Comedian and former late night talk show host George Lopez visited the set of Fox & Friends to discuss the current GOP field, most notably businessman Herman Cain. Lopez started things off with a joke about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Should Governor Christie run? “Absolutely, we all should get in better shape.” Should he jump in the pool? “Not while I’m in there.”)

When talk turned to Cain, Lopez made some… observations.

Godfather’s Pizza magnate Herman Cain is having a moment, albeit a weird one, in which he has leapt into a statistical tie for 2nd place in the GOP primary race following a crushing victory in the Florida straw poll, but is also drawing fire for a perfectly-timed media byte in which he says African Americans have been “brainwashed” into voting for Democrats. On Thursday night’s AC360, former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer and Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher debated Cain’s ascent, and that inflammatory remark.

Mike Tyson has some opinions about Sarah Palin. The following audio probably needs little more introduction for one familiar with the contents of Joe McGinniss‘s new book The Rogue, and yet no description could do the astronomical levels of insult in this clip justice. Attempting to compliment alleged Palin paramour (of several decades ago) NBA star Glen Rice as a “wonderful man,” Tyson found said tryst hilarious, and suggested Dennis Rodman as a more suitable mate for Palin instead. It only went downhill from there.

On Thursday night’s The Factor, host Bill O’Reilly discussed the Congressional Black Caucus’ rhetoric concerning the Tea Party movement. He played an audio clip of a particularly provocative comment made by Indiana Congressman André Carson (D) in which he told an audience in Miami that members of Congress sympathetic to the Tea Party would “love to see you and me… hanging on a tree.”

According to a Wonkette post Monday afternoon, GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann asked a crowd at an event in Iowa, “Who likes white people?”

The post was tweeted by Politico’s Ben Smith, who noted that it was an “out-of-context line (it’s a band name),” but The CW’s Alana Russo quickly pointed out that the unedited version clearly demonstrates that Bachmann actually roused the crowd with the strange applause line “Who likes wet people?”

President Barack Obama last month approved the installation of Norman Rockwell‘s famous “The Problem We All Live With.” The painting depicts the racial tension at play as 6-year-old Ruby Bridges makes her way to William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, escorted by U.S. Marshals dispatched by President Eisenhower. Bridges is known as the first black child to attend a formerly all-white school following court-mandated integration. (She lives in New Orleans to this day, where she is now chair of The Ruby Bridges Foundation.)

Politico notes the painting’s place in the White House has never been mentioned by President Obama publicly. But evidently, it was Bridges herself — with the help of Louisiana’s Senator Mary Landrieu (D), Georgia Rep. John Lewis (D) and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D) — who convinced the President to display the painting at the White House.

Actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo paid a visit to Keith Olbermann‘s Countdown to discuss her “theory” regarding GOP presidential hopeful (and Pokemon fan!) Herman Cain. Does it have to do with race? Why, yes! Of course!

Obama impersonator Reggie Brown‘s appearance at the Republican Leadership Conference reignited concerns about what constitutes appropriate racial humor and whether there is a double standard over what cannot be said on the left and the right. On last night’s The Big Picture on RT America, Mediaite Political Editor Tommy Christopher chatted with host Thom Hartmann about Brown’s performance, racial humor, and the difference between Eric Bolling and Bill Maher.

A short while ago, Drudge Report tweeted out this quote: “When my friend told me his wife was Caucasian, I felt my spirit wince.” Intrigued, I clicked the accompanying link to find a column the singer Jill Scott wrote for Essence about her feelings on interracial dating posted in March of 2010. At first, I wondered why on earth Drudge Report was interested in a year old column by a singer. Then it hit me; she’s going to the White House, isn’t she? Sure enough, Scott is the latest guest of the First Lady’s poetry event to come under fire from the Right.

Former radio talk show host and Tea Party favorite Herman Cain may be the first Republican 2012 candidate out of the gate this year, and as such may be the first African-American conservative to earn the title. While November 2012 is still more than a year away, Sean Hannity has already uncovered what he considers to be heinous racist rhetoric on the left, and Juan Williams, visiting the program tonight, appeared to wholeheartedly agree.

Rush Limbaugh touched on the fun subject of race on today’s show, using Ronald Brownstein’s article in the National Journal about the seeming exodus of whites from the Democrats as a starting point. However, while the implication there would be that Barack Obama’s race may now be scaring off voters (or the only thing keeping some around), Limbaugh still took the opportunity to knock the President’s qualifications by claiming that, had he not been black, Hillary Clinton would be in the White House.

Remember when the cable news cycle was dominated by the ongoing early-aughts feud between Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann? Well, with Olbermann working on a host of other targets, Rachel Maddow is stepping up to the plate and creating a history of her own with the longtime Factor host since he attacked her for her criticism of Fox News– and this time, the feud includes all sorts of formal logic terms in Latin! No, “bullpucky” isn’t one of them.

Did you know that the film that is potentially the magnum opus of the Tea Party movement is being split in three? And that, despite initial dire reports of economic woes and an inexperienced cast, production on the set of Atlas Shrugged is sailing smoothly? No, you don’t, because you were too busy staring at Andrew Breitbart’s Photoshop doodle of a literal “race card”— not that he didn’t also break that news.

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker has heard the complaints against her latest piece, “Obama: Our First Female President,” loud and clear, and has issued a star-studded Fourth of July response piece admitting she stepped over the line complaining that people are too sensitive, and also pointing out that she is allowed to call Obama a girl because surprise, they’re cousins!

The Washington Post’s Elizabeth Chang is concerned that Barack Obama has let society define him. With his recent declaration of race as exclusively African-American on his US Census form, Chang believes the President is reacting to how society perceives him, though she also highlights the importance of racial “accuracy” on official forms. Which begs the question: with as fluid a concept as race, who defines accuracy if not social convention?

No, it’s not the world’s worst Billy Joel song. The “black frame of mind” is terrible, according to noted black-mindframe expert (and most-influential conservative) Rush Limbaugh. Skipping over the absurdly racist notion that there’s a monolithic black frame of mind, and the absurdity of Rush Limbaugh trashing the President for not doing enough for black people, you’ve got to hear what Rush thinks is really bothering “them”: Tiger Woods isn’t involved with “their” women.