Jimmy Carter: attacks on Barack Obama fuelled by racism

Jimmy Carter has claimed that many of Barack Obama’s most vocal critics are racist and have been spurred into increasingly bitter attacks on his policies by their revulsion at the election of America’s first black president.

By Alex Spillius in Washington
Published: 4:52PM BST 16 Sep 2009

Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn arrive at the inauguration of Barack Obama Photo: AP

In a blistering attack on the Right after watching Mr Obama endure a summer of hostility, the former US president singled out Joe Wilson, the congressman who shouted “You Lie!” while Mr Obama was making a speech on health care to the US Congress last week.

That attack, Mr Carter alleged, was also “based on racism”.


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In comments that could provoke a contentious debate on race the White House is eager to avoid, Mr Carter went further than African-American congressmen who had begun to make the connection between Right-wing attacks on Mr Obama and his election as America’s first black president.

“I think that an overwhelming proportion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, he’s African American,” Mr Carter, 84, told NBC.

“I live in the South, and I have seen the South come a long way,” said the native Georgian. “But that racism inclination still exists, and I think it has bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the South but across the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country.”

The comments mean that Mr Carter has become the most prominent voice to level a direct charge of racism at Mr Obama’s critics.

It has emerged since last week that Mr Wilson was among a small group of Republicans who supported a campaign to keep the Confederate flag flying over South Carolina’s capitol building.

The flag is regarded by African Americans and many others as an offensive symbol of the pro-slavery South. Mr Wilson was also once a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which racism watchdog groups regard as a “neo-confederate” organisation.

But Mr Wilson’s son, Alan, said: “There is not a racist bone in my dad’s body. He doesn’t even laugh at distasteful jokes. I won’t comment on former President Carter, because I don’t know President Carter. But I know my dad, and it’s just not in him.”

During months of raucous protests against his health care reform plans and other initiatives, Mr Obama has been compared to Hitler, the Joker from the Batman films and the anti-Christ.

Opponents have called him a Nazi, a socialist, a communist and questioned his nationality. Demonstrators toting guns have appeared outside the president’s town hall appearances while a handful of preachers have led congregations in prayers that Mr Obama would die.

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

Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, has been forced to address the race issue, telling CNN: “I don’t think the president believes that people are upset because of the colour of his skin.”

His remarks demonstrated the administration’s keenness to bury a debate that would divert attention from the president’s already overloaded agenda.

Organisers of the conservative “tea party” protests against the president have insisted their opposition is based merely on dislike of the president’s “big government” policies.

Brendan Steinhauser, a co-ordinator for FreedomWorks which organised the first large-scale protest against Mr Obama in Washington over the weekend, said accusations of racism were nothing more than a ploy to muffle dissent.

“It is an intimidation tactic. When you make that attack and call someone racist or homophobic it is a way to kind of silence them,” he said. “The idea that people are trying to bring race into this is absolutely ridiculous.”

Democrats have however pointed out that signs at anti-Obama rallies have gone beyond politics.

A sign at the Washington protest depicting a lion read: “The Zoo has an African [lion] and the White House has a Lyin’ African.”

Charles Rangel, a veteran black congressman from New York, said earlier this month: “Some Americans have not gotten over the fact that Obama is president of the United States. They go to sleep wondering, ’How did this happen?’ ”

For other Democrats, Mr Wilson’s unprecedented breach of decorum during an address by the president to a joint session of Congress led them to express what they had been feeling for weeks.

Mike Honda of California, chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said: “There’s a very angry, small group of folks that just didn’t like the fact that Barack Obama won the presidency.”

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Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6198519/Jimmy-Carter-attacks-on-Barack-Obama-fuelled-by-racism.html

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Rep. Wilson shouts to Obama during speech: 'You lie'

Rep. Joe Wilson shouted "You lie" after President Obama denied health reform would cover illegal immigrants.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Republican House member shouted "You lie" during President Obama's health care speech to Congress on Wednesday, and members of both parties condemned the heckling.

