Politico quotes Steele's attacks on Reid, omits Steele's own recent comments

Written by Jamison Foser

Published

If you were a reporter, and you were typing up RNC chairman Michael Steele's call for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's resignation over a racially-insensitive remark, would you maybe find room to mention that just a few days ago, Steele used the phrase “honest injun”?

If so, that's another difference between you and the good folks at The Politico.

Politico quotes Steele blasting Reid for having an “old mindset” and “using language ... That harkens back to the 1950s.” That might have been a good place to insert a line about Steele's use of “honest injun,” don't you think?

Incredibly, Politico's write-up of Steele's call for Reid's resignation includes this passage:

“When Democrats get caught saying racist things, an apology is enough,” Steele said on “Meet the Press.”

“There has to be a consequence here if the standard is the one that was set in 2002 by Trent Lott.”

Even while quoting Michael Steele claiming a pro-Democrat double-standard when it comes to racially-insensitive language, Politico doesn't mention Steele's own insensitive comment, which is less than a week old.

Politico really is just a GOP bulletin board.

UPDATE: Rather than challenging Steele's assertion of a double-standard by pointing out his own comments, Politico echoes it on their front page:

UPDATE 2: Washington Post reporter Chris Cillizza does the same thing:

Steele calls on Reid to resign

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) should resign from office after acknowledging that he had described President Obama as “light skinned” and possessing no “Negro dialect” in a conversation with reporters.

“There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own,” said Steele in an interview with “Fox News Sunday. ”But if it comes from anyone else, it is racism."

Like Politico, Cillizza doesn't bother to mention Steele's own controversial comment, made less than a week ago.

UPDATE 3: During Steele's appearance on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked him about the “honest injun” comment. That's right -- Politico and Cillizza offered less scrutiny of RNC chairman Michael Steele than did Fox News.