Beck Rally Confirms Maher’s Claims About Dumb Americans

Political humorist Bill Maher often gets in trouble for calling Americans stupid. But after watching about 90,000 people show up to a rally thrown by entertainer/cult leader Glenn Beck can there be any further discussion?

Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally simply revealed that Americans are willing to follow a charismatic leader even if he has a wacky agenda. After all, televangelists who hawk the widely discredited prosperity gospel also have huge followings, and Beck’s credibility is on par with the men who beg for money on TBN and professional wrestlers.

The rally itself was a strange event, which moved away from a political fest, (Tea Baggers were told to leave their hate signs at home) and turned into a quasi-religious revival. And this too is strange because Beck is a Mormon, and follows a faith that many Evangelicals don’t even recognize as mainstream Christianity.

Marsha White, writing on the conservative web site RenewAmerica, said, “Mostly he (Beck) uses Christian terminology, which is misleading. It would seem that Beck is a Christian. But how can that be? Mormons deny the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Mormon beliefs do not line up with Scripture yet they insist on calling themselves Christian when they clearly are not.”

If the curious religious nature of the event is surprising. It is nothing compared to the political comments of the attendees:

• According to Talking Points Memo, Carolyn Cassaberry of Newport News, Va, who attended the rally, said that she was not sure if President Barack Obama is a Muslim and needed more documentation.

• Many attendees were happy at the religious tones of the rally, but they had no idea Beck is a Mormon.

• The Velvet Revolution website interviewed a Black Tea Bagger from New Jersey who felt that something needed to be done about the health care system, but believed the “free market” was the answer, even though countries like France, Germany and Canada have much more efficient government-run health care systems.

• Other rally attendees supported Tea Party supporter Ted Nugent’s idea of “putting a bullet in illegal immigrants.”

• But the best quote comes from an AP story that interviewed Ricky Thomas, a father from Chesapeake Beach, Md., who said he wanted the government to stay out of people’s lives. Thomas is a SWAT officer who makes his living kicking down doors and arresting people, who may or may not be guilty. He also draws a nice government pension and has employer-provided health care. So if Thomas hates the government so much why doesn’t he quit his job and give up those tax-payer provided benefits?

But this is the level of discourse we expect from people who gather all their information from FOX News, a station that runs race-baiting stories round the clock and tells its viewers that Obama is a Marxist-Muslim terrorist who wants to destroy America.

And why should we expert accuracy or intellectual honesty from a rally organized by a man who says he wants to reclaim civil rights, but thinks the president is a racist? Beck also later said that he did not agree with the economic goals of the Civil Rights movement.

In a rambling interview with Chris Wallace on “FOX News Sunday,” Beck also called Obama’s faith a “perversion of Christianity” (even though many Christians do not identify with Beck’s faith). He also criticized people on the left for using racial politics, even though he works for a network that has spent the entire summer running what MSNBC host Rachel Maddow calls “scare white people stories,” such as the false Shirely Sherrod story and the fake New Black Panther story.

It pains me to write about Beck, who has said that his primary goal is making money and doesn’t care about the political system, but when almost 90,000 show up to follow the rantings of a clueless man, something has to be said. Beck is a showman who thrives on attention, negative or positive, but liberal writers have to at least point out his lies and hope someone is paying attention.

During his interview with Wallace, Beck did drop a few nuggets of honesty into his sea of lies. He said that even though his followers wear Palin-Beck T-shirts, he could never get elected president. And that is something we can agree on.

Beck Considering Fans' Pleas To Run For President

In another one of those, "I had to read it twice" stories, FOX News comedian and book peddler Glenn Beck says that he would not rule out running for president in the future, providing Washington cleaned up it act. Beck said that the current political atmosphere robs people of their soul.

Now while you might think that this is a joke, there are Glenn Beck fans who are so delusional they think this is a good idea. There are so many things wrong with this concept, it makes my head ache. Firstly, there is no way in hell that Beck would give up his $32 million salary for the presidential gig which only pays $400,000. Secondly, Beck has admitted he has no interest in politics, all he cares about is selling more junk to his followers. And lastly, Beck sold his soul when he joined FOX.

