# Senile Jimmy Carter Explains Animosity Toward President Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 17, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464 "2009-09-17T17:43:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/81 "2009-09-17T21:13:12Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Where does Carter get off lecturing us again? He just KNOWS that anybody who disgrees with Obama is a racist! > I wish Carter would stick to Habitat for Humanity. I am getting tired of his senile ravings.:eek: Jimmy Carter is a better man than you. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/82 "2009-09-17T21:13:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Yes.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Wilson_(U.S._politician)#Criticism_of_Strom_Thurmond.27s_daughter) Wow, a cite to his Wiki page. Why do I feel no more enlightened than I was two minutes ago? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/83 "2009-09-17T21:14:48Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Yeah, right. For fuck’s sake, Carter is an idiot, always has been. And a better man than you, too. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/84 "2009-09-17T21:16:14Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > Wow, a cite to his Wiki page. Why do I feel no more enlightened than I was two minutes ago? :rolleyes: I blame that on the failure of the American educational system in forming reading comprehension and critical-thinking skills. Hint: Go to where it says “Criticism of Strom Thurmond’s Daughter.” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/85 "2009-09-17T21:16:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Public reaction to a black Republican POTUS would be rather more interesting and revealing, but I don’t expect to see that eventuality in my lifetime; this is not your grandfather’s Republican Party, not since Nixon’s [Southern Strategy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Strategy) and the two main parties’ ensuing partial exchange of constituencies and geographic bases. The last election for Governor of Ohio involved a Black Republican candidate, [Ken Blackwell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Blackwell). He may have lost some votes because of racism, but I don’t think any Republican could have won that election given all the problems with the outgoing Republican administration. But I didn’t see any hysteria about him coming from right or left: just the usual political antagonisms. (And the largest city in Ohio, Columbus, has a Black mayor – a Democrat, of course!) Still, Ohio is not South Carolina! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/86 "2009-09-17T21:21:22Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > Wow, a cite to his Wiki page. Why do I feel no more enlightened than I was two minutes ago? Perhaps because you don’t understand how wikipedia works. Wiki can be wildy off-base sometimes but generally it’s reliable, and this one particularly so as are most that involve controversial figures currently in the news. It’s padlocked, which means 1- nothing can be edited by non-registered members 2- any factual claims must have a citation under References or they’ll be removed so it’s pretty reliable. And if you go to [References](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Wilson_(U.S._politician)#References)it’s mostly links to newspapers and other primary sources. Generally speaking when in doubt on anything wiki check the Reference. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/87 "2009-09-17T21:24:46Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > When the Clintons were pushing their health care, were people marching on Washington with signs calling them communists and nazis? I don’t remember. I remember a bumper sticker that said “CLINTON FOR CHANGE,” which each “C” in the form of a hammer-and-sickle; but I recall no Nazi iconography associated with Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/88 "2009-09-17T21:26:33Z")
> [@Baracus](#): > > I don’t see what the purpose of making the accusation is either. The true racists aren’t going to be won over. But they can be called on it and, in the process, politically marginalized. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/89 "2009-09-17T21:26:35Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > But I do believe there are many people who feel very passionately about the health care proposal, in the sense that they hate it PASSIONATELY, and who are therefore vociferous and vocal in their objections – over the line of what is appropriate in some cases, as with a U.S. Representative shouting “You lie!” at a U.S. President appearing in the Chamber by invitation. OK, to start with, I’m “meh” about the Joe Wilson thing. Do I think he’s a racist? Yeah, probably, based on historical fact about the man’s actions, statements and the company he’s chosen to keep. Do I think that affected his decision to scream at the President during a speech to Congress, something that has **never happened before**? Yeah, probably. It’s much more likely for someone to intentionally, publicly and obviously disrespect someone that they don’t believe deserves respect from anyone (due to race, gender, age, or whatever) than for that to happen to someone that they merely disagree with, no matter how passionately. Can I prove it? Nope, can’t be done, short of someone leaking a memo from Mr. Wilson saying “showed that boy, didn’t I”. I don’t think that calling Wilson a racist or saying that’s why he behaved so atrociously will serve any productive purpose. In fact, I think it’s detrimental, in that it gives the right-wingers yet another chance to whine about how horribly