Fletcher: Sorry that this person finds the essay disingenuous. It is also obvious that progressives are more than white and there was nothing in what i wrote that could lead anyone to believe that i was directing my comments to white progressives. Ironically, i was mainly thinking about Black progressives and leftists (not all of them, obviously) who have sat back and been strangely silent in the face of the racist attacks on the President and have not made the linkage that i suggest to be necessary. I am sorry that the author of the criticism misunderstood what i wrote, but i will take it as a misunderstanding
^^^^^
Bill Fletcher: It has been striking that many progressives, particularly those who have not only written off President Obama but also written off all those who offered critical support to the Obama campaign in 2008, have said so little about race, racism, and the discourse of right-wing populism in the context of the upcoming elections.
Somebody: I find most of this editorial disingenuous. In fact, from reading Democratic-oriented and progressive blogs it's quite apparent that most on the center-left who've been critical of Obama have simultaneously responded to the racist attacks against the President.
Firedoglake, for example, the website founded by Obama critic Jane Hamsher, is at once filled with progressive critiques of the White House and Congressional Democrats *and* denunciations of Birthers and Tea Party racists.
Also, the impression I get from the editorial is that progressives are all white, or anyway do not significantly overlap with the Black Americans who are "murmuring" about racist Republicans. It's 2011. The U.S. is way too diverse to continue with the same tired white liberal stereotype of 60's. To state the obvious, the progressive community includes whites, blacks, liberals, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.