Beck will keep making noises about a presidential run as long at it gets him ratings and allows him the opportunity to push his books, but his fans shouldn't hold their breath. Beck couldn't even get elected dog catcher with his history of drug use, racial remarks and on-air crying. Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour, who is a member of the Council of Conservative Citzens (CCC), a white supremacist organization that thinks that blacks are genetically inferior to whites, has a better chance of being president than Beck.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-beck-testing-waters-on-future-presidental-run/

Beck made $32M in 09, Doesn't Care About Political Process

Here is a depressing thought. While millions of Americans are struggling with mounting bills and long-term unemployment, self-described "entertainer" Glenn Beck made $32 million in 2009.

His earnings come from speaking engagements, books sales, his radio show and TV show. I guess being a right-wing loony, and selling crap to gullible Americans is a lucrative business. (Further proof that Americans are not too bright.) It has made people like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter millionaires.

In an interview on Bill Maher's "Real Time," Keith Olbermann once said that most right-wing propagandists simply do it for the money. And if you need further proof of that consider this quote from Beck. In an interview with Forbes magazine he says, "I could give a flying crap about the political process. We're an entertainment company."

These people don't care about the issues, and they definitely don't care about the middle class and blue-collar Americans, they lionize. Rush Limbaugh can afford the best health care in the world, and so he doesn't care if average Americans are dying by the thousands because they can't get decent health coverage.

Limbaugh, a thrice-divorced, ex-junkie, whore monger, makes his living selling "traditional values" to blue-collar Americans. Coulter who makes racist jokes about Middle Easterners, was pictured with African American Jimmie Walker, who later proclaimed how much he loved her. And Beck, who equates social justice with socialism, is a member of the Mormon Church, who regularly set aside money for the poor and underprivileged. These people don't even believe in the very crap they are selling!

Beck says that he is a "regular guy." Hard to believe that when you have two bodyguards and are pulling down $32 million a year. So now Americans know these guys are just saying whatever they have to do to sell books and ads -- stop buying their products!

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0426/entertainment-fox-news-simon-schuster-glenn-beck-inc.html

Limbaugh and Co. Fuel Fear of a Black President

A few days ago I had an interesting conversation with my cousin about the state of race relations in the age of Obama. My cousin said,"Things are getting better, but the people who have a problem with black people are getting worse." To further illustrate his story, he told me about one of his friends, a white lady, whose daughter used to play regularly with a friend, who was also white. One day, one of the girls discovered that her friend stopped showing up for playdates. Her mother went to the other mom and asked why. The answer: "You voted for Obama.

This story is all the more poignant considering the recent wing-nut fest that was CPAC, which "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart described as the "Festival of Whites." Glenn Beck got on stage and put on the same nightly carnival show he does on FOX News. One thing he did say that was correct was suggesting that the GOP needs to admit it has a problem. Beck said the problem was spending, but the real problem is race.

Jon Stewart Takes On CPAC -- The 'Festival Of Whites' - Watch more Politics Videos at Vodpod.

Race is a frustrating problem in America, because it tends to attract polar opposite opinions. Black people are often aggrieved about their situation, while white people seem to be in deep denial that there is a problem. A common excuse is,"I didn't own any slaves." But that is a simplistic answer, slavery was outlawed about a 100 years ago, but there are several pressing problems affecting African Americans and other people of color.

You may not have owned slaves, but what did you do when the police were torturing and executing black men? What did you do when black men were being locked up for crimes they didn't commit? And what did you do when banks were steering people of color, with good credit, into high-interest loans?

As my cousin said there are many people who are deeply uncomfortable with the idea of a black president. They feel their old world, of white male privilege and a comfortable middle class lifestyle, is slipping away. To them Obama is the John the Baptist of the Apocalypse, the harbinger of the destruction of White America as they know it. The clearest evidence of this was seen when Obama decided to hold his impromptu Q and A session with House Republicans. Obama answered, deflected and parried their questions with aplomb, and all the while you got the impression, that this smart, articulate and knowledgeable black man, was driving them crazy.

