"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC.
"I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."
Carter's contribution to the national debate represents a truly rare blend of malevolence, ignorance and moral arrogance.
How does he know what was in Joe Wilson's heart when he blurted his insult? How does Carter know Wilson was racially motivated?
How does Carter know that an "overwhelming portion" of scores of thousands of agitated Americans who turned out for all those town-hall meetings were motivated by racism, "the fact that (Obama) is a black man, that he's African-American"?
Six months ago, Obama's approval rating was 70 percent.
Does Carter think that number has sunk to 50 percent because tens of millions of Americans suddenly discovered Obama was black?
Does it not seem more reasonable to conclude the number cratered because millions who wished Obama well on Jan. 20 have come to conclude this crowd is no more competent than the last one, that Obamacare, up close, seems even worse than the present system?
The stupidity of Carter and the Black Caucus fairly astounds.
As Dana Milbank of The Washington Post writes, "In bringing a House resolution to punish Wilson, Democrats wound up making him a hero and turning the matter into a party-line brawl." As Obamacare sits in intensive care on Capitol Hill, what is the benefit of having had his team spend 10 days fighting and losing Joe Wilson's War?
The destructiveness of what Carter has done is hard to exaggerate.
Barack won the African-American vote 24 to 1. But he did better among whites than Al Gore, a Southerner, or John Kerry. One reason, according to pollsters, is that many white folks thought a black president would finally get us out of the cul de sac of race politics. Barack Obama would be a "post-racial president."
Now, because some folks, in hard economic times, have turned angrily against Obama and health care, Carter calls them a bunch of racists who can't stand the fact they have a black president.
Well, if we don't have a black president after 2012, much credit should go to the mean little peanut farmer from Plains.