Black lawmaker apologizes to Sarah Palin.

Florida Democrat Alcee Hastings, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, says he regrets his verbal slap-down of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin last week when he essentially called her a redneck and a racist in the same breath. Speaking to a group of Blacks and Jews, the lawmaker quipped, “If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Hastings said. “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and Blacks. So, you just think this through.” In a statement he released Tuesday, Hastings said, “I regret the comments I made last Tuesday that were not smart and certainly not relevant to hunters or sportsmen.” Hastings was addressing the National Jewish Democratic Council where he was urging those in attendance to support Obama over Palin. Of course it was just the kind of comment to evoke the rage of the Republican Party. Matt Brooks, who is  executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said Hastings “stooped to the worst kind of divisive politics. There should be no place in our country for this sort of political discourse. We can constructively disagree on the issues without denigrating others.” But Hastings didn’t completely back down from his earlier comments. “The point I made, and will continue to make, is that the policies and priorities of a McCain-Palin administration would be anathema to most African Americans and Jews,” he said in his statement. “I regret that I was not clearer and apologize to Governor Palin, my host where I was speaking, and those who my comments may have offended.”