The Baltimore Sun reports on a continuing dispute between Republicans and Democrats over an incident that allegedly took place during the 2002 Gubenatorial campaign. Supposedly, during an appearance at Morgan State, Michael Steele, then candidate for lieutenant governor, was pelted with oreo cookies -- an insulting gesture suggesting that he is not really black. Democrat activists now deny that any such happened and accuse Gov. Ehrlich and the Republican Party with lying about the Morgan appearance. Several prominent Democrats and black activists have joined in the effort to portray the Republicans as liars. Gov. Ehrlich has taken to the airwaves to denounce this attempt at "historical revisionism." Thus does state politics reflect the playground-level idiocy of the national party conflict.
Read it here.
It is apparent from the article that the crowd at Morgan State included a number of left-wing activists who were extremely disruptive, that oreo cookies were passed out among the activists, but that few were actually thrown. Steele himself says that he only saw one thrown on stage. Another participant, an NAACP official, admits that he heard that some students were throwing cookies at each other, but not at Steele. In subsequent retellings accounts of the incident have diverged. Republicans have exaggerated the scale of the insult. Democrats have denied that it happened. Who is the "revisionist", who is the "liar?" Beats me, I wasn't there, but I do note that each party takes a stance on the incident that reflects best on themselves. Clearly something happened that night at Morgan State, but whatever it was, it certainly does not deserve the attention it has been getting lately.
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