In late January of this year, a previously unreleased photo of then-senator Barack Obama schmoozing it up with Louis Farrakhan was made public.  The photo had been kept from public view to protect the political aspirant from potential negative fallout for associating with the racist and anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI).

How damaging this photo would have been to Obama's presidential campaign is subject to debate.  Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, a rare honest liberal, stated he would not have supported Obama had he known of his association with "Calypso Louie."  Certainly, at a minimum, the Jewish vote would have been impacted.  Dershowitz further added, "We should have nobody in public office associating with a bigot like Farrakhan."

Keeping the "hidden" life of Obama quiet was instrumental in the success of this unique political figure.  Associations with a known terrorist and an anti-American preacher were downplayed, while those who pushed these stories were ridiculed as extremists.

Farrakhan posed a different problem, one that had to be kept quiet, thus the photo was shelved at the insistence of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).  There were 21 members of the CBC at that meeting who are still in Congress today.  They have yet to suffer any significant backlash for their association with Calypso Louie – in fact, they praised him, at least until they were caught.

In addition to the 1995 meeting, Maxine Waters and several other members of the CBC, including Barbara Lee (Calif.), Al Green (Texas), and William Jefferson (La.), met with Farrakhan, who offered his assistance for the rebuilding of New Orleans in 2006.

At that meeting, Waters, responding directly to Farrakhan, stated: "I think we need to get together and talk about how we're going to put New Orleans on the national agenda." 

When asked to confirm the discussions, Waters was "unavailable for comment."

Another CBC member, Danny Davis (Ill.), also an attendee of the Obama-Farrakhan meeting, sang the praises of Farrakhan in February of this year:

I personally know [Farrakhan], I've been to his home, done meetings, participated in events with him.  I don't regard Louis Farrakhan as an aberration or anything.  I regard him as an outstanding human being who commands a following of individuals who are learned and articulate[.]

Davis, possibly realizing that he was up for re-election, later clarified his statement:

There have been attempts to question my commitment to these principles because I did not specifically single out the views and remarks of Minister Louis Farrakhan.  So let me be clear: I reject, condemn and oppose Minister Farrakhan's views and remarks regarding the Jewish people and the Jewish religion[.] 

The CBC, and especially Maxine Waters, has been decrying President Trump as a racist, yet the group has associated with one of the most extreme and vile racists active today.

The NOI, reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center to have as many as 50,000 members, is described at the SPLC website as follows:

Since its founding in 1930, the Nation of Islam has grown into one of the wealthiest and best-known organizations in black America. Its theology of innate black superiority over whites and the deeply racist, anti-semitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric of its leaders have earned the NOI a prominent position in the ranks of organized hate.

It is worth taking a closer look at Calypso Louie so we can understand the depth of the hatred that consumes this man.  Columnist John Hawkins, writing for Townhall.com, has a list of twenty of his quotes.  The following are just a few:

"Murder and lying comes easy for white people." (CNN 1995)

"The Jews have been so bad at politics they lost half their population in the Holocaust.  They thought they could trust in Hitler, and they helped him get the Third Reich on the road." (Anti-Defamation League 2015)

"White people deserve to die, and they know, so they think it's us coming to do it." (Washington Post 2015)

"Now God don't want you intermarrying with [white women.]" (Facebook video 2015)

On the Jewish element in Hollywood and their support for the redefinition of marriage:

You're God's chosen people?  And you promote something that God rejects?  You've lost your covenant status!  You are not the chosen of God, you are the chosen of Satan! ... You're promoting homosexuality.  God doesn't.  You promote filth.  God condemns it!

Lastly, one more on Hitler:

The Jews don't like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler.  Well, that's a good name.  Hitler was a very great man.

In today's world, one dominated by the easily offended and politically correct, there is seemingly no greater crime than being racist.  That charge, repeatedly leveled at those who disagreed with President Obama, is currently leveled at President Trump and his supporters.

Yet we have Farrakhan, an outspoken racist, an anti-Semite, and a Hitler-admirer, being fawned over by members of the CBC.  Yes, some members of the CBC may have repudiated him, but they appear to be doing so only when caught.

All Americans are aware of the racist past and are equally aware that racism continues, albeit on a different level.  But those who continue to use racism for political purposes should be strongly condemned and ostracized for their associations with a man as despicable as Louis Farrakhan.

Yet the CBC and its members are given a pass – one not justified in today's world.