Via the Right Scoop. As gratifying an expression of poetic justice as this is, I have to grit my teeth and side with Ramesh Ponnuru.

Republicans and conservatives are comparing Harry Reid’s comment about “Negro dialect” to Trent Lott’s remark about how we would have avoided a lot of problems if Strom Thurmond had been elected. Just as Republicans turned on Lott and forced him to give up the Senate majority leadership, they say, so Democrats should turn on Reid and make him resign his post.

But the comparison is off the mark. Lott’s comment implied that the country would have been better off keeping segregation and enforced white supremacy. What Reid said isn’t within a lightyear of that.

Yeah. Apparently Tucker Carlson came to Reid’s defense on Hannity tonight, too. As much as I’d like to club him, the most objectionable thing he said was his use of the word “negro” and evidently even that’s not all that objectionable anymore. (Although it will be tomorrow if a Republican uses it.) But don’t despair: As our friend Mr. Brown is proving tonight in the bluest of blue states, Reid’s time will come. Patience, patience. Exit question: Isn’t there another Democrat who’s getting off easy amid the uproar over Reid?