The liberal blogosphere is all aflutter about the “Yup. I’m a Racist” t-shirts that were on sale at a July 3 Tea Party event in Lexington, Kentucky. Wonkette takes the shirts as “A-HA!” proof that Janeane Garofalo was right all along, while Dave Weigel helpfully explains that, like that 2008 Spartacus-style anti-healthcare “PSA,” the shirts are meant to be ironic, and presents a video interview with the vendor from last year’s event. Fair enough. Is the “Everything I Need to Know About Islam I Learned on 9/11″ part of the brilliant meta-humor?

The issue of race and the tea Party has been handled with the grace of a Joe Cocker dance-off, with opponents tarring the entire movement based on the actions of a relative minority (and the inaction of those surrounding them), while the Tea Party has responded with denial, and tone-deafness about its own lily-whiteness. Oversold accusations of racism shut down legitimate debate about why the Tea Party appeals to so few black people, while “ironic” moves like the shirts and the “I’m a racist” ad belittle legitimate concerns.

The t-shirt, for example, includes a Top Ten Straw Man Arguments for why some accuse the Tea Party of racism, including gems like “I support Jesus Christ as my savior,” a curious inversion of that relationship. The shirts might have some resonance if they included things like, “Because some knuckleheads dressed the President as a witch doctor,” or “Because most of us are white…just like a Code Pink rally.”

They would also make more sense if they weren’t hung next to those hateful “Infidel” shirts, and their wit might gleam a little brighter if not for the bumper sticker which asks, “What Does God And Obama Have In Common?”

The Louisville Independent Examiner‘s Greg Skilling interviewed the t-shirt vendors at last year’s Louisville event, and despite an apparent allergy to the wide shot, gave them a chance to explain their side of the story. Along the way, he makes a few strong points about mixing religion and guns, and selective concern about border seciurity:

Conservatives do themselves no favors in coddling the gun-crazy, nativist element of their base. Most serious-minded conservatives see comprehensive immigration reform as an inherently pro-business position, but dare not say so out loud, and their zero-sum attitude toward gun control is at odds with public opinion and current events.

Trump never makes clear where he “heard” that Barack Obama was a “terrible student,” but he might have been referring to the investigative work of one Barack H. Obama, who wrote in his autobiography that he wasn’t always a great student.

While Schultz never actually connects the dots, he’s clearly referring to the implication that Obama advanced solely on the basis of his race. Here’s the clip, from MSNBC:

The issue of race, of course, isn’t as simple as saying “I think so-and-so is a racist.” It’s not like being pregnant. Racism is a spectrum disorder. It’s also possible (and quite common) for people to hold racist attitudes and not even know it. For example, many people don’t see the harm in repeating racial stereotypes that they see as “positive,” or presenting statistics to prove a point about a given racial minority. You can be a good person, and still be kinda racist.

Trump seems to be clueless about race, at best, and may well be ignorant of the racial motivations behind Birtherism and Affirmative Action attacks. It goes beyond asking when the last time this was done to a white president, or candidate. The fact is, it’s not even possible for a white candidate to face an attack like the one Trump is leveling about the President’s admission to Columbia and Harvard.

In the generally-accepted sense of the word “racist,” the closeted Klansman, Trump doesn’t measure up, but it is time for him to at least reexamine his relationship with “the blacks.”

O’Donnell concluded although a minority of Republicans enjoy Trump, like Rush Limbaugh and a caller to his show, “the hopelessness and absurdity of a run for President by NBC’s biggest embarrassment in the history of NBC could not be more obvious.” Smiley warned however this was much bigger than just Trump:

“I said over a year ago that this was going to be, this presidential race, Lawrence, was going to be the ugliest, the nastiest, the most divisive, and the most racist in the history of this republic. . . . I saw it coming because it’s pretty clear given how the Tea Party has acted, given that Donald Trump is now playing to the worst in the Tea Party, that this would be possible.”

Smiley predicted they will “say anything in order to make sure [Obama] does not get reelected.” O’Donnell kept his prediction to focusing on Trump’s future though, declaring Trump will keep this up until NBC announces a new season of The Apprentice. And the fact that NBC continues to employ Trump is something O’Donnell found “outrageous.”

