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.

Strong New York Times Column By Maureen Dowd Sees Race Motivation In Rep. Joe Wilson’s Outburst

Maureen Dowd, a columnist for the New York Times, has a very strong opinion about what she seems to believe are the underlying motives that spurred Rep. Joe Wilson’s undisciplined, inappropriate, unprofessional and disrespectful outburst. Wilson, barked “you lie” aloud during President Obama’s speech last week before a joint session of Congress. Wilson’s lack of self control and simmering anger came unglued in a mini fit of rage as he went after the president in a display that was far beneath the dignity of the setting he was in. Dowd went right after what she saw as the motive of Wilson and those who now are rallying around him in a show of support for the South Carolina congressman.

Wrote Dowd:

The congressman, we learned, belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a “smear” the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ’48 segregationist candidate for president. Wilson clearly did not like being lectured and even rebuked by the brainy black president presiding over the majestic chamber.

I’ve been loath to admit that the shrieking lunacy of the summer — the frantic efforts to paint our first black president as the Other, a foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi; a cad who would snuff old people; a snake who would indoctrinate kids — had much to do with race.

Indeed, we’ve heard all these repeatedly from far-right nuts who have been in full attack mode since Jan. 20 (if not before). Clearly, these are smears designed to attack the president and attempt to demonize and delegitimize his still young presidency (especially if you include the insane birthers who have looked like idiots) in every way possible. Now, I do believe a lot of the critics of the president are unaware of the racism that exists in them (not necessarily racist in the most hateful sense of the word, but certainly uncomfortable with a black man – especially a Democrat, running the country as president).

Dowd added this:

But Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it.

She is correct in that Democrats could have reacted in a similar way in the runup to the war in Iraq. She is absolutely correct. I don’t know that I believe race was Wilson’s motive, but I think it is the motive of others. I think Wilson’s actions were more about being undisciplined, angry, out of control, disrespectful and blindly partisan. With Wilson, I do not sense that race was the motive with the president, but there is an underlying race factor many people ignore: the anti-immigrant (illegal immigrant) racism that has existed in this country since the horrible terrorist attacks on 9/11 that shook us all up and the growing Latino population that is on pace to become the majority in the country in like a few decades.

I think that is the real race factor related to what Wilson said.

New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/13/white-house-dismisses-dowd-claim-wilson-outburst-race-based/

Rep. Joe Wilson Seems To Have Learned Nothing From His Disgraceful Act

I guess it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that it seems Rep. Joe Wilson is pleased with the response he has gotten from a number of people in his district (or claims to have gotten from people in his district). He conducted an interview with an NBC affiliate in Columbia, S.C. and this is part of what Rep. Wilson had to say. Perhaps Rep. Wilson, the man, truly does represent (with his thoughts, actions, behavior and self control) the people of his district. In that sense, maybe he is not exactly out of touch with his constituents. If that is in deed the case then that is a sad commentary on the people he represents.

“Well, I have been overwhelmed by phone calls from constituents — people of the Second District — who say, ‘Joe, thank you for speaking up for us,’” said Wilson. “‘Thank you for your passion, for the people who you represent, because you understand the threat to the health care system — the potential for rationing — and we appreciate so much you speaking up for the people of the United States.’”

Talking Points Memo:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/joe-wilson-i-have-been-overwhelmed-by-supportive-phone-calls.php?ref=fpa