The Harry Reid Question

5 Comments

by: Libertad

Unbiased and open. After hitting a new low in NV polling [52 UNFAV], Senator Reid’s Obama-comments have now come to light.

Should he get a pass, resign his Senate position or just resign his majority leader job? But wait, his comments were only using language to explain to certain types of people that Obama was ok.

You decide.

Reid, assessing Obama’s chances in 2008, cited the fact that the candidate was a “light-skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Those ill-advised comments, to Mark Halperin and John Heilemann for their new book, “Game Change,” have produced an apology by Reid to the president. That was followed immediately by presidential forgiveness: “As far as I am concerned, the book is closed.”

Not quite.

For a politician, especially a white politician, to comment on another politician’s race is treacherous. Remember Joe Biden’s “articulate and bright and clean” description of Obama in 2007?

For anyone in public life to use the word “Negro” in 2008 is beyond stupid. What was once polite has become demeaning. (Although, interestingly enough, the U.S. Census chose to retain the word on the 2010 census form because so many respondents wrote it in 10 years ago.)

The lame explanation offered by an aide — that the remarks were not intended for use in the book — is about as convincing as Jesse Jackson’s assertion that he did not consider his “Hymietown” comments to the Washington Post’s Milton Coleman on the record. (“Let’s talk black talk,” Jackson had said to Coleman.)

Both Hymietown and clean and articulate got passes … big passes. But hey, they were still useful, so useful one was appointed VPOTUS.

However at 52% UNFAV, some might demand they cut Harry loose.

On the other hand Harry was just using english to explain to that certain type of folk that hey Obama’s ok.

5 thoughts on “The Harry Reid Question”

ClubTwitty says:

January 10, 2010 at 11:07 pm

Remember Joe Biden’s “articulate and bright and clean” description of Obama in 2007?

And Biden…became VP.

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1. Jambalaya says:
  
  January 10, 2010 at 11:38 pm
  
  …contrary to Libertad’s statement.
  
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  1. RedGreen says:
    
    January 11, 2010 at 7:57 am
    
    get “passes … big passes.”
    
    Libertad doesn’t understand that talking about race isn’t racist, even if Reid used a clumsy, outmoded term (a term so outmoded the Census is using it this year because it’s still common).
    
    The right-wing attempt to turn any discussion of race into an offense is itself grossly offensive.
    
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rocco says:

January 12, 2010 at 12:03 am

Too long living the good life. Just the words in his remarks smacks of a person who doesn’t live in the community he represents and doesn’t realize the impact.

But in spite of the clumsy and out dated way he delivered the message, he was accurate in that a large percentage of the white community would only accept a black guy as president and would only pull the lever for Obama if they perceived him as “one of ours” or “one of the good ones”. That’s just reality.

Actually the President ran a brilliant campaign based partly on the fact that he knew he had to minimize his ethnicity as much as possible. His watershed speech on race in Philadelphia was huge in convincing whites that he would and could represent everyone.

Even Democrats can be racist, no doubt. I don’t think Reed’s a racist, but his clumsy remark shows his age and gives us a glimpse into the America he grew up in. His time is past. Our country is slowly but surely changing for the better. For the short term, his apology will or won’t save him. The Democrats will decide.

But……..no republican, given the last 30 year history of his/her party, and that penchant for outright tactical racial divissiveness, has any credability whatsoever commenting on this or judging Reed, at any time, for any reason, under any circumstances. The republican position or opinion, simply put, is irrelavent in this matter.

The republicans did this to themselves.

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1. Libertad says:
  
  January 12, 2010 at 12:47 am
  
  This story is national and bigger then anything except the Governor’s pull of the rip cord.
  
  Well it’s five times bigger then the Guvs exit from the race, but he was 20 points behind anyway.
  
  What will Harry do, what will he do?
  
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