Since the first Democrat caucuses and primaries began in January, there has been a consistent media theme that it's acceptable for blacks to vote for Barack Obama because he's black, but racist for whites to vote for Hillary Clinton because she's white.
On Tuesday's "Morning Joe," MSNBC's Pat Buchanan exposed how utterly absurd and hypocritical this view is even as the Washington Post's Richard Cohen actually defended it.
What resulted was likely a far more honest discussion about race and racism in this nation than what Obama offered to the American people on March 18 when he tried to explain his connection to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Without further ado, here were some of the highlights (video embedded right, grateful h/t Countdown to Hardball):
PAT BUCHANAN, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Why did 92 percent of the black voters in Philadelphia vote for Barack Obama other than the fact that he's African-American?
RICHARD COHEN, WASHINGTON POST: Well, I agree that race is a factor on both sides. But, but, but to feel a sense of solidarity with, with someone of your own race or ethnic group, or whatever it is, that's one thing I understand, especially when it's going to be an historic moment. But to vote against somebody...
BUCHANAN: Okay, well here's the thing: suppose the voters in West Virginia felt a sense of solidarity with a white woman. Is that wrong? They voted for her.
COHEN: I don't think they voted for her, I think they voted against Barack Obama.
BUCHANAN: And you think the ones in Philadelphia however voted for good reasons, and the ones in West Virginia for bad reasons (laughing)?
Exactly! But there was more:
BUCHANAN: A lot of my voters, white voters, they're very bitter at the kind of comments that were made about the people in West Pennsylvania and like that, and they're saying, "What are you talking about? They're voting for that fellow because he's African-American, we're voting for our folks." What's wrong with that?
COHEN: Well, why are their folks white instead of say their folks represent their economic interests or their folks represent...
BUCHANAN: Well, what about Philadelphia? You think they're voting for Obama's healthcare plan?
COHEN: No, I don't. I think they're making, kind of like it's a vote about racial solidarity. It's a vote about can you get a black person to become the president of the United States after a hundred and something years after the Civil War, etc., etc., etc. It's the same reason that a lot of white people want Obama to become president, because it's a great historic statement. It's a statement of a kind of country we want to be.
Amazing. And this is what we can expect from the media once Obama is officially crowned the nominee: any white person that votes for John McCain is a racist.
Do yourself a favor and watch the entire video to fully understand the depths of this media hypocrisy.
