I had intended to get on with the Ninth Amendment today but once again, I am being diverted by even more ridiculous antics that require a closer look in the name of common sense. The remarks made by former President James Carter during an NBC Nightly News broadcast on Tuesday evening that he reiterated on Wednesday during a speech at Emory University defy logic.
In response to the outburst of Representative Joe Wilson during President Obama’s address to Congress, Mr. Carter said "I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American.”
He continued, "It's a racist attitude and my hope is and my expectation is that in the future both Democratic leaders and Republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the United States."
To compound matters further, the former President discussed the opposition to the President’s healthcare initiative in which he also said, "That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply,"
Most Ex Presidents retire gracefully, open their libraries, write their memoirs and smile for the cameras. Rarely do they comment on the current President and even more rarely, do they insert themselves into the current body politic unless asked to do so. Bill Clinton was asked to intervene in the case of two American journalists that were arrested in North Korea which he did successfully and without question. His mission accomplished, he returned to the duties that any Former President has which includes support of the current President.
Sometimes support of the President is most effectively served by what is not done as opposed to any direct action a former President may take. It serves no one when a former President makes statements and comments that create a storm of controversy around the sitting President. Mr. Carter’s comments were not only a display of his ignorance but his reckless arrogance.
Mr. Wilson was wrong to have shouted out “You Lie!” during the President’s speech. What’s more is that he knew it was wrong and that is why he called the White House and apologized directly to the President. The President, to his credit, recognized that for the good of the nation it was in everyone’s best interest to accept Mr. Wilson’s apology so that the Congress could resume the business that the American people pay them to do rather than to allow this to become a distraction.
I have faced some criticism for not supporting Mr. Wilson’s outburst. To clarify, I felt the President’s speech spoke down to the Republican’s of Congress and unfairly characterized their efforts and involvement in the healthcare debate. In fact, many of them were holding up copies of the amendments they offered to bring bipartisanship to the discussion, amendments that Nancy Pelosi refused to debate, amendments the President refused to acknowledge. This angered many of the people sitting in Congress that night. The truth is that his speech may not have included outright lies, but there were a number of gross inaccuracies and the President chose to hide behind semantics rather than honestly answer the concerns that everyone from Republicans and moderate Democrats as well as those that attended the town hall meetings had raised.
There is a decorum that we expect of our representatives and whether or not you agree with the President’s agenda, there is a respect that must be maintained for the office of the Presidency. Mr. Wilson has a forum for his dissent that we do not. This was not a town hall meeting and he is not “Joe the Plumber”. While I support his assessment of the President’s speech, I can not condone his behavior. He could have, and should have reserved his comments for the news cameras that were stationed all around the capitol that night. He could have called some of the Sunday political shows and made an appearance to explain the inaccuracies in the President speech. But no, he decided to act like an unruly child in a school assembly. Mr. Wilson chose to make an ass out of himself but to spite what Jimmy Carter may think, that only makes him an ass, not a racist.
As a note, the Congressional Democrats routinely called Bush a liar although it was never done during a speech to a joint session of Congress. They did however; boo him during the course of a speech to a joint session of Congress back in 2003 and I just don’t recall any one of them ever calling the White House to apologize. Oh but I forgot….the Democrats controlled Congress then too so that must have been ok.
What I really take issue with is Mr. Carter’s statement that if you are one of the people that oppose this administration that your opposition is evidence of your own bigotry. I not only find that disgusting but personally insulting. You would have to be blind not to have noticed that the people who marched in Washington on September 12th were representative of every race and every walk of life. Their anger is based solely on this administration’s policies. They want tax relief, not more taxes to support massive new social programs. They do not want redistributive politics. They are angry over $3.6 trillion dollar budgets with $1 trillion dollar deficits. They do not want government controlled healthcare. They would still have marched regardless of who occupied the White House if they were trying to sell the same programs.
This President had a seventy percent approval rating when he assumed office. Roughly twenty percent disapproved and the rest had no opinion. Of the more than twenty percent that disapproved immediately following the election, many had deep ideological differences in his approach to the roll of government. Those are the same people that categorically disapproved of all of the Democratic candidates during the campaign. The President’s current approval rating is roughly fifty percent. He did not lose thirty percent of his support because people all of a sudden discovered he was black. He lost the support of moderate and independent voters because he jumped on the fast track of big government and massive spending bills. This is not the change he promised and this was not the change they had voted for.
