Sort of leading us astray, and I won't say more, but I can't resist.  I
think an argument that it's a good thing that we give public campaign
dollars to people with "disreputable" views would be more persuasive if
it didn't sugarcoat those views.

Here's the first two grafs of a NYT story from a year ago (
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0816FE3A5A0C768DDDAD0894DD404482
):

Lenora B. Fulani, an important political ally of Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg's, has refused to disavow comments attributed to her in the
late 1980's saying that Jews ''had to sell their souls to acquire
Israel'' and had to ''function as mass murderers of people of color'' to
keep it.

Asked about the comments on NY1 News on Wednesday night, Dr. Fulani, a
high-profile official with the Independence Party, said, ''What is
anti-Semitic about it?'' She added, ''It's raising issues that I think
need to be explored.'' 

* * *

That doesn't sound like much regret to me.

====================================
Samuel R. Bagenstos
Professor of Law
Washington University School of Law
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO  63130
314-935-9097
Personal Web Page: 
http://law.wustl.edu/Academics/Faculty/Bagenstos/index.html
Disability Law Blog:  http://disabilitylaw.blogspot.com/

richardwinger@yahoo.com 4/17/2006 10:54 AM >>>

Rick Hasen's election law blog today linked to a
column by former FEC Commissioner Brad Smith.  Brad's
column said that Lenora Fulani (who received primary
season matching funds in 1988 and 1992) said in 2005
that Jews have functioned as mass murderers of people
of color.  Actually Fulani said that in 1989.  She has
never repeated it and I suspect she is sorry she said
it.