Why Carter Isn't Going to Pope's Funeral

According to the American Spectator, details are beginning to emerge about Bush's decision not to include Jimmy Carter in the U.S. delegation to the Pope's funeral, despite several attempts by Carter's representatives to get the former President invited. Carter expressed his dissatisfaction at not being included by the White House on Tuesday.

Carter was often [on] the wrong side of the political fence when it came to elections and policies in Latin America, where John Paul II devoted a great deal of time in the 1980s stamping out the Marxist "Liberation Theology" movement. At one point in 1979, the Vatican sought assistance from the Carter Administration State Department to limit the travels of U.S. Maryknoll missionaries to Central American countries, where they were teaching and preaching Liberation Theology alongside like-minded Latin American priests.

"The other thing that people forget is that Carter has treated President Bush very badly. He has openly criticized the President in a manner that President Clinton has not," says a Bush administration source. "He has traveled around the world bad-mouthing this president and this country's policies. I would be surprised if a single person gave a thought to including him in the delegation."

I'm still not sure who to believe on this one, since the White House still claims that it extended an invite to the former President. Based on Carter's past decisions to openly criticize Bush, it wouldn't surprise me if this was another attmept to express his displeasure. Maybe Carter will be allowed to monitor the Cardinal's "fair election process" of the next Pope...