oppressed they are. I’d really rather that no-one had ever mentioned the idea that racism was involved. Yeah, Maureen, I’m lookin’ at you. BUT… A lot of these people (Beck, Limbaugh, the teabaggers, the 912ers, the birthers, the antichristers, on and on and on) are not even ATTEMPTING to discuss the healthcare proposals. They’re screaming and ranting and foaming over whatever is their personal bugaboo-of-the-moment. It’s not just the healthcare proposals - they’ve behaved the same and trotted out the same lies for every single issue that’s come up, both before and after the election. So it’s a little much to pretend that they’re just really upset over the proposed healthcare reforms, and that’s why they’re acting so crazy. That’s backwards. These are crazy people (well, some of them are just liars who are making a buck off the crazy people) for whom the proposed legislation is just an excuse to scream. And it seems to me that a lot of their crazy fear is race-based. Although, I’d have to give a nod to **luci** ’s point of them just being scared absolutely shitless by the thought of any change at all. I think that’s a very valid point, and applies to the immigration discussion also. It’s very easy to say that a lot of the anti-immigrant people are racist, and I think that’s often true. But a lot of them are simply terrified by the idea of change. Besides, I remember the healthcare debates under Clinton. Yeah, there were the claims of socialism and communism, the ranting that they were trying to destroy the best healthcare system in the world, the whining about how evil it is to insure all those damn lazy welfare queens, etc. And there was the incredible hatred for Hillary Clinton and, to a lesser extent, Bill Clinton. But even so, it came nowhere near the level of batshit crazy going on today. > [@](#): > > Where did the rational middle go? Fleeing like rats from a sinking ship, as far as I can tell. I’ve got two friends, with whom I’ve argued politics for a quarter-century. Both of them voted for Obama, because they couldn’t manage to hold their noses long enough to vote for Palin. In the last month, both of them have registered as Democrats, due to their complete and total disgust with the current state of affairs in the Republican party. Not as Independents, or Libertarians (even though at least one of them is more Libertarian than anything), but as Democrats - purely to register their protest against the nonsense. (Personally, I’ve had an eye out for horsemen for several weeks now. ;)) And I think that’s where some of these poll numbers are coming from. If the sane 75% of the Republican party are no longer willing to be affiliated with them, then the percentage of nutsos in the party goes up. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/90 "2009-09-17T21:29:59Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > Are you absolutely feckin serious? > > “Bush lied, people died.” Ever heard that one before? Huh? > > Bush II was widely accused of lying in the events leading up to the war in Iraq. As a result of his lying, people lost their lives. Or, so goes the meme. “Bush lied, people died.” A direct cause and effect link. The difference, as you should know, is that none of that was bullshit. > [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > Obama lied . . . :dubious: Could you please be more specific? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/91 "2009-09-17T21:30:04Z")
Of course everybody just automatically screams racism. Nobody stops to think that Wilson may have Tourettes Syndrome. It would explain his odd vows at his wedding (“I take you to be my YOU LIED! lawful wedded CUNT LIAR BITCH wife…”) and his swearing to “uphold the Constitution of the United States of YOU LIED FAGGOT FAGGOT COONASS GUINEA America” when he was sworn in as a Representative. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/92 "2009-09-17T21:31:52Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > Oh good gawd. You do realize that this statement carries about as much weight as “I saw a poll on Bill O’Reilly…” don’t you? > > Oh, you don’t. You **do** realize, don’t you, that MSNBC is not the LW analogue to Fox News, and that in fact no such thing as a LW analogue to Fox News exists in America? ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/93 "2009-09-17T21:36:20Z")
I think it’s worth considering that racism isn’t an all-or-nothing thing; most of us are a little bit racist, because we grew up in and have been affected by a racist society. I don’t think it’s “cheapening racism” (whatever that means) to say that Joe Wilson’s behaviour was probably _partially_ motivated by socialised/learned racism. It’s not the kind of thing you can turn on and off. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/94 "2009-09-17T21:36:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Nobody stops to think that Wilson may have Tourettes Syndrome. Or, to employ the technical-scientific terminology, [Tourettes Shitcock Syndrome.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TourettesShitcockSyndrome?from=Main.TourettesSyndrome) ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/95 "2009-09-17T21:38:28Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > So it’s a little much to pretend that they’re just really upset over the proposed healthcare reforms, and that’s why they’re acting so crazy. That’s backwards. These are crazy people (well, some of them are just liars who are making a buck off the crazy people) for whom the proposed legislation is just an excuse to scream. And it seems to me that a lot of their crazy fear is race-based. I’m not “pretending” anything, thank you very much, and I’m not talking about the lunatic fringe. Some people are truly, deeply, upset about the proposed reform. They HATE it. So is there _no way_ to object vociferously to proposed healthcare reform and the President’s support of it, that does not make one a racist? Can’t a person be crazy as hell, and _still_ not a racist? > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :rolleyes: I blame that on the failure of the American educational system in forming reading comprehension and critical-thinking skills. Well you certainly display both – a lack of reading comprehenson and critical-thinking skills – by just throwing up a generalized Wiki cite to point to Strom Thurmond’s daughter, when we’ve already discussed that in this thread. Here, I believe you dropped this ----\> :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/96 "2009-09-17T21:40:15Z")
