The president wants to help young black men and so bustles about calling for commissions, committees, and meetings.

Wants to get down to some serious across-board social engineering. But . . . but . . . but . . . !!

School vouchers, in study after study, have been shown to boost black graduation rates and college attendance. In other words, they help keep kids in school and out of trouble. Yet the president opposes the school voucher program in D.C. and is trying to shut down another one in Louisiana. Not helpful.

Mr. Obama advocates for a higher minimum wage, which will make it more expensive to hire young blacks who are already experiencing 38 percent unemployment, or double the jobless rate among white teens. Again, not helpful.

The Obama administration hassles businesses that do criminal background checks on potential hires, even though research shows that employers who perform criminal background checks are more likely to hire black applicants than employers who do not. Blacks, who currently face 12 percent unemployment, don’t need this kind of “help,” either.

He’s like the fellow one night looking for his lost wallet under a lamp post. Lost something here? he is asked. Not here, he says, over there, pointing. So why are you looking for it here? The light’s better, he says.

It’s his comfort zone, you know.