I think it's when a Pres. becomes "emeritus," more of the heartfelt beliefs surface - either via the former Pres. (journals, letters, diaries) or offspring and pennings.

And... many wonder what drives people away from public service? No-brainer.

Pick to the bone and it cuts to the core.

I've been avoiding this thread topic thru the previous one but decided to just pop on in. My Father is caucasian my mother is German (but considered Black German-which looks more Italian) I am mistaken for being Latin ALL the time..and my husband is Arabic (also mistaken for Latino) We have lived and travelled all over the world and honestly outside of the US have never experienced any kind of racial issues, we have been welcomed warmly wherever we have gone. The only ugly things that have ever been said to either of us have happened right here at home with two black men calling my husband Osama and two white men calling him a derogatory Latin name. We live in an area with all races many white,many black,many latin,many asian and for the most part everyone is very respectful of everyone regardless of color. I think the biggest question is not about race relations but about racial ignorance because after all racism is only a different word for ignorance and fear!

It would have been nice if Rev. Wright could have left it with his Moyers interview and the NAACP speech. He should have known the general public would not have understood his public performance at the press conference or see the difference between his platform and Obama's platform. He should have known they would all tune out and blame it on Obama. Wright's message got lost when he made it all about him instead of the people he was supposedly speaking on behalf in this country. I'm so disappointed with the media. It's as if they are too sensitive, stubborn, or hateful to listen to the content of what was said.

I agree with you Bobbi. When all this dies down, I hope someone has the courage to go back and re-examine everything that was said. It would be so nice to see an open, honest, and sincere dialogue on race relations in this country. I'd rather not place this burden on Obama because he's already got enough on his plate. It would be so nice to see some healing take place and to see us ALL work towards a happy medium. If not, I suspect the hatred and violence will only escalate.

One talking point that was interesting to me was about "Revenge" - i.e., God does not bless acts of terrorism OR revenge. I've always believed that too because revenge goes against a line in a very important prayer - i.e., "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." But that's not only why I believe revenge is wrong. I see how it is played out on the streets of Chicago here with our gangs. It's a never-ending vicious circle, and only leads to death and destruction. "Thou shalt not kill" happens to be a commandment, not a suggestion. Regardless of the color you are wearing, it is never honorable to kill or attempt to destroy another human being.