Black people may have dominated in sports and entertainment, but in the fields of business and politics, white men still ruled the roost. Obama spells the end of that. I am sure a lot of older white men are worried that Corporate America is soon going to end up looking like the the NBA, with their grandchildren only allowed to play bit parts.

The extreme wing of the Republican party realizes this and that is why with the aid of their propaganda department, also known as FOX News, they are trying to whip white rage into a frenzy. Blue collar and middle-class Americans have a lot to be angry about, with chronic unemployment and the near collapse of the financial market. However FOX News is channeling that anger into rage at the Obama administration, when it was the Bush administration's tax cuts to the rich and unfunded foreign wars that largely caused the problem. Joe Stack, a frustrated computer programmer, was so angry that he flew a plane into an IRS building in Austin, killing one worker. And even after this apparent incident of domestic terrorism, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) still said, that he emphathized with Stack and urged listerners to "implode" more IRS buildings.

This deadly mix of rage and frustration is being stoked by the conservative triumvirate of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

American Talkers recently named Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity, respectively, as the top three most influential talk show hosts in America. All three commentators are infamous for their barely-masked racial animosity. They won't come out and say they hate black people and don't think Obama should be president, but they'll use a series of code words and sleights to convey their message.

Limbaugh is fond of using words like "uppity," and "arrogant," which were used in Jim Crow times to describe black who didn't know their place. Hannity simply employs hired minstrels like Jesse Lee Patterson to say the things that any white host would be fired for mentioning.

These hate mongers understand the fears of their AM radio audience. Rush Limbaugh recently said the only reason why Obama made it through Harvard Law school is because his professors wrote his papers for him. This taps into the anger that many white Americans have about affirmative action. There is nothing worse you can call a black employee than an affirmative action hire. Limbaugh topped that by recently comparing Obama's health care legislation to reparations. (Funny how those "reparations" will benefit a lot of non-black people.) Limbaugh also said that Obama is a "primitive, indigenous guy." This is highly ironic because Obama is a graduate of Harvard Law school, while Limbaugh dropped out college in his freshman year. (Hannity and Beck are also college drop outs.)

I am not the only person concerned about the rage that is being nurtured by the right. Dr. Sherman Miller, a columnist and long-time Republican activist from Delaware, describes Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity as America's racist trinity of evilwho are "perpetuating a media lynching of President Barack Obama." Additionally, former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that right-wing bloggers urged him to physically attack First Lady Michelle Obama when she was a guest on his show. Huckabee said he was "disgusted by the anger and meanness."

Limbaugh and co. have said that they want Obama and his policies to fail, and they will use every weapon in their arsenal to stop him -- even if that means lies, smears and encouraging violence.

Right-Wing Commentators Don't Believe Their Own Hype

Jimmy Walker and Ann Coulter

Jimmy Walker Brags About His Romance With Far-Right Commentator Ann Coulter

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann once said that most right-wing commentators are just in it for the money. If you ever needed further proof of this, consider shrill neo-fascist commentator Ann Coulter.

Coulter, who extols family values, is 48 and never married. She has an active social life, which I assume must include extra marital sex, and has dated liberals in the past. (even though she has called them treasonous.) Coulter is infamous for her racist comments such as calling for Muslims to be "sexed up" at airports. She also also referred to Arabs as "jihad monkeys" and "ragheads" and defended white supremacists. She defended the Conservative Citizens Council, an organization which claims that blacks are interior to people of European descent. (I wonder how they feel about her dating choices?). Commenting on Barack Obama's book, "Dreams of My Father," Coulter said, "Here's an insider scoop about white people: We're not thinking about you. Especially WASPs. We think everybody is inferior, and we are perfectly charming about it. " She also was fired from the conservative National Review for saying that America should invade "Muslim countries and force them to convert to Christianity."

Now we hear stories that Jimmy Walker (J.J. from "Good Times.") is extolling the virtues of his loving relationship with Coulter. Yeah, wrap your mind around that for a while. This is not surprising because rumors about this have been floating around the blogosphere for years. "The Boondocks" also depicted Coulter in a relationships with a shiftless black man. (Turns out they were pretty close to the truth.) See the video below.

