HughSansom, you wrote: "We progressives may not vote for a Republican, but we can stay home. Or vote for third party candidates. I will _not_ vote for Obama — no matter what. His sell-out on healthcare, Wall Street, constitutional due process, human rights — and much more — all guarantee I would not vote for him under any circumstances."

You left out:

"His record-breaking use of the 1917 Espionage Act? His war against whistleblowers and government transparency? His drone assassinations of American citizens?...His toadying for the 1%? His condemnations of labor? His capitulation to big health insurers and big pharma?" {Just American citizens? How about all of the innocent civilians who have been murdered by the drone bombs in the countries that he has ordered attacks on, such as Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia? My neighbor's friend was one of those civilians murdered thanks to our Nobel "Peace" Prize president's "peaceful" leadership.)

[Thanks to the other Hugh on this thread for the above comment]

And both of you left out his voting for corporate welfare bailouts for the incompetent banks when he was senator and his corporate welfare bailouts for the incompetent auto companies as president. (As Bobby Kennedy quipped: "Socialism for the corporations and the free market for the rest of us.")

Anyone who doesn't think that the current Obama administration is just a third term of the former Murderer-in-Chief Bush is in denial, as far as I'm concerned.

Hugh Sansom: He's trying to get to a second term. And, perhaps, stay alive. Nevertheless, there's HOPE for him yet -- particularly with a more active, vocal, organized progressive constituency, who won't go on thinking that getting him (or anyone) in office is enough...

Ok, YOU'RE dead wrong.

Well, fortunately for him, genius, he's not always wrong.

You dead wrong, tho.

[[Hon Key from WTF
Thans leonard for another safe moderate show when dealing with Blacks. Thank you for not having on any of the parents and relatives of the central park jogger or the falsey men accused. Thank you for the softball questions about race to everyone you talk about race with. Thank you for showing more anger and concern when you talk about eating in France.]]

...you should start your own show. Although it sounds like you sat through all the foodie shows about eating in France, so maybe just stay here.

[[fuva from harlemworld
"A black guy", your response is non-responsive.
And you obviously lack the info required for substantive, productive discourse here -- college degree or not.
Unfortunately, you cannot be adequately educated on this forum. But good luck to you.]]

"A black guy" and "IMHO" are the same person, genius.

I look forward to Harlem becoming a predominantly white and Hispanic community.

Cash is king.

Hon Key from WTF (ooooh, you ain't right), Cpt. Kark from nyc and IMHO:
The real deal is that it's PRIMARILY up to us, not Leonard or Brian, to foster better discourse here. We need to step up our hoop-jumping, multi-tasking game and make it happen.

IMHO nails it.

"A black guy", your response is non-responsive.
And you obviously lack the info required for substantive, productive discourse here -- college degree or not.
Unfortunately, you cannot be adequately educated on this forum. But good luck to you.

Thans leonard for another safe moderate show when dealing with Blacks. Thank you for not having on any of the parents and relatives of the central park jogger or the falsey men accused. Thank you for the softball questions about race to everyone you talk about race with. Thank you for showing more anger and concern when you talk about eating in France.

<<Cpt. Kark from nyc
Yes Leonard and Brian have black guests on who are not on the cutting edge od social commentary. They all sound like they went to the same school in the suburbs. Notice how Leonard has not read anything from the posts so far on this showpage?>>

Typical talking head pundit nonsense. Hey, Ellis, you haven't written a book in a few years. Can you cobble together a few statistics and re-hash a few racial cliches?

[[fuva from harlemworld
You're "a black guy" who is race/racism ignant...

Unfortunately, folks, they exist in hordes. Being black does not make you black conscious.

May. 29 2012 12:26 PM]]

I have a college degree and years of professional experience.

A black kid who fails to graduate high school is a joke. The whole world is laughing at him.

Yes, Amy from Manhattan.

Trite, boring but true is that the relationship between the platform this guy gets and his half-baked, acontextual analysis is direct.

Thankfully, Leonard is pushing back with stop and frisk stats. Let's see..

[[uva from harlemworld
Says YOU, Generic Hussein Listener...]]

Yes. Obviously.

Yes Leonard and Brian have black guests on who are not on the cutting edge od social commentary. They all sound like they went to the same school in the suburbs. Notice how Leonard has not read anything from the posts so far on this showpage?

We progressives may not vote for a Republican, but we can stay home. Or vote for third party candidates. I will _not_ vote for Obama — no matter what. His sell-out on healthcare, Wall Street, constitutional due process, human rights — and much more — all guarantee I would not vote for him under any circumstances.

