SEND IN THE CLOWNS - AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  This was inevitable.  The usual suspects are starting a "dialogue" about race in Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to the Washington Post:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The town where a white police officer and a black scholar ignited a national conversation on race and law enforcement has begun to open the dialogue that President Obama invited.

Before summer's end, the mayor, district attorney and police officials will convene a forum to grapple with the controversy over the arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. by Sgt. James Crowley -- which exploded into a divisive debate that drew in the president.

And...

Obama, who spoke to both men last week, called it a "teachable moment" for the nation on a "troubling aspect of our society." Gates said in an e-mail statement that he accepts Obama's invitation to begin talking and wants to work with the Cambridge Police Department. Crowley has not publicly responded to the invitation.

This, of course, is a farce.  When Obama speaks of a "teachable moment," he's speaking about a one-way street.  Teach it from the politically correct perspective. 

There's no doubt there is racial profiling in some areas.  There's no doubt that some police officers are bigoted and should be rooted out.  The racial history of the country is troubling, to say the least.  Whoever doubts that might try to answer President Kennedy's question:  What white American would prefer to be black?

At the same time, these "dialogues" about race are never honest because every white participant fears the label "racist" if he dares to bring up the pathologies within minority communities that add to the tragedy.  Some 80% of the children of Harlem don't know who their fathers are.  Many minority families are unsupportive of schools and teachers.  There are poisonous messages sent through hip-hop performers and others.  Too often, "programs" set up to help minority youngsters wind up helping only the people running the programs.  When questions are asked, the questioners are labeled "culturally insensitive."

And of course, in covering this "dialogue," the press will be in the tank for the political left, adding to the dishonesty.  We can have a true dialogue if we're determined to solve problems, not just add to the chatter of the salon class.  Will that happen?  Much may depend on President Obama.  How will he introduce this "dialogue"?  He gave a thoughtful speech to the NAACP several weeks ago, declaring that the age of excuses was over.  Will that be taken seriously?  Or will those who benefit from the excuses continue to rule?

The most important weapon in this "dialogue" will be a calendar.  It is 2009.  It is not 1965.  Will that be understood?

July 26, 2009