Al Cross is a faculty member at UK, a long time TV commentator on KET and elsewhere, and a leader of an organization called the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. So he should be in tune with rural issues. But his comments on former president's Carter's statement about racism being a significant part of the intense opposition, well, hatred of president Obama, showed me that he may not be in tune with the rural midwest.

I think Carter was pretty close to the bulls-eye. Maybe not dead on the center, but close. I do think that many people in the U.S. are not ready for a "black" man, even one who is half-white, to be president. There is just too many innate fears, and it is coming out strongly in finding any little thing to oppose him on.

I think Cross is out of touch with his own rural constituency if he doesn't recognize it. For him to go on KET and diss Carter out of hand was a disservice to the commonwealth and the nation. He needs to reconsider his comments. He took the easy, TV way out.