At the beginning of last week we were treated to two Freudian slips, if you will, from a politician and a political pundit. Both were aimed at President Obama, which figures because he's been the direct recipient of them since he took the presidency.

On one end was a congressman who, in a conversation, referred to the president as a "tar baby". No, he didn't directly call the president that, which was probably his only saving grace. On the other end of the spectrum was the political pundit, very well known former speech writer for President Nixon, who called the president "boy" during a conversation with civil rights activist Al Sharpton. That he said it to Rev. Sharpton was really out there in the first place, but even with Rev. Al called him on it, he didn't get it.

Freudian slips are basically when you mean to say one thing but your mind really wants to say something else, and thus you do. President Obama is 2 1/2 years into his presidency and it's amazing how many people have had to apologize for things they've said over his time in office, all of it racial. They all have said they didn't mean to offend. Sorry to say this, but of course they did.

History has shown us that people will attack whatever is the easiest thing they can find. If someone's overweight there will be a lot of fat jokes; if they're bald there will be a lot of those jokes. That's just how it's been almost forever; we all did it as kids.

The thing is that this is not only a different day and age, but we're adults now. We're supposed to have learned better than to say certain things that are offensive to someone else. Certain terms shouldn't be used for gays or hispanics or people from other cultures. And they certainly shouldn't be used for black people, of which I'm a proud member.

Yet, many politicians have found that these code words, if you will, work towards mobilizing their political base. Strangely enough, it's something that's worked very well in France, where some of the politicians routinely find a minority group to go after because they know they're tapping into the racism of certain groups who will surely vote for them.

Does it work in America? Actually, it seems to. Some will think this is unfair but there were a number of coded messages that came from the Tea Party campaign in 2010, one that swept a high number of people into office. Some would say that it was just America showing it was angry with how things were being run and that they decided to elect people who better represented them. If that's the case then why was there only one minority elected who was considered a Tea Party candidate? Sorry, but that doesn't smack of inclusion from where I sit.

I remember the days of people slamming President Bush. People complained that they didn't think he was all that bright. People complained because they thought he took us into one war that wasn't justified. But you never heard a single person say "we need to take back our country". You never heard anyone say "this isn't the America I remember".

You also never had Rush Limbaugh calling George Bush a "halfrican". You never had 60 Minutes ever ask any other presidential candidate if he were "white enough". You never had anyone drawing racist caricatures of any other president or candidate. You never had a black DJ put on whiteface to make fun of a white president-elect. I do have to admit that I do remember seeing pictures of Bush as a monkey, so folks showing Obama as monkey had to be on the way.

I know it's the way of the world, and I know it's never going to change in this country, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. When I can, I'll call it out because if no one stands up for it, then we all fall victim to it.