Finding the real racists

On a normal day, Democrats accuse Republicans of racism. So it is a man-bites-dog story to hear Democrats vigorously accuse each other of racism. The Financial Times, for example, writes:

Take congressman Jesse Jackson Jr’s comments following Mrs Clinton’s victory in New Hampshire last week.

“Those tears have to be analysed,” said Mr Jackson, who, like his father, has endorsed Mr Obama. “They have to be looked at very, very carefully in light of hurricane Katrina, in light of other things that Mrs Clinton did not cry for, particularly as we head to South Carolina.” Few of South Carolina’s black voters will have missed the implication. Since most of Katrina’s victims were black, Mrs Clinton is therefore presumably unfeeling towards the black community.

Crowned as “America’s first black president” by author Toni Morrison, Bill Clinton was still accused last week of using racial undertones when he dismissed as a “fairy tale” Mr Obama’s claim to have spoken out consistently against the Iraq war. Mrs Clinton was also accused of insensitivity after she pointed out that Martin Luther King needed LBJ in order to get civil rights legislation enacted.

There is also the racism controversy inspired by Andrew Cuomo's "Shuck and Jive" comment. And, on MSNBC, Chris Matthews decided that New Hampshire Democrats had to be racist for failing to follow the polling numbers.

MORE: Donna Brazile finds racism in Bill Clinton's use of the phrase "fairy tale." Still more at Jules Crittenden.