Sen. Harry Reid Must Resign Over Racist Remarks!

He supported a Black man for President

First sign of a racist, "I have a black friend..."

So in politics it would be, "I voted for a black man!"

Deal...All 100 of them go and we start over.

Amen!

I'm a "dark skinned" black and I reckon I speak an appropriate "Negro dialect" that Reid would approve of - since my dad was from Louisiana and not Kenya.

Obviously Reid made some vicious remarks and quite honestly should be called out for it and publicly apologize to President Obama.

Resignation would certainly be in order IF he gets in line with and behind all the other idiots who've made equally or worse remarks.

I am with Spox Logic; Reid should quit when all the far right wingers resign for their racist comments and actions.

Reid should quit when all the far right wingers resign for their racist comments and actions.

Wow, how very selective of you. Since Reid is a racist, directly to the president might I add, others must be racist. Libbies are fascinating creatures.

Harry tried to get Rush Limbaugh removed from the air over a LIE. If he can insist on that course of action, what should happen in the case of the TRUTH?

mike:

Reid was insane to say these things,

Er. No. You might say he was insane to trust whoever it was that fed this to a reporter, but saying what he said in private wasn't insane at all, not least because what he said was demonstrably true ...

... and not a little funny:

"... unless he wanted to have one."

If Rush Limbaugh or maybe Laura Ingraham had said that, you wouldn't say it was outrageous and repugnant, you'd be lecturing us all about having a sense of humor.

Furthermore. If you actually knew a single goddamned thing about what race is and how it really works in the USA, you'd know that the light-skinned-negro versus dark-skinned-negro issue has been operant for generations, and most Blacks are very well-aware of it.

mike:

What makes you think I don't know anything about race relations in the US?

Duh. Because you spouted an argument that betrayed your thorough and complete ignorance of the way race really works in the USA. Look. John McWhorter I think it was, wrote a @!$%#ing book on this exact subject just in the last few years. And it's been alluded to in Black Lit probably for 100 years.

The fact is, mainstream caucasian Americans are more comfortable with light-skinned Blacks than with dark-skinned Blacks. Ask any Black you know and they'll tell you the same thing.

If you don't think that wasn't a factor in the ability of the Democratic party to win votes on behalf of their nominee for President, or that the Democratic party shouldn't have factored that in while considering their prospects of winning the election, you're a fool or a liar.

mike:

Who is Harry Reid to address this?

He was the Democratic Leader of the Senate privately analyzing the political prospects for the Democrats in the impending election in the event they topped their ticket with a Black man.

mike:

I guess the people that should worry, are the "dark skinned" people who do have a "Negro dialect", because according to Harry Reid, they can never be the President.

I wouldn't say never. Probably not in 2008, though.

It insults every other African-American who doesn't pass his test.

Why would they feel insulted when, as I just told you, they know it just as well?

I guess it's too bad that Obama's own kids are so dark, I hope they can both "talk white",

I'd say they almost certainly do. Disregarding the fact that whatever else happens they'll always be the children of a President of the United States of America, do you think they'll be better off in life in they talk white or if they talk black?

mike:

If you don't know, then how can you declare it an insult?

And if you you think it would've been perfectly fine for Dave Capelle or Bill Cosby to express the truth of the underlying sentiment, what makes it repugnant and outrageous for Harry Reid to express the same truth?

BTW, I really don't give a @!$%# whether it's easy for you to cheap shot Reid here and difficult for me to defend him.

mike:

No, I just understand if they wanted to speak to the nuance of the realities within the black community.

But of course, that's not the nuance Reid was discussing. Far from it. He was discussing the nuance of the appeal of a light-skinned Black man to a mostly-white electorate.

Having said that, yeah, a rural western upbringing sixty years ago probably did affect Reid's vocabularly if nothing else. "Negro" is rather outdated.

Nevertheless, what he said about the ability of a light-skinned Black man to appeal to a general electorate, and that man's ability to speak a non-inflected American English with respect to that same general appeal, was (and probably still is) either true or false.

I think true. What do you think?

If Rush Limbaugh or maybe Laura Ingraham had said that,

Doesn't matter. My tax dollars do not pay their salaries. They are entertainers, not public servants. I'll never vote for the party of racism again!

IF Harry was making a responsible and proper analysis for his party, what need would there be for apologizing FOR his "responsible" analysis?

Doc:

Huh? You kidding? He's apologizing because confidential comments were made public.

I know you're perfect, but the rest of us sometimes say things in private or in confidence that we wouldn't say in public.

