Willie Wilson's campaign responded indignantly yesterday to a published Sun-Times report that, during a speech to the City Club of Chicago, Wilson said, "To the whiteys here, I'm letting you know, I ain't prejudiced."

The paper reported:

Wilson's campaign issued a statement saying it "categorically denies the statements that were attributed to him" and demanded a retraction and apology  and quoted Wilson as saying, "Maybe the reporter didn’t understand my Louisiana enunciation.”

Campaign spokeswoman Tracey Alston said Wilson said he wanted to address the “whites who’s here” not “whiteys.”

Please. Just give a listen to the clip here (mp3).

But rather than make too much of it, I'd rather observe that there is no umbrage phonier that the umbrage expressed by a Caucasian person at use of the term "whitey."

To truly sting, a racial or ethnic slur has to be animated not simply by prejudice, a belief in stereotypes or dislike, but by a history of ugly discrimination -- of action that has...

Revised count

"Raisin' the minimum wage in conjunction with improving the overall jobs climate, will make Illinois more competitive and create a boomin' economy while increasin' incomes for hardworkin' Illinoisans. As we look to make Illinois more competitive, property tax relief is one of our most pressin' challenges." ... Gov. Bruce Rauner in today's State of the State address.

In his bid for folksiness, Gov. Rauner dropped so many g's you'd think he was auditioning for the part of Sheriff Taylor in a Broadway revival of "The Andy Griffith Show."

It was distracting enough that I went through and counted. Out of 10 7 words in the speech ending with the "-ing"  syllable, Rauner dropped the terminal g 5 5 times (I went back and listened to the tape again and found I'd missed a few from my earlier count). To wit:

"Government unions should not be allowed to influence the public officials they are lobbyin' and sittin' across the bargainin' table from..."

Several times he mixed and matched in...