I'm Just Mild About Harry

The latest Barbara Boxer contretemps is fascinating. Not for the content--there wasn't much--but for the intent.

Last time, she had no trouble being tremendously condescending toward a highly respected (and respectful) general for an imagined slight. After all, this was a white male, and she suspected he was treating her differently because she was a woman.

This time, a guy tears into her for condescension when she's not particularly doing anything out of the ordinary (as far as racial politics are concerned). But she has to stay her tongue because the accuser was an African-American. Trumped!