GOODY TWO SHOES: Hoyer's Niggardly Apology Doesn't Cut It
Republicans are usually – but not always - on the receiving end of racism charges for unintended slips of the tongue, misunderstandings (willful or otherwise) about the definitions or derivations of words or phrases or lame-o jokes that somehow go awry.
Here’s a rare example of Republicans turning the tables in Maryland, accusing House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) of racism for telling a group of black business owners that Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele had a career of "slavishly supporting the Republican Party" at an event for Steele's rival, Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD). The crowd did not appear to take offense, according to The Associated Press, but Republicans were up in arms, saying that the term referred to slavery – which, in fact, it does. In an interview, Steele himself told The Baltimore Sun that the comment "goes to just the sheer craziness of some in the Democratic Party who think they can use racist terms and infer things about me just because I'm an African-American Republican."
Ordinarily, The Stiletto would tell people who are quick to take offense where none is intended to get a grip. But throughout his political career Steele has had to endure such intolerable indignities as having Oreo cookies thrown at him, just because he is a black Republican. He has good reason to assume Hoyer’s comment was intentional and meant as a slur. To say Steele is "slavish" is, in fact, to say he is a slave – and not just any slave, but an Uncle Tom.
The Stiletto greatly admires Steele’s ability to suffer these vile slings and arrows with unflappable grace. She is not sure she could.
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