David
Surely the whole point about race being an irrelevant consideration is that it's irrelevant? The question is still the critical one, not the racial one, of whether a particular policy is justified? The only relevance of race in your argument is to suggest that Leigh is morally bad for raising an issue against a non-white person? And that is no reason either for or against a particular policy?

Race or colour is not what makes Obama incompetent any more than Rudd's race and colour makes him incompetent. My mention of Obama's colour was used in an attempt to illustrate that he was voted in on emotional, even racial, motives. There were undoubtedly people who voted against him for the same reason.

I can understand African Americans voting for Obama; they've have an unpleasant history at the hands of white Americans, and I am not in a position to say they should get over it because they are treated like everybody else is now. I've never been in their position.

However, they can still be seen as voting on colour without consideration of who would have been best for the job. Obama has done nothing particular for African Americans, and doesn't look like doing anything in the future. Apart from the fact that his background is not the same as most African Americans, and he has no personal axe to grind as most do, he is a politician and he has to at least try to treat all Americans the same way.

Posters always blathering on about other posters being racists should have a look at the definition of a racist and racism; not that I could care less about what they think of me.