Bob Herbert had a column in the New York Times September 25 that by all rights deserved strong mainstream media attention based on the importance of its subject matter.

The Don Imus and Bill O'Reilly controversies pale into comparative insignificance next to what Republicans are doing to African Americans seeking the basic right of congressional representation in the seat of the nation's federal government, Washington, D.C.

Despite all the bold talk by leading Republican Party operatives that the party seeks to reach out to everyone including minorities, this claim has once more been reduced to hypocritical posturing due to the point Herbert made that is receiving so little comment within the mainstream media.  

African Americans have been rebuffed by Republicans in an attempt to secure voting rights in Congress through the creation of a congressional seat in Washington, D.C.  The Republican race card is alive and regrettably doing all too well.