I am not foolish enough to suggest that there is no such thing as racism in the country; it is unfortunately alive and well and no one group of people has a monopoly on it. I will say that unlike the early days of the civil rights movement that racism is no longer tolerated in most circles and in fact, those that still practice it have been ostracized for holding such vile beliefs. America has black celebrities, black entrepreneurs, black CEO’s, black Congressmen, Black General’s, black ambassadors, black professors, black astronauts, black Supreme Court Justices and yes, even a black President; which means a majority of the people that Mr. Carter just accused of racism had in fact, voted for Mr. Obama.
I can tell you that I base my decisions about people on character, ideology, morality and yes, even a person’s political views and that I do not base my judgments on race nor do I know anyone that does. I have no opinion about who President. Obama is because I don’t know him personally. I’ve seen people on television that have known him for years and speak highly of his character. He appears from all evidence to be a dedicated father and husband. In fact, I don’t think I have heard anyone besmirch him on a personal level. All of the opposition that I know of is centered on his policies and with the radical beliefs of the people he has chosen as his circle of advisors; some of which have made far more serious and racially motivated comments than “You lie”.
So where is this culture of bigotry that the former President is speaking of? Could any of the people I mentioned above hold these positions of power in an overwhelmingly racist nation? Well if that is Mr. Carter’s first assumption, then maybe he is gauging the rest of us by the evil that resides in his own heart. I seriously hope that Mr. Carter is simply suffering the ravages of old age and that these comments were a flashback to his early years when racism was prevalent. If not then I would have to suspect that his comments were carefully crafted to intimidate those that oppose the President’s plans into half-hearted support or face the threat of being labeled a racist or that maybe, he is a racist himself and just assumes we all believe as he does.
Jimmy Carter has disgraced himself and this nation. He has deeply insulted the American people with his despicable claims and he should apologize in a venue just as public as the one he used to insult the integrity of the citizens of this nation. I would then suggest he consult a life coach that can train him to act with the dignity and decorum that we expect from a former President of the United States. I would also recommend to those in the media that the next time Mr. Carter reaches for a microphone that someone takes the batteries out of it first. I just don’t think he can help himself.
Paul
In response to the outburst of Representative Joe Wilson during President Obama’s address to Congress, Mr. Carter said "I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American.”
He continued, "It's a racist attitude and my hope is and my expectation is that in the future both Democratic leaders and Republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the United States."
To compound matters further, the former President discussed the opposition to the President’s healthcare initiative in which he also said, "That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply,"
Most Ex Presidents retire gracefully, open their libraries, write their memoirs and smile for the cameras. Rarely do they comment on the current President and even more rarely, do they insert themselves into the current body politic unless asked to do so. Bill Clinton was asked to intervene in the case of two American journalists that were arrested in North Korea which he did successfully and without question. His mission accomplished, he returned to the duties that any Former President has which includes support of the current President.
Sometimes support of the President is most effectively served by what is not done as opposed to any direct action a former President may take. It serves no one when a former President makes statements and comments that create a storm of controversy around the sitting President. Mr. Carter’s comments were not only a display of his ignorance but his reckless arrogance.
Mr. Wilson was wrong to have shouted out “You Lie!” during the President’s speech. What’s more is that he knew it was wrong and that is why he called the White House and apologized directly to the President. The President, to his credit, recognized that for the good of the nation it was in everyone’s best interest to accept Mr. Wilson’s apology so that the Congress could resume the business that the American people pay them to do rather than to allow this to become a distraction.
I have faced some criticism for not supporting Mr. Wilson’s outburst. To clarify, I felt the President’s speech spoke down to the Republican’s of Congress and unfairly characterized their efforts and involvement in the healthcare debate. In fact, many of them were holding up copies of the amendments they offered to bring bipartisanship to the discussion, amendments that Nancy Pelosi refused to debate, amendments the President refused to acknowledge. This angered many of the people sitting in Congress that night. The truth is that his speech may not have included outright lies, but there were a number of gross inaccuracies and the President chose to hide behind semantics rather than honestly answer the concerns that everyone from Republicans and moderate Democrats as well as those that attended the town hall meetings had raised.
