First it was Harry Reid – of “negro dialect” and “light-skinned” fame. We know what he meant by those archaic comments that clumsily referenced Barack Obama. White America, still the country’s largest voting bloc, wouldn’t have voted for a perceived racial hustler. Or a grievance candidate. A President Sharpton wasn’t happening. No kidding.
Now we have Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” hearing it from the usual suspects for his effort at praising the president’s “post-racial” persona in his State of the Union Speech. But amid his effusive riff, Matthews said, “I forgot he was black tonight for an hour…I mean it’s something we don’t even think about.”
We know what he meant. Critics need to get off the politically correct, nuance-and-parse beat. Those wanting to criticize Matthews can take legitimate issue with how he interrupts guests, waxes absolutely obsequious around his favorite civil-rights heroes and icons — and called Obama by his first name throughout the 2008 campaign.