Scola,

when I saw Scott Brown scoff at Elizabeth Warren and the notion that her mother had American Indian heritage, I knew that all kinds of bullshit was being discussed by him and his staffers out of the public eye.

This latest crap does not surprise me at all.

This is why I get eye-rolly at my Boston area friends who are shocked - SHOCKED!!! at the racism in the oh so uncivilized South.

Not denying it's all over the place here, but also please come correct for your own community.

This latest crap does not surprise me at all.

Me neither.

I can totally buy that Warren repeated the story she'd always heard in her family, and likely checked the "Native American" box a couple of times along the way. She may or may not have known what that meant: to be Native is cultural, political, and/or biological, and how it's expressed and how that expression is acknowledged varies a great deal.

It's the sort of thing I can see happening in my own family. My brother-in-law's grandfather is said to have been Jamaican, although nobody's really sure, because he left his wife when his daughter was very young, and moved to Harlem and remarried. Based on that, my BIL could claim some African-American ancestry, although he was raised as a Jewish kid in Yonkers. There's no direct evidence outside a DNA test, and who's going to bother with that?

My point being that we cling to these unusual family stories, and I suspect Warren used it without ever thinking about political ramifications, because she never meant to be running for public office anyway.

In this political environment, I can't see anyone wanting to run for public office: every little thing you've ever said or done is going to be excavated and aired publicly. So few of us have a record pristine enough to withstand that kind of examination.

This is why I get eye-rolly at my Boston area friends who are shocked - SHOCKED!!! at the racism in the oh so uncivilized South.

Oh god, seriously? There are people who don't think Boston is racist???

Also, I'm shocked at Brown's new ads that keep on the Native American heritage thing -- I assume it must have polled well in some group? I just don't think it's a big deal at all.

checked the "Native American" box a couple of times along the way.

In the 70s, is my impression.

Oh, hey, after I told her "I will manage my workload as I see fit" she left me alone. That's nice.

My manager did give me a mild "be nice" instruction, but I also took the opportunity to explain that some people are confused.

Rogue development...that's almost as cute as rogue demon hunting.

Also, I'm shocked at Brown's new ads that keep on the Native American heritage thing -- I assume it must have polled well in some group? I just don't think it's a big deal at all.

It isn't, it's not a deal at all. If she's not a registered member of a federally-recognized tribe, I doubt she would have gotten any advantage out of it.

But Brown's got so little against her all he can do is hammer at this thing, little understanding how racist it makes him look. Worse, he knows it makes him look like a racist tool, and thinks that's an advantage.

Oh god, seriously? There are people who don't think Boston is racist???

Certainly not compared to all the slow-thinking, dim-witted, racist hicks that apparently represent the South!

I've tried a couple times to explain that there are fewer reported awful incidents if you have the city set up so YOU NEVER SEE ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU, but to no avail.

But Brown's got so little against her all he can do is hammer at this thing, little understanding how racist it makes him look. Worse, he knows it makes him look like a racist tool, and thinks that's an advantage.

That kind of makes me sad, because really, I thought he was OK for a Republican.

I've tried a couple times to explain that there are fewer reported awful incidents if you have the city set up so YOU NEVER SEE ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU, but to no avail.

Also, and I know it's been a while, but Charles Stuart.

I've tried a couple times to explain that there are fewer reported awful incidents if you have the city set up so YOU NEVER SEE ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU, but to no avail.

As the old saying goes on racism in the South versus racism in the North: "In the South they don't care how close you get as long as you don't get too high [socially]. In the North they don't care how high you get as long as you don't get too close."

I've tried a couple times to explain that there are fewer reported awful incidents if you have the city set up so YOU NEVER SEE ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU, but to no avail.

As the old saying goes on racism in the South versus racism in the North: "In the South they don't care how close you get as long as you don't get too high [socially]. In the North they don't care how high you get as long as you don't get too close."

See, also, Randy Newman's "Rednecks".