When Worlds Collide...

...and The Trib Editorial Board and Tony Norman write about the same thing (and would seem to agree) is a terrible thrill, indeed.

First the Trib:

During last year's presidential election, Reid referred to Barack Obama as a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

To the first point, Mr. Obama is just that. The second point, Obama is well spoken. And the phrase "Negro dialect" is a linguistic descriptive, not a slur.

The third point is the most debatable but it nonetheless is weak. Do some people adopt an affectatious dialect to suit their audience? Of course. Especially politicians. You hear it all the time and it hardly is race-based. How many white Northern politicians have you heard affecting a white Southern drawl? Plenty.

There are plenty -- PLENTY -- of things to criticize Harry Reid about. But merely stating the obvious facts isn't one of them.

Now I am completely frightened as I am in agreement with that past part, though I suspect the things about Reid I'd criticize are different from the things Scaife's braintrust would criticize.

And now Tony:

Back on the Negro front, the erroneous belief that blacks are hothouse flowers who faint at the first hint of racial generalities continues to dictate coverage of Nevada Sen. Harry Reid's hamfisted "no Negro dialect" comments about Mr. Obama.

Sen. Reid has apologized for saying inelegantly what is undoubtedly true about huge swaths of the American electorate. All things being equal, some types of blacks are more "acceptable" than others. America is a color-conscious nation -- period.

As a product of a generation in which positive relationships across racial lines were rare, it would be a miracle if Harry Reid, a Mormon, didn't say something goofy every now and then. It wasn't his church's official position that blacks had souls until the 1970s. He's come a long way.

When the Trib and Tony don't disagree, it's time to pack your bags and head for high ground.