Beltway Insider: President Jimmy Carter Dies, Biden Announces State Funeral, Trump/Sentencing, NYE Terror Attack

Details

Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 05 January 2025 07:37

Written by Janet Walker

President Biden announced the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, who died December 29, 2024, will be held on January 9, 2025, at the National Cathedral, and has ordered the nations flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com for the period ending January 5, 2025, decreased by 0.1% to 37.3% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 0.03% to 56.9% of those polled. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Beltway Insider: Biden/Ukraine, Trump/TikTok, Putin/Russian Economy, Ukraine/Peace Talks, Assad, South Korean Plane Crash

Former President Jimmy Carter Dies

President Jimmy Carter, who served the nation, from 1977 through 1981, through a transitional and tumultuous time in American history, died this week at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100.

President Biden said, in remembering the 39^th president and longtime friend, "With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe."

Early Life

Born October 1, 2024, in Plains, Georgia, James Earl Carter, Jr., was raised surrounded by Southern values, that included the Baptist faith, farming and politics. By trade his family were peanut farmers and lived humbly devoted to community and country. As World War II broke out in 1939, Carter enlisted and when he graduated from Annapolis Navel Academy in 1946, he served his nation as a navel officer for seven years. He married Roslyn, in 1946, and the two remained married throughout the remainder of their lives.

After his release from military duty, he entered state politics. He would serve in the Georgia State Senate until 1967 and as the Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, when he turned his sights to the White House.

1976 Election

The climate of the nation in 1976, while celebrating the bicentennial, was embroiled in a time of disillusionment. Beginning with the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, thirteen years earlier, and the escalating casualties of the Vietnam war, and then just as the nation appeared to be mending the tragic double assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert K. Kennedy, in 1968, created an unsettling bombardment of political cynicism.

Coupled with the extended and aggravated collective post-traumatic stress disorder Americans were damaged again with release of the controversial Pentagon papers in 1971, which stabbed every American in the heart, especially those lost family members in Southeast Asia, and initiated a wave a political distrust. This was followed by the Watergate Scandal, beginning in 1972, which ended in 1974, with the resignation of then President Richard M. Nixon, in August 1974, leaving his Vice-President Gerald R. Ford to succeed him as President. His initial act to pardon Nixon, from all crimes, would prove to be the last straw for the American People.

Democrat Jimmy Carter won the November 1975 election with 297 electoral votes.

Hollywood Week: Medal of Freedom, Golden Globes, Liam Payne Update, Jeff Baena, Linda Lavin, Aaron Brown

Presidency Marred in Conflict

President historians would widely agree, that while Carter's presidency ushered in the much needed change the population needed, in the post-Watergate era. It was punctuated by three polarizing events. His domestic agenda was marred by the most challenging energy crisis the nation has ever experienced, and his foreign policy will forever be known for The Iranian Hostage crisis, that covered nearly two years of the term, and the historic peace agreement signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Menachem Begin.

Israel-Egypt Conflict

During Carter's term Israel and neighboring Egypt, were in conflict over territory. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed, at the invitation of Carter to meet at Camp David, the presidential lodge, to attempt to find a common ground. While the two leaders were unable to come to terms on the Israeli withdrawal of the West Bank, Egypt did, for the first time, formally recognize Israel as a nation.

"The accords were a source of great domestic opposition in both Egypt and Israel. Historian Jørgen Jensehaugen argues that by the time Carter left office in January 1981, he was "in an odd position—he had attempted to break with traditional U.S. policy but ended up fulfilling the goals of that tradition, which had been to break up the Arab alliance, sideline the Palestinians, build an alliance with Egypt, weaken the Soviet Union and secure Israel," according to Wikipedia.

Iran Hostage Crisis

President Carter's presidency would be overshadowed throughout history by the Iranian hostage crisis, and failed attempts at rescue which resulted in the deaths of U.S. military. On November 4, 1979, media broke from their programming as groups of armed Iranians breeched the walls of the United States embassy in Tehran and for the next 444 days were held hostage. The students demanded the release of the Shah of Iran, who had left the country in January 1979 to receive treatment for cancer. A failed attempt at rescue in 1980 left eight servicemen dead. The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, the day after president-elect Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President.

Post Presidency Elevates Carter to Statesmen

After Ronald Reagan's landslide victory, in November 1980, Carter returned to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, living in the same house, he had built before he entered politics. He remained dedicated to a life of service, and was fiscally conservative, living modestly and refusing to charge ridiculous fees for speaking engagements.

