Congress has finally realized the power of the filibuster and the national electorate is bitterly divided. For now and probably the near future, national politics is hopeless. There might be a few things that a president can do unilaterally to help black people, but they're small scale and would only help on the margins. State and local politics is where any real change would come from.

Also, I wish our commentators would get more specific about what action they want taken and what the specific roadblocks are. In this case, I want to know what specific legislation does Stephen A Smith want the Dems to pass, and what is it keeping them from passing it, and will they be better situated to pass it after our 4-year defection? I think getting a sharper view of the nature of the problem would help us better tackle it. And it's much easier to rally your allies or even spark a political movement when there's a defined goal and a viable plan of action.