The so-called �party of diversity� has once again demonstrated that diversity is only celebrated when one agrees with its platform. According to a recent Washington Times article, blacks are now fair game for ridicule by liberal Democrats, if the black in question happens to be a conservative Republican.

Maryland Lt. Governor Michael S. Steele, who is seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate, just happens to be a black, conservative Republican. And it just so happens that operatives of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee targeted Mr. Steele, and Mr. Steele alone, by illegally obtaining a copy of his credit report. Somehow I don�t think the Lt. Governor approached the opposition party in the hopes of obtaining a loan from them.

In addition to having his credit file commandeered, Steele was pelted with Oreo cookies during a campaign appearance, and called an �uncle Tom�. The Lt. Governor was also depicted as a black-faced minstrel on a  black run, liberal web log (picture since removed, evidently under pressure).

So how did black Democrat leaders react to such hostility directed toward the first black man to win a statewide election in Maryland? With anger and indignation? With profound sadness? If you thought that the �oppressed� would find such treatment wrong, think again. A campaign spokesman for the former president of the NAACP (and coincidentally a candidate for U.S. Senate), Kweisi Mfume, had this to say, �there is a difference between pointing out the obvious and calling someone names.� Evidently calling someone insulting names isn�t calling someone insulting names, as long as it is directed toward your opponent. Of course this is the same party that produced a standard bearer who explained to the nation that �is� didn�t necessarily mean �is�. (Of course, let us not forget that he was our first �black president�, but I digress).

In addition to Mfumes� spokesman, a black Baltimore delegate, Salima Siler Marriott offered this gem, �because he (Steele) is a conservative, he is different than most public blacks, and he is different than most people in our community�.

As if there was any doubt about this clannish mindset, State Senator Lisa A. Gladden, Democrat from Baltimore made the remark that �party trumps race, especially on the national level�.

So there you have it. The �party of diversity� has no room for diversity when it comes to blacks who think for themselves and dare stray from the liberal plantation.

The recent death of Rosa Parks makes this story one of supreme irony. Who would have thought that the courageous struggle for equal rights throughout the 50�s and early 60�s, fought and won with the heart, soul, and for some blacks, even their very lives, would someday lead to a time when they had exchanged one �massa� for another? A people who cried out for freedom and justice, only to wind up being lorded over by a party and its ideology with an iron fist.

Make no mistake about it, the current liberal leadership of the Democrat party cares not one iota about �diversity� � it cares only about power. It is for that reason that Michael Steele bothers liberals in general, and black liberal �leaders� in particular. Maryland�s Lt. Governor could very easily siphon off black votes � black votes that liberal Democrats need to maintain their power base. Liberal Democrats have been �buying� black voters for years with social programs � in the process replacing Daddy with a welfare check and maintaining a viscious cycle of  unwed mothers and its inherent inner city poverty. Consider also the endless screaming of �racism� at the drop of a hat, that is the favored method employed by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other so-called black �leaders�. They do so in order to keep their phony baloney jobs as spokemen for the black community. Without the �racism� boogeyman, their gravy train would end.

In this more modern age, their scare tactics are no longer as effective, so they have resorted to attacking those blacks like Mr. Steele who refuse to march in lockstep with them. The fact is that as more and more blacks escape poverty and gain a piece of the American dream for themselves, the less likely are they to vote for liberals. Kweisi Mfume and his spokesman know this as well as other Democrat party leaders. It�s why they are willing to insult Michael Steele, or anyone else who threatens their power base. The times are indeed a� changing, and black people, who as a whole are far more conservative than either their �leaders� or the national Democrat party, are discovering that they don�t need liberals and their programs in order to succeed. The notion of a Michael Steele, and what his elevation to the U.S. Senate would mean, scares liberals to death. For, everyday middle-class blacks however, it could mean the start of a second emancipation.

Copyright� by Chip McLean

Chip McLean is the editor/publisher for capitolhillcoffeehouse.com. His columns have also appeared on The Conservative Voice, American Daily, The Rant, NewsByUs and People Political.