He built the Carter Center, an agency dedicated to the advancement of humanity and tackling the lack of basic human rights and other mitigating issues that keep many disenfranchised, impoverished, daily confronting disease, homelessness, and in a never-ending spiral of despair.

Throughout his post-presidency years, Carter worked with many democratic presidents providing counsel. He actively worked to tackle the homeless crisis in America, by creating the volunteer organization Habitat for Humanity, where individuals from all walks of life would donate their time to give back by assisting in building homes for the homeless.

He authored more than 80 books, received the Noble Peace Prize, in 2002, for "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development," according to the Carter Center. Throughout his post-presidency years, he maintained his commitment to attempt to leave the world better through diplomatic representation, the eradication of disease, and addressing domestic issues that blight society and are quickly reaching epidemic levels globally.

World News: A Francophile's View of the U.S. Presidential Election Part II

Funeral Arrangements

"Mr. Carter, who died at his home in Plains, Ga., at 100 on Sunday, will be flown by presidential plane on Tuesday, Jan. 7, to Washington, where he will be taken to the U.S. Navy Memorial in honor of his service as a submariner. He will then be taken by horse drawn caisson up to the Capitol, where he will lie in state through Jan. 8, much as several presidents going back to Abraham Lincoln have. Thousands of people are expected to file through the Rotunda to pay their respects, including lawmakers, diplomats and everyday Americans," reported The New York Times.

President Biden has ordered the nations flag to fly at half-staff for the month of January, as an "expression of public sorrow" including during the Inauguration ceremony for President elect Donald Trump. While many will see this as an act of spite for the incoming president, the tradition is in accordance with a proclamation issued in 1954, by the President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Coronavirus Total

The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants.

For the seven days ending January 5, 2025, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization increased by 48,260 confirmed cases totaling 777,074,803. The total worldwide death toll increased by 661 to 7,079,142 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated December 15, 2024, from The World Health Organization).

Former President Donald J. Trump Found Guilty on All Counts

Judge Upholds Trump Conviction

Acting New York State Justice Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over President-elect Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York State, announced in his 18-page ruling, that he would uphold the jury's verdict of guilty and sentencing would be scheduled for January 10, 2024.

Key decisions of the ruling pointed to Mr. Trump's continued disregard of the judicial branch, in which he wrote, "Defendant's disdain for the Third Branch of government, whether state or federal, in New York or elsewhere, is a matter of public record. Indeed, Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries and the justice system as a whole," the APnews.com reported.

He also reiterated the need to honor the jury verdict, "To vacate this verdict on the grounds that the charges are insufficiently serious given the position Defendant once held, and is about to assume again, would constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry's confidence in the Rule of Law."

He also explained while the felony verdict will be upheld, a sentence of "unconditional discharge," meaning for president-elect will not be sentenced to serve any prison time for his crimes, although will remain a convicted felon, as he begins his second term.

New Orleans New Year's Eve Terror Attack

Bourbon Street New Year Eve Massacre

After initial reports of possible suspects, FBI officials have confirmed that the Bourbon Street New Year's Eve massacre was the result of one individual who had been recently radicalized by the Islamic State (ISIS).

One week after the attack, the French Quarter, has largely returned to normal, new crowds of people, street performers, and gearing up for the next big tourist draw, Superbowl Sunday, February 9, 2025.

For the families of the 14 killed, and dozens injured, life will never return to normal, and January 1, 2025, will forever be remembered for the injury, loss, and terror on Bourbon Street.

"Early on New Year's Day, Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck onto a sidewalk and around a parked police car serving as a barricade to plow into pedestrians over a three-block stretch on Bourbon Street, police said. He then exited the damaged vehicle armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement said. Officers returned fire, killing him," ABCnews.com reported.

The FBI have begun piecing together the movements, including the terrorist recent trip to Egypt, and expecting to determine when the radicalization occurred. Following the trail of movements will help investigators determine if radicalization was in the United States.

Terrorism is the use of violence or the threat of violence to achieve a political or social goal by intimidating a population. Of course, as ISIS continues to rebuild, and seeks to capitalize on American unrest, there is elevated need to neutralize this organization outposts and stop its attempt to inflict harm and death on Americans.

For more information on President Joe Biden: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is completing the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," which is expected to be released in early 2025. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.