Showing posts with label Jimmy Carter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jimmy Carter. Show all posts

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Bachmann Goes Nutty Again In Calling President Obama Worst President In U.S. History

Far-right congresswoman Michele Bachmann is back at it doing that dangerous thing she does far too often ... opening her mouth and allowing words to come out.

In a conversation with radio host Ben Shaprio, the credibility-challenged Bachmann absurdly claimed that Barack Obama is the worst president in U.S. history. Being criticized by someone like Bachmann has to be a badge of honor. Anyone that stands in contrast of her has to be a lot closer to having a head that is screwed on properly.

SHAPIRO: Is President Obama better or worse than Jimmy Carter?

BACHMANN: Worse. Easily worse.

SHAPIRO: I agree. So far, you’d have to say he’s the worst president in United States history …

BACHMANN: No question. No question.


Thursday, February 18, 2010

Misguided Republican Wrong About President Obama’s Polling Woes

Republicans believe some of President Obama's political woes are essentially because he is this radical, socialist and far left politician unwilling to work with the GOP.

Consider this blog entry (I am not necessarily saying this writer is asserting the above):

Ouch! The Hill is reporting that a CNN poll shows that 52% of Americans say Obama does NOT deserve a second term. Only 44% say they would vote for him again. This is true for both all Americans and registered voters.

Fifty two percent is almost the number that voted for all that Hopey Changey nonsense in the first place. Obama’s does have some “hope”. He can either move to the center on his own improving his reelection chances or he can be saddled with a Republican controlled Congress that will make the move for him. Other than that, Obama is looking very much like Jimmy Carter 2.0.

The "Hopey Changey" thing is cute, but overall this is misguided thinking.

I know our Republican friends want to reach back for Jimmy Carter comparisons, but they would be quite foolish to do so for a couple of reasons: Frankly, many of today's voters probably know painfully little about President Carter other than perhaps understanding he is a former president . They would be grossly underestimating President Obama.

It also is misguided because President Obama's struggles actually are due to the fact that he has moved too far to the right in an effort to reach out to Republicans who have become and will remain (as long as Obama is in the White House) the party of "NO."

Progressives that believed we would pull out of the deadly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, restore the worldwide respect of the U.S., rebuild coalitions with our allies around the world, lead the effort to rebuild the economy and push through domestic expected policies have become uneasy.

When President Obama reaches out to the people who elected him his numbers will go back up. They're waiting.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

President Carter Has Harsh Words About Rep. Wilson, Tone Toward President Obama

Only Fox News would accuse President Jimmy Carter of playing the race card while (on a daily basis turning blind eyes and deaf ears to Rush Limbaugh’s almost daily racial rants).

Carter, the former president of the United States, had some harsh words related to Rep. Joe Wilson’s angry, hate-driven and irresponsible outburst during President Obama’s speech before a joint session of Congress. Fox News, as you might expect, had a headline on its homepage that charged Carter with playing the mythical so-called “race card” with his comments about Rep. Wilson (Fox News links to an AP story with a more fair and balanced headline to describe the story, “Carter: Wilson’s Outburst ‘Based on Racism’”).

Here is a portion of the AP story Fox News posted:

ATLANTA – Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act “based on racism” and rooted in fears of a black president.

“I think it’s based on racism,” Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. “There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.”

The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders.

“Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care,” he said. “It’s deeper than that.”

Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, was formally rebuked Tuesday in a House vote for shouting “You lie!” during Obama’s speech to Congress last Wednesday.

The shout came after the president commented that illegal aliens would be ineligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance. Republicans expressed their disbelief with sounds of disapproval, punctuated by Wilson’s outburst.

I am not sure Rep. Wilson’s undisciplined and out-of-control outburst is directly based in racism (although he does have a bit of a checkered past relative to issues regarding race). But, I think it is based on a strong lack of respect for this particular president (the reason for that lack of respect is certainly up for debate), who merely is making proposals for healthcare. Rep. Wilson’s anger seems disproportionate to the kind of legislation that President Obama is simply proposing (as little if anything is actually set in stone). So, I think President Carter may be a bit off base with Rep. Wilson, specifically, but in general I think he is on the money with some of the more outspoken people on the far right as far as their motives are concerned.

This also is from the story:

“I think Joe’s conduct was asinine, but I think it would be asinine no matter what the color of the president,” said Dick Harpootlian, who has known Wilson for decades. “I don’t think Joe’s outburst was caused by President Obama being African-American. I think it was caused by no filter being between his brain and his mouth.”

Harpootlian said he received scores of racial e-mails from outside South Carolina after he talked about the vote on FOX News.

“You have a bunch of folks out there looking for some comfort in their racial issues. They have a problem with an African-American president,” he said. “But was he motivated by that? I don’t think so. I respectfully disagree with President Carter, though it gives validity to racism.”

I think that is more the issue: Rep. Wilson’s outburst emboldens the racists and far-right nuts who hated (or at the very least were uncomfortable with) Barack Obama the first time they saw him (long before anything came out of his mouth).

Rep. Wilson’s thoughts have inspired the haters and racists. Moreover, Rep. Wilson’s unwillingness to formally apologize for his disgraceful actions before Congress makes me think two things: 1. He is not really sorry for his actions. 2. He now is officially playing politics (by forcing primarily Democrats to reprimand him). 3. He is willing to be a martyr for those who hate President Obama.