By this logic, I'm supposed to speak for Jack Abramoff

Well, perhaps not, since Abramoff is arguably an Orthodox Jew, and I'm a completely lapsed one. But still: How would conservatives have responded if Ted Kennedy had asked Strip Search Sammy the Stem Cell Alito about Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, or to comment on the accuracy of "The Sopranos"?

Yesterday Tim Russert did essentially that on Press the Meat in asking Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to comment on remarks made on Saturday by Harry Belafonte, that Bush is the "greatest terrorist in the world":

MR. RUSSERT: Let’s talk a little bit about the language people are using in the politics now of 2006, and I refer you to some comments that Harry Belafonte made yesterday. He said that Homeland Security had become the new Gestapo. What do you think of that?

SEN. OBAMA: You know, I never use Nazi analogies, because I think those were unique, and I think, you know, we have to be careful in using historical analogies like this. I think people are rightly concerned that we strike the right balance between our concerns for civil liberties and the uniform concern that all of us have about protecting ourselves from terrorism.

[snip]

MR. RUSSERT: Is it appropriate to call the President of the United States the greatest terrorist in the world?

SEN. OBAMA: I don’t think it’s appropriate. That’s not language that I would use. But keep in mind that, you know, one of the great things about the United States is all of our citizens have the right to, you know, speak our minds about what’s going on politically.

Why on earth should Barack Obama have to comment on Harry Belafonte's remarks? Because they're both black? Was this an attempt to tar a rising star in the Democratic Party with the "extremist" brush? If so, it should hardly work, since any fire Obama had has been extinguished in his brief Senate tenure thus far.

Peter Daou:

Since when does an elected Democrat have to answer for the words of a citizen, however outrageous, even if that citizen has a public profile? And what's the real motive behind bringing the Belafonte quote into a discussion with Obama? The guilt-by-association game between terrorists and Democrats has been in hyper-drive this past week, with Matthews and MSNBC, the Bush cheerleaders at FOX, Bob Schieffer and others ramming this RNC-driven talking point down our collective throats. Was this just more of the same?

[snip]

An astute blogger tells us about the only other time (based on a preliminary search) that Russert asked a guest about Belafonte. And who was that guest? Why, Colin Powell.... Do the math.

Steve Gilliard cuts right to the chase:

Obama, like too many liberals, try to play nice when asked stupid questions, which implies weakness.

All he had to do was ask: "did you ask me that question because I was black? Because as I understand it, Mr. Belafonte is entitled to his opinion, and is alone accountable for it. When was the last time you asked a white Senator to account for the ravings of Pat Robertson, who unlike Mr. Belafonte, has the ear of the President and the national media."

Video at Crooks and Liars.

And don't miss James Wolcott's thoughts on this one.