Consider the lifestyle choices of these right-wing commentators:

• Rush Limbaugh, a rabid homophobe and misogynist, has been divorced three times and never fathered any kids. He also lived separately from third wife for the last 10 years of their marriage and took an all-male trip to Dominican Republic, a notorious child sex hot spot. Limbaugh was busted returning to the U.S. with a bottle of Viagra,
• Radio show host Michael Savage, who was booted from MSNBC for making homophobic comments, was pictured nude with his close friend Timothy Leary, a noted homosexual. Savage who espouses neo-racist views is Jewish and his real name is Michael Wiener.
• Armstrong Williams, a discredited right-wing commentator and longtime bachelor, has been accused of sexual harassment twice -- by men.
• Bill O'Reilly, who bills himself as Mr. Conservative Family Values, bragged about cheating on his wife with hookers and settled a $5 million sexual harassment lawsuit. The employee who filed the suit had O'Reilly on tape making explicit sexual comments.
• Glenn Beck says he is "just an ordinary guy" but makes about $20 million a year. He is also a former drug addict who has said that he "doesn't feel comfortable around black people," and belongs to a religion, whose founder thought that black people were cursed by God.

Coulter's hypocrisy indicates that most right-wing media figures are just putting on a show. They are like the "heels" in pro-wrestling. Heels are the cartoonish villains that audiences love to hate. Many wrestlers say they prefer playing the heel because they make more money. Just like in the movies the villains get all the good lines. But when the show is over, the heels probably go out and share a beer with the "good guys."

Well that is what is going on in the political arena. Commentators like Coulter, Beck, Hannity and Michael Savage don't believe their hype. They make outrageos comments to sell books, push ads and get ratings -- and they get handsomely rewarded for it.

Limbaugh often says he is just a comedian, and I think we need to take him at his word. But don't believe what Limbaugh and fellow right-wing commentators are saying, because they sure don't. They just want to keep white people angry and keep the dollars rolling in. Remember what Rev. Rollo Goodlove, from "The Boondocks, says about Coulter, "She just do that for that redneck money."

Daily Beast Names Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh on List of Top 25 Conservative Journalists

Beck Had Said That He is Not a Journalist

It's difficult to take some of the arguments coming out of the political right seriously. After all these are the people who say that George W. Bush kept the nation safe from terrorist attack, and want a return to tax cuts and deregulation, the same polices that tanked the economy.

But this list of the top 25 Conservative Journalists, written by the Daily Beast's Tunkun Varadarajan, a research fellow at the right-wing Stanford Institute, is staggeringly inaccurate and just downright stupid. Varadarajan lists Glenn Beck as no. 2 on the list. He also lists neo-fascist propagandists, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, on the list. Now Limbaugh, on various occasions, has said that he is not a journalist, and is just a comedian. And any no journalism professor worth his salt would ever describe Hannity as a journalist.

Appearing on television doesn't make you a journalist. Also opinion columns does not make you a journalist. Beck even said explicitly on "The View" that he is not a journalist, and does'nt bother to check his facts. Of course, anyone with Google and a semi-functional brain could tell you that.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-10/the-rights-top-25-journalists/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC6

poll by twiigs.com

Mass. Man Arrested With Stockpile of Weapons

Paranoid, white people with guns always scare me. According to this story from Talking Points Memo, the latest is Gregory Girard of Manchester, Mass., who was recently arrested by agents of the Bureau of Alchohol, Firearms and Tobacco.

Girard, a technology consultant, was arrested with camouflage uniforms, guns, knives, bullet proof vests, night vision goggles and a six-month supply of food! He is believed to have been hoarding supplies in preparation for Armageddon. Girard's wife became alarmed when he suggested that she "stop talking to people, and just shoot them in the head because traitors deserve it." That sounds awfully like some media commentators I know.

It's easy to laugh at this kind of behavior, but this kind of paranoia is being fueled by FOX News, which has Glenn Beck running "The sky is falling," type stuff every night.

