I wasn’t going to write this evening.  I got home – I had heard inklings that something was “up” with Harry Reid, but I just don’t bother with all the “news” shows anymore, so I didn’t really know what all the “buzz” was about.  Well, it appears that during the last campaign for President, Harry referred to Barack Obama (in a statement of support for him no less) as “light skinned” and someone who was electable because he didn’t talk in a “Negro dialect,” or something of that nature, when he’s talking to people who aren’t Black.  That was the “gist” of the newest “scandal” as far as I could tell.  Now, let me preface any remarks I might make in the rest of this post by saying that I’m no fan of Harry Reid.  I realize ALL the Washington insiders on the Democratic side love the guy, I see him as part of the systemic problem which I was hopeful President Obama would change once in office.  True to EVERYTHING ELSE that is happening in Washington, out come the rabid Republicans looking for their latest opportunity for a “pound of flesh.”

Now, I don’t know Harry and I can’t attest for him in any way, but this whole thing gave me “pause,” AGAIN, as I surmised our political reality in Washington.  First of all, when I examine myself – I like to spout about all my Black friends, some of them very dear friends, when I defend my liberal nature – but, the reality is that I grew up in a house with a blatant RACIST as a father (who, I’m glad to say I helped “bring around” before he died), I went to a high school that was TOTALLY ALL WHITE, and I met my first Black friend when I played basketball in junior college at the age of 18.  I can still remember being afraid when I discovered that I was going to be on the same team with several Black persons, I was going to have to shower with them, go on bus rides with them, and socialize with them.  I like to think that I’m “color blind,” but when I take an honest look at my ENTIRE life, I realize there’s probably something in me that could produce some stupid words if I was in a position where people were montitoring EVERY SINGLE WORD I said. (I can’t even imagine anyone wanting to be in that position)

So, I’m perfectly willing to take Barack Obama’s word, Al Sharpton’s word, and Eric Holder’s word that there’s not a “racist bone in Harry Reid’s body.”  I’m OK with that.  I can agree that for a person of his position to say such a stupid thing to someone actually writing a book was …….well, for lack of a better word…..STUPID!  Of course, we’ll never leave it at that and I’m sure you can guess why.  Of course you can and, you’re EXACTLY RIGHT – It’s because there are still REPUBLICANS left in this world.  Harry Reid making a comment like that in earshot of a Republican would be akin to a shark sensing someone swimming nearby with a cut finger.  RED MEAT!!!!

Here’s the question I would pose to all the Republicans who are lining up in this incredulous display of SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS!  Do you really want to go there?  Tonight I listened to a Senator, I believe it was Cornyn of Texas (of all places), claiming Reid should resign because he said something similar to what caused Trent Lott to resign in 2002 (or somewhere around that time) from his role as majority leader of the Senate.  Of course, Lott – at the 100th (or so) birthday party for Strom Thurmond – the Republican’s SEGREGATIONIST candidate for President in 1948 bragged about how the people of his state voted for Thurmond and, that wasn’t good enough for Lott (from Mississippi – do you “get it”) – he HAD TO ADD that had the entire country voted for Thurmond, “We’d all be a lot better off today.”

Now, as you know, with Republicans you have to try to figure out what they really mean when they’re talking.  Usually, their racist comments are framed much more cleverly in their “special code.”  Remember, like when John McCain referred to then Senator Obama as “That one” during the Presidential debates – without a second thought as to what that might imply (this is the same McCain who opposed a national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.).  Or when Sarah Palin kept referring to Obama as some kind of terrorist and made “slips of the tongue” about his middle name – ignoring threats from her audience such as; “kill him.”  Lott was just too out front with his suggestion that if Thurmond had won in 1948 we might still have segregated schools, Black baseball players could still have their “Negro league,” we could have Black platoons and company’s in the military instead of the mixed up mess we’re “stuck with” today, and there’s NO WAY WE’D HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT TODAY (was Lott having a premonition?).  I think the Republicans were so upset about the fallout from Lott’s statements because everyone should have known that he was a racist – his comments were nothing new, so why the big deal  (I actually kind of agree with them on that one – his words didn’t surprise me one bit)?

But, like everything with these Republicans they are always trying to get back at Democrats for something.  You know, Dick Cheney was still angry about all the laws passed after Richard Nixon proved that Presidents can have mafia type personalities.  Cheney was determined (and succeeded to a large extent) to reverse all the “restrictions” placed on the exectutive branch of our government post Watergate.  Like, for example, the FISA laws.  Those, in Cheney’s mind I’m sure, were outdated the day they were passed (with bipartisan support, I might add).  The President should have the right to wiretap his citizens without a warrant if he wants to.  You remember the claim:  “If the President does it, it must be legal.”  The Republicans have also been angry at Democrats since the days of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush – when members of their administration were “busted” for carrying on an ILLEGAL WAR in Nicaragua.  They went by the same theory, “If the President does it, it must be legal.”  Well, Ollie North, John Poindexter, and the others all got off – eventually, after being convicted in courts of law – but the Republicans are still bitter that they even had to defend themselves for simply ILLEGALLY fighting a war in a soveriegn nation.

