Towleroad Guide to the Tube #536: Jimmy Carter Racism Edition

At a town hall at Emory University last night, Jimmy Carter repeated assertions he made to Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News earlier this week, that the vitriol being spewed toward Obama by right-wing conservatives is race-related.

Said Carter in the Williams interview (above, left): "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. 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 shared the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans. And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

At Emory, Carter stood by his remarks (above, right).

Reactions from the right wing have come fast and hard:

RNC Chair Michael Steele: Carter "trying to color the debate."

LAURA INGRAHAM: Carter "a self-loathing Southerner".

GLENN BECK: Osama bin Laden supports Jimmy Carter's views.

NEWT GINGRICH: Carter a failed President.

News: Charlotte, Carrie Prejean, San Diego Kiss-In, AIDS in Africa

STUDY: Gay men in Africa ignored with regard to AIDS.

San Diego: Mass kiss-in planned for Wednesday night at Mormon Temple.

Radiologist turns CT scans into psychedelic art.

Worst ending to a movie ever, or the best?

The Awl talks to Michael K of Dlisted.

Former Senator Bob Packwood voices support for Employment Non-Disrimination Act (ENDA): "After three decades, isn't it time we conclude this chapter by ending this discrimination and urge Congress to make all workplaces equally accepting of Americans who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender? It's never too late to do the right thing."

Channing Tatum does shirtless Dirty Dancing parody.

Homophobic ministry planning to bring Jesus to Charlotte, North Carolina Pride this weekend on July 25. And not in a good way.

Victory Fund endorses 12 new candidates from across the nation.

Britney Spears converting to Judaism?

Theoretical cloud project would make ice cream fall like snow.

Matt Damon looking fine in NYC.

Jimmy Carter leaves Southern Baptist Church over church leadership's position on women: “It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge these self-serving and outdated attitudes and practices…”

Chexydecimal remembers poet Hart Crane on what would have been his 110th birthday.

Simon Rex series gets a trailer.

When Harry met Ron.

Hugo Boss model Joshua Walter arrested for crime spree.

Indian man murders father's gay lover: "Upset over his father’s gay relationship, son of deputy chief medical officer Dr Krishna Dev Raj Srivastava, allegedly murdered the 38-year-old partner of his father. The incident was reported from Pashupatinagar area under the Naubasta police station late on Sunday night."

Protect Marriage Washington using paid signature gatherers: $1 per signature.

Five seconds: yes it really is a tease.

Baptist Messenger newspaper forges signatures of Governor Henry and Secretary of State Savage to make it look like they support Rep. Sally Kern's nutty 'Proclamation for Morality'.

Former Miss California Carrie Prejean gets a book deal: "Carrie Prejean will publish a memoir called Still Standing. Conservative book house Regnery Publishing said Monday that it will release the book. Prejean believes her crown was taken because she said she opposed gay marriage.... Prejean was replaced by the Miss California pageant's first runner-up, Tami Farrell. Farrell has also said she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman."

UK Christian doctor removed from Northamptonshire County Council over views on gay adoption: "The paediatrician had asked to be allowed to abstain from voting in cases involving same-sex couples. But that led to her being barred from the panel altogether. The married mother of one said she had been 'made to pay for being honest and upholding my personal integrity. I don't feel that placing children for adoption with same-sex couples is the best place for them,' said the 50-year-old doctor."

Presidents, Ex and Future, Hold Oval Office Summit

President-Elect Obama met with some familiar faces at the White House today.
Watch the press conference, AFTER THE JUMP...

Long Democratic Race Coming to Rapid Climax

AP: Obama clinches nomination. "Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, becoming the first black candidate to lead a major party into a campaign for the White House. Vanquished rival Hillary Rodham Clinton swiftly signaled an interest in joining the ticket as running mate. Obama arranged a victory celebration at the site of this summer's Republican National Convention — an in-your-face gesture to Sen. John McCain, who will be his opponent in the race to become the nation's 44th president."

Clinton said to be open to VP slot. " Rep. Charles Rangel, a senior member of the New York Democratic delegation, also told CNN, 'I have reason to believe she is open to the [vice president] slot.' One of the sources added that former President Clinton has been privately pushing for a couple of weeks for his wife to be No. 2 on the ticket."

Jimmy Carter to endorse Obama after polls close. Carter: "I'm a superdelegate. I think a lot of the superdelegates will make a decision quite, announced quite rapidly, after the final primary on June 3...I have not yet announced publicly, but I think at that point it will be time for her to give it up."

Earlier: Clinton campaign denies report she will concede tonight...

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #286

JIMMY CARTER: A clip of last night's appearance on Tavis Smiley's PBS show.

MCCAIN'S OTHER PASTOR: John McCain has another pastor problem — Rod Parsley.

OBAMA GIRL: Mike Gravel tries to get in on the action.

MONICA CONYERS: Wife of congressman John Conyers and President Pro-Tem of the Detroit City Council gets owned by a 4th grader over calling the Council President "Shrek".

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Carter Calls His Criticism of Bush Administration "Careless"

Jimmy Carter sharply criticized the Bush administration in an interview published over the weekend in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, calling the Bush administration "the worst in history":

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history. The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me...We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered. But that's been a radical departure from all previous administration policies....The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion. As a traditional Baptist, I've always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one."

The White House responded on Sunday, as spokesman Tony Fratto replied, "I think it's sad that President Carter's reckless personal criticism is out there. I think it's unfortunate. And I think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments."

This morning, on the Today show, Carter backtracked on the comments, saying he was answering a question comparing the Bush administration's foreign policy to Richard Nixon's:

"They were maybe careless or misinterpreted. [I] certainly was not talking personally about any president. I think they were [careless], yes, because they were interpreted as comparing this whole administration to all other administrations." (video)

Careless or not, I'm sure Carter could find plenty of people to agree with him.