Bill O'Reilly last week challenged Marc Lamont Hill to come up with evidence of racism within the Tea Parties. So this week, Hill returned and plopped the evidence right in front of him.

Guess what? It didn't matter. O'Reilly tried countering with specious nonsense -- claiming, for instance, that "we don't know" who actually is putting up those racist signs at Tea Party rallies (according to Michelle Malkin, after all, they're purely the work of librul "infiltrators" trying to make them look bad). O'Reilly also tried on this claim:

O'Reilly: Look, if you want to go to the NAACP, you can find the same kind of radical element there.

Oh really? Does O'Reilly have any evidence to support this inflammatory claim? Of course not! He's Bill O'Reilly! We'll do it live!

Then Hill provided the scientific evidence from that University of Washington study of Tea Parties' racial attitudes. O'Reilly countered with a bizarre and half-assed attack piece from Real Clear Politics (to which the authors of the study have already responded). Interestingly, O'Reilly can't even read the RCP critique correctly and managed to mangle the numbers to say exactly the opposite of what they actually say.

Hill stayed on point, and O'Reilly refused to budge. He eventually resorted to that old standby, BillO Projection Theater:

O'Reilly: You believe what you believe, but I think you came in with a preconceived notion. And so did the professor. Hill: No, I came in as a trained social scientist reading a study. O'Reilly: You came in with two examples. I rebutted. Hill: Yes, with fallacious information. O'Reilly: No, it's not fallacious. Real Clear is very clear about how they did it. Hill: No. But they're wrong. O'Reilly: You say they're wrong, they say they're right. Let the audience decide. Hill: Audience, please look at the study and read this for yourself. You'll see. O'Reilly: OK! I want them to! Hill: And if it turns out that my interpretation is correct, would that then make the Tea Party racist? O'Reilly: No. Hill: Well then you're saying I can't win! Even if they agree with my interpretation of the study, you're still right!

That's right. Why liberals think it will ever be any different on O'Reilly's show -- or any Fox show, for that matter -- is beyond me.