The Elephant in the Room

Barack Obama is a black man with a Muslim middle name and he’s smarter than you.

Get ready for the onslaught of coded racism and xenophobia that will make the “Swift-boating” of John Kerry look like an afternoon sail off Martha’s Vineyard.

It’s already happening. When Sean Hannity of Faux noise often spews, “Barack Hussein Obama,” he’s implying Obama is somehow a covert Muslim. Of course, let’s not forget their describing Michelle Obama as “Obama’s baby mama,” a term used to describe unwed mothers. I don’t think Faux used that one on Gov. Palin’s daughter…

Then there’s Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) recently using “elitist-class” (smart) and the racially-loaded term “uppity” to describe Sen. Obama: “Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” When astonished reporters asked him to clarify his use of “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.” Behind closed doors, I’m sure he adds the noun.

The right has some history here. In the 1988 presidential election, I was leaning toward voting for George H.W. Bush until his campaign used the despicable “Willie Horton” ad against Michael Dukakis. I could not support a candidate that allowed racial smearing.

We have time for another example, right? In 2006, Republicans smeared Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford, a black man, with an ad featuring a white woman saying she had met Rep. Ford at a “Playboy party.” Get it? Black man – White woman – Playboy Party…Sex! Ford lost the tight Senate, um, race.

The wheels of the Repugnantan slime machine are cranking right now and I expect that around Halloween we’ll know the names of any white women Barack Obama has ever dated… One last “Mandingo” scare before the erect… uh, I mean election. Boo!