In the New York Times today, Ishmael Reed writes:

I’ve listened in the last week to progressives criticize President Obama for keeping his cool. Progressives have been urging the president to “man up” in the face of the Republicans. Some want him to be like John Wayne. On horseback. Slapping people left and right. [. . .] If President Obama behaved that way, he’d be dismissed as an angry black militant with a deep hatred of white people.

[. . .] When these progressives refer to themselves as Mr. Obama’s base, all they see is themselves. [. . .] Unlike white progressives, blacks and Latinos are not used to getting it all. They know how it feels to be unemployed and unable to buy your children Christmas presents. They know when not to shout. The president, the coolest man in the room, who worked among the unemployed in Chicago, knows too.

What a bizarre piece. The issue is not about shouting. It is about policy. Some folks don't like the policies the President is espousing. They really don't care if he is the "coolest man in the room." If being the coolest man in the room produced policies and results they agreed with, they would be cheering him. If yelling produced policies and results they disagreed with, they would be upset. If Mr. Reed has something to say in defense of the President's POLICY choices, I would be interested in reading them. Nonsensical pop psychology is not interesting to me.