Nope, no racism here! That's the conclusion of the Village bobbleheads, who in the past 24 hours solemnly nodded their heads as other Villagers said they were shocked, shocked that anyone thinks racism plays a part in the attacks on Obama. After all, didn't a lot of those same people vote for him?

Then they showed the racist signs from the Tea Party rally and said it was a very small minority, this is all about the policies.

And you know, they're actually right - just not in the way they mean.

Because all the powerful right-wing interests in this country really want is an opening, however small. It is all about the policies: Namely, anything that benefits the general population, and not them. The right wing has always been focused on their core mission: Cheap, disposable labor with no legal protections. (Ideally, living in complete insecurity and grateful for whatever crumbs they get.)

The tools they choose to use in their fight are almost incidental to the goal.

Remember, these are the same people who impeached the last Democratic president over his sex life. These are also the same people who asserted Hillary Clinton was a lesbian who was also having an affair with Vince Foster, who by the way, she had killed.

The vast right-wing conspiracy specializes in pushing emotional buttons. They say the most outrageous things they can manufacture, then sit back and watch the fun.

Right now, they're leaning on the race button for all it's worth - because it works. Because it splits us apart, and a split electorate is a lot easier to manipulate.

And here's how liberals add to the divide: "We don't want those people in our party! We don't want those stupid racists!"

Go ahead, keep telling yourself that. It's political suicide, but you keep yourself warm with all that righteous indignation.

I agree with Howard Dean: The guys with the gun racks in the pickup trucks are part of our natural constituency. They have more in common with the inner-city poor than they do with the boys on Townhall.com.

They're economically oppressed and badly served by their country. They often live in states with minimal education standards and little to offer in terms of upward mobility except the military. They work in mines, factories and fields until the day they drop, and no one gives a damn.

At some point (usually via talk radio), poisonous ideas worm their way into their brains. In classic political sleight of hand, their attention is directed "over there," where those brown people on welfare and all those got-dam illegal immigrants gather, sucking up all the opportunities.

And no matter how enthusiastically the white working-class poor cooperate with the right-wing master plan, no matter how tightly they embrace the hate, I still believe they're ultimately economic roadkill run over by the right wing, corporate machine - just like everyone else.