After the speech, South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson issued a statement apologizing for his outburst.
"This evening, I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," the statement said. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility."

Wilson also called the White House to apologize and spoke with Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who accepted the apology on the president's behalf, according to a senior administration official.
"We can disagree without being disagreeable," Emanuel said to Wilson, according to the official. "That was the point of the president's speech."

The outburst came when Obama denied that proposed health care legislation would provide free health coverage for illegal immigrants. Immediately, Wilson shouted, "You lie!" Watch the outburst and the chamber's response »

The outburst caused Obama to stop and look toward the heckler. "That's not true," the president responded. Fact check: Will reform plan cover illegal immigrants?

Behind him, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared shocked and turned toward the outburst as Vice President Joe Biden looked down and shook his head. Loud boos echoed through the chamber immediately after the outburst.

While it was the most attention-getting, Wilson's shout wasn't the only demonstration of displeasure made by Republicans during the speech.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, wore a sign around his neck that said, "WHAT BILL?" And when Obama asked Republicans to share their health reform ideas with him, a small group raised up a stack of papers above their heads.

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After the speech, Republican Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate defeated by Obama last year, called Wilson's outburst "totally disrespectful" and said he should apologize.
Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live," he said there was "no place for it in that setting or any other and he should apologize immediately."

Other Republicans also criticized Wilson, along with the expected Democratic condemnation.
"It was crude and disrespectful," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a top Senate Democrat. "I think the person who said it will pay a price."

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, called on Wilson to go to the floor Thursday and apologize.
She said Wilson's comment and other GOP tactics "strike me as odd. ... The minority leader has to get control of his conference."

But Jackson Lee described Wilson as "a likeable guy, seemingly reserved" and said it was "rather surprising" when saw who shouted the comment.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina, echoed the sentiment.

"I was always taught that the first sign of a good education is good manners. I think that what we saw tonight was really bad manners," he said. "And, having a spirited debate is one thing, exercising bad manners is another. That was beyond the pale -- and I would hope that he would publicly apologize on that same floor to the president of the United States for that insult."
Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan and ranking Republican on the Ways & Means Committee, told CNN Radio he wasn't happy with the outburst.

"I don't advise that. ... I think it's important to listen as respectfully as possible," he said.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, also denounced the heckling.

"Certainly, I respect the office of the president, and I think that's not the kind of thing that is appropriate in that kind of setting especially," he said. "I don't know who said it, but my sense is most people don't think it was a good idea it occurred. And I happen to be one of those."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told CNN affiliate WIS-TV in Columbia that he, too, was disappointed.

"The president's combative tone did not justify a member of Congress shouting out, 'You lie,' " said Graham. "Our nation's president deserves to be treated with respect. It was an inappropriate remark, and I am glad an apology has been made."

South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler took it further.

"Once again a South Carolina Republican has embarrassed our state," Fowler's office said in a statement that referred to S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford's extramarital affair.

"Never has any member of Congress shown such disrespect for the president during a speech," Fowler wrote. "One would think that as a member of the military, Joe Wilson would have more respect and patriotism than he displayed tonight. When Congressman Wilson insulted President Obama, he also insulted the American public. Joe Wilson is a poor example of a statesman and an American. He owes an apology to the president and the American people."

The Democrat hoping to unseat Wilson in next year's midterm elections also quickly seized on the Republican's outburst.

"Rep. Wilson's behavior tonight exemplifies everything that is wrong in Washington," Democrat Rob Miller said in a statement provided to CNN. "Instead of engaging in childish name-calling and disrespecting our commander-in-chief, Joe Wilson should be working towards a bipartisan solution that makes quality, affordable health care available to each and every South Carolinian."
After the speech, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, tweeted that it was the "biggest" disappointment of the evening.

"Biggest disappointmnt of evening, the total lack of respect shown by one member for the President," she wrote. "Never acceptable to behave like a jerk."

Wilson, who has served five terms, represents the state's 2nd congressional district, which includes the state capital, Columbia, and stretches to Beaufort and Hilton Head Island.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/obama.heckled.speech/

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