In a release that just hit the wires, Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television and prominent supporter of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, apologized to Barack Obama for recently implying that while the Clintons were fighting for civil rights, Obama was taking drugs.

With Hillary looking on at an event in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 13, Johnson said:

“I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood –­ and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in the book –­ when they have been involved.”

Obama admitted experimenting with marijuana and cocaine in his book “Dreams from my Father.” Johnson’s comments caused quite a stir. He initially defended them, saying he was referring only to Obama’s time as a community organizer – an explanation that neither Obama’s campaign nor many hosts of many black talk radio shows accepted. At the same event, Johnson compared Obama to Sidney Portier in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” At Tuesday’s debate here in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton first defended Johnson’s explanation but also said his remarks were out of bounds.

Today Johnson released the following statement:

“I am writing to apologize to you and your family personally for the uncalled for comments I made at a recent Clinton event. In my zeal to support Senator Clinton I made some very inappropriate remarks for which I am truly sorry. I hope that you will accept this apology. Good luck on the campaign trail.”

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Race question right out of the blocks. Hillary says she and Barack Obama called the truce. Obama called for it on camera, Hillary followed with a statement — not exactly the same thing and important since Hillary’s camp often accurately points out Obama follows Hillary’s lead on some issues — health care and economic stimulus to name just two.Obama tries to rise above the race issue and get back to the terrain that has been safest for him all along — that of transcending race and seeking to build a bigger coalition. Edwards weighs in tangentially on the side of Obama by highlighting role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  and those who conducted lunch counter sit-ins, not the legislative dexterity and power of former President Lyndon Johnson.On Tim Russert’s question of his campaign’s involvement in pushing the race story by highlighting comments from Clinton surrogates that had a racial component, Obama appeared to concede the point that his camp bore some responsibility and pledged to set a non-racial tone going forward. Obama also rejected the theory that in New Hampshire the difference between the polls and the final result had something to do with whites lying to pollsters about supporting Obama but voting for Clinton in private.  Obama’s comfort level can be described as minimally comfortable. He tried mightly, again, to steer it back to the change dynamic.Russert’s question to Clinton about Robert Johnson’s reference to what Obama was “doing in the neighborhood” that he wouldn’t described, Clinton said his comments were out of bounds but said in the campaign it mattered less what someone “none of us have ever heard of” said, but what the candidates themselves say. Johnson, one of the most successful media moguls (white or black) in American history, might be surprised to hear Clinton refer to him in that way. Johnson’s comments were widely interpreted as a reference to Obama’s admitted drug use (marijuana and cocaine) as a teen. Johnson later said he was referring to Obama’s work as a community organizer, an explanation neither the Obama camp nor many black talk radio hosts accepted.

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