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The Tweet: "SCOTUS VRA majority is four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas. Marriage decision may blur court's backsliding."

Minnesota state representative Ryan Winkler, a white Democrat, did not have the world's most well-thought-out response to the Supreme Court's 5–4 ruling against a key provision of the Voting Rights Act today. As you can see in the tweet above, he referred to Clarence Thomas, who voted with the majority, as "Uncle Thomas." Uncle Tom is a derogatory term used to describe "a black who is overeager to win the approval of whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals)," which is exactly how it's being used here by Winkler. Winkler deleted the tweet and...

Merriam Webster describes an 'Uncle Tom' as "a black who is overeager to win the approval of whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals)". Palestinian 'journalist' Abdel Bari Atwan describes US President Barack Obama as an "Uncle Tom" - an epithet derived from Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. The slightly more controversial version, though hardly more insulting, is "House Negro" - a black person who works in his slave master's house, while the others toil in the field. Bari Atwan writes in his blog, following Obama's visit to Israel and the...

When the Obama campaign sent popular, telegenic, man-of-action Newark Mayor Cory Booker out to do a little surrogate-advocacy on their behalf last month, something happened that the Democrats certainly did not intend: Cory Booker made a very public display of intellectual integrity (I know, I know ... a rare beast in politics, but it can happen). On "Meet the Press", Booker said that Team Obama's attacks on Mitt Romney's record at private-equity firm Bain Capital and other such petty campaign tactics were "nauseating" and made him "very uncomfortable." And it felt so good.But the Democrats didn't take kindly to Booker...

’s bye-bye, Beltway for Cory Booker. Newark’s mayor, who was gunning for a spot in President Obama’s Cabinet, lost the chance after he shot his mouth off during a blunderingly honest TV appearance last month, sources told The Post. “He’s dead to us,” one ranking administration official said of the prevailing feelings at the White House and Obama headquarters in Chicago. Booker had been angling for the housing secretary gig in a second Obama term, according to sources in the administration and close to the mayor.

Yet another story of media failure shows up in the Hot Air inbox this week, courtesy of the fine folks at MSNBC. (Yes, I know… I know… but I can’t help myself. And besides, I watch so you don’t have to.) In this instance, we find liberal gadfly Lawrence O’Donnell interviewing Herman Cain, shortly after yet another poll shows the former Godfathers Pizza CEO moving into potential frontrunner status. You’d think, given all of the attention being paid to this race and the national implications involved, that O’Donnell might dive into some substantive questions on topics which Cain has addressed....

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I have here a series of sound bites, they're from MSNBC, Lawrence O'Donnell interviewing Herman Cain. One, two, three, four, five of them. Our policy here, ladies and gentlemen, is not to include on our sound bites the employee of the network. We just use the guest. It's primarily about fair usage. For example, Lawrence O'Donnell doesn't work here, he works at MSNBC. So what happens on his show within time constraints is free for us to use under fair usage rules, but we've always drawn the line at actually using the talent unless it's just a...

I returned a bit ago from getting photos and video of the Obama fundraiser protest in St. Louis. It was hosted by Tom Carnahan, owner of the Wind Capital Group, an alternative energy group which received around $100 million in stimulus funds. That Carnahan’s brother is Democratic Representative Russ Carnahan surely helped change Wind Capital Group’s fortunes. (Snip) I’ve been to a lot of protests–both conservative and progressive–and only one other time have I witnessed such a level of hostility and outright inappropriate behavior. It’s a shame some individuals allow themselves to get so partisan and emotional that they make...

"We're supportive of the president, but we're getting tired. We're getting tired. So, what we want to do is, we want to give the president every opportunity to show -- to show what he can do and what he's prepared to lead on," Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) told a Congressional Black Caucus-sponsored gathering yesterday in Detroit. "Our people are hurting," Waters added.

