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Rush Limbaugh comes back from the Memorial Day weekend holiday with his usual incendiary bomb-throwing.

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh used some choice words on Tuesday to describe President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). Hours after Obama and Christie toured post-Hurricane Sandy New Jersey together, Limbaugh delivered what his analysis of the "bipartisanship" between the two men.

"Obama has money," Limbaugh said. "Governor Christie wants the money. Governor Christie needs the money, so the people will be helped," referring to the many folks who are still struggling to recover from the storm.

"So, Christie praises Obama," Limbaugh concluded. "It's a master-servant relationship."

The relationship between Obama and Christie reached a fever pitch on Tuesday, as the duo's Jersey Shore activities included some arcade games that resulted in a big stuffed bear prize. This was not the first instance of Limbaugh voicing an Obama-related hurricane conspiracy theory. Back in August 2011, he vowed that Obama wanted Hurricane Irene to be a "disaster" for economic reasons.

"I'll guarantee you Obama was hoping this was going to be a disaster as another excuse for his failing economy," he said. "If he's out there blaming tsunamis, blaming earthquakes, this one [was] made to order, but it just didn't measure up."

Limbaugh can always find just the right racist comment to describe President Obama at any given moment, but ever since Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Chris Christie has been in conservatives' cross hairs for complementing Obama's response to the tragedy right before the general election. They saw it as a self-serving moment for himself as he readies a possible 2016 presidential run while hurting Romney's chances at the same time. Wingnuts still hold a grudge against the media because George Bush got lambasted by everybody for his horrific response to Hurricane Katrina.

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It’s scary-black-man déjà vu all over again at Fox News. This morning, as the polls opened across the country – and the New York Times’ Nate Silver gave President Obama a 92% chance of winning the election - a Fox News Alert warned, as Steve Doocy put it, that “some critics” say that a member of the New Black Panther Party “standing guard” outside a Philadelphia polling place “looks like intimidation, like in 2008.”

Well, if it is like 2008, then the only thing to fear is how Fox News may misuse and distort the incident. An excellent article in Main Justice, a website that reports on the DOJ, explains with great clarity and specificity just how Fox teamed up with GOP operatives to politicize - in an especially racial context - the Obama administration's decision not to make a federal case out of the inconsequentially semi-thuggish behavior of two black men acting as poll watchers in a district with 34 whites in a precinct of 970. Nearly two years later, Main Justice noted:

“No voters at all in the Philadelphia precinct have come forward to allege intimidation. The complaints have come from white Republican poll watchers, who have given no evidence they were registered to vote in the majority black precinct.”

Doocy didn’t mention which precinct the NBPP “guard” was at but chances are it’s the same majority black precinct. In 2010, the NBPP was there again, this time without incident. The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Judge of Elections Lugina Robinson as complaining, “The media is still blowing it out of proportion... There hasn't been any static and turnout has been great. He's not bothering anybody."

Doocy and Fox seemed determined to fear monger and the evidence be damned – or hidden. As a lower-third banner misleadingly referred to the man as a member of “Black Panthers,” (when that group has disavowed any association with the New Black Panther Party), Doocy said,

A member of the New Black Panther Party standing guard outside a polling place in Philadelphia. Hmm. The organization claims they are monitoring the 2012 election but some critics say that it looks like intimidation, like in 2008. And in an election that is virtually tied, every vote counts.”

Guest Peter Johnson, Jr. not only advanced the “scary black man” meme but added the “Obama administration didn’t prosecute because they favor black people” meme that was at the heart of Fox’s original “controversy.” Johnson said that the black man in the video, who mostly stood with his hands folded in front of him, was in “some kind of semi-military pose.” He continued, “We know that the New Black Panther Party was not prosecuted based on what happened four years ago and that became a big, big controversy. …If someone stands at the poll in a way that appears to be intimidating, it is intimidating.”

And if it isn’t intimidating, you can count on Fox doing its best to make it so - especially if it can make political hay in a swing state. Except when they're for intimidation and not against it.

Racism is dead. So decreed the late Tony Snow on his radio program almost a decade ago. So when we see racism, it's really not since it no longer exists. That's why rich white Republicans can use formerly racist imagery. It's all just good-natured fun!

The owner of a Cedar Grove storage business who dressed a monkey statue in an anti-Obama T-shirt said Wednesday that the statement was not racially-motivated

“It was not meant to be racial," business owner Rick Bond told Patch.

Rick Bond, a former councilman and police officer, placed the statue in front of his business, Don-Ric Self Storage at 405 Little Falls Road but removed it Tuesday afternoon after people started complaining.

“I absolutely never thought of it as racial,” Bond said. “It’s ridiculous.”

The monkey statue sported a t-shirt saying “OMG Obama Must Go.” The statue was in front of Bond’s business for at least a few days, but was removed after neighbors called the statue offensive.

