According to Wikipedia and another source, The Root is an online magazine devoted to black culture. It’s also owned byThe Washington Post.
Saturday, The Root published an entire article devoted to this headline: Will Romney Reach out to Racists in Debates?
The subtext of the article is even more noxious; that if Romney does win it will be due to racism:
Now the Romney campaign finds itself at a crossroads. With just over a month to go before the election, the question becomes: Will he be willing to do what McCain wasn’t, in order to win at any cost? Will he give in to the temptation and begin lacing his ads and language with messages to appeal to those who miss the days of the Southern strategy — and the days of a white Republican president?
We’ve already seen him begin flirting with the racially inflammatory line by making a joke about his birth certificate that many saw as a reference to the manufactured controversy surrounding the president’s birth. Romney’s language in the debates will confirm whether or not he is willing to cross that line in the quest for victory.
If the fact that the Washington Post owns a publication that would engage in that kind of Racial McCarthyism isn’t troubling enough, a source tells me that on Saturday, The Root story appeared prominently on Washington Post’s home page under top headlines — with an even worse headline:
Top Headlines
- Paul Ryan to kick off three-day debate camp in Va.
- Youngest Gitmo detainee is transferred to Canada
- Mich. town supports victim of homecoming prank
- ‘Carmageddon’ begins: L.A. shuts down busy 405
- DNA evidence exonerates La. death-row inmate
- Fox News apologizes after on-air suicide
- Preview: Nats at St. Louis Cardinals, 7:15 p.m. ET
- SLATE | How can we defend mockery of Muslims?
- THE ROOT | Will Romney reach out to racists?
This is no accident either. By bringing the Root into the Washington Post family, it allows the Post to blast this kind of headline and message out on its well-trafficked home page without getting its hands dirty.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC