With all the chaos and rioting in the streets of London, it’s proven quite difficult for the media to parse out exactly who is participating in the unrest and what sort of grievances or agenda they might possess. Some have located the cause in the police shooting of Londoner Mark Duggan on Tuesday, August 4. Others have taken a more sociological approach, pointing to issues of race, class, and social alienation in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. But now, thanks to rightwing pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Stanley Kurtz, we have a new, intriguing theory that’s gaining popularity: The rioters are Obama supporters, of course, or, at least, they’re just the sort of people who would support Obama, or, perhaps, they’re being egged on by liberals, or something. Whatever it is, Obama’s to blame:

Rush Limbaugh, “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” August 9, 2011:

Most people have no clue whatsoever what the London riots are really about, and it's not hooliganism. Hooliganism is the result. Hooliganism is what's happening, but it isn't why. I'm gonna play for you why, and what you're about to listen to is the equivalent of Obama voters in this country and we're not far from this. This is last night on the BBC. During the riots, the BBC's Leana Hosea interviewed two unidentified women protesters, and this is how it sounded.

[…]

Conservatives. Rich people. The riots in London. They want you to believe that this is about some out-of-control police action, that the cops did something. It's the corporate jet owners. It's the corporate jet owners and those people not paying their fair share. Specifically, it's rich people, “the people that got businesses.” If you got a business, you are a rich person. Now, this, folks, is what we have in store. We're on this path. We're on this track. I'm glad you're laughing in there, Snerdley. We're on this track. We already have near race riots at the Wisconsin State Fair in a state where that kind of thing is not known for. I'm telling you. These are the equivalent of Obama voters in the United States, people you just heard here on the BBC.