# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/121 "2009-09-18T06:32:13Z")
Oh, hell, **Steam** , we’ve already tried _facts_! Silver bullets, holy water, _Farmer’s Almanac_…nothing seems to phase him. ---
**Author:** ![Steampunk\_Willie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@Steampunk\_Willie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steampunk_Willie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/122 "2009-09-18T06:42:23Z")
> [@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. Err… but that’s, you know, _true_. There is this thing called reality. I am pretty sure you could look up an article about it on wikipedia. Or maybe look out the window? That might be faster. See all that? That’s reality. You’ve been living in it for awhile actually. It’s okay, I lived around the corner from a great thai place and didn’t notice it until after I moved. It happens to the best of us. Now that you know, just try to acknowledge it once in awhile. He’s been getting lonely lately. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Steampunk\_Willie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@Steampunk\_Willie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steampunk_Willie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/123 "2009-09-18T06:52:39Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > What makes you think that just because Carter thinks Wilson is a racist he is senile? Anyone who disagrees with you is senile or stupid? If you don’t like Carter’s pronouncements, then turn them off. Having listened to Carter and read the ravings of ralph124c, Carter is a good deal more intelligent. And yes, Wilson and the pubbies are racists. No, you don’t get it! Since when the crazy republicans state something, it is automatically true. Like the deathpanels! So if they state all famous democrats are senile, they will be put in front of death panels, and then killed. Then they can rule over this country like the founding fathers would have wanted! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/124 "2009-09-18T11:07:33Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Also, none of that was screamed out by a member of Congress interrupting a speech before a joint session. But it should have been. ---
**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 18, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/125 "2009-09-18T13:06:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > > > Also, none of that was screamed out by a member of Congress interrupting a speech before a joint session. > > But it should have been. That would have been nice – but those Democrat congress members could have preserved decorum: sat stoicly while Bush spouted his lies, then voted against the illegal and unjustified war. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/126 "2009-09-18T13:19:06Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > What makes you think that just because Carter thinks Wilson is a racist he is senile? Anyone who disagrees with you is senile or stupid? If you don’t like Carter’s pronouncements, then turn them off. Having listened to Carter and read the ravings of ralph124c, Carter is a good deal more intelligent. **And yes, Wilson and the pubbies are racists.** Wilson quite possibly is a racist, all Republicans are racist though? Highly unlikely. That’s a pretty broad brush there. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/127 "2009-09-18T14:50:32Z")
Oh dear, looks like someone forgot to put a specific “most” or “a lot of” qualifier in every single sentence! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/128 "2009-09-18T15:28:04Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > Oh dear, looks like someone forgot to put a specific “most” or “a lot of” qualifier in every single sentence! I don’t think that’s true, either. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/129 "2009-09-18T15:35:19Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Also, none of that was screamed out by a member of Congress interrupting a speech before a joint session. Thankfully, or else the Republican side would have had to scream out “Oh, God, George! God! God! Oh! You’re the best, George!” Not that they weren’t already thinking it. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/130 "2009-09-18T16:14:50Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > All of these questions assume that the outburst was planned and that Wilson thought it through before doing it. To give limited credit where limited credit is due, I have seen nothing to indicate the outburst was anything other than spontaneous. Theorizing that he considered how he would deliver his objection; caring or not caring how it would be perceived; reading the tea leaves – this all assumes forethought. What if the comment really was some stupid disrespectful thing he yelled out in the heat of the moment, because this is a very contentious issue about which positions have become polarized? Possible, I suppose. But while I’ll buy that Kanye West might bum rush a stage because his ADHD is acting up, I’m very suspicious that an experienced pol, lawyer, and military officer like Wilson would knee-jerk like that. I mean, if he has a history of being insubordinate, of being in contempt of court, maybe… I would buy the possibility that he was expecting to be joined with boos or obfuscated by a litany of cries of opposition. What happened might have been like when you make an off-color comment, and everyone just happens to be silent when you say it. Or he said it _too_ loud. But I certainly think he knew what he was doing. He’s too old and has too many experiences where decorum and reserve are requisite. He’s not like the “don’t tase me, bro” kid, in my mind. > [@](#): > > No. But just as dangerous, IMO, is the specter that “racism!” gets dragged out for every disagreement or conflict involving not just this black person, but any black person. It’s already something that we see happening in the context of Israel, in that any criticism of Israeli policy inevitably draws cries of anti-semitism. Where is the space for legitimate public discourse in that event? _Both_ ends of this spectrum are dangerous. > > I am not defending anyone depicting President Obama as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose. Anyone saying that’s okay is a racist or too stupid to live. 