Backup

Just like the Cos backed up President Carter on calling out the racism that underlies much of the crazy opposition to President Obama and his proposals, Rick Hertzberg has my back (not that I bothered to write this down before or that he's actually supporting something that he heard me say, but still) on having to appreciate Jimmy Carter just straight up not giving a damn and calling it like he sees it...

People keep asking me why I think Jimmy Carter said that he thinks that “an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man.”

The short answer is that I think he said it because he thinks it’s true.

The longer answer is: (a) President Carter is almost eighty-five years old. He doesn’t have time to dither. (b) He is a nonracist liberal who grew to manhood in the racist white South. (c) When somebody asks him a question, he answers it honestly. (d) He doesn’t necessarily calculate the effects of how a distorted version of his answer will play politically. (e) Nor does he necessarily give a damn.