Good grief, Jimmy.

Someone should put a muzzle on Jimmy Carter. I mean, REALLY. If the man isn't singing the praises of some dictator somewhere, he's making ridiculous and inflammatory statements like the one yesterday - where he said that the reason Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) interrupted President Obama's speech last week was because OBAMA IS BLACK.

Are you friggin' serious, Carter? You're *really* going to play that card?

Wilson didn't shout out "Liar!" during the speech because Obama is black and, by gum, that South Carolina hayseed don't go a-likin it! He yelled "Liar!" because he doesn't believe that if we institute universal healthcare, we won't end up paying not only for Americans' healthcare, but also that of illegal aliens. That's the claim Obama was making, and that's what Wilson was responding to.

Wilson's protest was out of order, but it had *nothing* to do with the president's skin color. Nor has there been any indication that it did. It has to do with Wilson being a Republican, and Obama being a Democrat. For Carter to say what he did is profoundly incindiary, and he should be ashamed of himself.

Is the rule now that you aren't allowed to disagree with the president's policies (or anyone's stance on an issue at this point), if his skin color is darker than yours? Is that the rule? And if you dare to disagree with that policy, you're a racist - not based on the content of your disagreement, but on the simple fact that the person you disagree with happens to be of another ethnicity?

We went through the drama of attempted healthcare reform with Clinton, and people were just as divided then as they are now. And newsflash: Clinton is white. It's not the color of the person speaking. It's the issue. And THAT is what we're all *supposed* to be focusing on and debating - issues.

If someone like Carter is going to play the race card everytime we disagree on an important issue, we're going to stay mired in a culture of racism and impotence. We have to be able to debate and disagree on issues based on their content and merit, strengths and weaknesses, without unfounded accusations being hurled at people, derailing the real discussion and undermining our ability to work together.

This kind of crap moves us backward, not forward, as a nation and as a people.