CNN

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

A white Louisiana justice of the peace has refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. It's 2009 - the United States has its first ever African-American president; and Louisiana has some knuckle-dragging moron Justice of the Peace who takes it upon himself to decide who can get married.

Keith Bardwell of Tangipahoa Parish, north of New Orleans, insists he's not a racist and that he tries to treat everyone equally. Then he says this:

"I just don't believe in mixing the races that way. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

In addition to being a justice of the peace, Bardwell is also a social scientist. He says the reason he refused this couple a marriage license was out of concern for any children they might have... saying neither black nor white society accepts biracial children, and they would suffer.

Bardwell says he's turned down about four couples during his career - and he still has a job? And Louisiana allows this kind of crap to go on?

The bride, who is white, insists this is all about discrimination and racism - and wants Bardwell to resign. She's right and he should be fired.

Civil rights groups are calling for him to go too.

The ACLU says the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that the government cannot tell people who they can marry... they want the state judiciary committee to investigate. I wonder if they will.

Here’s my question to you: What does it mean when an interracial couple is denied a marriage license in Louisiana in 2009?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Former President Jimmy Carter says racism plays a major role in the recent opposition to President Obama. Carter says part of this "intensely demonstrated animosity" is based on the fact that the president is black.

Former President Carter tells "NBC Nightly News" that racism has surfaced in opposition to President Obama.

Carter says that racism is bubbling up among many white people all around the country because they think African-Americans aren't qualified to lead. he calls it "an abominable circumstance."

The former president also says racism was at play in the recent outburst by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who called President Obama a liar. Some say a white president would never be treated this way.

But critics say all this is nonsense. The head of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele says President Carter is "flat-out wrong." Steele, who is black, says the opposition isn't about race, but rather about policy. He calls these charges of racism a distraction by Democrats to shift the debate away from health care reform.

Then there's Rush Limbaugh - he talks about how race rules all in what he calls "Obama's America." The right wing radio host suggests that race is at play in nearly every aspect of society today... including the story of the white kid who got beat up on an Illinois bus by black students.

Limbaugh also says racism is behind the media's treatment of Kanye West after his stunt at the video music awards, which Limbaugh considered relatively mild behavior.

Here’s my question to you: Does racism have anything to do with the opposition to President Obama?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Congressman Charlie Rangel played the race card in the health care debate. Rangel says racial bias and prejudice against President Obama because he's an African-American are behind the opposition to health care reform.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

Rangel stated: "Some Americans have not gotten over the fact that Obama is president of the United States. They go to sleep wondering, 'how did this happen?'"

It's a cheap shot and probably just about the last thing that President Obama needs in the already-heated debate. And it's even more of a cheap shot coming from Rangel, considering the fact that the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is under investigation for several ethics violations.

Mr. Rangel was forced to file amended financial reports to the House Ethics Committee after it was discovered he apparently "forgot" to report millions of dollars in assets and income. Just another hack politician who when the going gets tough resorts to race politics.

The Washington Post is calling on Rangel to resign as chairman of that committee.

But I'm sure he's not going anywhere - any more than Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina or Larry Craig of Idaho or any of a number of so-called public servants who use their elected office as a way of avoiding the rules the rest of us live by.

For his part, Rangel says it's not fair for him to comment until the ethics committee wraps up its investigation. In the meantime, he should just go away.

Here’s my question to you: Is Congressman Charlie Rangel, up to his ears in ethics investigations, out of line in saying race is at the center of the health care debate?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Talent and torment often go together.

History is filled with great artists and composers whose lives were a constant struggle against their own private demons. In the end, they leave us a great legacy of their works, but it seems the only real peace they ever found was when they stopped breathing.

Possessed of one of the greatest talents in the history of show business, Michael Jackson also seemed for much of his life to be a tormented, unhappy man. Following his death yesterday, there were reports of prescription drug use, including a shot of Demerol shortly before he collapsed and died from cardiac arrest.

His life was filled with episodes of bizarre behavior. Everything from his trial on child molestation charges - he was acquitted - to dangling his baby off a balcony, to the grotesque altering of his physical appearance through numerous plastic surgeries to his failed marriages. The press had a field day with Michael Jackson.

But there was also a kind, gentle man who donated much time and money to charity. Remember We Are The World? He and Lionel Richie wrote the words and music to that song, which raised millions for hungry people in Africa. When his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, he donated the settlement from a lawsuit - $1.5 million - to a hospital burn center.

As with all of us, there was more than one side to Michael Jackson.

Here’s my question to you: How would you characterize the life of Michael Jackson?

Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.

And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.

Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Barack Obama has generated an excitement and hope not seen in American politics in years, perhaps even decades. But behind the scenes, some of his field workers and volunteers are coming face-to-face with something very different: racism.

The Washington Post reports about what it calls "raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed – and unreported" in this election. Obama volunteers have had doors slammed in their faces, and have been called racially derogatory names. Some Americans apparently can't deal with the idea that Obama might become our first African-American president.

One volunteer reports being chased by dogs while canvassing in Indiana. Another woman in Pennsylvania gave up on phone-bank duty after one night... because of the negative responses from voters in her county, which is 98% white. Drivers yelled out racial slurs as they passed a group of black high school students holding up Obama signs in Indiana.

The campaign says these are isolated incidents and that most volunteers and staffers have had positive experiences. It says the election has reinforced Obama's view that "this country is not as divided as our politics." As for the candidate himself, he doesn't talk much about race.

He doesn't have to. Obama has won 30 of the 50 contests so far, including 5 of 12 primaries where blacks made up less than 10% of the voters. He also won in caucus states that are overwhelmingly white – places like Iowa, Idaho and Wyoming.

Here’s my question to you: Now that it looks like it will be Barack Obama against John McCain, how big an issue will race become?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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