Jimmy Carter's logic: Wilson is a racist, so Carter is an anti-Semite

More on President Carter's knuckle-headed statement...

Here, a helpful piece by the WaPo's Charles Lane in the C-J...

An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward Israel is based on the fact that it is a Jewish state. I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many non-Jews, not just in the United States but around the world, that Jews are despicable and that a Jewish state is inherently illegitimate. I think it's based on anti-Semitism. There is an inherent feeling among many that the Jews should get out of Palestine.

Actually, I do NOT believe this. I'm altering former President Jimmy Carter's words — substituting “Jews” and “Israel” for “blacks” or “African Americans,” and “anti-Semitism” for “racism” — to illustrate what was both true about his statement blaming white prejudice for the most intense opposition to President Obama and what was so irresponsibly wrong about it....

That slippery word “many”...sounds ominous, but could mean ANYTHING from a sizable minority to almost all whites. There are data on this question. Ninety-four percent of respondents to a 2007 Gallup poll said they would vote for a black presidential candidate of their party, whereas only 88 percent would vote for a woman (like Obama's then-opponent Hillary Clinton), and 57 percent would vote for someone who, like John McCain, was 72 years old....

I am not saying race has nothing to do with any of the hostility Obama is facing. What I am saying is that it is far from the whole story.