Carter speaks truth to power

"I have a commitment to worship the prince of peace, not the prince of preemptive war." -- Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter, our born again, evangelical Baptist ex-president, minces no words in talking about George W. Bush, who portrays himself as a divinely inspired Man of God.

The quote is from a Craig Gilbert story in today's Journal Sentinel, which does not seem to be online here but must be syndicated somehow, because it's available in other papers like the San Jose Mercury News. Here's the lead (or lede, if you're a newspaper purist):

Washington -- As he promotes his latest book, Jimmy Carter is performing an unusual role for ex-presidents: that of full-throated presidential critic.

"I have been reluctant to publicly castigate an administration, but I think this particular administration has departed from all previous presidents," Carter, 81, told a group of reporters here, part of a series of appearances to publicize his 20th book, called "Our Endangered Values."

Carter says the book is his first "that's ever been designed to criticize an incumbent president." It is a sprawling indictment of the Bush presidency -- over Iraq, torture, taxes and deficits, among other things.

The Georgia Democrat, a born-again Christian, puts at the top of his complaints what he says is a rising "fundamentalism" in politics, "an unprecedented and overt -- not disguised -- merger of the church and the state, of religion and politics."

Carter has some advice for Democrats, too -- like being less aggressive on abortion and finding a way to relate to people who are religious -- something he and Bill Clinton could do, Carter says, but something he suggests John Kerry did not do.

UPDATE: It's now at JS online, too.