Addressing a gathering of black journalists in August, Barack Obama took on a critical issue for many African-American voters -- the 100 to 1 sentencing disparity between offenders caught with crack versus powder cocaine. Surprisingly, his answer sounded a lot like the Hillary Clinton take on Social Security, which his campaign savaged as wishy-washy: Obama would convene a commission to issue a report on the sentencing inequities before moving forward.
Yet one month later, in a speech given as the "Jena Six" scandal raged on in Louisiana, Obama's position quietly evolved and he resolved to close the sentencing gap between crack and cocaine. Which brings me to my question of the day ... why hasn't Obama signed on to Joe Biden's bill that would accomplish exactly that objective? Or either of the other prominent bills that would go a long way towards remedying the injustice?
