Atlanta Progressive News

 

(APN) ATLANTA — Former President Jimmy Carter made some candid remarks during a town hall meeting appearance with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter at The Carter Center on Tuesday night, September 15, 2009.

“I think it’s based on racism,” Carter said, referring to some of the recent criticism of President Obama. “There is an inherent feeling among some people that an African-American should not be President of the United States.”

The public depiction of President Obama as a Nazi and other negative images is troubling, Carter said.

“The outrage we see, the scatological language, the signs we see on TV… those kind of things are not just caused by a debate over whether we should have a national healthcare system,” Carter said.

The remarks stemmed from a question asking the former President what he thought of US Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who shouted “You lie” at President Obama during a speech on healthcare reform he delivered to a joint session of US Congress on September 09, 2009.

Carter called the remark “a dastardly thing to do.”

“The President is not only the head of government, he is the head of state,” Carter said. “No matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the President should be treated with respect.”

The US House of Representatives voted 240-179 earlier Tuesday to formally condemn Wilson for his outburst.

A question about the current healthcare reform debate led Carter to recall the reform effort he tried to make in 1979.

Back then, Carter said, he and Congress negotiated a bill that would have extended government health coverage to the then-15 million uninsured, provided catastrophic coverage, and provided pre- and post-natal care for mothers and babies for up to one year.

But even though he had most of the support he needed from key Congressional committee leaders, Carter said the late US Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) squashed the bill because he had decided to make a primary challenge against Carter and did not want the President to have successful healthcare reform to run on.

It was a surprising suggestion considering Kennedy’s recent push for comprehensive healthcare reform.

Carter said “it’s possible” Congress will pass some kind of reform this year, but he noted Obama should “just depend on Democrats and just forget about the Republicans” to get a bill passed.

The Carters’ appearance Tuesday was primarily about updating the public on what progress The Carter Center has made on its mainly international initiatives.

About the author:

Jonathan Springston is a Senior Staff Writer for Atlanta Progressive News and is reachable at jonathan@atlantaprogressivenews.com.

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