Call out snark.

I was going to do a call-out snark to 'Tim' about something he said early on: "Be careful not to attack Sarah Palin!"

So how did that work out, Tim?

But...you know what? he was right in this sense. Obama took the high road, and never personally attacked her. He didn't have to, the press did it. (Liberal press or not, they smelled blood and went after her...just as they would have any other weakened political animal.)

But neither race or gender really became big issues in this campaign except obliquely.

Except they were always there; the elephant and the donkey in the room, if you will.

The subjects have become minefields for discussion. It's just too easy to say the wrong thing; hence all the political correctness.

So we act as though race isn't there and doesn't matter and hope it will go away.

And then an incident like the O.J. Simpson verdict comes down and we are surprised by each other's reactions.

Anyway, for a brief time at least, for the couple days after the election, everyone felt safe enough to talk about race for awhile.

But as my comment about the 'black widow' dress reminded me: it's still a minefield. There are still lots of connotations and subtexts and loaded meanings.

An interesting dynamic has developed.

Smart people realize it's better and easier and safer not to talk about it.

Which leaves what? Only ignorant people to talk about it? To create even more fuss and folly? Which makes smarter people want to stay even further away from the subject?

Does the gulf widen or narrow if we don't talk about it? Is it like an illness you ignore and it eventually heals itself, or a cancer that continues to grow?