Everybody should read Frank Rich's column today, "The All-White Elephant in the Room" (at www.nytimes.com). It's just so rare that anyone in the American media has the guts or the honesty to talk about the rampant racism in politics and the media today, for fear of being "accused of 'political correctness' or 'reverse racism,'" as Rich points out. He talks about the double standard to which Barack Obama has been held during this political season—including the scrutiny on the now ubiquitous Rev. Wright—in light of John McCain's virtually unknown and clearly koo-koo-headed pastor, the Rev. John Hagee, who can be seen on YouTube pointing to a picture of a large-breasted temptress while explaining that "the Great Whore"—his metaphor for "the Roman Church"—is "drinking the blood of the Jewish people" (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=uViQ0hVV57Q). (And then there are all those nice comments made by Pat Robertson et al about how Hurricane Katrina was brought on by the gays, but never mind.) But this isn't about an election-era tits-for-tat; it's about an officially unacknowledged racism throughout the American political process, particularly in the party of Bush and McCain, as Rich writes: "In the 21st century, the so-called party of Lincoln does not have a single African-American among its collective 247 senators and representatives in Washington." This in a country in which, in just a few decades, whites will be the minority. Favorite New York Times gobbledygook headline of the last week: "Minorities Now Form Majority."