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. > > So it’s obviously not good to dismiss anything but the most overt acts, as not possibly being racist. But isn’t it just as bad to speculate or assume that racism underlies every black/white conflict? > > Where did the rational middle go? But the problem, **Jodi** , is the fact that there are so many catch phrases that dismiss any possibility of racial bias - “race card,” “political correctness,” etc. - not to mention the inability of so many people to acknowledge that a) racism does in fact exist; and b) racism in 2009 does not operate like racism in 1789, 1865, 1950, or 1968 - like a virus, it’s had to mutate and become “resistant” - means that people can get away with some pretty fucked up shit without ever being called out on it. Meanwhile, anyone who dare mentions the possibility of racism (and sexism, heterosexism, jingoism… the list goes on) is dismissed as a nutjob or extremist. It’s all too convenient… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/131 "2009-09-18T16:36:04Z")
I think the trouble is mostly we don’t know anymore. Part and parcel with progress, the lines become blurred. In the Texas I grew up in, there was no such problem, the lines were stark, clear and hateful. Nowadays, there are people tainted with racism who don’t believe themselves to be racist. Everybody knows racism sucks, so nobody worth hearing from is going to own up to it. And its all mushed together with class issues. I remember the first time I heard Chris Rock’s line about how he loves black people, but hates niggers. My hair stood up on end, he hit the target right dead center. I love country music, bar-b-q and Willy Nelson, but I hate ignorant racist peckerwoods with every bone in my body. My racist uncles and aunts are mostly all dead now, but I had a terrible time reconciling my love for them as people with my loathing for what they _sincerely_ believed. We are in uncharted waters, there is no map, there is no guidance, we make it up as we go along, and can only hope that tolerance and generosity is sufficient. From our lips to The Ears. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/132 "2009-09-18T16:45:50Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > Re: Bessemer: Bessinger, please. Bessemer is a mostly-black suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. ---
**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 18, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/133 "2009-09-18T16:51:35Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Bessinger, please. Bessemer is a mostly-black suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. It’s also a process for making steel. Both are named after Sir Henry Bessemer, who invented the Bessemer process. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/134 "2009-09-18T16:56:22Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > We are in uncharted waters, there is no map, there is no guidance, we make it up as we go along, and can only hope that tolerance and generosity is sufficient. From our lips to The Ears. There have been a few major social changes in my culture in my life, the acceptance of drink-driving to not, attitudes towards smoking, attitudes towards the role of women and the attitudes of women, real major swings. But nothing quite matches the change in attitudes towards racism in the past 30 years. Totally profound. I don’t really know how it happened but it’s as if the overwhelming majority of the population went to evening classes for a couple of years. I wouldn’t dream of saying there is no racism - it will always exist - just that the shift has been remarkable. So there is hope but the US is a few clicks beyond anywhere else though, it’s so deeply institutional and historic. Maybe the fact of Obama is, somewhere in all this turmoil, acting on the collective conscience. He’ll look a whole lot different to the general population 10 years down the road if he pulls off healthcare. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/135 "2009-09-18T17:39:30Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Both are named after Sir Henry Bessemer, who invented the Bessemer process. Thank you, I wondered about that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/136 "2009-09-18T18:19:42Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Wilson quite possibly is a racist, all Republicans are racist though? Highly unlikely. That’s a pretty broad brush there. Are all racists Republican? For argument’s sake, let’s only focus on white Americans, or: Are all white racists Republican? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/137 "2009-09-18T18:20:33Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > He’ll look a whole lot different to the general population 10 years down the road if he pulls off healthcare. He _and his party_ will look a whole lot better to the general population _right now_ and for a long time if they do. That’s the true source of the Pubs’ fear. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/138 "2009-09-18T18:40:43Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > Are all racists Republican? For argument’s sake, let’s only focus on white Americans, or: Are all white racists Republican? I think you and I are saying the same thing? I was saying that I doubted that all Republicans were racist, or that even “most” Republicans are racist. Are all white racists Republicans? I don’t know. Probably not, but some certainly are. I’m sure the extremist fringe groups like the KKK probably vote Republican (especially in this election)…but groups like that aren’t even relevant to this topic in my view. We’re outing the secret racists amongst our elected officials! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/139 "2009-09-18T18:44:41Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Are all white racists Republicans? I don’t know. Probably not, but some certainly are. I would argue that they probably are (or at least much less likely to be a Dem), and that most likely _all_ voted R last November. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464/140 "2009-09-18T18:45:45Z")
Except for the outer limits, where they think Republicans are too liberal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senile-jimmy-carter-explains-animosity-toward-president-obama/510464.md?page=8)