I don't mean to sound mean--and I am white--but when I read statistics on how the United States, how many years after the end of slavery and segregation we still do not spend an equal amount of tax payer dollars educating children of different races in this country...and I wonder--if we accept this system as it is (not to mention the justice system which prosecutes and punishes people of different races differently--no question about it) --are we racist?

Not just that. We are careless and we are capitalistic but only in the worst sense. We have more welfare for the rich than we do for the poor. Poor white children don't get such a great education either. The tax base for schools should not depend upon the tax base of the district that the school is in. The sooner socialism comes to education the better.

Have you ever read The Great Gatsby? Fitzgerald describes well the carelessness of the economically privileged. In fact there is a line that says roughly "Tom and Daisy were careless people."

Careless = not caring.

If Obama had said:"for once I wish someone would focus on the Kansas side of my family, look at the other half of my lineage and say how did he become so moderate with parental roots that go back to conservative Landon land?". That is what I wish he had said in place of "they attack me because I don't look like the Presdidents with their pictures on the currency". The first statement would be to make light of it and the second statement says "I am a victim, stop these bullies!". A more relevant question would be: "why does a Harvard Law Graduate, 10 year Professor of Law at U. of Chicago law school need the emotional sustanence of people who preach radical anti-Americanism?" Why the need for Rev. Wright and the former Weathermen and the others? There are two Barack Obama's one the detached cool speech maker and the other an angry half black man. Seeking to reconcile the two halves of his nature is his task and it does not look easy. If he recognizes it and talks about it in down to earth terms he could go a long way toward making people comfortable with the "real Barack Obama".

Glad to see that the end of the primary season did not leave you unemployed.

I am looking for some extra cash myself these days? How much do you get paid per letter posted?

My two cents seems to be the going rate.

Actually, it's tough and ugly for Obama's WHITE supporters. They thought that racism was over. They thought we had overcome and entered the Promised Land, and that voting for him would show that we, as a country, were doing better than most blacks thought. Poll after poll shows that blacks think there is more racism than whites. The only difference is that white people are attacking other whites for this craziness.

I think that's good. Whites need to be the ones attacking subtle racism and not claiming it away. I am heartened by the number of people who are disgusted. It's larger than I thought it would be. On the other hand, stereotyping persists. Many blacks are not registered to vote, and don't care. A good number DID vote for Clinton, Edwards, etc. Out of 300+ million, maybe 45 million voted in the Democratic primary. Out of 33+ million blacks, maybe 10 million voted in the Democratic primaries, and not all for Obama. How the hell is that "all blacks voted for Obama" or "blacks are racist- look at them voting for Obama". 90%+ of blacks have voted for the white nominee in most presidential contests since 1972. That kind of ignorance of stats and just plain idiocity gets old. Yet it comes up over, and over, and over again. It gets explained, and here it comes again.

Some whites (the polls go between 22 to 27%- so that means more) will never vote for a black. Probably closer to 35%. Why bother to suck up to them? Go for the non-racist whites.

Gotta go.

careless...I agree.

It's amazing that the rich interests have been so successful in pitting poor whites and poor people of other races against one another isn't it, particularly since if they joined together they would have more power collectively?

But what you are saying is true...poor people in rural schools suffer even if they are white...and yet I wonder at how things are dividing differently right now. For example, the Republicans are now saying that "blue collar" is no longer an economic class...because you can be a "blue collar worker" like a plumber or a garbage collector--and still earn a fairly decent living--financially.

They are saying that the new divider is instead education...that those who are less educated are going to be the Republican targets (this is in the new book by two guys and I can't remember their names right now). Ironic, no? Because education tends to lead to a more liberal outlook.

The only thing I can think of is to offset this is better education for everyone. People can do blue collar jobs, but as long as they have a decent education (and high school education, from my observation, currently often falls below the decency standard) they might not be quite so easily persuaded.

For example, it's funny, in this new paradigm although Democrats offer tangible benefits and incentives, the Republicans will sell that old Marlborough Man image...the can-do automonous sell that not coincidentally suits rich corporate interests so well. Come to think of it there's not much freshness in this idea....but this book (I'll think of the title eventually) is the new hope for the "Republican party now that they've metamorphosed under Bush into the big-government, hawkish war party (which probably has old-style conservatives like Barry Goldwater spinning in their graves...but nevermind that).

I'm a firm believer in the "paid writer" theory, but I believe that if somebody were paying a particular writer, they would want to have somebody working for them who was, shall we say, "subtler" than KateTex.