Reuters; Race Issues Beset Obama's "Post-Racial" Presidency

The sad, predictable facts are that everyone involved with this ordeal that ended with the firing of Shirley Sherrod acted completely in character and exactly how you would expect. Breitbart released an edited video with out of context quotes. Fox News, deeming the story to be newsworthy, ran with it. The NAACP showed weak leadership. The Obama Administration acted impulsively and without taking the time to gather the facts, unjustly fired Shirley Sherrod. In a CNN interview, Sherrod said USDA deputy undersecretary Cheryl Cook called her and told her to pull over and submit her resignation on her Blackberry because the White House wanted her out. Her anger (rightfully so) is focused on the administration which acted rashly and "Cambridge police-like", a knee jerk reaction from a White House afraid of being caught on the wrong side of the racial payback atmosphere we find ourselves in. For a man praised for having a cool and collected temperament, Obama seems to be able to do only one of two things when faced with a crisis; ignore it and hope it goes away, or impulsively overreact. Let's hope we're not soon faced with a situation where our success or survival is dependent on his leadership and ability to make a decision under real pressure.

From Reuters

Many supporters of Barack Obama hoped his election as America's first black president might herald an era of post-racial politics, but race has been an issue his administration just can't seem to avoid.

Division and tension between black and white Americans has cropped up repeatedly over Obama's 18 months in office, hurting his popularity and distracting from his political agenda.

The issue surfaced this week when the Agriculture Department pushed a black official to resign after allegations she discriminated against a white farmer, only to apologize a day later for acting too quickly and without the facts.

Here's a sobering thought; If Obama can be fooled so easily by Andrew Breitbart, what chance does he have against Putin, Chavez, or Ahmadinejad?