It will be interesting to see what media sources Girard was reading.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/police_ma_man_stockpiled_weapons_feared_armageddon.php?ref=fpblg

poll by twiigs.com

Poll Says FOX News is Most Trusted News Source

74 Percent of Poll Responder Where White

Here is a sign of the apocalypse, if the ever was one. A recent poll by Public Policy Polling states that FOX News is the most trusted news source. Yes, I had to read that twice too. The poll states that 49 percent of the responders said they trusted FOX News and 37 percent of responders said they did not trust FOX. Not surprisingly, 74 percent of Republicans said they trusted FOX, compared to only 30 percent of Democrats. The polls also shows that only 33 percent of African American voters trusted FOX News.

CNN was the next most trusted news source, with 39 percent saying they trusted it, compared to 41 percent who didn't. 59 percent of Democrats said they trusted CNN, while 33 percent of Independents and only 23 percent of Republicans said they found CNN credible. Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,151 registered voters from Jan. 18-19.

Polls can be designed to say whatever you want. We don't know what part of the country the responders came from. I am sure California voters would respond differently to Alabama voters. The racial breakdown of the responders to the poll is illuminating. 74 percent of responders where white, 12 percent where African American and 10 percent where Hispanic. So a poll of mainly white men stated that they found FOX News the most credible news source. This is not surprising since 95 percent of FOX viewers are white, and their programming is tailored to angry, white men.

You also have to factor the stupidity of the average American. (Most Americans can't pick out Europe on the map, and can't tell you the difference between Iraq or Iran, talk less of locating them on the map.) I don't know how anyone with a half-functioning brain could think that FOX is a credible news source. I knew our education system was in trouble, but we should all be worried when Americans considered the notoriously-biased FOX News as a credible news source.

This is the channel that gave us Glenn Beck, a host who can't even spell oligarch correctly. Beck also peddles a different conspiracy theory every night. And they also made Sarah Palin, a woman who thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9-11, a pundit.

There are numerous other incidents of FOX news error that would get a rookie reporter fired such as:

• Referring to Rep. Mark Foley, the congressman busted for sexually harassing minors, as a Democrat. (This is not the only time they have misidentified a disgraced Republican as a Democrat.)
• Running a story claiming then Sen. Barack Obama attended a Muslim school, which was later discredited by CNN.
• Accusing the Obamas of performing a "terrorist" fist bump.
• Running fake footage of the Tea Party rally to make the numbers seem larger.
• Deliberately editing footage to create misleading quotes.

Check out Media Matters for more of FOX's never-ending lists of journalistic sins.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_National_126.pdf

poll by twiigs.com

Randall Terry Listed As One of the Whack Jobs of The Year

Randall Terry

As we round out the year many media outlets are publishing their year end lists. With 2008's heated political rhetoric there were plenty of candidates for Whack Jobs of the Year. The Daily Beast's list features the usually suspects such as Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Michelle Bachmann. However the list also include people they deem as left-wing nuts such as Rep. Alan Grayson.

One of the worst candidates is conservative Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist, who has produced a video featuring a man in an Obama mask stabbing an old, white lady to death with Snoop's "Murder Was the Case" playing in the background. Is this guy on the Klan's payroll? See the video below.

poll by twiigs.com

Media Matters Names Beck Misinformer of the Year

Congratulations to Glenn Beck, who caps a stellar year in which he called the president a racist, got dropped by 80 advertisers and cried on air. Media Matters added to Beck's honors by branding him Misinformer of the Year, although that could apply to the entire line up at FOX News.

Still Beck's on screen antics put him at the top of a dubious list. I can't believe that anyone watches him for news. Glenn Beck and serious political commentary should not be mentioned in the same sentence. The people who should be worried the most are Republicans, because Beck's band of lunatics, the Teabbaggers, are equally mad at the GOP as they are at the Democrats. The sad thing about Teabaggers is they are mad at someone, but they can't just figure out who it is. This is great case of the insane leading mad.

poll by twiigs.com

Beck Insults Indian Americans, Indian Schools

In Glenn Beck's latest bigoted rant he accuses Indian schools of not turning out decent doctors and ignores the fact that the country has a burgeoning middle class. (Didn't he watch "Slumdog Millionaire"?)

