Well, sorry Mr. G. McIntosh, in my opinion there are a lot bigger problems than racism in this country. For me as a black man who voted for Obama, I don't feel sorry for him at all; he's very intelligent, he knew what he was getting into, and I don't think he's as hyper-sensitive and thin-skinned about those "respect " issues you mentioned. . . He can handle that part. He knows that if the economy were rolling, everyone would love him no matter what color he is. I think he's unusually honest for a politician, but I agree with those on the left, he's way too soft for what we need: he should have gone for the public option, he should not be ashamed of trying to create an effective stimulus, other than the tax lowering part (which the other side doesn't even give him credit for). He should have said we're raising taxes to pay for the additional troops he sent to Afghanistan instead of continuing to kick the debt can forward just like Bush did, and causing non-military people to be apathetic about the war. Most people here have no stake in our recent wars- thanks to our leadership the wars haven't cost folks anything yet, also the fighting is far away, so most Americans don't care much about what is going on over there. I believe folks would care a lot more if we were paying for these wars in the current timeframe, instead of passing the cost on to the future citizens. Obama should not have allowed 3% raises for federal employees this year at a time when we have 10% unemployment and a huge federal budget deficit, not to mention the cumulative national debt which is growing by the minute. He certainly should not be lowering ANYONES taxes when we have such a huge deficit. In the US, as well off as we are, we are still living a financial lie, continuing to live above our means as a country, living off the federal government borrowings....I thought we were getting ‘change’? I sounds more like Reagonomics. To his credit, his proposed lapse of tax cuts on income over $250,000 is at least a weak start. But like most politicians today, Obama just cannot bring himself to ask our successful corporations, federal employees, or the general public to sacrifice any meaningful portion of their almighty dollars to pay for the greater good; to me that is what makes them weak leaders, and it's the difference between statesmen and politicians.
Wesley V. Geary III
Aurora CO