We don't care how passionate you are about your cause. It behooves even the most inflamed radical to at least avoid confirming the other side's stereotypes of you. Except Jimmy Carter is being hosted at UCI. What could be more prefect?

Here's the thing: let's say that everything that Carter says is true. Let's pretend there are Jewish and non-Jewish neo-conservatives causing American policy to lean towards Israel and against America. This is obviously asinine - Israel and the US face an identical foe, one that would gain incredible support and traction by destroying Israel. But let's pretend.

Now he's being brought in officially by the Model UN folks, but we don't think that anyone's under any impression about who his natural audience on UC Irvine's campus is - and if not his natural audience, then certainly who his most enthusiastic audience will be. Who do we know on UC Irvine's campus looking for pretexts to hate Israel?

Now, those two things being said - (a) imagining a world in which Carter was right and (b) knowing that there is a fairly radicalized population of Muslims on UCI's campus - the question remains "does the truth of what Carter's saying even matter"? Because his defense is that his fantasy world is actually true. But even if it was true - do you think that that's what UCI's lunatic Muslim population is going to hear?

Of course not. They're going to take this confirmation of a global Jewish conspiracy - a tamer version of what this guy, who they invite all the time, says. By accepting this invitation, Jimmy Carter has just agreed to fan the flames of radical anti-Semitism, on the pretext - at best - of "presenting the truth". It's like going to a meeting of rabid anti-Muslim bigots and talking about 9/11. Even if you're telling the truth, that's not what they're getting out of it. He's playing to an adoring crowd of vicious anti-Semites, and accepting adoration that comes for the worst reasons.

In addition to not becoming a caricature of oneself, one should also avoid rubbing shoulders with really despicable people. If only for appearance's sake.

References:
* Jimmy Carter to visit UC Irvine, talk with students [Today@UCI]
* Amir Abdel Malik Back On The UC Irvine Campus [MR]

Previously:
* In Just Seven Short Paragraphs, Jimmy Carter Tells 2 Lies, Makes 2 Incoherent Arguments, Takes an Anti-Israel Stance that the State Department Mocks, and Just Generally Annoys the Hell Out of Us
* Jimmy Carter: Hamas Made Up of "So-Called Terrorists"
* Carter Backs Out Of Defending His Book. That Doesn't Seem To Exactly Enhance His Credibility, Ya Know?