As many of you know, a fairly silly and inconsequential tell-all book called "Game Change" on the supposed inside story of the 2008 election is scheduled for release this Tuesday, January 12, and in an effort to gin up sales the publisher has released a few juicy tidbits.
One of them concerns Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who apparently described then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008 to author Mark Halperin as a "light-skinned" with "no Negro dialect unless he wants to have one".
Reid has already admitted saying this to Halperin, and has apologized...and here's where the stupid part comes in. Michael Steele has - wait for it- called for Reid to step down as Senate Majority Leader and accused the Democrats of having a double standard on race, citing Trent Lott's crucifixion back in 2002 by the Donkeys as an example:
"There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it is racism," Steele told "Fox News Sunday."
"If (Senate Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell had said those very words that this chairman and this president would be calling for his head, and they would be labeling every Republican in the country as a racist for saying exactly what this chairman has just said," Steele continued.
Steele of course is correct. Needless to say, the Democrats are rallying behind Reid, unlike the Republicans in the case of Trent Lott.
But here's where the stupid part comes in.
Harry Reid was severely damaged goods even before this came out, running way behind every conceivable GOP opponent in the polls. Cutting him off at the knees now makes it highly likely that he might just decide to 'retire', paving the way for a far more popular Dem Senate candidate in 2010.
In fact, many Dems are hypocrites when it comes to race, and their concern about black people is limited to getting them out there to vote Donkey on election day and forgetting about the Democrat's support for policies that result in dysfunctional schools, high crime rates in black neighborhoods,civic corruption in Donkey-ruled cities, bogus economic policies and support for open borders that devastates job opportunities for the black working class.
But as Steele and others ought to know by now,that doesn't amount to anything as long as somebody is down for the agenda:
In a written statement Saturday, Obama said he accepted Reid's apology "without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart."
"As far as I am concerned, the book is closed," he added.
A senior Democratic source with close contacts on Capitol Hill said Reid is not depending only on Obama for forgiveness.
"He's in the midst of an aggressive mea culpa tour that has thus far produced supportive statements from key African American leaders in the Congress and civil rights community. He's got a strong record on social justice and related issues and is doing the right thing by immediately taking responsibility for the comment. He knows it was a boneheaded thing to say and is showing appropriate remorse," the source said.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine also defended Reid. "I don't think this is an issue that is going affect his leadership at all. In fact, he's doing some very heavy lifting -- wonderful lifting right now to get this health care bill over the goal line," Kaine told "Fox News Sunday."
The Democratic source added that Reid will likely not lose his position, as Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott did after his 2002 tribute to the now-deceased Sen. Strom Thurmond on his 100th birthday.
"The only way he gets deposed is if the Democrats decide they have a political interest in seeing him go. Based on the reaction thus far, he'll endure a few bad days but will be fine in the long run and can focus his efforts on his campaign."
Exactly so. Quod Erat Demonstradum, Democrats.
If Reid is going to survive anyway, why not attack him for a day or two and damage his image a little? Unless, of course, there's a more pressing agenda. Steele's real failure, as you've pointed out before, is his wasting time while the Dems try to turn us into Socialist Europe and bankrupt our economy. Another missed opportunity, which you hint out, is his not reaching out to Blacks and explaining how they're being hurt by the Donkey policies. I agree he needs to be pushed out as soon as it's politically feasible. I don't know if pushing him out now would strengthen or hurt Republicans by distracting us from other issues.
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