Perry's hunting camp problem

You've probably heard, the Washington Post story on the subject is causing a controversy of small size but potentially damaging scope. The most memorable paragraph, in my opinion:

“The cowboys, when they were gathering cattle, they’d say they’re going to the Matthews or Niggerhead or the Nail” pastures, said Bill Reed, a distributor for Coors beer in nearby Abilene who used to lease a hunting parcel adjacent to the Perrys’. “Those were all names. Nobody thought anything about it.”

And I suppose that's just it, isn't it? I don't mean to dismiss the insensitivity of the name or somehow give the view that it's something Perry needn't renounce, but I don't see how it can really warrant the kind of attention it seems to be getting. Personally, I didn't think that the Post's article was particularly remarkable, although Perry's opponents seem to be jumping on it:

“There isn’t a more vile, negative word than the N-word,” Cain said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And for him to leave it there as long as he did before he painted over it, it’s just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country.”

I don't have much to disagree with in Herman Cain's remarks, but it strikes me as weak that he should latch on to opportunities like this with such enthusiasm.