Since I'm already griping about politics,

take a look at this from the Times in Britain: Whites in the Deep South turn to law for equal rights on voting. Key pieces are first:
When Mr Brown, the head of the Democratic Party in this part of rural Mississippi, arrived in Macon 26 years ago, all but one of the county’s 44 elected officials were white. Today, only one is white: Ricky Walker, the county’s prosecuting attorney. He is also a Democrat, but alleges that when he sought re-election in 2003 Mr Brown recruited a black opponent — who was ineligible to run because he was from another part of the state — simply because he was white.

“That was racist,” Mr Walker says, sitting in his office on Main Street, Macon.

“He actively supports one Democrat over another, and they are always black. And he’s said he will get me sooner or later.”

Second:
“Mr Brown’s case does not surprise me,” said one lawyer who asked not to be named. “Blacks and whites are human. They tend to act the same way when they get into power.”

Mr Brown scoffs at Mr Walker’s contention that whites need protecting. He says that the case has been brought against him by the Bush Administration because he has been so successful at filling political posts with blacks.
Snork. Hmppfh. Er, excuse me, that last part kind of set off an allergic reaction.

And finally:
Whites such as Mr Walker run as Democrats, Mr Brown says, but they always vote Republican in presidential contests. Only blacks are reliably democratic. (my emphasis)

And ain't that last interesting?