At a time when African Americans are on the cusp of watching a barrier come crashing down,

When Sen. Barack Obama "rejected" and "denounced" the support of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan during the MSNBC debate last week, it wasn't his finest hour.

No matter how many times Farrakhan explains, defends or refutes anti-Semitic comments that have been attributed to him, his kiss is still the kiss of death.

...

The point here, of course, is that these men -- one the pastor of an 8,000-member congregation where the church roll reads like a Who's Who of the Chicago black elite, and the other the leader of an organization that has historically saved young men from crime and drugs -- are unfit to even speak of Obama.

Now, if Farrakhan has apologized for some of these statements, I didn't hear about. Let's just give a sampling of some of his racist remarks. (source)

The real anti-Semites are those who came out of Europe and settled in
Palestine, and now they call themselves the true Jews, when in fact, they
converted to Judaism (2007)

...

"I heard from a very reliable source that under that levee there was a 25
foot hole, which suggested that it may have been blown up, so that the water
would destroy the black part of town, and where the whites lived, it would be
dry." (9/12/2005)

...

White people are potential humans...they haven't evolved yet."
(3/18/2000)

...

I call them the so-called Jews because to be a Jew you have to adhere to
the statutes and laws that create the special relationship. How can you be a Jew
and promote homosexual marriage (3/18/2004)

Now, contrast Mitchell's support of Farrakhan to her crude attack on Don Imus.

Don Imus needs to go home, permanently.And while he's at it, he can take his radio producer with him. Although Imus deserves all the bombs being tossed his way for referring to black members of the Rutger's basketball as "nappy-headed hos," McGuirk led off by first referring to them as "hardcore hos." Neither one of these men would dare call white women soccer players hos on air
I don't know what pisses me off the most--the fact that Imus and his sidekick get paid for entertaining white listeners by bashing black people, as was pointed out by the Rev. Jesse Jackson , or the fact that black people had to protest before CBS Radio and MSNBC took any action against Imus. Didn't one executive at either outlet know all hell was about to break loose?

Now, I don't know anyone that apologized more profusely for their remarks than Imus did. Furthermore, Imus does all sorts of good things in the community. Yet, when he made his remarks, Mitchell was quick and brutal in not only denunciating him, but in calling for him to be fired. In Mitchell's world, white racists have no place making a living, while African American racists, like herself, are given every opportunity.

The other thing that is interesting is that Mitchell sees Obama's distance as nothing more than politicking.

Fortunately for Obama, most black people understand the game.

...

Although Obama scored points for defusing a political bomb, his answer was
insulting.

Yet the stakes are too high for African Americans to lose faith.

...

Obama should have found a way to escape Russert's trap without denigrating Farrakhan's legacy.

But, like I said, we understand.

In other words, in Mitchell's view, Obama's renunciation was nothing more than pandering to white voters because he needs their votes. She believes that Obama really does subscribe to Farrakhan but can't outwardly admit it because Farrakhan has been unfairly demonized by whites.

Once again, the chutzpah that Mitchell shows is breathtaking. Imagine if a white person had been insulted when John McCain distanced himself from John Hagee. Imagine if the same person had said we white people understand the game. Imagine if the white person had excused Hagee's incendiary remarks by pointing to the good Hagee had done in the community. Imagine if the white person had ended the article by saying, "like I said, we understand". The furor would have been overwhelming again. Yet, Mitchell is able to defend Farrakhan, turn it into a black and white issue, and proclaim that black people understand that Obama is only pandering to whites, and get away with it.

Finally, there is this interesting quote toward the end of the article.

Other longtime supporters of the Nation of Islam are willing to forgive Obama for playing into the hands of his staunchest critics.

"There is a new level of political maturity that one can observe going on in the black movement," said Conrad Worrill, a professor at Northeastern Illinois University Jacob Carruther's Center, and a co-founder of the National Black United Front."

Right now, people are exercising political discipline as it centers around the goals of the black electoral empowerment movement. In the '60s, '70s or '80s, if this kind of condemnation had taken place by one of our revered leaders, there would have been a verbal bloodbath," he said.

"But the more we engaged in verbal rhetoric, the more our enemies used it against us. It is just unfortunate that at this moment in history we don't have the kind of power as a people to keep us from capitulating to forces that have their own agenda."

What is the National Black United Front?

The National Black United Front (NBUF) is a coalition made up of individuals and organizations working together for the benefit of all people of African descent.

Among its goals and platforms is an Afro Centric education curriculum in the public schools, reparations for slavery, and this...

On Friday, October 25, 1996, the National Black United Front (NBUF) launched a National Petition Drive charging the United States Government with genocide.

The National Black United Front takes the position that the proliferation of the distribution and sale of crack cocaine by Africans in America street organizations has reached epidemic proportions, causing serious harm to the African community in America. This harm can only be described as acts of genocide by the United States government through its Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

In addition to the acts of genocide perpetuated through the CIA and in this recent revelation, acts of genocide can also be attributed to the government's use of taxpayers resources to wage war on a segment of the American population. this can be evidenced by the following:

So, this group believes, like Reverend Wright, that the CIA introduced crack cocaine into the inner cities. Now, it is journalistically dishonest to quote the head of this group without setting context of what this group is all about. Then again, it is likely that Mitchell believes that the CIA introduced crack cocaine into the inner cities and so she likely didn't see anything wrong in quoting him.

Thus, to review, we have a column in which a racist, homophobe and anti Semite is defended. He is defended by using the most outrageous obfuscations and moral equivalencies. Furthermore, a politician is attacked when he attacks this racist, and ultimately that attack is chalked up to cynical politics.

Here is the contact information for her boss and editor: i Tom McNamee and you can complain to him by calling 312-321-2510, emailing @ tmcnamee@suntimes.com, or faxing to 312-321-2122.