Ignorant we castigate him

Regarding the whole mishegoss about Harry Reid's alleged racism in explaining why America was ready to elect Barack Obama, and his strong support for that candidacy, as being the equivalent of (or worse than) Trent Lott's endorsement of segregation, the only conclusion I can reach is that the GOP truly believes that Americans are stupid. Unfortunately, too many in the media (and even some, like Josh, for a brief and unfortunate moment) are happy to prove the GOP right. Rather than informing on what was actually, you know, said, the GOP counts on the manufactured debate to shape perceptions. If enough people call Reid out as a racist, enough other people will buy into the portrayal of Reid's words - and Reid the person - as racist.

As for Josh, he briefly bought into the idea that Harry Reid's statement was "offensive." He's off the hook here, because that statement is itself part of a post about why Reid's statement is nothing like Lott's, and Josh's follow up commentary has made the point clear that an inartful explanation of why America is ready for Barack Obama - which acknowledges race in its analysis - is a far, far cry from racism. Yet it's troubling that even Josh can fall into the liberal trap of letting his rational discussion give legs to a partisan talking point, or, as Amanda says (in another context, but in the words I was struggling for here and below), that "liberal tendency to want to prove they’re fair-minded by occasionally letting the other side score a point".

Can Americans distinguish between acknowledging the existence of race and being a racist? The unfortunate fact that the GOP cannot goes a long way in explaining that they just don't even understand what racism is, and why the Republican Party will remain, for the most part, a whites-only club (which, as it turns out, Republicans still happen to like).

The instinct of liberals to give credence to a kernel of Republican complaints is the kernel that encourages the nitwits that we entrust with our media to butter it and serve it up as popcorn. At the end of the day, the critical problem lies there, in the way the media chooses to portray this nonsense. They're not so dumb that they cannot understand the distinction, yet they treat the public as if they are. The difference between Trent Lott's unreformed pro-segregation racism and Harry Reid's anachronistic progressivism is not really that subtle. But the media would rather let the partisans jib-jab it out, because it's better television. Because informing the truth isn't their job.

Updated to add Amanda's quote.