. Some will probably celebrate. But right now, it's Jimmy Carter who is facing his mortality with courage and grace. He was perhaps not the best president we've ever had. But he has been the most magnificent former president. And when he's gone, the world will genuinely miss him. Thank you for reading. This is an open thread, all topics are welcome. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/21/2154021/-Jimmy-Carter-Made-A-Confession-The-Men-Around-Me-Laughed Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/