Perry Has N-Word Problem, but GOP Bloggers Slam ... Cain?

Herman Cain has just run "head first into the brick wall of conservative anti-anti-racism," writes Adam Serwer at Mother Jones. To recap: Rick Perry spent yesterday dodging bullets over his family's ill-named hunting camp, "n-----head"; Herman Cain rebuked Perry on TV for "a lack of insensitivity"; now GOP commentators are taking aim at Herman Cain. Why? Thank "the attitude on the right that accusations of racism directed at white people are of far greater consequence than any lingering vestiges of institutional racism nonwhites might face," Serwer writes. A few samples:

• "It also seems to be a slander Herman Cain is picking up and running with as a way to get into second place," writes Erick Erickson at RedState.
• Before now, Cain's "big appeal is that he's not just another black race-card-playing politician," says Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.
• Cain's criticism was "a cheap shot, and, perhaps a signal that Cain is willing to play the race card against a fellow Republican when it benefits him," writes Matt Lewis at Daily Caller.

"The key phrase here is 'fellow Republican,'" writes Serwer. "Because, you see, no one thought Cain was 'playing the race card' when he said in the same program that black people are 'brainwashed' into voting for Democrats." (More Mother Jones stories.)