There is a decorum that we expect of our representatives and whether or not you agree with the President’s agenda, there is a respect that must be maintained for the office of the Presidency. Mr. Wilson has a forum for his dissent that we do not. This was not a town hall meeting and he is not “Joe the Plumber”. While I support his assessment of the President’s speech, I can not condone his behavior. He could have, and should have reserved his comments for the news cameras that were stationed all around the capitol that night. He could have called some of the Sunday political shows and made an appearance to explain the inaccuracies in the President speech. But no, he decided to act like an unruly child in a school assembly. Mr. Wilson chose to make an ass out of himself but to spite what Jimmy Carter may think, that only makes him an ass, not a racist.
As a note, the Congressional Democrats routinely called Bush a liar although it was never done during a speech to a joint session of Congress. They did however; boo him during the course of a speech to a joint session of Congress back in 2003 and I just don’t recall any one of them ever calling the White House to apologize. Oh but I forgot….the Democrats controlled Congress then too so that must have been ok.
What I really take issue with is Mr. Carter’s statement that if you are one of the people that oppose this administration that your opposition is evidence of your own bigotry. I not only find that disgusting but personally insulting. You would have to be blind not to have noticed that the people who marched in Washington on September 12th were representative of every race and every walk of life. Their anger is based solely on this administration’s policies. They want tax relief, not more taxes to support massive new social programs. They do not want redistributive politics. They are angry over $3.6 trillion dollar budgets with $1 trillion dollar deficits. They do not want government controlled healthcare. They would still have marched regardless of who occupied the White House if they were trying to sell the same programs.
This President had a seventy percent approval rating when he assumed office. Roughly twenty percent disapproved and the rest had no opinion. Of the more than twenty percent that disapproved immediately following the election, many had deep ideological differences in his approach to the roll of government. Those are the same people that categorically disapproved of all of the Democratic candidates during the campaign. The President’s current approval rating is roughly fifty percent. He did not lose thirty percent of his support because people all of a sudden discovered he was black. He lost the support of moderate and independent voters because he jumped on the fast track of big government and massive spending bills. This is not the change he promised and this was not the change they had voted for.
I am not foolish enough to suggest that there is no such thing as racism in the country; it is unfortunately alive and well and no one group of people has a monopoly on it. I will say that unlike the early days of the civil rights movement that racism is no longer tolerated in most circles and in fact, those that still practice it have been ostracized for holding such vile beliefs. America has black celebrities, black entrepreneurs, black CEO’s, black Congressmen, Black General’s, black ambassadors, black professors, black astronauts, black Supreme Court Justices and yes, even a black President; which means a majority of the people that Mr. Carter just accused of racism had in fact, voted for Mr. Obama.
I can tell you that I base my decisions about people on character, ideology, morality and yes, even a person’s political views and that I do not base my judgments on race nor do I know anyone that does. I have no opinion about who President. Obama is because I don’t know him personally. I’ve seen people on television that have known him for years and speak highly of his character. He appears from all evidence to be a dedicated father and husband. In fact, I don’t think I have heard anyone besmirch him on a personal level. All of the opposition that I know of is centered on his policies and with the radical beliefs of the people he has chosen as his circle of advisors; some of which have made far more serious and racially motivated comments than “You lie”.
So where is this culture of bigotry that the former President is speaking of? Could any of the people I mentioned above hold these positions of power in an overwhelmingly racist nation? Well if that is Mr. Carter’s first assumption, then maybe he is gauging the rest of us by the evil that resides in his own heart. I seriously hope that Mr. Carter is simply suffering the ravages of old age and that these comments were a flashback to his early years when racism was prevalent. If not then I would have to suspect that his comments were carefully crafted to intimidate those that oppose the President’s plans into half-hearted support or face the threat of being labeled a racist or that maybe, he is a racist himself and just assumes we all believe as he does.
Jimmy Carter has disgraced himself and this nation. He has deeply insulted the American people with his despicable claims and he should apologize in a venue just as public as the one he used to insult the integrity of the citizens of this nation. I would then suggest he consult a life coach that can train him to act with the dignity and decorum that we expect from a former President of the United States. I would also recommend to those in the media that the next time Mr. Carter reaches for a microphone that someone takes the batteries out of it first. I just don’t think he can help himself.
Paul
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