1. james wrote:

excellent discussion. i agree with sharpton. i’m still pretty satisfied and hopeful that obama is leading in a way that is consistent with the social, economic, and political climate surrounding this administration.

2. DCI74 wrote:

I think all 3 make valid points but I am leaning mostly towards Jeff’s perspective. We should all be looking at the President based solely on what he said during the campaign. I also agree with Sharpton’s response to the caller, the idea that ‘black people have voted their first black president into office’ is not only an insulting joke but says nothing about the black people who didn’t vote for Obama. He is the president of the entire US, not just black people and not even just the people who voted him into office. The numbers of black men in prison didn’t suddenly become disproportionate since Obama has been in office so I don’t get how he is solely responsible for those numbers.

3. Mario wrote:

I agree with Jeff somewhat about dealing with what Obama has said. Regarding foreign policy neither Obama, Clinton, or McCain campaigned on getting out of both Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe that we can still elect Obama and ask him to change his policy with reasons for such a change from his campaign rhetoric.

I completely agree with Marc at the end. Obama has not help keep the public option alive. Lieberman is not killing the public option alone. The true progressive congressmen and congresswomen are being revealed and Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are not part of that group. He also has not solved the financial problems of this country. The new legislation still has loopholes for big business. Last Obama’s education policy is still more of Bush’s competition amongst schools and teachers for money which will not work. I’m not sure if Blacks are leaving Obama, but Progressives surely are.

4. Lisa wrote:

O.T.
I’d like to comment on your video with OReally, but there is no link to do so.

5. Clif Soulo wrote:

I agree with you D.C., but I also agree with Marc that the lifting all boats theory/ideal is a load of bs. I don’t expect Obama to right the injustices and even the playing field for all people of color in 1 year, that’s insane, but at some point, someone needs to speak the truth about the state of people of color in this country, and address it with actual solutions and not the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” talk.

6. Tom Penn wrote:

Wow !!!! I TOTALLY agree with Reverend Sharpton !!!

AND Let me tell ya folks, President Obama is the fiercest Commander-In-Chief this nation has had since Harry S. Truman. Obama wants one thing …. and that is Victory !!! He gave the Left the closing of Gitmo, and the Right has got his back because he wants to win these wars.

While everyone in the media was obsessed last week over how many lovers Tiger Woods has had through the years, one thing was not reported; or barely reported, and that is Commander-In-Chief Obama ordered his army to attack al-Qaeda in the country of Yemen !!! Damn !!! Dubya NEVER took the battle to the enemy as directly as Obama has done in just these last eleven months. And Bush was never as aggressive as BHO was this past year in dealing with the economy. So, peeps who compare Obama to Bush are SO off the track! BHO is a BIGGER Hawk than GWB on war, and much more assertive than his predecessor on the economy.

7. Mario wrote:

Actually Tom Penn, Obama has moved the date of closing Guantanamo back even further and still has no solid plan of how to close it and where to move the prisoners. All Obama has really given to the left is the Lily-Ledbetter Act and if I’m not mistaken allowing other countries to use American aid to fund abortion. I won’t even include the stimulus b/c the left wanted a bigger one.

Let’s just face it. Obama is not progressive on hardly any issue. I was really disheartened to hear him try to act like he never campaigned on a public option either. That exposed him as just another politician that says what we want to hear to get our votes then bows to corporate America once in office. I wonder if we can ever get a president who will fight for the people.

8. ChgoSista wrote:

Now I REALLY enjoyed this healthy debate. Dr. Marc, I feel you and get where you’re coming from. Jeff Johnson and Rev. Al had hella points,too.