Tony Zirkle, the lunatic U.S. Congress hopeful from Indiana, has some very interesting ideas about segregation. Namely, that it's a good thing we should consider bringing back. Why? Well, lot of black people in his state are in jail or having babies out of wedlock, so he figures it might work to just completely separate the entire race. Sort of like Native Americans on reservations. In his capacity as congressman (if he wins that Republican nomination, which is totally a sure thing after this debacle), he'll commission a congressional study on whether or not it's feasible. It could be too costy, he worries.

On the other hand, he said, maybe it could also save the costs of the crime rate — and reduce claims of racial profiling. Granted, he said, it could take a century for the move to really fall in place.

So how would you divvy up Hispanics?

You can pretty much lump them in with whites, he says.

What about black Latinos whose black roots go back several generations in Latin America? And what about the ever-growing number of mixed races?

“You’d have to let people declare what culture they want to be living in,” Zirkle said.

This is a man truly before his time. Wait, I meant after his time. Way, way after his time. [SBT]

_{Thanks, KA}