I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity towards President 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 towards minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans. That racism inclination still exists and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of a 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 grieves me and concerns me very deeply.As far as I'm concerned, we need a lot more people - particularly Republicans - calling out the right wingnuts on this. Of course, let's not fall into the trap of either a) calling everything racism OR b) denying that ANYTHING is racism. But let's also not ignore what is essentially America's "800-pound gorilla in the room" - race.
By the way, also badly needing to be called out on this subject are the demagogues like Rush, Glenn, Faux News, and Republican politicians who exploit underlying/latent/not-so-latent racism for political gain, power, money, etc. Of course, most of them do it using classic "dog whistle" tactics, but that doesn't make it any less real or any less dangerous.
Finally, I'd challenge anyone to use Occam's Razor and try to come up with a more parsimonious explanation for the vehemence against Barack Obama we've seen at town halls, tea parties and elsewhere (not to mention all the death threats the Secret Service is dealing with) than what Jimmy Carter just said. If it's opposition to health care, then why isn't this focused on policy differences, not bizarre "Obama=Hitler" signs and other insanity?
