Obama's relationship with indicted businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko is under renewed scrutiny, in part because of what Obama himself calls a "boneheaded" real estate deal he made with Rezko.
I whole-heartedly agree with Senator Obama's self-assessment, but I'm a little leary of hanging the "bonehead" tag on him. In a normal election year, I wouldn't care, but this election is far from normal. We've heard so many times that such-and-such a comment is racially insensitive, that this photo is a religious smear, etc.
The problem is that everytime I hear the word "bonehead", the visual image that pops into my head is from a childhood cartoon in which a little pygmy cannibal with a bone knotted in his hair chases some hapless character (Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, I don't know) to try to get him into the cookpot.
Neither I, nor Senator Obama, I'm sure, wish to offend pygmies or cannibals by implying that he has anything in common with either group. But words are very powerful, as we've come to learn over these past several months, so it's best to tread carefully.
One saving grace is that you can apparently use the offending word if you yourself are a member of the group likely to be offended. Thus, the political correctness of rappers using the "N" word or gay activists the "F" word.
Since I've done so many bone-headed things myself that I'm just about a card-carrying member of the club, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, "Yes, Senator Obama, you are a bonehead."
It is an accolade that you and I both will probably earn many times over :)
