Overheard, Winter 2005

"My understanding is that the KKK doesn't even ban members by race."

TENNESSEE STATE REP. STACEY CAMPFIELD (R-Knoxville), in a Sept. 27 remark to a reporter comparing the state's Black Legislative Caucus unfavorably to the nation's oldest terrorist organization

"But I do know it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down."

WILLIAM BENNETT, the self-styled morality czar of the United States and former education secretary under President Reagan, on the Sept. 28 broadcast of Salem Radio Network's "Bill Bennett's Morning in America"

"We need one idea ... and the one idea is, 'How are we going to exterminate white people?' ... We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet."

KAMAU KAMBON, former North Carolina State University visiting professor, speaking on an Oct. 14 panel at Howard University Law School televised by C-SPAN

"Many, many of the poor in New Orleans ... weren't going to leave no matter what you did. They were drug-addicted. They weren't going to get turned off from their sources."

BILL O'REILLY, in a Sept. 13 broadcast of Westwood One's "The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly," discussing victims of Hurricane Katrina

"If we are faced with a disaster in this country, which group do we want to save? The rich or the poor? ... Who is a drag on society? The rich or the poor? ... We should save the rich people first."

NEAL BOORTZ, reacting to a story about wealthy New Yorkers getting terrorism alerts before others, on the Oct. 24 broadcast of Cox Radio Syndication's "The Neal Boortz Show"

"If you're from the Middle East, it only makes sense you might be in a Middle Eastern terror cell."

CONNIE HAIR, spokeswoman for the anti-immigration vigilante group Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, quoted on the Fox News Channel on Sept. 30

"These guys know we will shoot them in a heartbeat if they fire a round or throw a stone, now that we have thermal and infrared night vision and can pick out individual targets from a distance."

JIM CHASE, leader of the anti-immigration vigilante group California Minutemen, in a Sept. 20 E-mail to supporters discussing undocumented border-crossers

"It's no different than if you have a neighborhood watch person watching your children at the playground."

CALIFORNIA GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER expressing support for "unarmed" Minuteman patrols in a Sept. 21 interview with a reporter