In an Associated Press article from earlier this month, national affairs writer Jesse Washington posed the question, "Does racial bias fuel Obama foes?" "The question of whether race fuels opposition to President Barack Obama has become one of the most divisive topics of the election," Washington continued. "It is sowing anger and frustration among conservatives who are labeled racist simply for opposing Obama's policies and liberals who see no other explanation for such deep dislike of the president."

It's impossible to believe that race is fueling every so-called "Obama foe," some of whom are black themselves, and many of whom certainly just don't like the president's policies, regardless of his race. Even some people who vociferously dislike Mitt Romney are finding themselves unable to cast a ballot for Obama because of all the innocent blood drawn under his command. That said, if conservatives are finding themselves angered over the accusations that there are in their ranks a number of outspoken racists, perhaps they should direct that anger toward the outspoken racists in their ranks.

Here is an abridged list of some of the most prominent racist attacks on Obama in the last year (several have come in the last few weeks). Note that these are just the ones the press found out about, and then ask yourself: "Might race be fueling some of the opposition to President Obama?"

1. Using a terrible Clint Eastwood bit as a launching pad, "chair lynchings" have become a minor trend. Chastised for the racial connotations of stringing up a black man's effigy in his front yard, one Texas man replied, "I don't really give a damn whether it disturbs you or not," Johnson reportedly told Haenschen. "You can take [your concerns] and go straight to hell and take Obama with you. I don't give a shit."

2. A Texas woman woke up last week to find that the Obama sign in her front yard had been made to look like this:





I think the person who vandalized this sign might be fueled by racial bias.

3. Also last week, but far away from Texas, in the quaint New York hamlet of East Hampton, 63-year-old Lawrence Nickel was arrested and charged with a four-month anti-Obama graffiti spree. Amongst the elderly man's other tags was this one, scrawled on a bench: "Obama is a lying nigger."

4. This week the Virginia GOP had to ask its Mecklenburg County affiliate to remove from its Facebook page pictures of President Obama depicted as a thug, a caveman, and a witch doctor.

5. Earlier this month, civil rights groups said they planned to demonstrate a Marietta, Georgia, bar whose sign read, "I heard the White House smelled like collard greens and fried chicken." Earlier, in the same state, another bar owner came under fire for putting this on his sign: "I do not support the nigger in the White House." Both bars' owners are perhaps racist.

6. In March, a woman named Paula Smith came up with this punny anti-Obama bumper sticker, which seems to me to be tinged by racial bias:

7. In December, a right-wing candidate who'd lost a bid for city council in Carson, California, tweeted of Obama, "Assassinate the fuckin nigger and his monkey children." Not sure, but maybe that's racist?

[Image via Burnt Orange Report]