Peracles,

I have no intention of following you through these back alleys of unfocused thought. I don't care what Jay-Z own. What does what Jay-Z own have to do with me? That was exactly my point in the article - how is what Jay-Z own any of Cornel West’s business?

And what about Cenk's claim? What evidence do you have that it's true, and not just sour grapes? Personally, I like Cenk, but if I ran the station I might have chosen Sharpton as well. He has more name recognition, and he comes with his own following - and if the network really wanted Cenk, they could have found a spot for him.

There's no such thing as "Black jobs." There are just jobs, and jobs don’t come in racial designations. So the president's job is to create opportunities for all, and it's the Black community's job to see to it that we prepare ourselves to take advantage of those opportunities.

You're doing exactly the same thing that Tavis and West are trying to do  - trying to play Black people against one another. On the other hand, I'm trying to warn them to beware of that tactic.  A good rule of thumb for all Black people is, whenever a conservative feigns concern for their "best interest," they'd better look out.

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/10/is-obama-real-reason-that-black.html

Richard,

I agree with you about Dyson. He's a sharp guy, and he did a great job today. But I wrote him a note about a previous video I saw him in. I warned him about performing for the camera, which he clearly was.

When my kids were youngsters, I used to always tell them not to depend exclusively on their character in order to do the right thing. The best way to ensure personal fidelity is to avoid temptation. That's why I avoid most contact with the electronic media, because celebrity is corrupting, and I want to make absolutely sure that I don't start thinking that I'm more important than my message. That's how we become idiots. Before long we find our selves telling the people what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. Another way I try to avoid that is by always writing to a generation yet unborn.

Peracles, Please!

Whenever I write anything, immediately after I make an assertion I will either give the facts to substantiate my claim, or connect the dots that support why I've come to a given conclusion. Thereafter, I leave whether or not the reader agrees with me up to the reader. 

As for your nitpicking through all of the nation's problems and responding to why Obama hasn't addressed this issue or that, I don't play that game, because it's a rhetorical device that only a fool would engage in. That's why it's one of the favorite games of the GOP.

I can make anyone seem to come up short by playing such a silly game, because it can go on endlessly. If I decided to assess my mother based on what she didn't do instead of what she did do, she would always come up short. So why should I get into a game with some idiot where he's asking questions like the following:

1). Did your mother provide you a mansion to live in as a child?

2). Did she buy you new school clothes every week?

3). Did she provide you with security so you would never get beat up after school?

4). Did she buy you a brand new Escalade after you graduated?

It's stupid to get into that sort of thing, and it's stupid for conservatives to think that I'm dumb enough to engage in it.

I'm not going to assess Obama as a president based on what he didn't do, because since no one can do everything, the list will undoubtedly be endless.  I'm going to assess him on what he HAS done, like the following:

1). He stopped the nation from hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs A MONTH under Bush,

2). He stopped the nation from going into a second Great Depression.

3). He save the America auto industry.

4). He was the first president to successfully passed healthcare reform in 70 years.

5). He created more jobs in 27 months than Bush did in 7 years.

6). And he managed to get Osama Bin Laden in his spare time.

In addition:

Obama Initiatives

- Spur Job Creation: "In addition, to help those most affected by the recession, the Budget will extend emergency assistance to seniors and families with children, Unemployment Insurance benefits, COBRA tax credits, and relief to states and localities to prevent layoffs."

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- Reforming the Job Training System: "The Budget calls for reform of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which supports almost 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers nationwide and a range of other services. With $6 billion for WIA at DOL—and an additional $4 billion in the Department of Education—the Budget calls for reforms to improve WIA." Strengthen Anti-Discrimination Enforcement: "To strengthen civil rights enforcement against racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, religious, and gender discrimination, the Budget includes an 11 percent increase in funding to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. This investment will help the Division handle implementation of a historic new hate crimes law. The Budget also provides an $18 million, or 5 percent increase, for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), which is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee. This increased investment will allow for more staff to reduce the backlog of private sector charges."

