Is Jon Stewart Racist?

Let’s say a white guy goes on television, puts on an exaggerated "Amos ‘n Andy" “black voice” and proceeds to make fun of a black man whose politics the white guy doesn’t like. Actually, let’s say he goes beyond merely making fun of the black man. Let’s say he tries to make the black man sound downright stupid. Does that make the white guy a racist?

The correct answer is … it depends.

If the white guy is Rush Limbaugh and the black man is Barack Obama, then of course the white guy is a racist – according to liberals.

But if the white guy is Jon Stewart and the black man is Herman Cain, the conservative businessman seeking the Republican nomination for president, well, then, that’s another story.

The other night Jon Stewart went on his show, and while he didn’t put on blackface makeup and start tap dancing he did put on a “black voice” and proceeded to mock Mr. Cain in a way that would never be tolerated if a conservative had done it.

Yet liberals didn’t scream “racist” the way they do when they see a tea party rally or when a conservative so much as looks askance at Barack Obama. Instead, they laughed. They thought it was a regular riot that a genius like Jon Stewart made that conservative black guy sound like a dumb character in a minstrel show.

But why isn’t Jon Stewart a bigot, when Limbaugh and Hannity and O’Reilly would be tagged as racists if they had done the very same thing? That’s easy. Because Jon Stewart is a liberal and liberals aren’t racists. Only conservatives are.

And if you don’t believe me, just ask any liberal.

Yes, this is really, really dumb, but liberals really, really believe it. It stems from a deeply held belief that liberals are not just right about the issues and conservatives just wrong. It goes way beyond that. Liberals believe they’re morally superior to conservatives. And morally superior people are never racists. Racism is the domain of morally inferior people -- conservatives.

But we all know what Mr. Cain’s real sin is. He’s a black man who has strayed from the liberal plantation. And that is something liberal elites – the supposed benefactors of black people in America -- have a tough time dealing with.

On "The O’Reilly Factor" the other night, I told Juan Williams who was sitting in for Bill, that conservatives should do what liberals have been doing for years – they should play fast and loose with the word “racist.” They should start calling every liberal who criticizes Herman Cain – or any other conservative black man – a racist. Not because it’s true, but precisely because it’s a lie.

Let’s see how those superior liberals feel when they’re the ones being slandered, when they’re the ones being maligned as racists simply because they oppose a black man’s conservative policies. Let’s see if they recognize that they’re the ones who perfected this form of slander, by calling conservatives racists simply because we disagree with President Obama’s liberal policies.

So, is Jon Stewart a racist for doing his "Amos ‘n Andy" routine to make fun of Herman Cain? Yes! Absolutely! And I will say that over and over again, every chance I get – even though I don’t believe it. And I won’t stop until my liberal friends finally get it.

See how it feels Jon, and all you other superior liberals.

Bernie Goldberg is a journalist, author and Fox News analyst. He is the winner of 11 Emmy Awards and has written five books on the media and American culture, including the No. 1 best-seller "Bias." His most recent book, "A Slobbering Love Affair," is about the mainstream media's fascination with Barack Obama. You can learn more about Bernie Goldberg by visiting his website at www.bernardgoldberg.com.