a final word on senator harry reid
It’s good that Reid apologized, but at the same time you can’t really apologize for being the sort of person who’d be inclined to use the phrase “negro dialect” and it’s more the idea of Reid being that kind of person that’s creepy here than anything else. Doesn’t seem likely to help Reid’s already troubled re-election campaign.
Matthew Yglesias in Think Progress
Well said. I firmly believe that a person’s words speak out of the heart - particularly if those words are uttered when he or she thinks no one is listening. As I wrote in my initial post on this matter, people I know don’t say the things that Senator Reid said. Further, no one I know would be delusional enough to think that commenting on skin color and a lack of “negro” speak could somehow be deemed a compliment.
The disgust that many of us feel about this situation has less to do with the fact that Harry Reid is from a different generation and used an outdated term - “negro” - and more to do with the fact that it would occur to him to mention it at all.
- tdc
*MORE COMMENTARY - Mark Steyn offers his thoughts (via The Corner at NRO)
what’s a ‘negro dialect’ anyway, senator reid?
[Reid] was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama - a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,’ as he said privately.
The passage above, from a new book called Game Change (authored by Mark Halerpin and John Heilemann), references an off-the-record statement by Nevada Senator Harry Reid, speaking about Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy in 2008.
On this morning’s ABC This Week broadcast, the “Rountable” panel addressed this quote and, to my astonishment, only one of them expressed any obvious discomfort with Senator Reid’s comments! That one individual was, of course, the outspoken and always-principled Liz Cheney who - thank heavens(!) - was there to bring her common sense to this discussion.
When asked her opinion, Ms. Cheney rightfully offered that Senator Reid’s comments were indeed racist*, and that the liberal elite’s dismissal of these types of comments (only when they come from other liberals, of course) leave “the American people” feeling frustrated with the obvious double-standard between those on the Left versus those on the Right. Soon thereafter, host George Stephanopoulos interrupted and, with a “silly Liz” grin, opines that Reid was engaged in a private conversation, implying that…you know…shouldn’t we let him off the hook…?
I’m sorry, but does anyone mind if I roll my eyes…?
Since when is it OK to say the things that Senator Reid said in public or private? Echoing what Ms. Cheney said to her fellow panelists this morning, I am quite certain that the people I choose to spend time with do not talk like this! Further, if something like this were said in my presence, I would sure as heck call the speaker out on it and ask him or her exactly what they mean by “negro dialect,” and what being “light-skinned” has to do with a person’s suitability to the office of Commander-in-Chief! As we’ve seen in the last 11 months, the absence of the former and the presence of the latter certainly don’t guarantee our nation’s prosperity…
The more I pay attention to the main stream media…or lame stream media - or whatever you choose to call them - the more I find myself wondering how our society has devolved so far from where we once were. Our politically-correct tendencies have taken us to the point where nothing is wrong, nothing is immoral, and relativism is the key to acceptance in polite society.
Watching ABC This Week, and listening to the likes of George Will state that Senator Harry Reid “has said something that no one can disagree with” makes me wonder how much further some are willing to go to excuse the bad behavior of their peers, all in the interest of the “go along to get along” philosophy that prevails in Washington D.C. and on far too many of our college campuses. While I certainly don’t long for the days of segregation and institutionalized racism, I offer that at least back then we could call a spade a spade.
Quite frankly, it seems to me that Senator Harry Reid and his apologizers do as much harm to those they purport to fight for - the “minorities” of this country - as the owner of the diner who once refused them service. Shame on you, George S., George W., Al, Judy, and Robert.
And thank you, Liz Cheney.
- tdc
*DEFINITION OF ‘RACISM’:
- the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
- prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief : a program to combat racism.
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
- ABC This Week - January 10, 2010 - here
VIDEO CLIPS:
