Reid, Racism, and a Double Standard

Is there any politician that puts their size 11 in their mouth more often than Harry Reid? I mean, this is the guy who, when touting the new Capitol Visitor’s Center said that at least Congress wouldn’t have to smell the tourists, anymore: "In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true." In December, Reid likened those who are opposed to the governmental take-over of our health care system to slave holders and those who would deny women the right to vote and to deny civil rights. Of course, health care “reform” protestors, to Reid, are “evil-mongers.”

Now, Dirty Harry is backpedaling over comments he made during the Presidential campaign saying that Barack Obama could potentially win since he is “light-skinned” and “no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Yesterday, Reid gave the obligatory apology saying, “I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments. I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda."

It might be instructive to remember what Reid said when then Senate Majority Leader, Trent Lott faced a similar situation. At a 100^th birthday party for long-time Senator and former segregationist Presidential candidate, Strom Thurmond, Lott said, "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either," In spite of a very similar apology, Lott was forced by the party to step down from his leadership position. Commenting on Lott’s resignation, Reid said, "He had no alternative. If you tell ethnic jokes in the backroom, it's that much easier to say ethnic things publicly. I've always practiced how I play."

Of course, there is a huge difference in the Harry Reid and Trent Lott situations, namely that amid calls for resignation, the Republican party heeded those calls and forced Lott out of his position while the Democrats are rallying around Reid. Diane Feinstein said, "First of all, all of us are imperfect. Clearly, this was a mistake. Clearly, the leader misspoke and he's also apologized.... The president has accepted the apology and it would seem to me the matter should be closed."

Harry Reid is not the first Democrat to utter racially insensitive quotes. The human gaffe-machine, Joe Biden said of Obama, "[He is] the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Biden also previously raised eyebrows when he famously stated, “You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking." And, of course, let’s not forget former KKK Exalted Cyclops (really!) Robert Byrd, Senator from West Virginia who once stated in an interview, “There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time.” As is happening in the Reid instance, these statements are defended by being misunderstood, unintentional, and vestiges of childhood speech.

Maybe they are, I don’t know. I do think it is interesting that Republicans don’t receive this benefit of the doubt. When Joe Wilson shouted, “You lie!” during an Obama Presidential address, Maureen Dowd read his mind to say that what he meant was really, “You lie, boy!” Liberal intellectual, Jeneane Garofalo called the tea-partiers, “Racist red-necks,” and added, “This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up." I notice that we haven’t heard from Ms. Dowd or Ms. Garofalo on the Reid comments.

Is Harry Reid a racist? I don’t know. I suspect he is not a racist, merely just an incompetent boob. Barack Obama really is light skinned and I don’t know if that helped with the electorate. I would like to think not, but maybe it did. In any case, the comments were stupid and offensive to a large number of people – or at least offensive when uttered by a conservative.

Conservatives get tired of being branded racists for daring to be conservative. The same people who opposed Hillary-Care are now being branded racists for opposing Obama-care. It is a term that is too easily thrown around and is too unevenly applied. In my opinion, this should not cause Harry Reid his leadership position since he has been able to retain it in spite of all the other incredibly stupid things he’s uttered and done. But, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

If we are so quick to use the term “racism”, let’s just make sure the terms are equally applied.