Race card!

But it was played by an unlikely source (WSJ editors) against an unlikely "racist" (Obama):

Asked a question he didn't expect at a rare unscripted event, [Obama] didn't merely say he disagreed with Justice Thomas. Instead, he instinctively reverted to the leftwing cliché that the Court's black conservative isn't up to the job while his white conservative colleagues are. So much for civility in politics and bringing people together.

Huh? What's race got to do with anything? (Unless the editors have instinctively reverted to the rightwing cliché that black liberals believe Thomas is a "Tom.")

For the record, Obama said: "I don't think that [Thomas] was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation." When even the WSJ had a When-Will-Justice-Thomas-Ask-a-Question Watch because of his well-known lack of curiosity in the courtroom, then Obama's assessment seems pretty credible.