American Morning
We Listen – Your comments 9/16/2009
Editor's Note: Former President Jimmy Carter’s remarks on racism towards President Obama dominated Wednesday’s American Morning viewer response. The majority were in agreement with Mr. Carter, stating “you have to be blind not to see it.” Those opposed to Mr. Carter's assessment noted that every time something “is not going how the Democrats would like…they [make] racism a big issue.”
Agree
- Lee: To argue that disrespectful behavior shown to the president, like that of Joe Wilson or the "tea baggers" comparing Obama to Hitler and Stalin, isn't racist is to be an ostrich with its head in the sand! Racism is deeply entrenched in our society and people's willingness to undermine Obama's administration at every turn is symptomatic of this racism.
- Gabe: Jimmy Carter is certainly right about racism figuring in the Washington demonstration. You have to be blind not to see it. (Look at those awful signs deriding Obama.) Certain white people have suddenly discovered that there's a black man in the White House and it scares them. Wilson, too, was being racist, if only unconsciously, in his outburst in Congress. Alas, all is not well with the nation.
- Sandy: Today race still plays a subtle and underlying influence in the lives of most black people. It is my belief that people who would never consider themselves racist are doing so unconsciously because its interwoven into our present society in such a quiet and sometimes no so quiet way. I have observed this trait in many of my white friends who would never consider themselves racist. I've had them apologize to me after they spoke to me in a demeaning way.
Disagree
- Rosemary: In response to former Pres. Carter's remarks about the discord toward Pres. Obama being about race, this is not true. Pres. Carter is from another generation where racism was a much larger problem. This is not true today. Racism does still exist in small pockets, but the larger problem with Pres. Obama is not the color of skin; it is his infringement on the Constitution of the United States. [...]
- Anthony: Jimmy Carter says that race is the issue. Good grief. I am sick of this liberal crap. The Democrats put an African American up as their candidate so they could use the race card anytime someone disagrees or opposes their agenda. Are you all blind to this? Try doing some journalistic work for a change. Jimmy Carter is the worse president ever to occupy the White House and you feature his words. Democrats have made one mistake. The American people are wise to this tactic and unfortunately for a future American of African descent who deserves to be president, he or she won't make it to the white house for fear of having this race crap used against them again.
- Ginspelts: Here we go again. The healthcare reform is not going how the democrats would like so they are now making racism a big issue. They do this every time something is not going their way.
What do you think about Carter’s remarks? Is he stating a truth that Americans are afraid to acknowledge, or is this a way for the Democrats to change the subject, as some viewers feel?
Is the economy improving?
Fed Chief Ben Bernanke says the recession is "very likely over" but he admits there's still a tough road ahead.
There are still cities and towns across the country where it's hard to breathe a sigh of relief. One city hit the hardest is Lansing, Michigan.
For months we've been talking to Lansing's mayor, Virg Bernero, keeping tabs on how people are doing.
Twitter user outs president's 'jackass' comment
President Obama thought his comments about Kanye West were off the record when he called the singer a "jackass." They came during an interview with CNBC. The remark was overheard by people at ABC who then tweeted about it. So just what is fair game for tweeting while you are at work?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/16/lewis.regina.art.jpg caption="Regina Lewis says it's important for employees to know their company's social networking policy."]
Regina Lewis is AOL’s consumer adviser and author of "Wired in a Week." She spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
John Roberts: Let's just illuminate for folks at home what the tweet was that sort of launched a thousand conversations. It said, “Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a 'jackass' for his outburst at the VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential.” ABC News says it was wrong for that tweet to go out. So I guess the caution here is be careful what you tweet these days?
Regina Lewis: Yeah. They are saying the threshold should be the same as if it was published on ABC.com, which has raised all kinds of questions within the journalism community. But it extends beyond that to everybody else at work. And that's got a lot of companies scrambling to update their business code of conduct and create things called acceptable use policies around social networking, which tweets would fall under.
Banks Gone Bust: Life after Lehman
Imagine you've gone to school for years, your only goal to break into the world of finance. And it happens. You get an interview and land the job of your dreams.
Then your company goes bust and markets across the globe tank. That's exactly what happened for some of the youngest workers at these "Banks Gone Bust." CNN's Christine Romans report.
One year ago, a whole crop of young investment bankers and analysts packed their boxes and left their dreams of big Wall Street careers behind them.
Avi Yashchin, who had spent long hours trading credit default swaps for Lehman Brothers, says he initially felt lost.
“I immediately started calling my friends trying to find out what the next big thing is. And everyone said the same thing – ‘green.’ You have to get into the green industry.”
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