Obama Disagrees With Carter on Racism Charge

VP reminds president health care reform is a big deal

(NEWSER) - Get out the equipment you used to break down the Zapruder film, and set it to "lip-read"—did Joe Biden really remind President Obama that signing health care reform bill is "a big fucking deal"? Talking Points Memo asks—and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs seems to confirm that he did indeed. Gibbs tweets : "And yes Mr. Vice President, you're right..." You be the judge, above. More»

President Obama schedules speech with health reform still up in the air

(NEWSER) - President Obama has scheduled his first State of the Union address for Wednesday, Jan. 27. The White House had hoped health care reform would be passed before the speech, but the tight timeline makes that unlikely, CBS News reports. The date confirms White House spokesman Robert Gibbs' assurances that the address won't conflict with the eagerly awaited premiere of the final season of Lost, scheduled for Feb. 2. More»

(AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter says Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech last week was an act "based on racism." Carter says Wilson's comment was part of an "inherent feeling" of some that a black man should not be president. In responding to a question at a town-hall meeting at his presidential center in Atlanta, Carter also called Wilson's comment "dastardly" and said the president should be treated with respect. More»

President warns Supreme Court of 'judicial activism'

(NEWSER) - President Obama stood up for health care reform today and took a swipe at "unelected" Supreme Court justices who might rule against Obamacare, the Washington Post reports. “Ultimately, I am confident the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress,” Obama said at the White House, during a joint press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. More»

Norman Rockwell work includes racial epithet

(NEWSER) - The nation's first black president has hung a painting with the N-word outside the Oval Office, in a nod to the civil rights movement, reports Politico. President Obama last month had Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With" installed in the White House; the painting shows a black child, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, en route to her newly integrated New Orleans school as the wall behind her shows graffiti including the racial epithet and "KKK," as well as a splattered tomato. More»