Generally speaking, I am supportive of the President. Yesterday, however, President Obama describe rioters in Baltimore as “thugs.” Short of calling them “niggers,” could he have chosen his words more poorly? Has he not learned that the word “thug” is generally used to dismiss young people of color and their ideas as not worthy of the time of the establishment? On the other hand, maybe he is just revealing his true colors…Maybe the truth is that one simply does not occupy the highest office in the land without becoming extremely distanced from the common person, whether that distancing is a function of racism or classism or both, and maybe that fact alone explains a lot of our current problems.