Yesterday, Steve was talking about that ludicrous Ann Coulter fangirl piece at TNR (and the spirited defense it got from Mr. Chait, whose thoughts about what constitutes offensive political extremism appear to be evolving) and offered this thought experiment

OK, now if I wrote a piece discussing how valuable Louis Farrakhan's contributions to American political life were, and how he managed to drive white people crazy, I would be under a sea of criticism. And not just from the usual suspects

Why?

Because sometimes crazy shit comes out of his mouth. So crazy that a panel of black intellectual and politicans, including Tavis Smiley, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton rejected them in public in a room full of black people.

...

There's a certain breed of Washington pundit that loves contrarianism when it's about blacks, or the poor or women. TNR has run contrarians like Ruth Shalit and Andy Sullivan and their bizarre racial theories. Last week, Marty Peretz issued an embarassing racist screed in defense of Joe Lieberman. And now Chait uses the coward's defense of being against political correctness.

Now the reason he's writing this is simple: TNR got hammered for running that silly girl crush piece. And his only defense is to lash out and say us liberals never challenge our readers.

Let me challenge my readers by defending Farrakhan and see what TNR would say about that.

Well, I can tell you this - it wouldn't be a dealbreaker for them

The Lieberman campaign is trying to frighten white voters in Connecticut -- and Democrats in Washington -- by reminding them over and over again that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson support Lamont. This week, the senator's aides told the New York Times that playing the two African-American preachers off against Lamont will enhance Lieberman's appeal on an independent ballot line. "Primary night was the first time that many Connecticut voters saw Lamont on TV, and he's surrounding himself with two of the more divisive and problematic figures in the Democratic Party," said Dan Gerstein, the Lieberman campaign's communications director.

It's true that Jackson and Sharpton, who bustled onto the podium the evening of the primary to grab their share of the Lamont spotlight, tend to be polarizing figures. But what if Lamont had praised an even more polarizing black leader? What would Lieberman say if his rival had reached out to someone really outrageous, like Louis Farrakhan?

If he were honest, he'd exclaim "Great idea!" -- because that's exactly what he said six years ago.

...

During an interview with April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks on Sept. 26, 2000, Lieberman sought to reassure the mostly African-American audience of the black-owned broadcasting group about his mixed record on affirmative action and other issues.

When Ryan asked him about Farrakan's caustic response to his nomination on the Democratic ticket, which included questioning his "dual loyalty" to Israel and the United States, Lieberman responded with a meek appeal for mutual understanding.

"Look, Minister Farrakhan has said a few things, including earlier in the campaign, that were just not informed," he said. "But, you know, I have respect for him and I have respect for the Muslim community generally." Asked whether he would be willing to meet with the infamous preacher of hate, he said: "Of course I would be open to sitting down and talking with Minister Farrakhan. It hasn't sort of come together yet, but I look forward to it ... I'd like to do that. I think that's a great idea ... This is a time to knit the country together more and to make us, as Al Gore always says, the more perfect union that our founders dreamed of." Moreover, Lieberman added, "I have respect for him ... I admire what Minister Farrakhan is doing."

What Lieberman said he admired most about Farrakhan was, quite naturally, the minister's massive effort to register black voters. As Ryan later explained to Bill O'Reilly, the would-be vice president was forthright when she challenged his sudden interest in Farrakhan. "He said, 'But it's time for us to come together.' And he's trying to win. That's basically what it is. He wants to win an election and the African-American vote is crucial."

What Lieberman had politely neglected to mention on American Urban Radio was Farrakhan's lengthy record of vicious diatribes against the Jewish people, whom the pseudo-Muslim demagogue has described as "bloodsuckers," as adherents of a "dirty religion" or "gutter religion," as "wicked deceivers of the American people," and as "the synagogue of Satan." Farrakhan offered no apologies for any of those comments, but sensing a chance for fresh publicity, quickly told Ryan that he would be delighted to meet with the Jewish senator.

For the record, TNR published an unsigned editorial accusing the Senator of "pandering" and called the incident a "hideous moral payback" (presumably for his opposition to affirmative action, er, past colorblindness*).

All was, however, forgiven four years later.

Where Lieberman diverges most from his competitors on domestic policy is in his willingness to challenge entrenched party interest groups

Amusingly enough, given their current narrative about Lamont supporters not being For anything, most of the TNR Lieberman endorsement was about how perfectly dreadful Howard Dean is.

Mr. Peretz has since defended that endorsement by pointing out that John Kerry was, um, too willing to make nice with Al Sharpton

Al Sharpton, whose endorsement the Lieberman campaign solicited two weeks ago.

I guess they figure he had his fingers crossed. They're all about the principles over there.


*which is also subject to the Senator's electoral fortunes - his opposition has a tendency to be temporarily inoperative during campaign season