Cain gets carded
by digby
Well who could have ever predicted this one? Adam Serwer:
You might have anticipated that Perry would face a firestorm for being associated with the property, but it's Cain whose remarks are drawing the most criticism from the Right. At RedState, Erick Erickson concludes: "It also seems to be a slander Herman Cain is picking up and running with as a way to get into second place." Glenn Reynolds remarks that until now Cain's "big appeal is that he's not just another black race-card-playing politician." Over at the Daily Caller, Matt Lewis calls Cain's remarks "a cheap shot, and, perhaps a signal that Cain is willing to play the race card against a fellow Republican when it benefits him."
I realize that it's absolutely wrong to ever even suggest that the right wing might have a little problem with race (and this is enforced with an iron hand by pointing out that Republicans all love Herman Cain/Clarence Thomas/Alan West etc so it can't possibly have anything to do with race) but I think this is telling nonetheless. They have no problem with race as long as black Republicans never, ever suggest that anyone on their own team might have a problem with race.
As Adam points out:
The key phrase here is "fellow Republican." Because, you see, no one thought Cain was "playing the race card" when he said in the same program that black people are "brainwashed" into voting for Democrats and suggested that black people who vote Republican are "thinking for themselves." Cain wasn't rebuked by conservatives when he previously suggested President Barack Obama was not "a strong black man," implied liberals were out to commit genocide against blacks through support for abortion rights, and said he wouldn't appoint a Muslim to his cabinet.
"Playing the race card" has a very specific meaning. It means mentioning Republican racism.
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