Shocked by the title of this post? What if I told you that on a vacation in South Africa, to visit a game farm and see some lions and giraffes or something, I was captured by some black guys who held me hostage for a couple of weeks.

And I explained that I use the word “nigger” to refer to my captors, who beat me up and tortured me and so forth. Would that make it okay to use the word, in that way (or any way), to refer to someone who happened to be black?

Oh, but I don’t mean it towards ALL blacks, only the mean nasty people who kept me captive. And it’s not because they’re black that I’m calling them “nigger”, but because they treated me terribly. That’s why I’m calling them nigger, and that’s actually about the nicest thing I can call them.

Would THAT make it okay?

Yeah, I don’t think so. And yes, I’m using the word to make a point here, and frankly it turns my stomach to write it, but sometimes being shocking is called for.

Back in 2000, John McCain thought it was perfectly okay for him to call his ex-captors in North Vietnam “gooks”. And he explained it away for pretty much all the same reasons I used above. And no, I’m not making this up- it’s been reported before.

Now, I’m not going to lie. I’m not proud of it; in fact, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve used racial slurs before. I’ll probably do it again. I don’t think of myself as being particularly racist, and I work in my head and in my heart to NOT be racist, but I’ve said pretty nasty stuff.

I’ve never said it TO someone, or even AROUND someone else; and I honestly believe that no matter what race you are it doesn’t matter in terms of your worth as a human being. But yeah, I’ve used the terms under my breath to myself, and I’m ashamed of it.

John McCain, in 2000, was a leading candidate for President of the United States, and he used the term for Asian people that’s roughly analogous to the infamous “n-word” for African people.

Sorry, but that’s just wrong, on many, many levels. Don’t get me wrong- in a way, I don’t blame him, because it’s a perfect illustration of how we can let our emotions get away from us. McCain obviously will always carry strong emotions in his heart about the guys who held and tortured him- deservedly so, in fact.

But I’m sorry, if you’re running for President, you don’t get to call Asians the “g-word”. You just don’t. You have to learn the reasons why, you have to serve as an example, and you have to rise above- yes, even above the type of anger and hatred that his torture probably planted in his heart.

Race WILL be an undercurrent in this campaign, even more than it already is. McCain’s latest ad- which juxtaposed images of Obama with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton- is a not-very-thinly hidden racial shot. Look at it this way- both Britney and Paris are kind of old news. The hottest celebs these days are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (or more properly, their newborn twins), Tiger Woods, and others.

Given ALL of the various celebs that are out there, the two that the McCain admeisters come up with happen to be two young single white women? Sorry, but they were chosen for a reason or reasons, at at least somewhere on the list is that they’re white, female, and moderately hot.

(Well, personally I don’t think Paris Hilton is hot- too skinny, and she’s got feet like skis. Seriously. Look at how big her feet are some time. Britney, on the other hand, is faily hot- and she’s crazy too, and the crazy ones might be a pain in the butt in the long run and you don’t keep ‘em, but they’re really fun in their own way in the short term.)

Just remember this when you’re watching the campaign. If you’re an independent who’s considering your options (and you should vote for Obama; if you carefully consider, I believe that’s the conclusion you’ll come to) then I urge you- look into McCain’s past. The guy has serious issues, and the very fact that just 8 years ago he thought it was perfectly acceptable to call people “gooks”… well, that should trouble anyone of good conscience.

Man, you have to wonder what someone’s thinking sometimes. From the Seattle Times…

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota wildlife officials tried for six days to capture a bear that had a plastic jar stuck on its head, but police ended up killing the animal after it wandered into a city during a festival.

The wild black bear — whose head got stuck inside a 2 ½-gallon clear plastic jug presumably while foraging for food — ambled into Frazee, about 200 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, during its Turkey Days celebration.

“When it got into town, our main concern was public safety,” said Rob Naplin, the Department of Natural Resources’ area wildlife supervisor in Park Rapids. The agency gave the go-ahead for Frazee police to shoot the bear.

The bear’s death has spurred a public outcry, with the Pioneer Press reporting that many readers said the wildlife agency should have done more to save the bear, perhaps by tranquilizing it.

The bear was first reported near Lake George, 60 miles east of Frazee, on July 21.

While the bear could breathe, it couldn’t eat or drink and was likely suffering from dehydration and hunger, Naplin said.

There was no evidence the bear was baited by hunters, he said.

In the days after the initial sighting of the bear, officials tried to trap it and tranquilize it in numerous locations. By the time the animal showed up in Frazee, conservation officers decided it needed to be killed to avoid conflicts with humans.

“You don’t want it knocking over a kid or getting hit by a car,” Naplin said.

“Yeah, because if that bear were to be hit by a car, heck, it might be hurt! We HAD to kill it, to keep it safer… um… ”

Ted Stevens, the senior US Senator from Alaska, just got indicted. Good, and about time- he’s as perfect an example of how people can get corrupt and arrogant in Washington DC.

I don’t think it’s inevitable, but I think that if our Congressmen and Senators don’t actively work to ensure that they do NOT turn into crooked bastards, it can wind up happening to any of them.

Stevens is a special case- it’s nice to see him going down. Hopefully Mark Begich can now win election (Stevens was up for re-election this year) and fill the seat.

I thought for sure that Jimmy Kimmel’s latenight show on ABC would be gone by now, but it’s hanging in there. It’s even pretty dang funny at times.

They’ve got a running gag where they censor stuff whether it needs it or not. I grew up watching Sesame Street (and The Electric Company and ZOOM, for those fellow children of the 70s).

So this cracked me up:

Oh, that crazy Grover! Cookie Monster is my hero- I love cookies too.