Washington’s liberal establishment is “shocked, shocked” by the allegedly patronizing and racist things Bill Clinton and Sen Majority Leader Harry Reid reportedly said about Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.
In fact, Clinton, Reid and many other politicians are exposed as preening hypocrites in Game Change – a book by TIME’s Mark Halperin and New York Magazine’s John Heilemann, which, not surprisingly, is being published today.
Of course, nobody in Washington should be surprised by this book’s behind-the-scenes revelations that betray the public images and political spin of those involved in the 2008 race for the presidency. But everybody else will probably find them very surprising indeed; especially the revelation that, in private, the saintly, cancer-stricken Elizabeth Edwards is an abusive, potty-mouth, condescending bitch.
In any event, Clinton is quoted reasserting his political indignation at the nerve of uppity Obama to launch his “fairytale” campaign against his wife Hillary as follows:
A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee….
And Reid is quoted chalking up Obama’s appeal to the fact that he is:
… light skinned … with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.
However, even though politically incorrect, neither of these quotes seems particularly offensive, let alone racist. Not to mention that they both happen to be true:
Obama stands the best chance of any black, including Condi, of being elected for the simple reason that he’s half-white….
[It’s TIME: Run Obama Run, TIJ, October 24, 2006]
Meanwhile, the black arbiters of what constitutes racist language these days have granted Clinton such a special dispensation in this respect that he could probably call Obama a Nigger and get away with it.
Instead, these revelations merely expose the hypocrisy of liberal Democrats who invariably ascribe to conservative Republicans the paternalism and presumptions of white supremacy inherent in these quotes. And liberal self-righteousness in this regard was never more on display than when Democrats demanded that Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott resign his leadership position for saying the following in 2002:
When [segregationist] Strom Thurmond ran for president [in 1948], 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.
No doubt liberals will proffer pretty persuasive arguments to distinguish the degrees of political incorrectness and/or racism between what Lott said and what Clinton and Reid said. And Reid wasted little time offering a politically correct apology, which he buttressed with the political deeds that he clearly feels entitles him to a pass:
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.
Obama duly accepted … “without question.”
Nevertheless, given the precedent Democrats set by scalping Lott’s perfectly coiffed head, I think Reid should resign … as Majority Leader. It is instructive to recall, after all, that Democrats deemed Lott’s remarks unsuitable only for a Senate leader, not an ordinary member. And it hardly helps Reid’s case that his apology seems rather contrived compared to the heartfelt one Lott offered in a vain attempt to save his hide.
For these reasons, if he refuses to resign, it would compound not only his hypocrisy but that of all Democrats as well.
I am mindful, however, that a double standard governs moral outrage among Democrats on matters of race. Therefore, I harbor no illusions that he will do the right thing. Nor do I expect his fellow Democrats to emulate Lott’s fellow Republicans by urging Reid to resign. After all, here’s what I wrote four years ago about the incomprehensible impunity liberals enjoy in this respect:
As Sen Ted Kennedy – who recently referred to a Republican black female judge as a Neanderthal (ape) – can attest, white liberals will never pay a political price for insulting blacks – who either don’t realize they are being insulted or don’t care … or both.
[Hillary: Republicans treating Democrats like slaves… That’s ridiculous, isn’t it, TIJ, January 23, 2006]
Related commentaries:
It’s TIME: Run Obama Run
Hillary: Republicans treating Dems like slaves…
Clintons playing race card
Kennedy calls black judge Neanderthal
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