Watch the clip from MSNBC below:

(h/t Newsbusters)

Beck returned from vacation this week, and some Internet commenters have noticed that there appear to be less (or shorter) advertisements during his show. In fact, yesterday’s program appeared to have skipped its first commercial break — its first segment lasted roughly 18 minutes (nearly twice the normal length of an opening segment). When asked about this, a Fox News publicist spokesperson offered no further comment clarified that Glenn Beck’s show has always been a five segment show, and the first segment typically runs 15 to 18 20 minutes in length.

Our interview with James Rucker:

Q – How is it going so far?

A – So far 36 Advertisers have pulled their spots from the Glenn Beck show, or otherwise made sure that they won’t air on his program. Right now I’d say things are going relatively well.

Q – What is the stated goal of the boycott?

A – Our goal is to make companies aware that they are enabling Glenn Beck — their dollars are what gives him a very large platform – a platform that is being used to divide the country with false information masquerading as news.

Q – Fox News has gone on record saying that that boycott has not cost them any ad dollars. Just how effective is the boycott?

A – It’s probably fair to say that they haven’t lost ad dollars yet, but the key word is “yet.” Right now you have advertisers with existing commitments, and they are moving ads to other programs. For those advertisers – when they are up for a new contract who knows what will happen. They may stay on other programs, or they may just leave Fox altogether. But at the end of the day our goal isn’t to remove dollars from Fox News.  It’s to reduce the value of Beck’s show.

Q – But if you truly want to effect change, isn’t the goal to have Fox lose money?

A – From my understanding — and you can correct me if I’m wrong — there are a few ways to buy ads. Companies that want to advertise can specify price and which eyeballs, meaning that some are willing to pay for the whole network, and there are advertisers that are paying a premium to advertise on a specific program or time slot. We’re trying to decrease the number of of ads that are paid to run on Glenn Beck, so it decreases the value of the ads. He’s in a prime spot at 5pm — we’re hoping to drive down the value of the ads on his show.

Q – So what is the actual desired net effect of your boycott?

A – Now it may be the case that Glenn Beck is glad to be validated by a small self-marginalizing group. It may be that Fox is comfortable being a validator of this marginalized group that peddles race-based fears. But it’s my guess is that Fox does not want that to be what their brand is about. I’m not sure that they want to be seen as promoters or enablers of race baiting.

Q – Enablers of race baiting?

A – Sure — they provide the platform for Glenn Beck and everyone else at Fox News — when you see the pattern of what he has said: “Obama said, quote: ‘We have got to have a civilian national security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded as the military.’” Or “Obama wants an America that looks more like Acorn”, or that Obama’s stated goal is “remaking America that will settle old racial scores” – this is a theme that he’s been hitting on repeatedly.

Q – So what do you make of Fox’s official comment that Glenn Beck’s opinions are his own and do not reflect the opinions of Fox News.

A – When Fox says that its just his opinion, and that they are somehow not responsible it rings hollow. They are buying the megaphone and providing him the stage, and then they say “it’s him and not me.” It rings hollow. Does Fox believe this controversy is good for ratings or their business? Perhaps. But for them to call themselves a news network, then let Glenn Beck use their platform as he does – it’s beyond irresponsible. It’s reprehensible.

Q – Would you ever consider expanding your boycott to Fox News?

A – Right now the focus is on Glenn Beck.  Of course, should Fox continue to stand behind Beck as he uses his platform to put out false information as news or news commentary, they are making themselves a target.

Q – What would have to happen for you to set your sites on the network and not just the show?

A – I wouldn’t comment much more on this at this point.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports:

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins offered encouragement to conservatives at a town hall forum that the Republican Party would embrace a “great white hope” capable of thwarting the political agenda endorsed by Democrats who control Congress and President Barack Obama.

Jenkins, a Topeka Republican in her first term in Congress, shared thoughts about the GOP’s political future during an Aug. 19 forum at Fisher Community Center in the northeast Kansas community of Hiawatha.

Later in the article, the context of the phrase is explained thusly:

The phrase “great white hope” is frequently tied to racist attitudes permeating the United States when heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson fought in the early 1900s. Reaction to the first black man to reign as champion was intense enough to build support for a campaign to find a white fighter capable of reclaiming the title from Johnson.

Thus far the story has received very little pick-up, though the AP just published the story at 10:50 AM. Prepare for more to come,