ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style5 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } .style6 { text-decoration: underline; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Reid&#39;s Racist Gaffe</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Jan..12, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style5">&nbsp;S</span>enate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the Democratic Party was blindsided by a new book,  Game Change, by Time Magazine s Mark Halperin and New York Magazine s John Heilemann, giving an inside peak into the 2008 presidential election campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling Barack Obama<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> light-skinned  with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one, Reid revealed an unsightly side, hidden by his commitment to a liberal social agenda, including ending racial discrimination, perhaps the biggest and most unexpected windfall from electing President Barack Obama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid and the Democratic Party responded quickly to his embarrassing remarks, talking up his progressive track record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments, said Reid. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Reid s mea culpa rang hollow to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, calling for his immediate resignation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Steele remembers vividly the media maelstrom that followed  humorous remarks by former Sen. Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) when he quipped Dec. 5, 2002 at the 100th birthday party for Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), that the country would have been better off had Thurmond, who ran for president as a segregationist Dixiecrat in 1948, become president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Civil rights leaders, including Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson, called for Lott s head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Two weeks later under withering pressure from White House and the GOP, Lott resigned his leadership position Dec. 20, 2002.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid s comments were far more egregious in terms of actual racist remarks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Referring to Barack as a  light-skinned Negro was inexcusable and unforgivable.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Getting Barack to accept his apology doesn t put the genie back in the bottle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Regardless of Reid s track record, his outmoded, offensive words, cannot possibly reflect appropriate standards in the Democratic Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> If Reid doesn t step aside, it s going to be difficult for Democrats to make political hay out of future Republicans gaffes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Proving that Reid s words were no fluke, Halperin and Heilemann also quoted Reid telling Obama he had no future in the U.S. Senate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> You re not going to go anyplace here, Reid told Obama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I know that you don t like it, doing what you re doing, showing a bizarre way of encouraging Barack to run for president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid s statements could be easily interpreted as black people won t go too far in a white  good old boy s club. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While there s nothing profane about Reid s words, his language reflects ignorance not befitting the U.S. Senate. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <![endif]>When former Los Angeles Dodger General Manager Al Campanis told Ted Koppel April 6, 1987 on ABC s  Nightline that blacks were bred on plantations to be better athletes, he was summarily dismissed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Campanis, who roomed with Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League ballplayer, insisted he wasn t a racist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid too insists that he s not a racist but his public remarks say otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Making politically incorrect comments reflect the kind of insensitivity, but, more importantly, bad judgment that calls into questions Reid s leadership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid has been a key player in shepherding Obama s health care reform plan trough the Senate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Democrats worry that if Reid steps aside as majority leader, it would derail Obama s health care reform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While there s a crucial election next Jan. 19 for the late Ted Kennedy s senate seat, passing health care reform is purely a numbers game.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <![endif]>Reid faces tough re-election battle in his home state of Nevada next November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Republicans have done a good job of painting the 70-year-old liberal as a left-wing extremist in his otherwise conservative home state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Defending his track record, Reid dismissed Steele s call his resignation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Moreover, throughout my career, from efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry to opposing radical judges and promoting diversity in the Senate, I have worked hard to advance issues, said Reid, defending his reputation against charges of racism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What Reid doesn t get is that his racist talk is enough to sink his Senate position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Regardless of Lott s voting record, he was no more or less racist that Reid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid s advice to Obama sounded even more racist than telling the junior Illinois senator he was going nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid knew Obama had a bright future in the Senate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Calling Barack a light-skinned Negro without a black accent reflects the kind of poor judgment that warrants Reid s removal as Senate Majority Leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Failing to remove Reid will have consequences to the Democratic Party, who s trying to confront racism and raise the bar for public political speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid s track record doesn t undo his abysmal judgment warranting his early retirement as majority leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No party can boast a truly progressive agenda when its Senate leader shows his backward thinking and racial insensitivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether or not Obama excused Reid s gaffe doesn t change the majority leader s inner thoughts now exposed in full public view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever Reid s fate in November s midterm election, the Democratic Party has a right to be represented by someone without bigoted thoughts or words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Reid s gaffe can be forgiven but not overlooked.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span class="style6">About the Author </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author <i>of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a></i> and <i><a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>