Efforts to Rein in Gov. Paterson's Racial Rants

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Color Bind

Prominent African-Americans and officials in the administration of the first black president are trying to rein in what some are calling the racial rants of New York Democratic Governor Davi d Paterson.

Friday in the New York Daily News, the governor blamed his political woes and those of Massachusetts counterpart, Deval Patrick, on race: "We're not in the post-racial period. The reality is the next victim on the list — and you can see it coming — is President Barack Obama."

The New York Post reports the White House was quick to send a private and pointed message to the governor to keep the president out of Paterson's political problems. White House spokesman Bill Burton said publicly: "Whether or not race plays into [criticism] I don't think it is the case. The president doesn't think it's the case."

Paterson continued the theme Monday saying to NY1.com that some people are uncomfortable with too many powerful African-Americans: "Part of what I feel is that one very successful minority is permissible, but when you see too many success stories then some people get nervous."

Reverend Al Sharpton, normally a Paterson ally, said the comments are not productive and that an intelligent discussion is needed. And New York City's only black mayor, David Dinkins, says Paterson, "should get off the racist thing."

Golfer-in-Chief

President Obama is hitting the links while on vacation on Martha's Vineyard. One of his golfing buddies was a top donor to his campaign and the head of a bank at the center of a U.S. investigation into illegal tax shelters.

Robert Wolf is the president of UBS Americas, a Swiss-owned bank that was caught up last year in a Senate probe of financial firms, which attempted to shield millions of dollars in offshore accounts from U.S. taxes.

Last week, UBS announced a settlement with the IRS agreeing to release almost 4,500 client names. Also, a UBS whistleblower was sentenced to 40 months in prison for facilitating offshore tax evasion through the bank.

Election records show Wolf raised a half-million dollars for Obama's presidential bid.

Word Play

Great Britain is dealing with another round of political correctness in the workplace. Media reports say dozens of public sector agencies have been ordered to purge common words and phrases now deemed offensive.

Retired sayings include "whiter than white," "gentlemen's agreement," "black mark" and "right-hand man." Even "master bedroom" is problematic.

Advice issued by the South West Regional Development Agency reads, "Terms such as 'black sheep of the family', 'black looks' and 'black mark' have no direct link to skin color but potentially serve to reinforce a negative view of all things black."

Critics say banning all traditional language is unnecessary and silly because, "What is really needed is a bit of common sense."

— FOX News Channel's Lanna Brit contributed to this report.