Harry Reid stuck in the Weeds. The "no negro dialect" debacle.

Thank goodness Harry Reid isn't a Republican, or this would be the first racist super-scandal of the new decade. Here's the money quote from the Associated Press article link:

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada described in private then-Sen. Barack Obama as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Obama is the nation's first African-American president."

Could you imagine the Democratic-liberal lynch mob that would be forming and fermenting if some Republican said this? Racial extortion artists like Jesse Jackon and Al Sharpton would take to the street and rile up the mob, the NAACP would be filing formal protests and organizing a boycott, the cable news networks would be broadcasting this modern day linguistic racial atrocity ad nauseum, and the outrage and sense of collective black pain would be jammed down our throats like those awful medicines from our childhood. However, by virtue of labeling himself a Democrat, Reid's party affiliation has completely insulated him from such baseless claims, hollow grievances, and empty rhetoric. Sure there is some limited reported going at the moment, but let's face it, jobless claims are on the rise, it's too cold to report on global warming, and Obama is still blaming President Bush for everything bad that has ever occurred. It's a slow news week with liberals in control of everything, hence, this story is getting some air time. The werewolf can't help but be amused, by the rather repugnant double standards at play, both by the media, and the liberal establishment. We live in strange times.

First of all, Harry Reid is the epitome of a loser. The guy just sucks. He's inarticulate, boring, lacks any sense of style, is frequently confused, and weirdly a slave to the hard-left of the Democratic party. Despite being Senate majority leader, he's getting clobbered in every poll in his home state of Nevada, and will likely be a political relic this time next year. We can only hope.

That being said, the werewolf really doesn't get where the controversy is stemmed. Harry Reid doesn't like ghetto black people. Neither does President Obama's second-in-command, Vice President Joe "the Mouth" Biden. I mean, in Biden's eyes, and from his mouth, Obama is "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Biden may have been on to something, since Obama was elected, however that's well above the werewolf's current pay-grade. The werewolf sees a trend that senior senators from the liberal wing of the Democratic party don't like black people who radiate urban ghettoness. Fair enough. It's all about good public relations and image, before content and substance.

The second part of this story pertains to the use of the word "negro." The United States, like every other western nation, has a spotted history when it comes to race relations. This is well-documented. As political correctness has invaded the vernacular in an attempt to stymie free-thought, creativity, and simple facts, a bizarre stream of evolving labels have been created to help people understand their racial lineage. During the dark days of real racism, segregation, and political oppression of black in America, the term "negro" was considered the enlightened term to describe black Americans. The term populates the writings of Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr, and other civil rights heroes. Just think of the famous philanthropic organization The United Negro College Fund. Over the last three decades, the term for American blacks has evolved from colored, negro, black, Afro-American(hairstyles were big in the 70's), to African-American, to who knows what. It's an oppressive linguistic paradigm. The term negro is certainly anachronistic, outdated, and even tired, but using it in the modern vernacular is a far cry from racism. If you want to hear a litany of racist words, listen to some gansta rap! As much as Reid is a loser, he is also a 71 year-old man who was brought up in a time when a self-described forward thinker such as himself would be considered enlightened for describing his black countrymen as Negros. While the werewolf loves watching liberals trip over themselves with the bizarre and oppressive linguistic codes they want to impose on all of us, and he delights in seeing Harry Reid look like an anachronistic fool, it's a cosmic joke and intellectually dishonest to think Harry Reid racist for using the term negro.

The light skinned portion of the comment has it's own asinine insinuations, but that relates to the shallow pursuit of image construction and preference. Reid was caught red handed stating what most elite white liberals would like black America to become. Enjoy the amusement of how he handles it all.

There is racism embedded in liberalism. It is sourced in the notion that people who aren't white are somehow not responsible for their own actions and are incapable of helping themselves. The werewolf can think of few things as truly degrading and hateful as denying a group of people ownership and agency of their own fates. To salt that wound, liberalism hinges on "enlightened white liberals" acting as shepherds for these blighted groups. However, that's another debate for another time.

Addition: The werewolf missed a few key points in the above musings. The comparison of what occurred to Trent Lott in 2002 and the issue of whether these remarks qualify for demanding Reid's resignation.

The werewolf never really liked Trent Lott. He considered him a marginal senate majority leader, and a pork barrel professional (most legislators are), but then again, the werewolf had no reason to strongly dislike Lott. He was just another unremarkable Republican senator from the South. While Lott's remarks clearly exposed him to a barrage of criticism, could be considered ill-advised, and the pressure they generated caused him to vacate his leadership position. Tough knock of politics.

The werewolf thinks that Reid's leadership has contributed to the internal weakening of the Democrat party. From a strategic point-of-view, he would love to continue to watch Reid flounder, because it damages an agenda he opposes. Also, Reid's re-election is unlikely based on these polls, therefor his time is already limited and Reid has been rendered semi-impotent as it currently stands. However, a resignation of the Democrat senate majority has a karmic-like justice to it. As they say, what goes around, comes around.

Update: Ann Coulter calls Al Sharpton out.