Bond is a former Cedar Grove council member who served on the board from 1999 through 2003, and was also a police officer. Because the statue is near Route 3, it caught the attention of several passers-by, some of whom posted photos of it on their Facebook pages.

Bond would not say who dressed the statue, but added it was previously dressed in a Mets jersey. He said the statue was put up to scare away geese from coming close to his business.

He said other businesses – such as car dealerships - do the same, “What’s the difference between the things they put on telephone pole” and what I did?”

See, Bond doesn't consider it racist so what's the big deal? Did you see those telephone poles covered in Monkey-Obama Posters? I'm sure more anti-Obama gear will show up to do all sort of things. We'll see cotton-picking Obamas next, right? No racism here. Move along.

Remember when Tony Snow said this in 2003?

Snow: "Here's the unmentionable secret," Snow said on an October 2003 edition of Fox News Sunday, "racism isn't that big a deal anymore." Snow argued that "no sensible person supports" racism, arguing that the problem is "quickly becoming an ugly memory."

Conservatives have been arguing for decades that they aren't racists and if there were a few, they're gone now. Then the tea party squad was created by FOX News and racist signs showed up everywhere. Even top ten lists were created, but we were told they weren't representative of their movement. OK, so why do we constantly see stories like this?

Montana judge admits sending racist email about Obama

Reporting from Seattle— Montana’s chief federal judge Wednesday admitted forwarding an email to friends about President Obama that appears to equate African Americans with dogs and raises questions about the president’s mixed racial ancestry.

“Normally I don’t send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine,” Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull wrote before forwarding the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The email was sent from the judge’s court email account and immediately ignited a firestorm in Montana, where there were calls on social media sites for his resignation.

“We really feel that by circulating an email like this it really flies in the face of maintaining the honor and dignity of the position,” Travis McAdam, executive director of the Montana Human Rights Network, said in an interview. He said the organization had not yet decided on an official response to the issue.

Cebull, who has been Montana’s chief federal judge in Billings since 2008, was appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush and took his seat in 2001. He is a graduate of the University of Montana School of Law and a former tribal court judge.

What racism? I'm sure Pat Buchanan is trying to book a TV show appearance so he can go and defend the judge. After all, it gave him tingly feeling and touched his heart. Now, can that be racism? And I'm sure he'll be very fair in his rulings.

Rush Limbaugh is getting more racist as time goes by. I know, I know, he's been truly racist already, but I'm telling you, his vitriol is increasing and will continue as the election grows near. It's getting me very nervous.

Limbaugh: Left Upset With Obama Because "White People Are Not Shining The Shoes Of Black People

He rambles on about the left and their anger and blacks and whatever you can make of it. Yes, progressives aren't happy about many things, but not who's shining whose shoes. He's been trying to gin up phony racism coming from the African American community ever since Obama was elected. Here's a flashback post I wrote on 10/10/09, when he used a clipped audio from Detroit via WJR Detroit's Ken Rogulski. Rush Limbaugh Uses Innocent Detroiters As Show Pinata

The conservo-talk reporter cherry picked through the audio booty until he found the absolute best soundbite that would most perfectly frame the city as one filled with Obama-fawning morons, black Sambos, and greedy welfare grabbers - precisely, as Limbaugh would later argue, the kind of rank idiots who would vote for someone like America's first black president. Surely Ken's heart must have been pounding as he attached the audio to his corporate email and double checked the top-secret "To" address that would land the .MpP3 directly onto the desk of Rush's long time producer, Kitt Carson. JACKPOT!

Carson fast-tracked the audio to the OXYmoron, and by noon it was airing live.

"Where's the money coming from?!" Rogulski quickly quizzes.

"Obama!" the giddy resident chirps, confident the day will end in a bill being paid, or a week's worth of groceries to stuff into the old fridge.

"And where does Obama get it from?!" Rogulski follows up. To the more politically refined in the conservative talk world, the answer is loud and clear - TAXPAYERS. But Rogulski knows full well these "Motown simpletons" will not be so cynical as to believe he's recording them with intentions of caricaturing them later as thigh-slapping morons.

"I dunno! His stash, I dunno. But he givin' to us! We love him!"

--

And Rush could not have been happier. No editing necessary for his staff, no double checking, it was packaged, edited and air ready. And for three straight days, the AM Shock Talker pounded the audio candy like he had just been told the funniest joke this week. Listen to how the first audio soundbite is edited to end with a laugh, which to the racist's ear is a dog-whistle. To a bigot, it is the laugh of bug-eyed Jemima. But to the rest of America, it is the innocent guffaw of a child holding out her hands for a cool drink of water in one of the hottest economic downturns in a century

.

This is sickening stuff.

