Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and "Insensitive Remarks"

Here it is, straight, with no chaser:  During the 2008 Presidential campaign, in a private conversation, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), said that the facts that Barack Obama is "light-skinned", and doesn't speak with a "negro" accent would help him in his bid for the Presidency.

 

In 2010, a book about that campaign is released, with Reid's statement in it and the nation goes berserk.  Reid goes into preemptive apology mode by saying that his remarks were "unfortunate" and "insensitive".  He also calls various black "leaders" to apologize...  the effing pundits start talking about Reid's reelection prospects, and idiot Republican leaders, including that dope Michael Steele, call for Reid's ouster as Senate Majority Leader.

 

Gunfighter says:  STOP!

 

Look, Harry Reid might be a crashing bore... and he might have all of the personality of cardboard, but that doesn't make him a racist. 

 

Harry Reid might be a lackluster Senator, and a disappointment to many (including me) as Majority Leader, but those things don't make him a racist, either. 

 

Having said all of that, it must also be said that Harry Reid might, indeed be a racist.... but, you wouldn't know that from this quote.   

 

What I can tell you with all of the certainty that I can muster, is that Harry Reid's recent comments described above, don't prove that he is a racist.  Indeed, his statement proves that despite the unpleasant things I just said about him, Harry Reid knows a little something about the American political process and the pulse of the American electorate.

 

His comments about Barack Obama's Presidential prospects were spot on... and if you don't believe me, please note that we are now talking about PRESIDENT Obama, not Senator-Obama-who-lost-in-his-plucky-"black-guy-goes-to-the-White-House"-bid.

 

Had Barack Obama spoken like he was an escapee from a Jay Z video, he would never have been elected, and you KNOW that I am telling the truth... and so was Reid.

 

Racism is bad, wrong, immoral, unethical, un-Christian, un-Muslim, and un-just-about-all-religions-that-come-to-mind.  Moreover, racism is un-American.  That's right, un-American. 

 

Racism is evil, but what Harry Reid said wasn't racist. 

 

I'l tell you what, though... throwing out this tidbit and others released in the book tells us something very important about our American-selves:  Racism sells.  It's popular.  It is a growth industry.  Have you any idea how much ad copy/air time is going to be sold because the newspapers and the talking heads are all talking about this non-story?  The publishers of this book (and the authors) must be in hog-heaven.  All because of something that Reid said, that wasn't particularly bad or wrong, that was taken out of context and made into a spectacle.

 

This reminds me of the whole Skip Gates-Sergeant Crowley incident.

 

It's time to quit.

 

Disperse.

 

Return to your homes and your lives.

 

Don't feed the beast.