The shoe is on the other foot...

"There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it is racism." – Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee

True, true, true - especially when it comes to this weekend’s news that U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) described President Obama as "light skinned" and possessing no "Negro dialect" in a conversation with reporters described in the new book, “Game Change.”


Shall we dance? The president and the majority leader in better times...

Reid did have something to say after being busted: “"I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words," said Reid in a statement. ”I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments."

President Obama said in a statement that he and Reid had spoken about the matter on Saturday afternoon. "I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart," said Obama. "As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."

But it’s nothing new. Consider the following:

• "You cannot go into a Dunkin' Donuts or a 7-Eleven unless you have a slight Indian accent."
• "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth largest black population in the country. My state is anything [but] a Northeastern liberal state."
• "I mean, you got the first mainstream African American [Barack Obama] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy."
• "There's less than 1% of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4% or 5% that is, are minorities. What is it in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you're dealing with." - Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., (D., Del.), 2006-07, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, 1987-95 Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, Candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, 2008

-- "Everybody likes to go to Geneva. I used to do it for the Law of the Sea conferences and you'd find these potentates from down in Africa, you know, rather than eating each other, they'd just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva." --Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D., S.C.) 1993

--Reid once rushed to declare Justice Thomas to be “an embarrassment to the Supreme Court.” When pressed for specifics, Reid declared that one of Thomas’s opinions was similar to “an eighth-grade dissertation” — far inferior, Reid said, to the opinion of Justice Scalia in the same case. Except that Thomas’s short opinion was perfectly logical . . . and Scalia hadn’t even written an opinion in the case. Law professor Eugene Volokh decried Reid’s comments about Thomas as “unfounded assertions of incompetence” backed up with “false statements” and “mischaracterizations.” What was it about the black justice Thomas that Reid didn’t like? That made him inferior to the white justice who hadn’t even written an opinion in the case? Hmmm? (h/t: Patterico’s Pontifications)

--“In the book "Game Change," there’s this item -“[A]s Hillary bungled Caroline, Bill’s handling of Ted was even worse. The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill then went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.”

--"Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he's 'blacker than Barack Obama.'"

For a nice collection of other quotes from the party of tolerance and inclusion, check this out.

Late add Reid: Looks like he might be in a little bit deeper.

A final note: It’s worth checking out this item at The Weekly Standard – ”Obama in '02: 'The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott.”

And a special closing number...courtesy of our current Secretary of State (and the president's former campaign opponent):