Bob Herbert owes John McCain an apology

On August 2nd, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert accused the McCain campaign of waging a racist attack on Barack Obama for comparing him to Paris Hilton.

[The ad was] foul, poisonous and emanated from the upper reaches of the Republican Party. (What a surprise.) [It was] designed to exploit the hostility, anxiety and resentment of the many white Americans who are still freakishly hung up on the idea of black men rising above their station and becoming sexually involved with white women.

Back in the little land I like to call reality, Newbusters' Seton Motley did the research and discovered the origin of the Obama-Hilton analogy.

This sensitive operation, possibly involving secret Rovian search engines, outstripped the vast resources and capabilities of the New York Times and Bob Herbert.

A February 24, 2005, Washington Post article reads: There's nothing exotic or complicated about how phenoms are made in Washington, and, more to the point, how they are broken... "Andy Warhol said we all get our 15 minutes of fame," says Barack Obama. "I've already had an hour and a half. I mean, I'm so overexposed, I'm making Paris Hilton look like a recluse."

Thus, Barack Obama used the Paris Hilton analogy first. I'll alert the blogosphere to be on the lookout for Herbert's apology.

Hat tip: Jerry H.