Bond, on June 2, 2004, unleashed again while giving an address at a "Take Back America" conference: "[Republicans] draw their most rabid supporters from the Taliban-wing of American politics."

Now get this. In an editorial about the president's NAACP address, the "Democratic Times of Los Angeles" said, " . . . [F]ormer NAACP Chairman Julian Bond memorably referred to the 'the Taliban wing' of the GOP in 2001 (he spoke before 9/11)." No, no, no. As we know, Bond said this before and after 9/11. And the description of Bond as "former" chairman -- that must be news to current chairman Bond.

On the other side of the country, the "Democratic Times of New York," aka The New York Times, told its readers that Bush irritated some people in the audience. "Bush repeatedly referred to the group as the N-A-A-C-P, attracting some notice from those who use the more traditional pronunciation of N-double-A-C-P." Good grief, why, the president practically uttered the "n" word! Someone call Jesse!

The president could have turned this into a truly memorable and important speech. Instead, Bush ran off a litany of federal programs designed to "help" blacks -- No Child Left Behind Act, Pell grants, loans for black businesses, etc. Bush could have grabbed the NAACP -- and indeed, the country -- by its lapels, and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, good news. While racism can never be purged from the hearts of all people, it no longer represents a force potent enough to hold back anyone in America who works hard, invests in education and avoids making poor moral choices. Because of the hard work of your organization and countless men and women of all races, America has come a long way. Despite America's flaws, we can now say that we have the fairest, most free, more upwardly mobile and more open society in all of human history. We have black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Black people occupy positions in government at the very highest levels. The black middle class grows and thrives. It is an insult to hard-working black men and women to suggest that, but for race-based preferences, they never would have made it.

"The real problem facing this country is a growing sense of entitlement -- of you owe me, blaming slights of the past on those living in the present. Well, all a state can be, is just in its (SET ITAL) own (END ITAL) time. As Bill Cosby once said, America has done its part. Now we must do our part."

Now that would show he "cares."