Jesse and Maxine   

THE NEW REPUBLIC HAD some fun at the expense of the New York Times' race series. Mocking the relationships theme, its spoof paired white, arch-conservative Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) with black, liberal Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.):
"WASHINGTON, June 29 -- On the surface, they share so much. He's passionate about the Confederate flag, and so is she. She wears her heart on her sleeve and a chip on her shoulder, and so does he. If a love of pork rinds could heal America, together they could heal the country.
"A brother, a sister. Yet a gulf separates Jesse Helms and Maxine Waters. It is the great American gulf of race. The gulf war, even. But they never speak of this gulf. In fact, they never speak at all. How could they?"
After a few more paragraphs, the story referred readers to pages A16 through D29, a knock on the considerable length of the pieces.