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Obama's water boy gets a pass
 Most Americans probably are not familiar with Game Change. It's a book written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. It's scheduled to be released Jan. 16.
Game Change takes readers behind the scenes in the 2008 presidential election. It promises to intrigue.
Though Game Change probably isn't a household name, you can bet the next house payment scores of Americans are familiar with at least one passage in Halperin's and Heilemann's book. They're familiar with it if they've read a newspaper or turned on a television in the past several days.
Of course, I'm referring to comments Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada made about then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to Game Change, Reid described Obama in 2008 as a "light-skinned" African-American who spoke "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
What Reid really said was Obama didn't look like most black people and he didn't talk like them either. That's exactly what Reid said in so many words whether anyone wants to admit it publicly.
Though he apologized for his "light-skinned" and "Negro" remarks, Reid got a pass.
Obama has forgiven him. The nation's oldest civil rights organization, the NAACP, said Reid was cool with them. The race-baiter himself, Al Sharpton, doesn't have a problem with Reid either. To top it off, the national media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC all gave Reid a pass as well.
Instead of focusing on the racist remarks Reid made, the aforementioned individuals and organizations directed their attention to the fuss Republicans have made in light of what Reid said. They say Republicans have attempted to make political hay out of an incident that concerned a man who made some regrettable comments in a private setting.
Why?
It's simple.
Reid is a liberal Democrat. He's also Obama's water boy in the Senate. Accordingly, the national media appreciates Reid.
Does that excuse an elected official such as Reid for offering racially charged comments about a black man?
No it doesn't.
If you will recall, about eight years ago then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi made some racist remarks at an event honoring Sen. Strom Thurmond. Lott was forced to resign his leadership post on the heels of that unfortunate event.
While an effort has been made in some corners to distinguish between the two, the fact remains that Lott and Reid made racist remarks, which society should not tolerate among elected officials whether they are a liberal or a conservative or a Democrat or a Republican.
It's that simple.
That said, Reid should step aside as Majority Leader in the Senate.
That won't occur, though.
It won't occur because Reid has been forgiven. He's been forgiven because he's a liberal Democrat. He's also Obama's water boy in the Senate.
That begs a question.
Is it acceptable for Democrats to make racially charged statements and be forgiven for them?
Let's take it a step further.
If Reid was a Republican, would Obama and company have forgiven him for calling the soon-to-be president of the United States a "light-skinned" African-American who speaks "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one?"
You can bet another house payment that if Reid was a Republican, there would be hell to pay for the remarks Halperin and Heilemann brought to light in Game Change. We probably would be witness to another "Million Man March" on Washington, or something to that effect.
Yet, we've been reminded once again that it's apparent we live in a hypocritical society where the "elite" decides what's racist and what's not.
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