"Did we really need Jimmy Carter to tell us that racism is one of the driving forces behind the relentless and often scurrilous attacks on President Obama?"

Not when we have Bob Herbert of New York Times to tell us.

Even richer, Herbert quotes Jimmy Carter's past racist statements.

During his presidential campaign in 1976, he blithely let it be known that he had no problem with residents “trying to maintain the ethnic purity of their neighborhoods,” and he tossed around ugly terms like “black intrusion” and “alien groups.” He later apologized.

For liberals, it seems, playing the race card means no good deed goes unpunished.