The Mac is back!

The headline refers not to failed Republican presidential nominee John McCain, but the late star of the big and small screen Bernie Mac.

Bernie Mac died back in August, but he has a new film called "Soul Men" that comes out today.

I won't use this space to ponder how he was able to film this movie after his death. Instead, I will come clean about the role I played in his death.

Doctors say he died from a lung disease, but I still feel guilty. See, back in early August I wrote a piece for a humor newspaper about Bernie Mac, and the next day he was dead.

Since I can't kill him again, here's what I wrote:

Bailout for Bernie Mac Doubtful on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON -- The leadership of the House Financial Services Committee says it will reject a plan to amend a bailout plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to also include Bernie Mac.

A rider filed by U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux, the Congressman from Louisiana's sixth district and a member of the committee, seeks to extend billions of dollars in new government credit to not only the struggling mortgage lenders but also the 50-year-old comedian and star of Fox Television's "The Bernie Mac Show" from 2001 to 2006.

"The federal government must recognize the important contributions these three have made to the U.S. economy over many decades," Cazayoux said. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the combined $5 trillion in loans they hold and Bernie Mac for his hilarious work in House Party 3, Booty Call, and as Uncle Bernie eleven episodes of 'Moesha' in the late 1990s."

But the leader of the House committee, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), said it was doubtful Cazayoux's amendment would gain enough support to make it into the final bill.

Frank drew a contrast between the battering that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have taken in recent weeks on Wall Street and the work that Bernie Mac continues to find in Hollywood, including a recurring role as Frank Catton in the Ocean's series of heist movies, as well as two films in post-production that are due out this year and next.

"I would also point out that he's the winner of numerous NAACP Image Awards and that he's been nominated for two Golden Globes," Frank said. "This is not a man whose humor and acting skill have gone unrewarded by Americans."

Another critic of the plan is Kevin J. Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Martin told reporters yesterday that the Bush Administration will oppose the Mac bailout because of the comedian's sometimes controversial stand-up routines.

"Bernie Mac's repeated use of the n-word and sexual references make him an inappropriate recipient of federal aid," Martin said. "Not to mention his truly offensive performance in Mr. 3000."