Beck's argument is not based on any form of logic. India has some of the best schools in the world and that is the reason why Indian graduates are sought out across the globe. A large chunk of the brain power in American graduate schools is Indian, and Indians play a significant role in the medical field in both the United States and Britain.

Beck also says that he does not want "discounted wages" in the United States, but then goes on to attack unions, who fight to give American workers a living wage! Plus, Beck's alleged party, the GOP, are in favor of shipping American jobs abroad and driving down wages here. To paraphrase Ice-T's comment on pimping, trying to find logic in Beck's show is like trying to explain astrophysics to a wino.

I guess Beck seems to be intent on having all non-white Americans hate him, which is really smart, since the country is becoming browner by the minute. But, I guess, he knows his audience ...

http://mediamatters.org/blog/200912100015

poll by twiigs.com

Right-Wing Blogs Run Fake Story About Muslim Terrorists

Did you hear the story about Tedd Petruna, who was got on a flight full of suspicious looking, porn-watching Arabs who didn't speak English? Then Petruna and a handy Texan managed to thwart the would-be terrorist all by themselves Well if it sounds like an episode of "24," that's not surprising because the whole thing was made up! But that didn't stop right-wing bloggers from running it like the gospel truth. It also made it to Glenn Beck's 9-12 blog, which is not surprising.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/fish_stories_more_risky_via_email.php

Hutchinson: Ignore Beck and Co.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson (red shirt) is pictured here with other civil rights leaders as they pay tribute at the Rosa Parks Freeway.

I respect Earl Ofari Hutchinson's political opinions, but I am not sure if I agree with him here. He says that left-wing commentators and the Main Stream Media are wrong to focus so much energy on FOX, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. Hutchinson says that the more criticism they receive, the stronger they get. Beck and FOX thrives on controversy, because that means more ratings. I am torn, while I realize that it is probably better to ignore the blowhards on the right, I believe that we need to monitor what they say and keep them accountable.

poll by twiigs.com

Glenn Beck's PR Rep is a Dem

The Washington Post is reporting that Glen Beck's PR rep is Matt Hitzlik, is a long-time Democratic operative who worked on Hillary Clinton's senatorial campaign. PR is a business, and PR reps often have to take on clients that who don't agree with it. I think the real hypocrite here is Beck, who sends a check to a liberal, who belongs to a group he claims to despise. This goes to show that Beck's nightly conspiracy rants are all an act. It's all about the benjamins and he will do business with whoever makes him money. For all your Beck fans, do you think a man who makes $27 million really cares about what ordinary people are going through?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/27/AR2009102704010.html

poll by twiigs.com

The Black Elephant in the Room

By G.A. Afolabi

Potter Stewart, an associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, made this now famous remark in a case about pornography: "I know it when I see it." One could say that Black people could also use the same phrase when talking about racism. Most Black people have been dealing with racism since the day they came into the world and their parents were dealing with it long before they were born. We are experts on racism. The mercurial comedian Dave Chappelle once said he was a connoisseur of racism.

So for Black people it's obvious what is behind the white-hot (no pun intended) hatred directed at President Barack Obama, the first African-American to occupy the White House. Obama's election was a shining moment for America, a moment when many American believed we had moved beyond our national obsession with skin color. However some of the older members of the Black community, who have been battling racial injustice for the entire 20th century, probably knew that this monster would not disappear overnight. Many Black seniors, who lived through an age where leaders such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were cut down by assassins, suggested that it was suicide for Obama to even consider running for president.

Like President Bill Clinton, Barack Obama was always going to face stiff opposition to his administration. During the Clinton years, a huge right-wing media machine had grown up and harnessed the frustrations of angry, white men. FOX News, spawned during the Clinton years, has swelled into a media titan that is the no. 1-rated cable news channel, even though it's parrots GOP talking points and makes no attempt live up to it's comically ironic "fair and balanced" motto. In addition, eight years of a Republican-led White House convinced many conservatives that they would be in power forever.

