A segment from the March 18, 2008 show, featuring a discussion of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comments with Dr. R. L'Heureux Lewis of City College of New York.

Huckabee gives a surpisingly thoughtful and nuanced reaction to Obama's speech on race.

The nation that Barack Obama and many others feels can heal its racial wounds still has people that create images and craft messages of hatred and misunderstanding. With Kerry, it was patriotism. With Obama, it's Blackness.

This is the door that has been officially kicked open after Obama's "race speech." He could have locked the door permanently and thrown away the key had that speech been given earlier. Now, it is up to him and his supporters to overcome this mockery and mis-construction of the Black experience in this country and tell the story of a people who's hope and pride have made them the most resilient people on earth.

Also at The SuperSpade.

This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected.

Barack Obama gave a speech on race this morning in Philadelphia that many consider to be his most direct campaign speech dealing with the "issue." Given the pretext of the speech, the talk seems to be one that was forced into necessity more by the media, Obama's supporters, and detractors than by Obama's desired to address race Blackness in this campaign and in this country head-on. I have always felt that had this been something that Obama wanted to do out of his own volition, he would have done so long ago, thus pre-empting the ignorant racial undertones of attacks made against him, and laying a foundation for healing in this nation that started with race and class, and grew to overcome the entire of spectrum of challenges this nation and this world face.

Nevertheless, the time has come for this conversation between Barack Obama and the Democratic American electorate. In this speech Barack Obama succeeded in opening the door to a legitimate, meaningful, and potentially productive dialogue of understanding, empathy, and unity among people from diverse backgrounds and experiences. By Barack Obama actually publicly acknowledging that not only is there a race issue, but one that must be dealt with, he is responsibly using his position and status and recognition to create an atmosphere of abundant possibility and environment of empirical hope that builds much needed problem-solving momentum in all areas that change must occur.

This video made my Black History Month.

Tavis Smiley hosts and annual event called the Black State of the Union. The 2008 version will be on February 23rd in New Orleans, LA.

Last year, a big question around this event was whether or not Barack Obama was going to attend the event. He did not, but he was doing something that was much bigger: deciding to and formally announcing his run for the Presidency. Now, one year later, in the midst of a very competitive primary season, Obama faces the same question: will he go? Should he go?

Obama is not attending. Tavis Smiley is on record saying that he's cool with that. Roland Martin at Essence Magazine thinks this was the right decision. His primary argument is that Obama must "look forward, not in the past" and that Obama "can't be defined as the Black candidate." He thinks that Obama should send his wife Michelle, and continue campaigning in Texas and Idaho.

I think that's a terrible move and completely wrong, and here's why.

Barack and Michelle Obama should both attend the Black State of the Union event. Any criticism of their attendance of this day, arguably the most important discussion of the state of this country's Black affairs, would not only by unfounded and irresponsible, but easily refutable.

Hillary Clinton responded today to NBC's David Shuster's comments about her campaign "pimping out" Chelsea Clinton:

I am a mom first and a candidate second...I can take whatever comes my way, that’s part of what I signed up for as a candidate as an office holder, but I think that there’s been a troubling pattern of comments and behavior that has to be held accountable. So I have sent a letter to the head of NBC expressing the deep offense that I took and pointing out what has been a troubling pattern of demeaning treatment, and I would expect appropriate action to be taken.

What's troubling though is this part:

We have accepted a lot of debates from a lot of different sponsors and were going to wait and see how this plays out.

She is now threatening to boycott pending debates on NBC. Clinton agreed to debate on Fox News. Can we then call Fox a "Clinton sponsor?"

According to The Stranger, as well as a caller into the Thom Hartmann radio program (great show), robocalls are going out to some in Washington telling them that the caucus in on Sunday, not Saturday (the actual date).

The calls apparently came from Meyer Associates Teleservices, a St. Cloud, MN-based direct marketing company. This company has done extensive work for the Obama campaign in Illinois, New Hampshire, and other states.

Robocalling is completely unacceptable. If this was done purposely, it's inexcusable. If it was done accidentally there are no accidents in politics at this level. Democrats don't like when Republicans do it to them. Democrats therefore should not do it to each other. Note also that this process is illegal in some states, and Obama's calls [courtesy of Meyer] were found to violate New Hampshire law.

This is sad, and I really, really want this to be untrue, but the evidence is not looking that way at this point. I want honest, ethical politics, not this stuff.

It appears that 94,000 votes that were cast in California by Decline-To-State voters in the Democratic primary are in danger of not being counted: not by any fault of the voters themselves, but due to unnecessarily confusing ballot design.

Why the hell do we make voting so difficult if it's something that we want everyone to do? I don't understand this. In this election season, where Democrats are seeing voters participate in caucuses and primaries in record numbers, I would expect they would want to do everything in ther power to have the newly-energized Democratic electorate not be disenfranchisd. Instead, this ballot, which undoubtedly was approved by somebody, has the strong stench of voter suppression lingering around it.

Do Something! Make sure every vote counts this February, this November, and beyond.

Primaries are about differentiation. Differences in the candidates' records; differences in the candidates' policy positions; differences in the candidates' ideologies. Well, at least they should be. Sadly, the more and more (or less and less) I watch/listen to political dialogue and commentary about these Presidential primaries and this upcoming Presidential election, I'm hearing a vague message of "change" that is doing little to concretely differentiate the candidates or further this country's dilapidated political discourse.