My issue is with those of you who agree with former President Jimmy Carter saying most of the people hating on Barack Obama are racists.
Now, you know what happens with blanket statements, don't you? No? Well, blankets warm stuff, so eventually you end up with a hot mess.
And what gets me is after Carter said what he said, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs emerged talking about how Obama doesn't believe his opposition is rooted in racism.
To which those of you rolling with Carter would argue that, of course, Obama has to do the politically correct thing and not offer the clinched fist that is the black-power salute and cry racism.
But wait a minute! Not so fast, because to say that is to imply that Obama actually does believe -- contrary to what Gibbs said -- that his opponents are racists. Which would suggest that South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson was right in calling the president a liar, only wrong in how he called him out.
You can't have it both ways, people. So which way do you want it? If Obama is saying it's not about race, then why do you insist that it is?
Oh, I know why. You're still on this politically correct thing, that Obama has to say what he has to say to keep his approval ratings from dipping any further.
Yet isn't that problematic? That's not what y'all voted for when you cast ballots for Obama. That's not change you can believe in. That's politics as usual.
Here, read this e-mail excerpt from my homeboy who voted for Obama: "As President of the United States there is no way Obama can talk about what Jimmy Carter said. He is in [the] highest level of politics and his words, even if he is right regarding race, will be used against him. Yes. Smart politics indeed. Because of his position he has to let others chime in on racial issues."
Are you kidding me?
Obama sure had plenty to say about race when a reporter asked him about the beef Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates had with Cambridge Police Department Sgt. James Crowley. The president saw it as a teachable moment. So he invited them over for brews at his crib that is the White House.
Listen, I realize we're on this racial piece, and I know you want to write me off as an Uncle Tom. So let me turn you on to somebody who most would agree is as comfortable in his black skin as anybody -- Stephen A. Smith. Yes, that Stephen A. Smith, the real loud cat who used to do his thing on ESPN. You're used to hearing him kick it with demonstrativeness about basketball. But check out how the self-described young, black man who grew up in the streets of New York City broke it down about Obama and racism on the nationally syndicated radio show of conservative host Mark Levin:
"We all know racism exists to some degree. But to act as if it is as prevalent as it was years and decades ago is completely untrue and it serves to divide this nation, which I think is a catastrophic thing," said Smith, adding that he voted for Obama but is troubled by his administration's gargantuan financial-bailout package and the proposed health-care overhaul -- all of which Smith contends looks like a government takeover.
All of which makes Smith a racist, according to Carter.
Reach John McCann at jmccann@heraldsun.com or (919) 419-6601.
