Cheers for CNN’s Campbell Brown

Journalist Campbell Brown may not be Keith Olbermann, but this calm, measured professional is at least as (and arguably more) credible than the MSNBC hothead when she speaks against McCainiac hate speech.

Highlights:

“[Y]ou may find it hard to believe that this remains an issue in this campaign, but it does. The candidates, both candidates, are still getting questions about Barack Obama’s ethnicity and religion. If you are even semi-informed, then, by now, you already know that, of course, that Barack Obama is an American, of course, Barack Obama is a Christian. 

“;;; But I do have one question. So what if he was? So what if Obama was Arab or Muslim? So what if John McCain was Arab or Muslim? Would it matter? When did that become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim [become] dirty words, the equivalent of dishonorable or radical?

“Whenever this gets raised, the implication is that there’s something wrong with being an Arab-American or a Muslim. And the media is complicit here, too. We have been all way too quick to accept the idea that calling someone Muslim is a slur.

“I feel like I’m stating the obvious here, but, apparently, it needs to be said. There is a difference between radical Muslims who support jihad against America and Muslims who want to practice their religion freely and have normal lives, like everybody else.”