BTW: Everybody in this thread seems to be missing the most telling and **politically important** thing about Wilson’s outburst: Not that it reflects anti-black racism directed at Obama, which it does, but that the particular point he chose to rage over reflects deep-seated (and much more socially acceptable) prejudice against Latino immigrants. [Very in-depth discussion of that aspect here.](http://www.newamerica.net/publications/articles/2009/uninsured_me_17639) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/97 "2009-09-17T21:43:34Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > I think it’s worth considering that racism isn’t an all-or-nothing thing; most of us are a little bit racist, because we grew up in and have been affected by a racist society. I’d agree with that. I found it amusing that Wilson’s son said, “There is not a racist bone in my dad’s body.” I’d never say that about my own body (or mind, which is more likely to be where you find racism). ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/98 "2009-09-17T21:53:06Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Is it unjust to call someone a thief if they drive off after gassing up? I see what you did there. (Assuming you’re referencing the thread I think you’re referencing.) > [@Sampiro](#): > > It would explain his odd vows at his wedding (“I take you to be my YOU LIED! lawful wedded CUNT LIAR BITCH wife…”) and his swearing to “uphold the Constitution of the United States of YOU LIED FAGGOT FAGGOT COONASS GUINEA America” when he was sworn in as a Representative. God dammit, I have to pee and you’re making me laugh really fucking hard. > [@Giles](#): > > I found it amusing that Wilson’s son said, “There is not a racist bone in my dad’s body.” To be fair, he didn’t say anything about his dad’s **neurons**. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/99 "2009-09-17T21:56:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The difference, as you should know, is that none of that was bullshit. > > :dubious: Could you please be more specific? It’s very simple: Obama lied. My cite? Joe Wilson said he did. The fact that the only mention of illegal aliens is a blip on page 132/1000+ stating that they are ineligible for affordability tax credits can only mean one thing: this insurance is clearly and simply and solely for illegal aliens. Why? Because Obama wants their votes (just like Hitler, who came to power in Germany largely through the “von Ribbentrop/Yomama Treaty of 1932” in which he promised free healthcare to any Mexican who would illegally immigrate to Germany in exchange for their vote). Plus, Wilson is a Christian. Currently American laws refuse hospitals the right to refuse healthcare to seriously ill or gravely injured people if they are illegal aliens. Would Jesus want to see sick people get treatment if they couldn’t pay? Of course not! There’s not one single hymn about treating sick migrant workers in any hymnal in any church in America and Mexican never once intersects with medical care in the Bible Code. So Obama’s comment about the potential content of a bill that has not yet been presented to him and that currently does not give health insurance to illegal aliens is clearly a lie because it’s clear that what Obama meant to say is that when the bill IS presented to him he’s going to scratch out “All Americans” and scribble in “Illegal Aliens” and other changes until it reads > [@](#): > > To provide affordable, quality health care for [del]all Americans[/del] _ **illegal aliens** _ and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes _ **and by other purposes I mean mandatory abortions for white girls** _ Then Obama will swear “Hey, that’s how it read when I got it…”, and without anyone to say otherwise (because by then the Republican Congressmen will all be in concentration camps in Arkansas and Oklahoma) it would have passed. But thankfully, Joe Wilson, Patriot, prevented this. So when you hug your white daughter tonight, be thankful for Joe Wilson, because under H.R. 3200 she’d be raped by an illegal worker just so Obama can require her to have a mandatory free abortion that will then be used as stem cells for Obama’s race of amphibious biracial supermen bodyguards who will destroy all opposition. And we missed it by thatmuch. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/100 "2009-09-17T21:57:46Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I’d agree with that. I found it amusing that Wilson’s son said, “There is not a racist bone in my dad’s body.” I’d never say that about my own body (or mind, which is more likely to be where you find racism). [Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKg_ca3AgW0) > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I see what you did there. (Assuming you’re referencing the thread I think you’re referencing.) 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464.md?page=6)