Does anyone out there remember the episode of M*A*S*H when a a crazy general, played by Harry Morgan (who would later play Colonel Potter), asked a Black soldier to sing for him, or failing that, to give him a little tap dance exhibition? No one I've asked, so far, remembers it. But the scene, and my sense of incredulity while viewing it, has been playing through my head nonstop.

          “I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it.”

          So said California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to tapes obtained by the Los Angeles Times and reported on in today's paper. An audio clip of the meeting was posted on the paper's Web site.

          Schwarzeneggar had apparently been expressing his appreciation of Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia's passionate legislative verve with Susan Kennedy, his chief of staff when he made the gaff.

          Arnold seems to have spent the day trouble-shooting, though, as far as I'm concerned, his sincerity is questionable.

          “I called several Latino leaders,” NYTimes.com reported him saying. “It was very clear that all of them understood that this was an off-the-record conversation and they all said to me we are not preoccupied with these kind of things.”

          Call me crazy, but what I'm hearing in that statement is, "It's okay to make racial generalizations -- as long everyone understands (if it gets out, that is) that I was only giving my private opinion." Because we all know public servants are all endowed with the rare ability to keep their private feelings from interfering with their decisions for the public.

          As much as I believe it's impossible to live in America -- and probably the world -- without developing some sort of racial bias, those who hold public office are, in theory anyway, should be held to a higher standard. So, if you just can't resist telling your best friend from sixth grade that White men can't jump, or that Italians make the best lovers when they're not off making Mob hits, you might want to reconsider running for governor.