Re: Obama's Dilemma

Obama has made the following statement:

“Are there people out there who don’t like me because of race? I’m sure there are,” Mr. Obama said. “That’s not the overriding issue here.”

“I think there are people who are anti-government,” Mr. Obama said, referring to the people who have been demonstrating against his policies. “I think there’s been a longstanding debate in this country – that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition or when presidents are trying to bring about big changes.”

Of course, much of the protests on the Obama administration and health care in particular are centered around some broadly anti-government concepts. Still, I don't see how anyone can deny the racially-motivated character of many of the personal attacks on the president. As Melissa McEwan said today in this great post on a terrible AP story about the word "racism" itself:

I've not seen anyone anywhere actually accuse all healthcare protesters of being racist. Certainly, plenty of people have quite rightly noted that the protests have had incidents of overt racism, and that the intensity of the protests, the violent hatred of the president, is disproportionate, quite obviously because of his race. To deny that evident reality is to deny a 200+ year national history of white mob violence against "uppity" blacks. Of course there are people who object to Obama's policies for reasons other than his being black; but there are also people who object to Obama's policies because he is black, or object to them in a manner they would not if he weren't black. The only people saying, "All healthcare protesters are racists!" are rightwingers who are deliberately misconstruing a legitimate argument about the relationship between incendiary/violent rhetoric and racial animosity.

I think that Obama's statement, hinting that perhaps maybe there might be a few outspoken racists still left somewhere out in the far corners of America, comes as close to vocalizing these sentiments as he knows he can get at the moment.