Steve Cohen (D-TN) - Keeping The Black Man Down!

Hard to believe I actually wrote a post last June defending Memphis Democrat Steve Cohen. A white man, Jewish, representing a majority-black district, and doing what his constituents expect him to do - legislate as a hardcore liberal, redistributing other people's wealth to his district.

Cohen's problem in 2010 is that an actual black man, Willie Herenton - the mayor of Memphis - is running against him in the primary. Why? For the very reason that made me defend Steve Cohen:

The congressional election should focus on "pressing and important issues," Herenton wrote. "However, it remains a fact that the 9th Congressional District provides the only real opportunity to elect a qualified African-American to the all-white 11-member delegation representing Tennessee in Washington."

So how does Cohen repay my favor? By playing the race card in the ugliest manner possible (video here):

The two-term Democratic congressman said the Tea Party — "without hoods and robes" — has shown an angry, hardcore side of America that's against any type of diversity.

“We saw opposition to African-Americans, hostility toward gays, hostility to anybody who wasn’t just, you know, a clone of George Wallace’s fan club,” he said on The Young Turks, an Internet and satellite radio talk show...

Cohen said he doesn't see a Republican standing up to appeal for reason.

"I think they're afraid of it," he said. "When I saw John McCain stand behind Sarah Palin, he looked more like a captured soldier in North Vietnam than he did a United States senator. It was very sad."

Maybe Cohen, running to represent a black district against a black man, is trying to go "blacker-than thou" and trying to amp his radical street cred by calling the political opposition "Klansmen". But if Cohen is straining so much to prove his credibility to a black constituency, isn't it evidence that perhaps, based on his terms, he shouldn't be representing the district in the first place? In fact, doesn't liberal dogma dictate that he step aside and give the nomination to Willie Herenton, an authentic black man? Isn't Cohen - by his refusal to give up his seat - actively keeping the black man down?

Racist. Why don't you just put on a hood and rampage through your district, Steve? Or better yet - burn some crosses on your constituent's lawns on election eve - that'll teach them to mess with power!

By comparison, Herenton, the true black man in the race, sounds almost reasonable:

"You can't take lightly the honorable services that Sen. McCain rendered to the United States and the personal sacrifices that he made," Herenton said.

The former mayor believes the Tea Party's expressions represent a manifestation of disappointment, anger and a desire for change in American political policies...

Well, this is what I get for defending a liberal, I suppose. Got to hell, Steve Cohen. And take your hate-filled, racist Democratic party along with you ...