[Hoot Gibson]

Carter did nothing but embarrass Americans with his actions during the hostage crisis. It probably cost him the election. Anybody who believes that Carter, who was negotiating from a position of extreme weakness following his defeat in November, 1980, successfully convinced a group of hard core radical fundamentalist Muslim terrorists to release the hostages understands neither the basic principles of negotiation nor the mindset of Muslim terrorists. They respect one thing - strength - and Carter was seen even more as a weakling than our current president.

Lame duck presidents who lose their final elections by landslide margins get no respect, particularly from the people who hate them most.

I knew many Iranians during Iranian hostage crisis, some who supported the Shah, and some who bitterly opposed him, and all of them would have laughed at the suggestion that Iran released the hostages because of anything that Jimmy Carter did. Carter was an absolute failure as a president and his handling of the hostage crisis was his biggest failure. That is a historical fact.