If you want a pretty good commentary on the matter, there's
one here. As I, Williams on FOX, and basically everyone else who's put some thought into it have been saying, Reid was basically pointing out how racist America is, particularly within the Republican Party. As Scuzzy correctly points out, this is very different than the type of racism the right likes to deride Obama with. To be sure, Reid used an outdated term, "Negro," which the Census also uses to record demographics (including this year), and virtually everyone agrees it was inappropriate, hence the criticism. Now, if his constituents--Nevadans, not us--feel that he should be "fired" they can choose to do so in the next election. That's part of what we refer to as "democracy," regardless of how much others here might despise the concept. It should be noted, however, that even pointing out Reid's own pointing out of racist members of society will get branded as a "personal attack," no matter how true it is. You're not supposed to point out the racism that exists, you know. That gets you in trouble. I think that says something about contemporary culture, which isn't totally different from the racist culture that existed a couple hundred years ago, or, say, fifty years ago for that matter.