Carter: 'Overwhelming proportion' of animosity to Obama based on race

By Thomas Lifson

Just when you thought Jimmy Carter could not disgrace the office he once held any further, he goes out and tops himself. The former president avers 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," Carter, 84, told NBC television.

"I live in the South, and I have seen the South come a long way," Carter added.

"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."

"It is an abominable circumstance, and grieves me and concerns me deeply," added Carter.

Evidently, Carter believes himself able to peer into the hearts of strangers -- Obama opponents -- and discern their motivations. Or perhaps he thinks that there is no possible basis for opposing Obama than race.

I firmly believe that the current orgy of blaming opposition to Obama on racism is going to backfire on the left. Even though the media do their best to avoid the subject, most Americans, including most political independents, understand well that phony cries of racism are an established tactic of the left. Having a former president, one now firmly established as one of the worst presidents ever, adopt this desperate tactic will not lend credibility to the Obama camp.

Update: evidence that some members of Congress seem to live on another planet: