CNN stirs up racism

I was just watching CNN while eating my lunch, and saw them do something that totally amazed and outraged me. They were inviting the audience to email them and say why they would not vote for a Black man. I kid you not. They read a few responses on the air, some of which sidestepped the question, but at least one individual responded that Obama would just work for Blacks, socialists, and Muslims.

This is incredibly irresponsible and provocative. In fact, despite Obama's winning the Democratic primaries, and despite his commanding lead in the polls--both evidence that most Americans have gotten past racism to judge an individual by the content of his character, as Martin Luther King insisted so many years ago--there are still those who want to make race an issue even when it is clearly not. Those people are either racists, or are opportunistically stirring up racism--and in the case of CNN, doing so to boost ratings, would be my best guess.

Shame on CNN, and shame on those who can't accept that racism, while not totally dead, is not playing much of a role in this election. If it were, the poll numbers would be much different.

The anchor during this segment was Kyra Phillips.

In defense of Bill Ayers. Read about it in Inside Higher Ed. And in the Wall Street Journal. (hat tip to Andrew Hunt for the second link.)

Supreme Court denies execution appeal by Troy A. Davis. Even though there is considerable doubt about his guilt. But why let that get in the way of political concerns? Only the governor of Georgia can save him now, but he will be looking at the next election. Life is cheap.

More breaking news: The new New York Times/CBS poll puts Obama ahead of McCain by 14 points. Ouch!