Lost in all this garbage is that George Bush and Conservative policies after Clinton left office with a "surplus' have put this country in a very bad position as well as the rest of the world. Conservatives like to forget that they burned down the house already.

Democratic Strategist: Elections show emerging trend favoring Dems, Progressives

TheZoo: The ‘Dead Zone’ in the Gulf of Mexico was already a very serious problem. So now...?

The Immoral Minority: Teabagger hero Rand Paul isn't sure he can completely support the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But remember, there is NO racisim in the Tea party movement!

Emptywheel: Faisal Shahzad gets a lawyer

Vagabond Scholar: A professional challenges torture proponent

The Poor Man Institute: Also: f*ckin' magnets - how do they work?

Conservatives have been claiming that there's no such thing as racism anymore. Right-wing op-eds abound claiming that racism is a myth.

Heck, this caller is just angry that black callers are getting through.

No racism there.

A caller to C-Span this morning, who identified himself as a Republican from North Carolina, accused the network of taking too many phone calls from black people.

"You have black folks calling in on the Republican line, independents. And you have so many of 'em I can't believe this is just an accident. If you keep on with the way you've been programming, you should change your name from C-Span to black-span," he said. "I know they have an opinion but I wish that they would be honest and call in on the right line."

Remember this Rush Limbaugh rant? Rush Limbaugh Attacks Black Katrina victims and praises Whites as the Floods hit.

Limbaugh: I want to know. I look at Iowa, I look at Illinois---I want to see the murders. I want to see the looting. I want to see all the stuff that happened in New Orleans. I see devastation in Iowa and Illinois that dwarfs what happened in New Orleans. I see people working together. I see people trying to save their property...

I don't see a bunch of people running around waving guns at helicopters, I don't see a bunch of people running shooting cops. I don't see a bunch of people raping people on the street. I don't see a bunch of people doing everything they can...whining and moaning---where's FEMA, where's BUSH. I see the heartland of America. When I look at Iowa and when I look at Illinois, I see the backbone of America.

The NRO's Jay Nordlinger wrote the most farcical claim that racism is dead that I've ever read.

Politics in the Zeros: Populist Party Platform, 1892 (It could have been written for today)

Liberal Values: Nuclear engineer at Cern Lab arrested for alleged ties to al Qaeda

Alas, a blog: Every time a racist criticizes the president, someone cries, "racism."

Seeing the Forest: Modern Governing

AfterDowningStreet: Rep. Obey joins us idiot liberals

ANNALS OF JOURNALISM: NYT out of ideas...Coffee talk...The Corner in a corner...Conservative gullibility...Bad faith and sloth...Politico Fail...Beachwood Reporter...Anatomy of a column...WaPo partisan goldmine...World Nut Daily...

You may remember Officer Justin Barrett, a Boston police officer who inserted himself into the Henry Gates controversy by sending out an inflammatory, racist e-mail to friends and media outlets in which he referred to Professor Gates as a "banana eating jungle monkey." Now, he's claiming that his first amendment right to free speech is being infringed upon and that the Boston PD violated his civil rights by suspending him:

Justin Barrett, the Boston police officer suspended from the force for his e-mail likening Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., to a “banana-eating jungle monkey,’’ has filed a lawsuit against the Police Department, police commissioner, and mayor, saying the city violated his civil and due process rights.

The 18-page lawsuit accuses the three parties of “conspiring to intentionally inflict emotional distress and conspiring to intentionally interfere with the property rights, due process rights, and civil rights of the plaintiff.’’

According to the lawsuit, the mayor and commissioner’s actions caused Barrett pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, posttraumatic stress, sleeplessness, indignities and embarrassment, degradation, injury to reputation, and restrictions on personal freedom. Read on...

Barrett and his Lawyer are trying to conflate criticism of speech and free speech itself just like Sarah Palin has in the past -- criticizing my free speech is taking away my free speech.

Read Joe Trippi's piece.

It appears to me that the McCain campaign may be executing a classic "Race? Not me!" campaign.
The past 24 hours reflect exactly how to pull it off with nary a fingerprint that matters.

First you help inject race into the campaign and raise its focus as an issue (as the McCain campaign did yesterday with a little door opening from Obama himself).

Second - this unleashes energy and anger in the African American community (energy that often the African American candidate, Obama, can not control). Leaders like James Clyburn take to the airwaves - and cable channels have two African Americans debate who is or isn't raising race. In any case black faces dominate the cable airwaves and some of those faces are angry.

Third - McCain then appears to speak in front of an all black audience. White swing voters think "see, he isn't racist". And if the crowd applauds so much the better, if it boos him for tactics real or imagined white swing voters see a white guy "who is at least trying" and angry blacks who are not being duly appreciative of his effort- either way it isn't good for Obama. McCain speaks today before the largely African American National Urban League.

Coincidence?...read on