The remark drawing overblown reactions was made during a hearing Tuesday on a bill that would ban gay marriage in Pennsylvania. Fumo, who opposes the measure, said the bill would deny basic human rights to a minority group.

Trying to stress that point with the Rev. Gilbert Coleman Jr., a black minister testifying in support of the bill, Fumo resorted to a logical, albeit exaggerated, comparison.

"What you are advocating here is that we take away the rights of a minority. And I don't think that's right," Fumo said. "If we introduce a bill on slavery, it might pass. That doesn't make it right."

Rather than follow the valid point Fumo was trying to make, the media and other lawmakers jumped on the slavery analogy.

Sen. Gib Armstrong, chairman of the committee overseeing the hearing on the bill, told Fumo he was "out of line."

After the hearing, Fumo spent much of the day trying to explain the meaning of hyperbole.

"I was obviously exaggerating to make a point," he said. "I wanted people at the hearing to face the fact that denying human rights to any group, including homosexuals, at any point in our history, including 2008, is wrong."

Fumo used the slavery analogy to emphasize that the country has passed laws in the past that harmed minority groups.

His comments weren't racist and they shouldn't be used to depict him as prejudiced. Indeed, they suggest the contrary when it comes to homosexuals.

Anyone who has watched Fumo over his 30 years in public life knows he shoots from the hip. He can be brilliant, colorful, endearing and funny. At the exact same time, he can be tough, vindictive and Machiavellian, and can cuss like a sailor.

The reality is Fumo faces much bigger issues than this kerfuffle.

He's got a September trial date to defend against a 139-count federal indictment alleging misuse of taxpayers' funds and a cover-up. Fumo denies any wrongdoing and points out that during his years in office he has delivered $8 billion in benefits to the city and region.

In many ways, that duality sums up what some mean when they say there's a bad Vince and a good Vince. In reality, there is only one Vincent J. Fumo.