One of my favorite topics: cuss words from the mouths of our presidents. We’ve been hearing about Obama on Kanye West. And about GWB. I think of Jimmy Carter. (My “first” president, in a way — one who left a deep impress on me.)

At some point, the White House learned that Sen. Ted Kennedy was going to challenge Carter for the 1980 presidential nomination. The president said, “If he runs, I’ll whip his a**.” (Which he did.) This leaked to the press.

And Carter later recorded in his memoirs that this was the greatest morale-booster in the White House “since the Willie Nelson concert.”

P.S. The 38th president promised to “Whip Inflation Now.” The 39th president promised to “whip his a**.”