But day in and day out there are Herman Cain sex scandal stories on the air and in the press, even though we dont know what he allegedly did or to whom he did or didnt do it. Part of the blame, of course, goes to Herman Cain himself for his amateurish handling of the story. But lets go back to my handy-dandy rule of thumb: reporters salivate more when theyre going after conservative Republicans than liberal Democrats. Thats why they wont let this one go.
Imagine if Herman Cain were a liberal and all this was happening to him. And while were at it, imagine that Clarence Thomas was also a liberal. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be on television day and night screaming racism. First they try to bring down a black man nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court, they would say, then they try to bring down a black man leading in the polls who is running for president. And the editorial board of the New York Times would be working overtime to portray their critics as world-class racists. But because theyre conservatives, the liberal civil rights establishment goes silent.
So, is race involved in the Cain sex scandal? Not in any traditional way. His critics arent racists in the way we usually mean it. They dont hate black people because theyre black. But make no mistake: liberals in and out of the media hyperventilate when a conservative black man gets too powerful. Black folks arent allowed to stray from the liberal plantation. Liberals are the benefactors of black people at least thats how they see themselves and a black man with a conservative message a message that says, We dont need your paternalism poses a threat to their image of themselves as good white people who really, really care about black folks black folks who could never make it in society if it werent for liberal support.
Politico broke the Cain story but hasnt told us where they got it. Politico doesnt have to give us a name of its confidential source, but it does need to tell us his or her motive. We know that whoever leaked the story was trying to hurt Herman Cain. But thats not enough. We need to know, for example, if it was some other politician trying to bring Cain down. That would be important news....
