Update: Reid will not Resign

The debacle over Harry Reid's statement that President Obama could win the White House because he is "light-skinned with no Negro dialect" seems to be closed. Harry Reid is likely not to resign. Its no surprise that Reid will not resign. Politicians do not resign unless they are forced to resign. And, no one is pressuring Reid to resign. Not the NAACP, Not the Black Caucus, Not President Obama or any of Reid's fellow democrats in the U.S. Senate and very few Republicans have called for his resignation.

First Lady Michelle Obama even stated that Reid does not have to apologize to her because she "knows Harry Reid." The President excused Reid's statement because Reid is  a stalwart champion of voting rights and that "his inartful words" don't matter.  The President also went on to say that we should be focusing on more important issues like unemployment instead of bickering over what Reid said or didn't say.

Now, oddly enough, I agree with the President that ideally we should accept a man's apology and move on. That should be the rule of thumb.  But, that's not what the Democrats did to Trent Lott in 2002. His words were "inartful" and no one accepted his many apologies. (The Democrats did not even make Harry Reid go on BET like they did to Trent Lott)

You could say its in the past and lets look to the future.

But, I am afraid that we will be seeing more instances of the Great Double Standard in Washington for many years to come unless someone once and for all decides to every Republican and Democrat equally before the law of politics.

Until then, we will have to wait for Sue Lowden to hold Harry Reid accountable in 2010. 

Update: Reid will not Resign

The Double Standard Continues

Nevada Senator John Ensign is telling fellow Republicans to lay off Harry Reid.

Did any prominent Democrat ever tell the Democrat party to lay off Trent Lott after he apologized in 2002? 

The double standard is alive and well in Washington.

The Double Standard Continues

Double Standard

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who now finds himself in a tight re-election campaign with poor poll numbers,  is also fighting a different battle of a whole other ballgame.  Reid in a tell all book about the 2008 presidential campaign  told author Mark Halperin  that then Senator Barack Obama is "light skinned with no Negro dialect."  Reid was under the impression that his rather offensive statement  about African- Americans and in particular Barack Obama would not be published in Halperin's new book which is set to be released soon. Well, Harry badly miscalculated. Reid was betting that his comment would go unnoticed. Well, the Atlantic Magazine somehow got word of Reid's comment and published it on their website.  OOPS.  Now, Reid who did not intend on apologizing for his comment,  was forced to apologize. He immediately called Obama to apologize. He reached out to Al Sharpton & Co. and phoned several fellow Senators. All has been forgiven with little fanfare.

Lets contrast this episode with another Senate Majority Leader. Remember Trent Lott?  Back in 2002, Trent Lott(R-MS), who was then the Republican Senate Majority Leader from Mississippi, praised Strom Thurmond at his 100th birthday party stating that if Thurmond had been elected President, we would not have had "all these problems."  Lott was trying to say something nice about a 100 yr. old Senator. Unfortunately, the comment backfired because Thurmond was a prominent segregationist and many people attributed Lott's comment about Thurmond to be his support for segregation. If you remember, the uproar over that statement could be heard from Washington all the way to California.  Lott ended up apologizing incessantly on numerous occasions. He even went on Black Entertainment Television to reach out to the Black community. It did not matter how much Lott apologized, it was not going to quell the calls for his resignation. The Black community was not satisfied with Lott's apologies and ultimately Lott had to resign as the Senate Majority Leader. 

Regardless of how you feel about whether Lott's or Reid's statements were racist in nature, there is a serious double standard in this country.  When a Republican makes an offensive comment about African-Americans and apologizes repeatedly, he is never forgiven and must suffer the political consequences of being forced to resign. However, when a Democrat makes a similar comment that offends African-Americans, he only has to apologize once or twice and gets off scotch free. We have not heard a peep from the Black Caucus or any prominent Democrat criticizing Harry Reid for making his offensive remark that he only apologized for because he got caught. Here,  a liberal radio host  calls for Trent Lott to resign back in 2002. Gdforbid the Democrat party should also call for Reid to resign. The only person at this point who is calling for Reid's resignation is Michael Steele of the RNC.  Not a surprise.

Instead of calling for Reid's resignation, Michael Steele and the RNC should file a claim in Federal District Court alleging a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution although I doubt such a case would be ripe for review.   Nevertheless, that might be a better course of action. Otherwise, this double standard  of treating Republicans different from Democrats will continue indefinitely.

I wonder how many Democrats will praise KKK Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) when he is no longer in office and get off the hook.

Double Standard