First of all, I am tired of the sound-byte mentality of even addressing this issue. What about some gravitas for a change? Obama himself said that everyone was eager to make political points on something someone else said. For starters, the Media made a huge deal about how Obama was our first Black President, as did the President himself. Though he is biracial, he prefers to call himself "Black". So, if we have heard over and over again how glorious it is to have a Black President and if watching his the State of the Union Address we are engaged in his rhetoric, his determination and his wit, rather than having someone trumpet,
"Here comes your Black President", why should anyone take offense at Chris Matthews' comment, unless, of course, it is easier to natter on about that and the reactions to that than to do serious reporting about something of substance:
Educational Successes, Entrepreneurial Success Stories, Medical Miracles, Best Practices Discovered to Avoid Disasters, and Amazing New Art and Artists. Of course bad news pays more, and non-news costs less to report, especially if editors substitute public commentary on "He said, she said" for news reporting.

Obviously Chris has a low expectation for black people. Why else would someone say such a nutty statement

Chris does a good job reporting and has spoken positive numerous times about and on behalf of President Obama. I do not think he should be hammered for his comment. Some other people thought it, but were afraid to say it. It's llike some see a wrong and will speak out while others pretend it did not happen. There are those who will try to make something out of nothing. I watch Chris and think he does an excellent job. Keep up the good work Chris. I am an African American woman.

Chris saying he "forgot" that the president was black, suggests to me that being black is a negative trait, and one that needs to be overlooked. Being black should not be viewed in a negative fashion.

I am a hispanic woman and I am glad that Chris Matthews made this comment. I think that the publics own disbelief about the comment may actually capture our own discomfort regarding this complex issue- is this shocking that we, as humans, make evaluations about someone based on their appearance (including a person's skin color)? Quite honestly, as I watched the State of the Union, I wondered how the "white" audience felt about having a "black" man address them and to what extent does Republican opposition have to do with making sure that our first black president "fails."

Rick beat me to it. It was Democrat Harry Reid who was revealed to have made the skin color comment about Obama in the current bestseller "Game Change." Not Republican Orrin Hatch.

So nice to have this thoughtful conversation about race. Helps that it was liberal commentator and former Democrat Congressional staffer Chris Matthews, on the left-wing MSNBC cable network, who made the utterance. Had anyone said the same thing on the Fox News Channel, there'd be no conversation at all. Only a free-fire zone.

Nobody's perfect. Especially snarky columnists like Gustavo. It was senator Harry Reid and not senator Orrin Hatch who made clumsy comments about "negro dialect". Could Gustavo have been confusing his Mormon senators?