That's the Way McLaughlin's Oreo Cookie Crumbles

John McLaughlin starts firestorm over Barack Obama oreo cookie remark
Here we go again. A talk show host emits a racially charged epithet and all hell breaks loose. Wonder how long protesters will take to mobilize on this one.

Just to be clear, John McLaughlin, host of ratings challenged The McLaughlin Group, did not call Senator Barack Obama an oreo cookie. He merely said that Obama fits the stereotype of an oreo cookie.

Uh, split hairs much? What's the difference? Look, don't take my word for it, read the transcript for yourself. Better yet, watch the video.



In case you've been out of it or on vacation, a baton is passing in the civil rights movement. As a result, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who could not gain the backing of a major political party if his life depended upon it, hurled some disparaging criticism against presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Jackson mistakenly thought his microphone was off. Man, did he ever miscalculate. Good thing he never got any further than the primaries in his quest for the presidency.

Jackson's gutter language attack and subsequent apology were already fish wrappings yet, mainly due to pundits like McLaughlin, the controversy lingered. If you ask me, McLaughlin got caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Verbatim, here is the query that landed him in hot water.

Question -- Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that someone like Obama, who fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an 'Oreo' -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside -- that an 'Oreo' should be the beneficiary of the long civil rights struggle, which Jesse Jackson spent his lifetime fighting for?
My, oh my.

Some people simply refuse to let the Jackson flap die a quiet dignified death. Some people would rather milk every bit of salacious sound bite they can wrench from that gob of goo. Some people just don't know when to leave well enough alone. Some people even think it's a good idea to add their own unsavory ingredients to the mix. And unfortunately, some people don't acknowledge retirement even when it has the courtesy to come politely knocking at their door.

That's why some people can now count themselves among the casualties of a political firestorm. Good luck with those cookie references now.