Conservatives, as usual, are taking the wrong tack on this one.  Conservatives should say things like this dust up are the concern of Reid's constituents.  If they chose to vote him in and if the Dems want him to be the majority leader, so be it.  They should have stood up for Lott instead of whining, "Life's not fair."  A interesting aside is that some people thing it's a bad thing for someone like Obama, in this case, to talk differently in the company of different audiences.  That's just speaking the most appropriate language of power for each situation.  It's a definite advantage, however, because Blacks are able to speak both dialects, ie Standard American English and African-American Dialect.  Whites can't speak AAD and retain credibility.

bingo: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/12/ensign-tells-fellow-republicans-reid/

So, now, apparently, one not only can't say the "n-word" which we probably know stands for nigger, but now one isn't allowed to say negro which is also Spanish for black?  So much for free speech.  There is no question that English speakers speak different dialects of English so I'm assuming it isn't an issue to mention that some Blacks speak a different dialect?  So the issue is that Reid said negro?  Because it's outdated?  I don't see anything derogatory in the use of that term but I'm sure some such as Steele or Sharpton might take offense or feign offense.  I have noticed that the Blacks that I know do not refer to people as "that White guy over there" even if he's the only White in the company of a group of Blacks.  They say, "The gentleman..."  Non-blacks could learn from that convention and just take race out of the whole equation.  And conservatives should be the example.

Honestly, the best thing to do in this situation is let the dust settle. Reid will never resign, and this will only begin to make Conservatives look bad. Reid has already buried his own political career. Although I disagree with almost all of his policies, I do recognize that if in fact he did actually care about his constituents, that he would NOT run for re-election this coming November. The reason being of course because he knows that he probably wouldn't win (especially when faced with many of the poll numbers).

That said, more than likely what will happen is that he does run for re-election. He'll probably win his primary, and if he does... he'll lose the election. If they're smart, the Republicans will let him stay on and use this as a feather in their hat. You can say it's for political gain, but I think it has more to do with ideological momentum. That is, to get a conservative in his senate seat which will support intelligence and military initiatives, and prevent such potential bills as Cap & Trade...

Personally, I thought the "light-skinned" remarks were way worse than the "Negro dialect" comments.  Judging by that standard, the darker a person is the more unfit they are to run for office.  The fact that the Majority Leader of the Senate could think in those terms is at least "creepy" like Yglesias pointed out.  Also, I think conservatives should absolutely take this opportunity to once again point out the immense double-standard that is used to judge liberals and conservatives. 

C, you're absolutely right about Trent Lott.  Republicans should have circled the wagons like the Dems are doing now and protected him better.  Instead, they did the Democrats' dirty work for them by nudging Lott out.

Todd, kicking Reid out of the Senate is one of the distinct pleasures I am looking forward to this November. 

Thanks, MC.  I've heard several times that lighter skin is viewed more favorably within the Black community.  Names like Colin Powell, Condeliza Rice, Andrew Young were cited.  If Reid is in trouble because as a White he isn't allowed to talk that way, again I object on Amendment I grounds.  In your first para., you say that Reid said that America is ready to elect a Black president and he amplifies that Obama is particularly electable.  I don't see how this differs from a discussion about the relative merits of Palin, Huck and Romney.

It seems that your point is the double standard of the hypothetical situation, "What if a Republican had said it?"  The GOP should defend anyone who said it regardless of party.

It's interesting to note of course that Strom Thurmond (whom Lott was criticized for praising) used to be a Democrat back in the day when the old crowd of the Democrat party was racist.

As I said though, I'm not a fan of Reid... regardless of what his racial biases are. I don't support his policies, so what I feel is in the best interest of the country is to do whatever ensures that a strong conservative will replace him. In that vein, it's better for the country to actually leave him in there now, rather than put in someone else that shares his views.

It's also interesting to note that I've started seeing much more backlash from ABC and CBS lately. It seems that, for whatever reason, their favoritism of the administration seems to be faultering somewhat. NBC still seems hell bent on making everything seem like peaches and cream... but ABC and CBS appear to have stepped up their conservative side (where it didn't appear that any even existed??)

C, it's unfortunate, but that is actually quite common all over the world. I really don't know what it stems from, but I have a feeling that "attitude" probably does stem from the European slave trade that existed back in the 1700-1800s.

Even places like China, Thialand, Korea, and Japan... lighter skinned Asians often get preferential treatment and in many cases are looked more favorably upon. This is very "old fashioned" and this kind of racism continues to die off (fortunately), but some of it still exists.

Thailand is an amazing country... but I noticed it somewhat when I went there about 10 years ago. As a white person, I was basically treated like gold. School girls, random people on the street... they'd run up to me just to take their picture with me? I was visiting the bridge at the river Kwai, and there was an all girls high school field trip that happened to be going on. I was walking across the new bridge, and I was literally mobbed by 20 some odd 16 year old girls (I was 19 at the time). They all stood around me and asked their teacher to take a picture of me with them. Hahah...

It's unfortunate really that this kind of preferential treatment exists... but it IS dissapearing. Either that, or it gets less publicity than it should...

Todd, when I was stationed in Japan, my Japanese teacher told me that Americans or Whites are given celebrity status especially in rural Japan because they haven't seen many of us in real life, but they do see us in movies and other media.  They are also curious about kinky, Black hair and Black people, too.  I took a crew to an air show in Hokiado and our Black flight technician got a lot more interest from the locals.

"If Reid is in trouble because as a White he isn't allowed to talk that way, again I object on Amendment I grounds."

C, I would state it this way: Reid is in trouble because as a politician he said something immensely unpopular.  No one is saying he violated the Constitution or did not have the "right" to say what he did.  However, freedom of speech is a two way street and we have the same "right" to criticize Reid for his remarks.  Indeed, as citizens, we always have the right to hold politicians accountable to the electorate for what they say. 

"I don't see how this differs from a discussion about the relative merits of Palin, Huck and Romney."

The difference is that while discussing the merits of any white candidate skin tone and color is never brought up.  Indeed, I do not even see how skin tone is considered a "merit" in any context whatsoever. 

MC the analogy would be something like "Because Palin is a woman she is more electable with the segment that voted for Clinton, therefore..."

As for Reid "said something...unpopular," what do you base that upon?  Opinion poll?  Gut feeling?  The loudest reporters?

On the lighter side, "Martha Coakley's first attack ad in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat had an embarrassing mistake in it.

Massachusetts was misspelled at the end.

"Paid for by Massachusettes Democratic Party…" the text read at the bottom of the commercial's final seconds."
 

THis would be funnier if I was a geek...not that there is anything wrong with being one.

"Republican Sens. John McCain and Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said a determination on Reid's fate should be made among Nevada voters and the Democratic caucus, respectively." FoxNews

d***, I'm good.