Then there’s Lewis “Scooter” Libby being forced to sacrifice himself for Cheney’s TREASONOUS OUTING OF A CIA AGENT.  I still remember Rush Limbaugh and the others take on the “company line” that Valerie Plame was simply a desk clerk for the CIA and all of the “hullaballoo” over her “outing” was partisan politics.  Of course, all the while we’ll never know what happened to her “contacts” all across Europe who were “outed” with her – I’m sure you remember, they were the ones who were gathering intelligence on the nuclear capabilities of Iran (imagine what the Iranians did to those in their country who were associated with her “operation”).  Despite all the rhetoric to the contrary coming from the Bush White House about what a threat Iran’s nuclear program was – it mustn’t in reality have been so important if destroying our capability to gather “actionable intelligence” wasn’t more important than getting back at Joe Wilson (Plame’s husband) for telling the truth about Saddam Hussein’s nuclear capability.  These Republicans don’t seem to care for anyone who tells the truth about what they’re “up to,” no matter what the consequences.  Dick Cheney has such a “way” about sending “messages” to people who don’t agree with him.

Getting back to Harry Reid and all these self righteous Republicans who will be trying to make this into some kind of huge story and, in the process, portray themselves as the “bridge” to racial harmony in the United States – I would just say CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES WISELY!  I fully understand that on Fox “news” you probably won’t get a lot of video of say, the “teabagger” marches.  You know, the ones where the images of Barack Obama would make anyone with a sense of fairness in their being regarding the racial issues in America would become sick to their stomachs.  Pictures of Obama that are almost indescribable for me right now – if you didn’t see them, maybe you should google their rallies.  I can remember one picture of Obama with a bone through his nose (can you imagine Democrats doing anything along those lines with President Bush), there was a picture portraying Obama as a monkey (come on, even Republicans can understand the imagery of that one), and there was one sign that I can remember which said something like, “There’s an African lion in the zoo and there’s a lying African in the White House.”  I hate to even write this garbage.  But, now you have these very people who were speaking at the rallies in front of the people waving these signs (and, worse than that – calling the sign wavers patriots! UGHHH!) calling Harry Reid a racist and DEMANDING his resignation from the Senate (or at least his leadership post) for his admittedly STUPID remark.  Maybe we’ll get Rush Limbaugh doing an encore version of “Barack the magic Negro” before he calls for Reid’s resignation for being a racist!  THIS IS WORSE THAN THE “POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK.”  Oh dear, is that racist?  Come on, GIVE ME A BREAK!  I really didn’t want to write tonight, but these Republicans WON’T QUIT!

And, the media is getting rich over all these foopahs that they can BLOW UP into something that will last for days – in some instances for weeks and months, even years.  Most people in America don’t realize that our “liberal media” is controlled by about four or five LARGE CORPORATIONS who are in the business of MAKING MONEY and not necessarily providing information.  The sooner they can get the next election under way, THE MORE MONEY THEY WILL MAKE.  These people don’t have the best interests of this nation in mind, they have the best interests of their stockholders in mind – THAT’S IT!  And, I don’t care if it’s Fox, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, or whoever.  Their interest is CLEARLY in making as much money as they can.  THAT IS WHAT AMERICA HAS EVOLVED INTO – the country where the national interest is having large corporations make as much money as they can while Republicans and Democrats argue over who are the racists instead of regulating them.  In fact, if the corporations can manage to get to the point – through aquisition over aquisition over aquisition – where they become “too big to fail” as in AIG, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, etc. then we (the taxpayers) will guarantee their profits for their stockholders!

So, what do we have to look forward to.  Well, you can be guaranteed that Democrats will continue to make stupid comments from time to time (remember Joe Biden is Vice President), the large corporations don’t seem to be getting smaller, and with the refusal by the Democrats to hold the Republicans legally accountable for their lawbreaking they (Republicans) won’t be going away anytime soon.  Additionally, I don’t see any will in Congress to “undo” the damage from Clinton’s telecommunications act of about 1996 which allowed the consolidation of the nation’s information sources into a scary few so, these ridiculous news cycles will continue, the Republicans will continue to attempt to undo President Obama with untruth after untruth, the United States will remain in a state of internal turmoil, and we’re stuck with news about Sarah Palin for the forseeable future (she draws ratings on both the “left” and “right” – it matters not that she’s the most unqualified person to hit the national political scene in my lifetime – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE RATINGS, remember? I had to just throw her into the conversation in the hopes of increasing MY RATINGS! ).  Somehow, I’m going to have to make it through this next cycle where the Republicans are going to portray themselves as the great defenders of the honor of Black people everywhere.  Harry Reid used the term NEGRO in public!  GOD HELP US!