When in Doubt, Racialize

Wasn't it only yesterday that the conservative media echo-chamber was pondering whether Obama was black enough? Those days seem long gone. Manning Marable writes eloquently about the shift from this strategy to the more blatant racializing that is slowly creeping to the surface.  From the Clintons' 3 a.m. phone call ad, which Orlando Patterson stridently compares to Birth of a Nation, to the recent McCain-backed sex education ads, which even Karl Rove thinks was going too far, the endgame is clear: Obama is the not-to-be-trusted other. Not only is he African American, but he is a Muslim, a liberal elitist, and a pervert whose policies will get your daughters knocked up by the time they're 11 (for a more reasonable timetable on teen pregnancy, see Sarah Palin). 

         Interesting how yesterday Frank Rich proclaims that race is not as big an issue in the campaign as the fact that John McCain is far from a solid candidate, then winds up talking about race for several paragraphs. It seems you can't utter two consecutive sentences in print or anywhere in the blogosphere without race coming up. Check out this incredible report from the floor of the Value Voters Summit held by the Family Research Council in Washington last week. [Here's a partial speakers list for that event: Bill Bennett, Tom DeLay, Lou Dobbs, Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity, Phyllis Schlafly, Mitt Romney.] It's amazing how these supposedly pro-life, pro-Christian "activists" can allow these two Neanderthals sell this racist cereal box at their "summit" and let them get away with saying it's satire.

              I guess you could say it's like putting lipstick on a pig.