Anyone besides me notice that some right-wing Republicans have begun to embrace "political correctness"? It first got my attention when U.S. Representative Jack Murtha (D - PA) called some of his own constituents "Rednecks." Murtha elaborated that these are people in his Congressional District (and elsewhere) who will not vote for an African American candidate under any circumstance.

By dictionary definition (apparently there's enough of them to warrant one) a "Redneck" is "...a working-class white person, especially one who is a politically reactionary and from a rural area." A "Redneck" is also: "provincial, a yokel, conservative, reactionary, a yahoo, hick and hayseed." But curiously, despite this official recognition by lexicographers, the ordinarily political correctness-disdaining McCain folks, a.k.a. "Republicans," took exception to Representative Murtha's insensitivity in referring to them thusly.

So, liberal (for-the-most-part) that I am, I wish to reach out to Rednecks everywhere and promise that I (for one) shall forever more refer to you not as "Rednecks" but rather, as the more euphemistic, politically correct and sensitive..."Downscale voters." They too warrant a definition, namely: "Those with less education; low information voters (as compared to their more upscale brethren)," that is. And if you Downscale Voters think about it (not likely, but I'm being sensitive here), anyone who would outrightly reject a candidate based solely on race, and I assume religion or gender as well (unless, in the case of a female candidate, she happens also to be a Redneck...whoops, sorry), any such voter would necessarily have to be of the "low information" type.

But look -- I'm actually happy to see (to coin a phrase), a "Kinder and Gentler" Republican. I may be overly optimistic on this, but given your new found empathy regarding derogatory names, does this mean from now on, we'll be hearing less of the "N" word?

Hypocrites!