"See, the Great Thing About Mayberry Was, There Were No Jews There"

By Sniffles

We cats are pleased to report that Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) might not have anything to worry about in 2010 if her re-election opponent is Republican State Senator Kim Hendren. But we'll take this opportunity to drive home a little grammar lesson nevertheless.

It seems that State Senator Hendren, at a recent meeting of his fellow Republicans in Pulaski County, somehow managed to refer to U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York as "that Jew."

First, we cats would like to point out that we've never heard such language at a meeting of our party activists. That's because we Democrats are all bleeding-hearted and squishy, don'tcha know. Oh, and we tend to be decent and polite and civil, too.

But although State Senator Hendren clumsily attempted to explain that he was trying to distinguish himself as someone who — like the characters in "The Andy Griffith Show" — believes in "traditional values," we'd just like to say that using rude and crude references to stigmatize whole classes of people is a "traditional value" we can live without.

See, that's what Republicans like Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh and John Boehner and all the rest do when they insist on calling our party the "Democrat" Party. It's the same as calling Israel a "Jew nation." It's not only grammatically incorrect, it sounds purposefully pejorative. It's something white supremecists do.

Oh, and by the way, State Senator Hendren: Andy Griffith supported President Obama last year. You can look it up.