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- Support Historically Black Colleges and Universities: "The Budget proposes $642 million, an increase of $30 million over the 2010 level, to support Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In addition to this discretionary funding increase for MSIs, the Administration supports legislation passed by the House of Representatives and pending in the Senate that would provide $2.55 billion in mandatory funding to MSIs over 10 years."
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- Help Families Struggling with Child Care Costs: "The Budget will nearly double the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for middle-class families making under $85,000 a year by increasing their credit rate from 20 percent to 35 percent of child care expenses. Nearly all eligible families making under $115,000 a year would see a larger credit. The Budget also provides critical support for young children and their families by building on historic increases provided in ARRA. The Budget provides an additional $989 million for Head Start and Early Head Start to continue to serve 64,000 additional children and families funded in ARRA."
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- Reform Elementary and Secondary School Funding: "The Budget supports the Administration’s new vision for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) … The Budget provides a $3 billion increase in funding for K-12 education programs authorized in the ESEA, including $900 million for School Turnaround Grants, and the Administration will request up to $1 billion in additional funding if Congress successfully completes ESEA reauthorization."
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- Increase Pell Grants: "The Recovery Act and 2009 appropriations bill increased the maximum Pell Grant by more than $600 for a total award of $5,350. The Budget proposes to make that increase permanent and put them on a path to grow faster than inflation every year, increasing the maximum grant by $1,000, expanding eligibility, and nearly doubling the total amount of Pell grants since the President took office."

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- Help Relieve Student Loan Debt: "To help graduates overburdened with student loan debt, the Administration will strengthen income-based repayment plans for student loans by reducing monthly payments and shortening the repayment period so that overburdened borrowers will pay only 10 percent of their discretionary income in loan repayments and can have their remaining debt forgiven after 20 years. Those in public service careers will have their debt forgiven after 10 years. The Budget also expands low-cost Perkins student loans."
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- Prevent Hunger and Improve Nutrition: "The President’s Budget provides $8.1 billion for discretionary nutrition program supports, which is a $400 million increase over the 2010 enacted level. Funding supports 10 million participants in the WIC program, which is critical to the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and their infants. The Budget also supports a strong Child Nutrition and WIC reauthorization package that will ensure that school children have access to healthy meals and to help fulfill the President’s pledge to end childhood hunger. The President continues to support the nutrition provisions incorporated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)."
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- Revitalize Distressed Urban Neighborhoods: "The Budget includes $250 million for HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program, which will target neighborhoods anchored by distressed public or assisted housing with physical and social revitalization grounded in promising, measurable, and evidence-based strategies."
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- Increase Funding for the Housing Choice Voucher Program: "The President’s Budget requests $19.6 billion for the Housing Choice Voucher program to help more than two million extremely low income families with rental assistance to live in decent housing in neighborhoods of their choice. The Budget continues funding for all existing mainstream vouchers and provides flexibility to support new vouchers that were leased and $85 million in special purpose vouchers for homeless families with children, families at risk of homelessness, and persons with disabilities."
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- Preserve 1.3 Million Affordable Rental Units through Project-Based Rental Assistance Program: "The President’s Budget provides $9.4 billion for the Project-Based Rental Assistance program to preserve approximately 1.3 million affordable rental units through increased funding for contracts with private owners of multifamily properties. This critical investment will help low-income households to obtain or retain decent, safe and sanitary housing. In addition, the Administration requests $350 million to fund the first phase of this multi-year initiative to regionalize the Housing Choice Voucher program and convert Public Housing to project-based vouchers."
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- Promote Affordable Homeownership and Protect Families from Mortgage Fraud: "The Budget requests $88 million for HUD to support homeownership and foreclosure prevention through Housing Counseling and $20 million to combat mortgage fraud. In addition, the Budget requests $250 million for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation’s (NRC) grant and training programs. Of the $250 million, $113 million is requested for foreclosure prevention activities, a $48 million increase (74 percent) over 2010."

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- Fight Gang Violence and Violent Crime: "The Budget provides $112 million for place-based, evidence supported, initiatives to combat violence in local communities, including $25 million for the Community-Based Violence Prevention Initiatives that aim to reduce gun and other violence among youth gangs in cities and towns across the country, and $37 million for the Attorney General’s Children Exposed to Violence Initiative, which targets the youth most affected by violence and most susceptible to propagating it as they grow up."
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- Expand Prisoner Re-entry Programs: "The Budget provides $144 million for Department Justice prisoner re-entry programs, including an additional $100 million for the Office of Justice Programs to administer grant programs authorized by the Second Chance Act and $30 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs in State and local prisons and jails. In addition, the Budget provides $98 million for Department of Labor programs that provide employment-centered services to adult and youth ex-offenders and at-risk youth.."
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- Fully Fund the Community Development Block Grant Program: "The Budget provides $4.4 billion for the Community Development Fund, including $3.99 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Formula Program (CDBG), and $150 million for the creation of a Catalytic Investment Competition Grants program. The new Catalytic Competition Grants program uses the authorities of CDBG, but will provide capital to bring innovative economic development projects to scale to make a measurable impact."
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So don't try to play these games with me. I gave up playing in the sandbox as a kid. And by the way, send a copy of this to Tavis and West (Mutt and Jethro) - you seem to be a fan.