Partisan Hackery at the NAACP

The NAACP's recent denouncement of alleged racism within the tea party movement reeks of dirty tricks and shallow race baiting.

The resolution's premises are absurd because the tea party movement already opposes racism, and tea party leaders have already denounced the isolated incidents that purportedly prompted the resolution.

First, there is no need for the tea party movement to denounce something it already opposes. It draws much of its ideological inspiration from the principles of natural law enshrined in our Declaration of Independence, including that all men are created equal—the very antithesis of racism.

The NAACP, on the other hand, bases its case on isolated, anecdotal evidence. But, as it turns out, tea party leaders have already denounced such misbehavior within their ranks!

So, what's the NAACP's real goal? Simple: a political cheap shot during an election year.

The resolution has drummed up slanted headlines like "NAACP Says Tea Party Tolerates Racism" (CBS) and "NAACP accuses tea party of tolerating bigotry" (AP). A misleading frontpage headline is worth a thousand backpage retractions.

Fortunately, this cheap trick is backfiring on the NAACP. Haphazardly decreeing opposing voices as racist is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and the American people have rejected this kind of race baiting for years.

That's probably why Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are trying to downplay the resolution.

This is a pretty revolting development, since the NAACP was so instrumental during the civil rights movement. Hopefully the backlash will convince its leadership to focus on its mission of strengthening the black community, and shy away from partisan adventurism.