[[Amy from Manhattan
There's a long history of white racists making exceptions for individual black people, either because they know them or because they're famous, often explained as, "Oh, s/he's not like the rest of them." I don't think admiration of Oprah Winfrey by whites who have racist attitudes is that big a change.]]

Here is the definition on "post-racial": As a black guy I can tell you that if you are loitering on my street and I decide you look suspicious, I will call the cops on you. I don't care what color you are. There. Post-racial.

You're welcome.

It's also interesting to hear this interview right after a news story about how many more black than white teenagers are stopped & frisked by police. How does that fit in w/the supposed progress that's been made? (OK, some progress *has* been made, in some areas, but I haven't heard this aspect mentioned yet.)

I guess you have to work at a safe, middle-of-the-road to conservative pseudo-news organization like Newsweek to think Obama is liberal.

How is Obama liberal?

His coddling of Wall Street? His record-breaking use of the 1917 Espionage Act? His war against whistleblowers and government transparency? His drone assassinations of American citizens? His unlimited, indefinite imprisonment of people in defiance of due process and constitutional requirements? His toadying for the 1%? His condemnations of labor? His capitulation to big health insurers and big pharma?

Says YOU, Generic Hussein Listener...

Various issues such as the Trayvon Martin backlash, a particular type of anti-Obama rhetoric, transparently unnecessary voter registration laws,anti-Muslim paranoia, and anti-immigrant (read anti-Mexican) suggest there remains a serious racial divide in the U.S. Does Mr. Cose acknowledge this problem?

[[jgarbuz from Queens
O'bama is part African and part Irish. Let's not overlook his Irish heritage.]]

Bi-racial and multiethnic make the cutest babies. No one is overlooking anything.

You're "a black guy" who is race/racism ignant...

Unfortunately, folks, they exist in hordes. Being black does not make you black conscious.

White guilt has really been replaced by white anger and fear. Things have gotten better but if you look at the data communities are even more segregated more than they were 40 years age. The media plays a large part because they still present the face of fear in America as young and Black. Being able to chosse between 12 kinds of donughts is very different from being able to secure the funds to open 12 donught stores operated by a person of color in any neighboorhood I choose.

There's a long history of white racists making exceptions for individual black people, either because they know them or because they're famous, often explained as, "Oh, s/he's not like the rest of them." I don't think admiration of Oprah Winfrey by whites who have racist attitudes is that big a change.

The fact that "The Voice" has only ONE black judge may actually work to disprove your guest's general thesis...

Of course, I think his thesis is silly. I mean, (according to Scott Winship – fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, and Director of the Center on Children and Families for the Social Genome Project) 2/3 of black kids experience a level of neighborhood poverty that only 6% of whites experience. And black and white kids are still failing the doll test. And your guest...feels a need to write a book about how less angry blacks are, or something like that...Meanwhile, the patient is hemorrhaging.

But these are the black guests on Brian Lehrer and Leonard Lopate. Because these folks are willing to ingratiate themselves with the white power structure, to "ascend" socioeconomically and, in turn, to NOT encourage the kind of discourse we really need to be having. It's an unfortunate autocatalytic effect.

Tell him to stop using the word "cohort."

He is blind to the carnage taking place on the streets.

There is nothing controversial about competing with whites?

WHAT?

50% of blacks drop out of high school...where is the competition?

Blacks are not knocked down by racism...they are knocked down by other blacks or trip over their own feet.

The Oprah , Les Brown, Preachers. You have Blacks who transcend race as entertainers more than politicians, economic strategists or political insiders. When the real issues aneed an expert you still see white commentators. Everything elses you can ask Will Smith.

In Cose's hometown of Chicago, there were ten gun murders and dozens of other people were shot over the holiday weekend. Most of the murders were black-on-black. Chicago is on a record-breaking pace for murders this year. The vast majority of shooters and victims will be black.

The ideas of "white guilt, black rage, and a post-racial America" are absolutely irrelevant to the sustainability of African-American communities.

Ask Mr. Cose if he knows anything about how the middle-class, quiet, black Chicago community called Chatham has seen a dramatic rise in violent gun crimes. Black-on-black gun crimes.

To sum up, black communities across Chicago and around the country are crumbling and that is because black people are killing other black people with a rage that would better suit the KKK.

O'bama is part African and part Irish. Let's not overlook his Irish heritage.