1115.org

The White House used to have a fairly thick skin when it came to criticism from the likes of Jimmy Carter. Not so much any more:

Carter, a Democrat, said on Saturday in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that “as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.”

White House spokesman Tony Fratto had declined to react on Saturday but on Sunday fired back.

“I think it’s sad that President Carter’s reckless personal criticism is out there,” Fratto told reporters. “I think it’s unfortunate. And I think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments.”

Carter has been an outspoken critic of Bush, but the White House has largely refrained from attacking him in return. Sunday’s sharp response marks a departure from the deference that sitting presidents traditionally have shown their predecessors.

I suspect all kinds of interested parties have noted that, if you taunt them, they do now react. Such reaction, of course, is always ill-advised. And so, I suspect, all kinds of interested parties will step up the taunting. It’s not like there’s any dearth of taunt-worthy material. Why let all that good stuff go to waste? Maybe we can’t impeach the twit. But needling him till he blows his stack in public might make that easier to bear.