Nice catch by Andrew Sullivan (or whoever pointed it out to him). And quick thinking by Shelby.

Exchange on CNN?s NewsNight, December 18:

Aaron Brown: "Some conservatives jumped on [Taliban fighter John] Walker, saying he is a product of cultural liberalism ? the California kind ? helping to turn an impressionable kid against his own country. Joining us from Salinas, California, one of those conservatives, Shelby Steele of the Hoover Institution. Mr. Steele wrote a provocative article the other day in The Wall Street Journal ? a column in the Journal. And here in New York, a columnist who thinks Mr. Steele is making an awfully broad generalization: Richard Cohen of the Washington Post. It?s nice to have both of you here.

Mr. Steele."

Shelby Steele: "First of all, let me interrupt you just a minute. Is Richard Cohen a liberal?"

Brown: "Yeah, Richard Cohen?s a liberal. I think he would say that, wouldn?t he?"

Richard Cohen: "On this issue."

Brown: "Okay. Everyone is now branded, I guess."

Steele: "Great. If I?m going to be, everybody?s going to be."

Imagine if every talking head starts doing that? It will be beautiful.

Beautiful.

So good it makes you say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

I suppose because Mr. Steele is clearly smarter than the average bear.