Obama's Run Will Show Up US Racists

One of the things you notice about racists is that they often preface their racist remarks with disclaimers like, "I'm not racist, but..."

I think part of the reason is that, deep in their hearts, they really don't think they are racists. They think they are just realistic, and that there are genuine differences among racial groups, and thus they let their ingrained stereotypes inform their world-view without further contemplation.

So it's interesting to see someone on FOX NEWS calling Michelle Obama her husband's "baby mama". That's after another commentator recently lost her job after talking about Barack and Michelle's "terrorist fist jab".

Crazy conspiracy theorists (not me!) will see this as part of a broader campaign to slander Obama with racial slurs. But I think these are just incidents where racists have inadvertently been exposed by their own comments, and I think we will see a lot more of it over the next five months. I don't think the overall effect is going to be good for McCain's campaign - he will still lose in an historic landslide. But perhaps exposing this mindset for what it is will be good for the USA.

NB: In this "babby momma" instance, of course, there was a whole studio of racists conspiring to come up with what they consider entertainment: the tag was plastered across the screen. The irony is that those responsible were probably all seeking to advance their careers at News Ltd by catching Rupert's attention with such racist drivel, but when stories like this generate massive negative feedback, Murdoch often weighs up the damage and steps in to terminate someone's career instead.

Maybe it's time he made a public statement denouncing racism in the upcoming campaign? Or at least an internal memo. Unless he's a racist Zionist warmongering son of a bitch himself.