Well, John, I don't feel what I said is in the least bit condescending. Or assuming. I don't need to go into my history or even my present when it comes to interacting with black folks, but if you are curious, PM and I'll provide you with a little back ground right up to the here and now.

The comment, I think, stands on it's own. It's probably something that you are not able to relate to since you seem to be very much in the Bush camp. You might want to reread the original link and think about the concept of "exclusion". When you are squarely part of the in-crowd it kind hard to see the forest thru the trees. I son't feel as if I've been even close to the in-crowd in my life. Okay, maybe a little when Jimmy Carter was president. Since then, it's been one angry white guy's asministartion after another. Clinton's included 'cept in Clinton's case, even though Clinton made a lot of Repubs mad because he defeated Bush I, Clinton was one fine Repubocrat. Yeah, I'm sure that you worked yourself up into a lather hating Clinton but if you look at his policies he was very much part of your in-crowd. But since you have never been truely excluded you won't recognize this.

Yeah, your side has had almost 4 decades of wars. You have seen the wealth of the nation redistributed toward the monied class. You have seen just about evevy Great Society program either cut or reshuffled to divert even more resources to Boss Hog and his buddies. You have seen management beat labor down to nothing. I mean, face it, John. Life over te last 30 or 40 years has been very good to you. You consume as much as you like. You don't have to share and if you run low, you just go steal other folks labors and resources...

I don't have your mindset. Quite the opposite, matter of fact. I believe in pro-human & pro-earth policies. I believe in sharing. And giving of myself to others. But with these beliefs, especially under Bush, I feel very much "excluded". And, yes, from my decades long involvement with the black community, it's this "exclusion" that brings me a little closer to knowing what it has been like for black folks in America.

But you won't get it. You'll smugly throw up Condi Rice or Colin Powell like a shield. I uderstand. That's ok. For you see, I do understand you and I can emphathize with you but that's not what is at issue here. It's you inability to put *yourself* in the shoes of folks like me.

Peace

Bobert