Conservative Donnybrook

Michael Kinsley once defined a gaffe as when a politician accidentally tells the truth.

As we’ve all heard, according to Harry Reid, among Obama’s electoral advantages is that he’s “light-skinned … with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

Now, certainly, this comment sets off all sorts of PC alarm bells, but of course, it’s basically true, right? What’s more, it’s obviously not racist at all.

OK, it’s not nice to use the term “Negro” any more, fine, but give me a break, the man’s 70 years old, and it’s not exactly a racial epithet — just an old term that’s fallen out of fashion.

The “dialect”? I think we’ve all noticed Obama turn on Great Black Orator mode, even though he’s not very good at it, in contrast with his more natural Midwest Whitebread mode. But I think it’s safe to say that the more “black” your speech, the less likely average white folks are to vote for you. Now take that as an indictment of white racism or whatever, but it seems pretty inarguable to me.

Why, here’s Camille Paglia writing during the ‘08 campaign:

I have become increasingly uneasy about Obama’s efforts to sound folksy and approachable by reflexively using inner-city African-American tones and locutions, which as a native of Hawaii he acquired relatively late in his development and which are painfully wrong for the target audience of rural working-class whites that he has been trying to reach. Obama on the road and even in major interviews has been droppin’ his g’s like there’s no tomorrow.

But these ideas are forbidden! Paglia must resign! Willmoore must resign!

The most dubious part of the comment is probably the “light-skinned” part — I’m not so sure that makes such a big difference, but who knows? It’s not a crazy notion.

But the funny thing about all of this is that what Reid is basically saying is that he thinks whites are racist. Normally, the assumption of the bigotry on the part of white Americans is not only condoned, but it serves as one of the core background assumptions to the entire PC project.

Then again, these PC rituals of outrage and contrition never seem to have a close relationship with what the offender actually said. But Reid crossed some PC tripwires with his vaguely icky turns of phrase, and therefore he must prostrate himself before the sensitivity gods.

But what about double standards? Wouldn’t a Republican have suffered more for saying the same thing? Well, of course he would, but that’s life. And ultimately, conservatives do themselves no favors for playing this game.

Sure, it’s nice to get the chance to watch a big-time Democrat squirm under the rules set down by his PC brethren. It seems like Ann Coulter had great fun with this when, on Geraldo Rivera’s show, after Sharpton went on at length about what a swell guy Harry Reid is, Coulter asked, “Did he ask you to stop using your Negro dialect too?”

Well hey! That’s pretty funny, and if anyone deserves it, it’s Sharpton. But ultimately, isn’t it pretty stupid for conservatives to get into the game of jumping all over folks who broach subjects forbidden by PC fashion? This is a game that conservatives can never win, and the whole thing brings to mind a certain aphorism about getting into the mud with pigs.

The list of officially-sanctioned viewpoints and subjects for discussion grows ever-smaller. Why, these days, just opposing gay marriage can cost you your job. Conservatives will not benefit by throwing in their lot with the PC thought police. Paul Gottfried puts it best:

What the GOP is doing will have dire consequences, beyond the richly deserved fate of making the party look foolish. It will stifle the freedom to engage in honest political discussion, an activity that the attack on Reid and before that on Lott is going to make more difficult. As the “sensitivity” net widens and as unauthorized questions about race, gender, and lifestyle are put outside the limits of “sensitive” dialogue, we will suffer as an already diminished free society. While there is plenty of blame to go around for this situation, the GOP has done its part here, in its desperate hunger for minority votes. … Now the GOP has moved out in front as an advocate of leftwing thought and speech control. The campaign against Reid illustrates this.