WASHINGTON, DC - Potential presidential hopeful Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) had some harsh words for those who criticize the South's history of racial inequality, claiming the institution of slavery in America never existed.
    "If we're going to have a mature conversation about race, we must admit to ourselves that slavery was just something liberals made up to sell books.  It didn't happen," said Barbour, during an appearance on last Sunday's Meet the Press.  "Now, you can look from one end to the other of this great nation of ours, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a historic bastion of racial harmony and tolerance more progressive than Mississippi.  That is a fact."