He's apologizing because confidential comments were made public.

So you're saying that when he made the comments in the interview for the book, he said "this is off the record" prior to making the comment?

Pat N:

Yes. Here's the direct quote from the book, emphasis added:

He 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. Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination.

Jack -

Lets assume you're correct and he was apologizing for 'confidential comments being made public'. (your words)

Why did his apology include the quote: "I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments."

Does that not mean he knows his comment was racist? And if so...why shouldn't he step down after admitting to having made racist comments?

Even Tom Daschle stated he thought Trent Lott meant nothing racist by his comments regarding Thurmond. Yet Lott was castrated and asked to step down by many in his own party. Does the Dem party not hold their elected officials to the same standard?

Pat:

Why did his apology include the quote

Because he regrets such a poor choice of words, I assume.

Does the Dem party not hold their elected officials to the same standard?

You mean do they back-stab the way Karl Rove does? Apparently not.

Glad you mentioned Karl Rove, Jack.

What do you suppose the reaction would be right now if Karl...an astute political strategist, regardless of what someone thinks of him personally...said that Obama was an appealing candidate for the left because he was 'light skinned' and didn't speak with a 'negro dialect' unless he wanted to?

Think there'd be a double standard, Jack? Or would you be defending Karl for saying 'the truth'?

Pat:

You mean if he said it in private two years ago in his job as a political consultant? That would've been an astute and accurate analysis well worth the money paid for it.

Now if he tossed out the term "Negro" in a public utterance, he'd probably get @!$%# for it. The way Reid is getting. (And less defensible in Rove's case because he didn't grow up in a time when the word was standard and socially accepted usage.) That's not a double standard, that's the same standard.

I have to tell you people, Mike (like myself) desires the ouser of incumbents from BOTH parties, so demending equal treatment for republicans is preaching to the choir.

so demanding equal treatment for republicans is preaching to the choir.

Don't ya love it when the Libbies think we're Republicans because we aren't Democrats! Why can't they understand some of us can think for ourselves?

There are Demoplicans and Republicrats in office. There are reasoned people that had to vote for the "lesser of two evils" for far too long. It is time to toss BOTH EVILS out.

Don't ya love it when the Libbies think we're Republicans because we aren't Democrats! Why can't they understand some of us can think for ourselves?

B-I-N-G-O...................

Your welcome. But really you laid that bait out and I couldn't resist..SNAP. Fish on.LOL

Mike, it's "...that dude's eye".

Wouldn't want anyone to mistakenly call you racist for using "boy".

Yawning at racism make you a racist.

Roger that Mike!

Agreed. Interesting thought...how POTUS delves into Ebonic speech patterns when addressing certain crowds. Given his childhood and education, he is more of a WASP than I am.

Regardless, the knife cuts both ways, so Reid must go. For a variety of reasons, soliciting and facilitating bribes among others. But these non-PC remarks...the horror!

And also the Senator Byrd. Only Dems are allowed to keep their seats.

no, it's not "equally racest"(sic).

reids comments deal with the mentalities of those like lott.

mike

Reid was just expressing a political fact..... badly

The right forgets that the Bushies opened the barn door for BHO.....widely

It's nice to be in the minority and listen to the cry babies in the left that they never bashed GWB during his 8 years.

yes, and?

how is HE viewed?

nope, not at all.

Isn't it a bit late for him to resign for that reason ?

Isn't it a bit late for him to resign for that reason ?

Health care isn't a done deal yet. I predict Harry Reid is finished no matter what he does.

I want Reid replaced with a Republican .

The Healthcare has to go back to the drawing table. Buying votes for passing a bill it's a disgrace = Nebraska and LA are few examples.

i dont think we should be using single words or even expressed attitudes to determine who sits in congress, at least not all by themselves.

what matters is what they do, not what they think. because what they think is only meaningful to the extent it affects what they do. and these kinds of remarks are completely arbitrary — we would be foolish to think we could kick out all the racists by monitoring the stupid things they might say when future book authors are around.

and i think it's distracting to the point of being dangerous to the country when we distract ourselves with meaningless questions that won't solve anything. if we're going to discuss demanding resignations, there are much more important standards of decency that they are violating.

was ANYTHING reid said untrue?

The point is..does a double standard exist? When you combine the fact that liberals said and did some amazingly racist things to Ken Blackwell and Michael Steele with the fact that they'd be having a cow if Mitch McConnell said the same thing Reid did about Obama...I'd say 'yeah'. A double standard exists.