Final Interview: Ed Koch reveals the man he 'despises' most--Jimmy Carter

[WI_DEM]

One of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's last interviews before his death on Friday came in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire.

The most interesting part of the Q&A came when he was asked who was what living person he "most despise[s]." Koch made a lot of enemies in his life — several mayors, upstate suburbanites and two generations worth of Cuomos among them — but his answer was very surprising:

Which living person do you most despise?
Former president Jimmy Carter


He wrote:


In a 2008 op-ed in Real Clear Politics, Koch detailed that he refused to campaign with Carter in 1980 because he felt he was hostile toward Israel.

I was popular with the Jewish community and when I would not campaign for him unless he changed his position, he called me to his hotel in New York when attending a fundraiser and said, "You have done me more damage than any man in America." I felt proud then, and even more today, since we now know what a miserable president he was then and the miserable human being he is now as he prepares to meet with Hamas.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ed-koch-jimmy-carter-death-dead-2013-2#ixzz2KiuQS88u


How can anybody call Jimmy Carter a 'miserable human being'--a man who has worked consistently for peace, builds houses for the poor, and works to eradicate disease in third world countries?

[Ed Suspicious]

1. Carter is a kind and gentle man who leads by his deeds. Come on, Koch!

[TwilightGardener]

2. Ed Koch was a jackass.

And that was your "Speak Ill Of The Dead" installment for today, tune in next time...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. Never liked Koch. Ever.

The guy always rubbed me the wrong way. This only confirms it.

Oh well, Jimmy outlived him, so I guess he gets the last laugh.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. koch is a fucking asshole. he watched and participated in reagan ignoring the aids crisis

and carter was the person he decided was a miserable human being?

ugh

at least larry kramer outlived koch. there is some joy in that.

[DollarBillHines]

30. You forgot 'hypocrite'

Ed Koch was gay.

And a pathetic little shit.

[JI7]

5. remember he endorsed Bush in 2004

i think only reason he endorsed Obama was because he knew he was nearing the end of his years so wanted to go out having done the right thing in the end.

[blm]

9. Exactly, trying to backpedal on 2004 after watching Bush destroy so much.

.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

6. Ed Koch endorsed George W Bush in 2004. You can't get more stupid than that.

His words are of no value, and his death doesn't elevate his stature.

[blm]

7. Koch was a big Bush supporter in 2004, too. He only loved Bushes and Clintons.

.

[libtodeath]

8. Denying president Carter a second term was probably one of the biggest mistakes

this country ever made.

[Go Vols]

11. +1

couldn't agree more

[samsingh]

12. AGREED

[Blue_Tires]

13. +1

[tabasco]

16. This country wasn't good enough for Carter.

We didn't deserve him.

[mac56]

19. +1000

[FSogol]

21. + infinity

[bernynhel]

22. But only because Regan followed!!!!

[libtodeath]

38. Whose campaign conspired with Iran to keep the hostages from being released.

[Douglas Carpenter]

29. 100% agree -I supported a third party candidate that years - biggest political mistake I ever made

[DisgustipatedinCA]

31. I had completely forgotten about John Anderson. n/t

[Douglas Carpenter]

35. actually I voted for Barry Commoner of the Citizens Party a precursor to the Green Party

Ronald Reagan convinced me not support to third parties anymore

[DisgustipatedinCA]

39. oops, my fault. I'll have to read about Barry Commoner; I don't know anything of him. (n/t)

[dodgecharger]

36. its his defense funding that largely brought the internet to the world...

[Ikonoklast]

10. Just one more reason to add to all the others.

Ed Koch was mostlt interested in Ed Koch.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

14. Even in death....

....Ed Koch is a bitter, miserable asshole.

Go fuck yourself, Ed.

[Posteritatis]

15. Wow, even by the standards that's a pretty vile stance

Reminds me of one of the MPs up here making a fuss about how he thought Mandela was evil. He took some time off from the spotlight for a couple of weeks after that and the various party leaders joked that they had him locked in a car trunk until he learned to behave.

[Horse with no Name]

17. Fuck Koch.

Seriously.

[Shankapotomus]

18. I'm certain Carter would never answer

such a question. Who would want to leave that behind for anybody?

[marybourg]

27. +1

[gaspee]

32. You too?

Jimmy Carter is a fine man and a humanitarian. People who se Palestinians as non-deserving of human rights are the only people who think Carter is an anti-semite. I feel sorry for you that you hate Palestinians so much it blinds you to Cater's compassion to ALL human beings, including the vast majority of Palestinians. Or are all Palestinians terrorists?

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

33. Well said gaspee.

Wish you would post more. DU needs to hear from you more often.

[Douglas Carpenter]

34. thank you

[OldDem2012]

40. Well said. nt.

[marybourg]

42. I don't see "Palestinians as non-deserving of human rights",

but I do see Jimmy Carter, whom I liked as a President and as an ex-President, as a knee-jerk Israel hater, although I won't say anti-semite, because I don't think he necessarily hates Jews, but he sure reacts immediately and reflexively against Israel, offending me deeply.

[gaspee]

43. Really?

You posted +1 to a now hidden post that called President Carter a "Jimmy Carter is an anti-semite SOB"

[gaspee]

28. I feel sorry for you

If you really believe that Jimmy Carter is an anti-semite.

[Dpm12]

23. I always thought

people gave Carter too much shit. He was better than that Reagan guy

[surrealAmerican]

24. Everything was "personal" with Koch.

He never could see the bigger picture.

[HughBeaumont]

25. Ed Koch was in this shit-piece with Anne Coulter and Dick Morris.

[liberalmuse]

26. Wow, Carter. Really?

You save your hate for this wonderful man? I wonder if he slapped Jesus at the pearly gates.

[malaise]

37. Fuck Ed Koch

He was no Jimmy Carter

[OldDem2012]

41. Well, on the Miserable Human Being List, Koch is ranked pretty high, while Carter....

....doesn't even make the list.

[disndat]

44. Koch was anathema to progressives

in many ways, but he deserves some kind of monument for passing the cleanup after your pet law in NYC. The dog-do's had become an environmental and odor disaster in the City. After the "yucky" law was passed, people surprisingly obeyed, Many dog owners reacted negatively and gave up their pets to the ASPCA as suddenly the large population of dogs disappeared from NYC streets for awhile until people adjusted and accepted the law as good sense. Now the law is copied in many large citie around the world.