wattNational Review Online ran an editorial today about 12th Dist. Democrat Mel Watt’s nomination by President Obama to be head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency titled “Wall Street’s Favorite Racist.”

As that headline suggests, it is none too kind. And that’s understandable if you take into consideration the outrageous statements that Watt has uttered in the recent past that, if tables had been turned and a Republican had said as much, would be called racist hate speech.

Take, for instance Watt’s declaration in 2005 that he had no use for whites “in the democratic process” who would not vote for a black person. He said that blacks, unlike whites, would never make a voting decision based on skin color, two allegations that are both belied by voter statistics in the Obama election.

Just so you know that wasn’t a misstatement or some one-time inelegant wording, Watt also showed antipathy toward white people in his characterization of consumer advocate and sometime presidential candidate Ralph Nader as “another f***ing arrogant white man.

Two such utterances by anyone with a conservative stripe would be a career killer. And, should a conservative survive the dust up over such statements, the media would eternally remind the public of those utterances in every news story involving said conservative.

But that’s not how it works when the racist statements are made by a liberal, a Democrat, and a minority. Take the glowing editorials in two of North Carolina’s leading mainstream newspapers upon receiving word that one of our own members of Congress, Watt, was up for a cabinet post.

The News & Observer opined on May 3:

Watt would be likely to bring to his agency a more consumer-oriented type of policy-making. …

Watt also could be expected to support more openness in housing finance matters, and more sharp oversight of an industry that is bouncing back but which still needs close supervision. Watt is taking over, assuming Congress does not block his path, at a time when Fannie Mae has turned a $17 billion profit. Fannie and Freddie hold an interest in something like half the mortgages in the country, with a value of $5 trillion.

The Winston-Salem Journal was even more effusive than the N&O, calling Watt, incredibly, “even-handed”:

During one state Senate term and then 20 years in Washington, Watt has displayed considerable talent, intelligence and character. A Democrat, his evenhanded manner has won him respect across the aisle.

There was no mention of Watts’ anti-white quotes in these editorials. Nor was there any reference to them in the stories from The Associated Press that appeared in North Carolina’s newspaper after his recent nomination.

So, it seems that, in addition to being Wall Street’s favorite racist, Watt is the media’s as well.