Jimmy Carter: Keeping It Real

Outbursts in the public form are all the rage these days; from Serena Williams berating that lineswoman to Kanye West stealing Taylor Swift’s thunder. Sure these are headline worthy and shocking, but the people they disrespected were not the President of the United States. Kanye is getting more flack than Joe Wilson, don’t get me wrong I feel bad for poor little Taylor, BUT how does that get more attention than Representative Joe Wilson yelling, “You lie!” during a live congressional speech by the President of the United States of America?

There have been many times that Presidents could have been called out for being a liar. A few include the infamous; “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” or the debate of Iraq’s WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction). Sure, there was bad press and controversy with both of these Presidents’ statements, but no member of Congress was shameless enough to yell at them directly. When I was watching the Healthcare Reform address on CNN, I was literally dumbfounded when I heard someone yell, “You lie!” as was Nancy Pelosi, if looks could kill…

The audacity to yell at the leader of the free world boggles my mind. I am not a Bush fan by any means, but I still would be polite if I met him because he was the President. There should be a sense of respect there regardless of your political standing, it is just good manners. Joe Wilson’s disrespect, to me, stems from something worse than his disdain for a Public Option. I see his emotional outburst as related racism, because no one gets that passionate over changes in healthcare. I think people need to stop hiding behind their mask of “angry healthcare opponents” because we can all see the elephant in the room: race.

Wilson’s outburst created a ripple affect; he opened the door and (in my view) encouraged slander of our President. I’m sure his followers see this as, "Hey, if my Representative can disrespect the President, why can’t I?" For instance, the “I’m with Joe Wilson” tee shirt made ½ a million dollars in 24 hours. This displays ample support for his outburst and a scary amount of like minded people. Ironic they would mock a shirt that usually says, “I’m with stupid.”

The fact of the matter is, today many people still don’t like the fact that our President is a biracial black man. I am glad that President Jimmy Carter is addressing these issues head on and not allowing people to hide behind their opposing healthcare façade. Here is a clip of Jimmy Carter speaking out on the issue. 

I know my views are not the same as everyone else, I am a twenty-something, liberal, California-born, biracial woman. So I understand that I will not see eye to eye with an old, conservative, South Carolina-born, white man. Of course, we are all entitled to free speech and opinion, but I think respect needs to be returned to our society as a whole and in 2009, racism needs to addressed rather than swept under the rug. So I thank Jimmy Carter for saying what we have all been thinking.