I'm not a bigot, but…

…these are bigoted statements...

…whenever I see a Mexican wearing chinos and a white t-shirt, I check my car keys.

…whenever I see a Jew wearing a yarmulke, I check my wallet.

…whenever I see a black guy wearing warm-ups instead of Dockers, I stay between him and my woman.

Every bit as and no more bigoted than what Juan Williams said. The only real difference is that he meant what he said.

This is not about freedom of expression. He's as free to say what he said as I am to type this post. The New York Times, however, is not obliged to publish my snark and NPR is not obliged to broadcast Juan Williams' bigotry.

It's just commerce - Williams is no longer a brand that NPR chooses to feature. He's been a tough sell to a lot of the NPR customers for awhile anyway. He won't be much missed there. It'll be interesting to see how hard right he tacks as a full time FOX propagandist, though.

Done deal.

Congratulations, Mr. Secretary!

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to approve the nomination of former Washington state Governor Gary Locke to be U.S. commerce secretary, putting a Chinese-American in the job for the first time.

Hat tip to Sam Turner at The Bellingham Herald.

She says…

…it's "all over the internet," but I heard it first from SamGrace…

(Former Governor of the real Washington) Gary Locke will be
Obama’s (next) pick for the Secretary of Commerce gig

.It may have taken a couple tries, but it sounds like President Obama's got this one right. Gary's a longtime political friend and ally, but I confess to some frustration with him during his time in the Governor's mansion. I got to know him as a capable and effective State Representative for one of the most liberal and diverse districts in the State, and always hoped he'd use the enormous political capital he garnered as Governor to push a more aggressive agenda as our state's chief executive.

There's no denying the success of his tenure, though, both politically and economically. Washington State farmers and manufacturers remember his governorship as a time of new markets opening to new products. His efforts on behalf of our agricultural interests, in particular, helped him make political inroads east of the Cascade Curtain that are still producing benefits to our Party, and created new jobs (good union jobs, mostly) on the docks and ships that are so critical to our economy. Commerce? I think Gary's always spelled it with a capital "C."

There should be no bar to confirmation here. Gary's not the kind of guy who's left a trail of uncrossed 't's behind himself. He's such an Eagle Scout that he actually is an Eagle Scout.

Congrat's Gary.

And to America, too. We're sending you a good one.