On CQ Politics 9/17/09:

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man,” Carter told NBC News.

No reasonable person can honestly and factually dispute what Jimmy Carter said. Now that he no longer wants to run for office, former President Carter has been refreshingly honest on this issue and on Israel's reprehensible treatment of the Palestinians. Once again, the right has decided that tantrums are superior to introspection when their sacred cattle get skewered in public.

Uncle Mike Steele showed his desperate desire to pander to the white supremacists who dominate the GOP by ranting on the MSNBC website.

"President Carter is flat out wrong. This isn't about race. It is about policy. This is a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run health care plan that the American people simply oppose. Injecting race into the debate over critical issues facing American families doesn't create jobs, reform our health care system or reduce the growing deficit. It only divides Americans rather than uniting us to find solutions to challenges facing our nation.

This exercise in hypocrisy and plain old butt kissing is obviously humiliating for Steele, but it certainly is a necessary form of humiliation for him if he wants to keep his job at the Repugnant Neocon Carnival. If you want to see why the frightened Steele bent over for the white supremacists, just read their rantings.

A pundit on WDAM spews hateful, bigoted, and highly misleading filth:

To make criticism of the president about playing the race card is condescending to our president and many other black elected officials. It is a cheap shot that can have a chilling effect on free flowing exchange. All presidents and politicians have there supporters and detractors. We have a two party system. Mr. Carter has had a number of other disturbing points of view that he has felt compelled to foist open the American people and the world. For example, his book on Palestine was widely praised by none other than Osama bin Laden of all people.

Here are some comments on a New York Times blog posting on the controversy which show the nature of the GOP base.

- Demoracism is the new McCarthyism. You don’t like President Obama’s policy? You’re a racist. You don’t like affirmative action? You’re a racist. You don’t like having a welfare state? You’re a racist. The Dems would have you believe there’s a racist behind every rock, under every tree, and in every office. It SMACKS of McCarthyism.

- Jimmy Carter was the worst president this country has ever had. He should go into obscurity and keep his opinions to himself. His rhetoric is based on trying to repair his image that he himself ruined. As a single white working man I feel I am the victim of racism…figure that out.

- I can’t stand Obama. Not because of his color, but because of the policies and intentions he is pursuing, and the dishonest disguise of them. If your paper would have done its job during the campaign, the whole country would have seen that the real racist is Obama: the man who sat in Reverend Wrights church for 20 years listening to white hate-spewing sermons. Why does he get a free pass? Because he is of color? Whether you like it or not, your message is that if you are a minority, you can’t be a racist. Not a good message from a once great newspaper.

- Certainly there is racism — just look at Jeremiah Wright and Van Jones — two despicable racists.

Those angriest at Carter seem determined to prove his point.

The favorite talking point of the lunatic fringe has been that Jimmy Carter "played the race card." Speaking about an important issue is not playing card games; it is a courageous and important step that more people should take. This rhetoric displays the complete lack of intellectual and moral integrity so common with the American right.

The rightists would be ashamed of themselves if they had any shame.