Br'er Mitt

If you want to be a big-time politician these days you have to watch every word lest you offend one constitutency or another. Mitt Romney found that out when discussing the problems with the Big Dig:

Gov. Mitt Romney has apologized for referring to the troubled Big Dig construction project as a "tar baby" during a fundraiser with Iowa Republicans, saying he didn't know anyone would be offended by the term some consider a racial epithet.

In a speech Saturday, Romney, a Republican considering a run for president in 2008, acknowledged he took a big political risk in taking control of the project after a fatal tunnel ceiling collapse, but said inaction would have been even worse.

"The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I can," he told a crowd of about 100 supporters in Ames, Iowa.

Black leaders were outraged at his use of the term, which dates to the 19th century Uncle Remus stories, referring to a doll made of tar that traps Br'er Rabbit. It has come to be known as a way of describing a sticky mess, and has been used as a derogatory term for a black person.

"Tar baby is a totally inappropriate phrase in the 21st century," said Larry Jones, a black Republican and civil rights activist.

"He thinks he's presidential timber," Jones said. "But all he's shown us is arrogance."

C'mon people. Nobody seriously believes that Romney was intending to insult blacks or anyone else with his "tar baby" remark. This hoohah is just another example of racial hypersensitivity in which every remark is scrutinized for hidden racial slurs, especially if you're a Republican.

In fact, if you think about it, "tar baby" is probably a pretty good description of the mess that the Big Dig has become. The only way to make a slur out of that is to purposely take it out of context, something that people who are looking for an excuse to be offended love to do.