Contributed by Nasa.

The Henry Louis Gates incident has been talked about and analysed to the point where all those involved all needed to have a beer.  Personally, without being there, to me it seems that both men got into a classic "pissing contest" and things got completely out of control. 

This incident is something small that will cause rip tides for years to come.  It's like sticking your finger in the tub and watching the waves reach the other side of it.  A door was opened here and it may be hard to close.  Remember when Barack Obama was running for President? 

Race was not allowed to be a factor.  No matter how hard people tried.  From Rev. Wright to the Redistribution of Wealth to a hoax of a woman being attacked by crazed black men that supported Obama- race was not allowed in the public discourse.  It was like there was a forcefield set up.  It was as if we all knew how racist this country was, but since Barack Obama was running for the highest office in the land and was seen worldwide, it was in every one's interest to keep race out of it so we didn't have another "Katrina Moment" for the world to see.

Barack Obama was clearly angry about what happened to Henry Louis Gates and he had every right to be.  He showed what has been hidden behind a veil for too long, that he is a black man in America.  Barack Obama has opinions and points of view, some of which are actually based on *whisper* race.  There's actually nothing wrong with that, and frankly I think it took him too long to show it. 

After the Gates incident, things like this were said:

Glenn Beck's sentiment is spreading and becoming dangerous.  The reason it's becoming dangerous is it's becoming a normalized way of discussing the President of the United States.  This is coupled with the "Birther" Conspiracy theorists.  The leading authority being Lou Dobbs:

CNN, I've said many times, is far worse then FOX News.  When people watch FOX News, they know what their getting.  Some people see it as the idiotic propaganda that it is and some see it as a regurgitation of their own beliefs.  In neither case does anyone see it as actual news.  The same can be said about MSNBC for the most part on the opposite spectrum.  CNN on the other hand still parades around as the authority on "Real News".  They then broadcast a show like Lou Dobbs' where a mad man talks for an hour surrounded by his own crew of mad men and mad women that agree with him.  Lou Dobbs' show has several reporters that seemingly only report to his show, but there are so many of them from night to night it gives the impression that a "team" is on these stories and that the full resources and support of CNN is behind him.  This is what makes his show dangerous because he has free reign to make anything sound real.  Even if it's a reported plan to unite the United States, Mexico and Canada under one flag, one set of borders and one currency as he still, to my knowledge, believes is happening.

In terms of what he is doing at this point nightly with the birthers is saying Barack Obama is not one of us.  He's not President, He's not even American in fact.  All of this can and is being done because of the color of his skin.  No one has ever seen, TO THIS DAY mind you, George W. Bush's birth certificate. 

These two examples of public hate mongering among many bring me to my point.

People have lost their fear seemingly of attacking Barack Obama along soley racial lines.  This will easily continue into his re-election campaign.  No one has fully processed what a racially charged Presidential Election involving an incumbant Black President will do to this country. It could tear it completely apart.

What will it sound like when a Republican Primary is filled with this kind of talk?  What will it sound like during a Presidential Debate when the subjects of the Birth Certificate and charges of racism are raised?  It's coming. 

When Barack Obama was elected President many people, including myself to a small extent, thought we might be pushing beyond race.  Racism is like Terrorism because it happens in cycles and is based in fear.  Barack Obama's election showed a lessening of fear of each other on both sides of the racial divide.  This can easily be reversed and there are people hard at work trying to make that happen every day.  You've seen video of two of them.  If they can convince enough white people to be afraid of a Black President they will convince them to be afraid of every Black person in America.  If enough people feel this way, then Blacks will become increasingly suspicious of whites and people will stop talking to each and stop identifying with each other.  Then we're back to square one and the cycle restarts.

Nothing will put this on display more then the large stage of the 2012 Election.  I would like to end this with some way out of this, some way to stop the spiral that this country is heading down racially leading up to 2012.  But I can't, not if clear warning signs are there after only 200 days of the first African American Presidency.  Today for some- Hope is Dead.

Prove me wrong, please prove me wrong.