Yesterday, after it was reported that New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino had sent out a series of vile emails, his spokesman accused Democrats of "wanting to change the subject from substantive issues to having sex with horses."
And then candidate Paladino immediately talked about substantive issues defended sending out videos of sex with a horse:
"I confess to being a human and imperfect, as are all of God's children ... To any of the ladies I've offended, I apologize ... I am not a racist." [...]
"Sending out some emails that I resent from friends who send them to me is not a crime or infraction in my book," he said.
Such nit-picking criticism is really aimed at preventing the rise of true leaders. "You can't have offended anybody, you can't have said anything that might've been off-color," he said. "Is that the kind of person we want? An absolute purist?"
Paladino is right. No one wants an absolute purist. And no one gets through life without having told an inappropriate joke or making an offensive comment. But when you are sending out a video of African tribesmen dancing and calling it "Obama Inauguration Rehearsal," or a picture of the President and First Lady dressed like a pimp and a whore with the subject line reading "White House ball," or an image with the caption, "HOLY SHIT, run niggers, run," you are a racist. And when you send out video designed to demean women, you are a sexist. And when you send video of someone having sex with a horse, you are ... well, apparently someone who enjoys bestiality.
But Paladino dismisses his vile predilections as a smear campaign by his opponents and says:
... to all of the men out there who have never opened a graphic image: 'Don't vote for me.' For those who have, I welcome your vote.
Well, that has all the makings for a great campaign slogan, doesn't it?