One year ago, FreedomWorks astroturfer Dick Armey said the “bubba vote” would prevent the election of Barack Obama. Here’s the video:

after the election of Barack Obama, he set about encouraging exactly such prejudices. He had plenty of material to work with. In the context of a black president, terms like “communist” and “socialist” automatically come with racial baggage. They play on the fear and loathing of racist minds. Dick Armey added that “Republicans would not encourage” such prejudices. Thenthe election of Barack Obama, he set about encouragingsuch prejudices. He had plenty of material to work with. In the context of a black president, terms like “communist” and “socialist” automatically come with racial baggage. They play on the fear and loathing of racist minds. The “official story” is that tea parties are a revolt against government taxation. But the nexus of red-baiting, religious fervor, and racism has a long pedigree in American politics; the clarion call of racist elements has been wrapped up in patriotic-religious fervor since the earliest days of Jim Crow:

The Civil Rights Era saw denunciations of Martin Luther King: “race mixing is communism” was a common refrain among reactionaries.

told everyone to bring ugly, racist signs to the “tea parties;” but FreedomWorks certainly hasn’t done anything to discourage people from bringing ugly, racist signs. Indeed, a profusion of racist reactionaries showed up in Washington, DC Saturday, and nothing about them is unfamiliar to a student of American history. Now, it’s not that FreedomWorkseveryone to bring ugly, racist signs to the “tea parties;” but FreedomWorks certainly hasn’t done anything topeople from bringing ugly, racist signs. Indeed, a profusion of racist reactionaries showed up in Washington, DC Saturday, and nothing about them is unfamiliar to a student of American history.

There is no way to deny that hatred of “the other” abounds in the tea party “movement.” What’s left unstated by most commentators, though, is that these tea parties are extensions of what we saw at Palin rallies last year. It’s the same disgusting racism re-organized.

Also instructive: FreedomWorks posts a few photos from tea party events at their website , but carefully selects photos to sanitize the racism:

won’t see on Michelle Malkin’s HotAir.com: That pattern reoccurs throughout the right-wing blogosphere. Here are pictures from Saturday that yousee on Michelle Malkin’s HotAir.com:



There’s been a pattern of this ugliness throughout the tea party “movement:”

One of the most telling characteristics of the tea party crowds is the prominence of birthers — sore losers upset by the election of the first black president:

There’s no way that FreedomWorks is unaware of the beast they’ve summoned. The grassroots of hate are loud, proud, and convinced of their righteous cause.

The entire “tea party” enterprise has been endorsed and driven by Fox News Channel, which has consistently engaged in racist fearmongering and contrived outrage. Glenn Beck’s “secret army of Obama goons,” for example, turns out to be a Kansas City step-dance troupe — but no one in the mainstream media, much less Fox, is fact-checking anymore.