False Accusations of Racism

Smearing political opponents with false accusations of racism has long been a left-wing staple. The leftist base of the Democratic party simply assumes that conservatives are racists. Any Republican tactic or statement that could possibly be interpreted as racist -- no matter how implausibly -- is pounced upon and condemned as racism. We saw this during the last election, when every anti-Obama GOP ad was scrutinized, and hidden "racist" elements were pointed out by race-obsessed leftists -- even though the supposed racism was invisible to normal, rational people. Today, master of shallow thinking Matt Yglesias has an article in the Daily Beast called, of all things, "Here Come the Racists." 

If you read through Yglesias' article expecting to find actual examples of racism on the right you'll be disappointed -- well, unless you are a leftist, since you know that conservative criticism of Obama is race-based. Here's one of Yglesias' hysterical overstatements,

The Gates affair was the opening right-wingers used to pummel Obama with race-based attacks—to prove that America’s first post-racial presidency was anything but

In Yglesias world, criticizing Obama for how he handles racial topics is itself inherently racist. Isn't that convenient? Here's an example of one of these supposed "race-based attacks," most of which exist only in Yglesias' imagination.

Brit Hume whined on air that "to be labeled a racist" in today's America is very bad

Obviously Hume meant being falsely labeled, but Yglesias, with typical intellectual dishonesty, pretends that Hume is against "the existence of social opprobrium against racists." When you have to reach that far to find "race-based attacks," you know your case is pretty weak.

Basically anyone that brings up reverse racism, or otherwise doesn't toe the left-wing line on race, or of course dares to criticize Obama in anyway related to race, must be a racist. That's the entire substance of Yglesias' "thinking." Unlike what he apparently assumes, accusing the president of being a "racial opportunist," or even labeling Judge Sotomeyer a racist, are not necessarily racist attacks -- any more than are incorrect or false accusations of racism by people like Yglesias. When Yglesias falsely accuses people on the right of racism, it isn't necessarily because he's a racist himself. It could just be that he's wrong, being intellectually dishonest, stupid, or otherwise clueless and incapable of determining what constitutes racism.