However, the level of disrespect towards President Obama is still, at times, shocking. From congressman shouting insults, a 400 percent increase in death threats, and Conservatives who cheer loudly whenever the country fails, we are seeing new levels of animosity. As former President Jimmy Carter said, much of this is racially motivated.

Some of it stems from apathy towards his progressive policies, but even Bill Clinton, who was despised by the Right, didn't face this level of hatred. No one ever accused Bill Clinton of being an illegal alien. Of course being a white male with an Anglo Saxon last name, there was no way that Bill Clinton could ever be a foreigner. Clinton was also never accused of being a Muslim or being in league with a terrorist. For all of Clinton's flaws, at least he was one of them; white, male, Protestant and a Southerner to boot. I suspect much of the animosity towards Clinton was based on his policies and the fact that he not a member of America's social elite. For many white people Barack Obama has too many factors working against him, he doesn't look like them, he has a "foreign-sounding" last name and his father was born a Muslim, but later became an atheist.

Just because we don't see anti-Obama protestors using the n-word it doesn't mean they are not racists. 21st century racism has morphed into a new beast which is not as blatant as it was in the 1960s. Describing how Republicans have adopted code words to mask racism, Lee Atwater, the GOP operative who came up with the infamous Willie Horton ad, said, "By 1968 you can't say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites."

The media has twisted itself into knots to avoid stating the obvious, that there are still many Americans who are uncomfortable with the idea of a Black man in charge of the country. Instead of looking at the obvious signs -- Obama as a witch doctor, puppets of Obama as a monkey, and signs saying Obama plans to institute white slavery, they still seem to be intent on denying the evidence staring them in the face. I think much of the media's hesitance to address this elephant in the room stems from the fact the blatant racism is now out of fashion. Many Americans are embarrassed that some of their fellow citizens still harbor bigoted views towards black people. To talk about it would be to admit that we have a problem, but like an embarrassing drunk uncle, it's easier to pretend it's not there.

Obama haters have been egged on by race baiters such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, who between them seem to come up with a new racial insult every week. Limbaugh has a two-decade history of making racial jokes, but some of his more recent moments of hilarity include claiming that in Barack Obama's America, "white kids get beaten up on the bus while Black kids cheer." (The police report from this incident stated that the assault had no racial implications.) Limbaugh later topped this by calling for a return to segregated buses.

Beck, who's conspiracy-laden show falls somewhere between pantomime and bad televangelism, is still smarting from losing more than 80 advertisers for calling the president, who is biracial and was raised by white grandparents, a racist, "who had a deep animosity towards white culture." Beck couldn't explain what "white culture" was when pressed by Katie Couric.

Liberals may laugh at this garbage, but many of the people who listen to Beck and Limbaugh believe that they are telling the gospel truth. Some of the marchers at the recent Tea Party rally in DC said they were "educated" by Glenn Beck. In an interview on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Tea Party leader Mark Williams has described Obama as an "Indonesian Muslim Welfare Thug" and "racist in chief."

For Black people race baiting and hate speech, are all too familiar tactics. Most Black people have dealt with the same kind of problems whenever they have tried to break the color barrier at work, in housing or in education. They have faced people questioning their qualifications, hostile co-workers and neighbors, and out right threats of violence.

When I was a child, my parents would keep me inside when the local white supremacist group held its annual march through town. I remember getting harshly scolded because I wanted to go and play in the front yard. At the time I couldn't understand why my parents were so concerned for my safety. My nine-year-old mind could not comprehend that someone might try to kill me for simply existing. Maybe that is the tragedy of the black life experience, knowing that there are people who want to do harm to you for no doing of your own.

I remember some of the signs those white supremacists used to hold featured slogans such as "Go back to Africa." Interestingly enough those are the same kinds of comments you see on right-wing message boards and at the Tea Bag march, so 20 years on we're still dealing with the same BS. (You would think that they would have come up with some new insults by now.) One of my Facebook friends is a Black Conservative who was banned from a Sean Hannity web site because he complained about the hateful postings about Barack Obama. How much more evidence does the media need?

poll by twiigs.com