To many Asian-Americans, Charlie Chan is an offensive stereotype, another sort of Uncle Tom. Chan, the hero of six detective novels by Earl Derr Biggers and 47 Hollywood movies between 1926 and 1949, not to mention a 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, is pudgy, slant-eyed and inscrutable, and he speaks in singsong fortune-cookie English, saying things like, “If befriend donkey, expect to be kicked.” The California-born author and playwright Frank Chin, who has written essays denouncing Chan, would like to see him disappear altogether. But Yunte Huang, who was born and grew up in China, can’t get enough of Chan and...

Leadership: The top Senate Democrat has exposed the hypocrisy of modern liberalism through his racially insensitive remarks. Trent Lott lost his post for humoring an old man. How will Robert Byrd's party honor him? Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has called for the resignation of Harry Reid as Senate majority leader over remarks published in a new book calling then-presidential candidate Barack Obama a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one." If the Lott standard still applies, Reid should step down. Reid's propensity to shoot from the lip is legendary. He recently compared...

Here is video of CNN's Don Lemon reading a letter by Sgt. Leon Lashley, an African-American police officer who was present at the scene along with Sgt. James Crowley the night Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested. Lashley has backed Sgt. James Crowley 100% in the controversy. Lashley reportedly wanted Crowley to share the contents of the letter with President Obama and Professor Gates, but there is no indication whether or not the message was actually shared. Lashley says in the letter that he has been branded an "Uncle Tom" as a result of the controversy, and his standing...

Sgt. Leon Lashley, the African-American cop on scene when James Crowley arrested Professor Henry Louis Gates, writes a letter saying that he is not an "Uncle Tom" and regrets being known as a "black sergeant." He asks Prof. Gates what he can do to make things better, and let him know if he did anything wrong. CNN's Don Lemon reads the letter to viewers.

Dear Jim, Would you be so kind as to mention the following to Mr. Gates and President Obama during your meeting with them: One of the major problems stemming from the events of July 16 is that I, now known as 'the black Sergeant', have had my image plastered all over the Internet, television and newspapers. Subsequently, I have also become known, at least to some, as an 'Uncle Tom.' I'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and coming to the defense of a friend and collegue, who just happens to be white,...

A black sergeant who was at the home of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. when he was arrested says he's been maligned as an "Uncle Tom" for supporting the actions of the white arresting officer. Cambridge Sgt. Leon Lashley gave a letter to Sgt. James Crowley to give to President Barack Obama during their so-called beer summit with Gates on Thursday night at the White House. In the letter, which was also sent to CNN, Lashley says Gates "may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony." Lashley says he has become known as...

Last week Glenn got a call from a very impressive young man named Jerome Hudson, who told Glenn he had written an op-ed during the 2008 election on being a black conservative. He sent it in and it's fantastic. Enjoy! While attending a black fraternity party, I recently learned it’s a bad idea to profess one’s affinity for Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. Worse, according to current polls, it appears I may be the only black 22 year old in America who will be voting for Sen. John McCain. It’s not that I was unaware that...

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says he has reached out to Rush Limbaugh to tell him he meant no offense when he referred to the popular conservative radio host as an “entertainer” whose show can be “incendiary.” “My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Steele said in a telephone interview. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. … There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.” The dust-up comes at a time when top Democrats are trying to make Limbaugh the face of the...

I don't know how I missed this - it looks like it was election night and Nader was given chance after chance to back off and say he should not have used the phrase "Uncle Tom"

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader apologized for using the phrase “Uncle Tom” in reference to president-elect Barack Obama. “It was totally inappropriate,” Nader admitted. “The Uncle Tom of literary fame was a noble, hard-working man. Obama is nothing like that.”

There has been little discussion during this campaign of Obama surrogate and his admitted mentor Emil Jones. Jones is currently the Illinois Senate Majority Leader and responsible for first pushing Obama to run for office and then the US Senate. As Senate Majority Leader, Jones has proven to be one of the most divisive figures in Illinois Politics as a right-hand man of the unpopular Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. In recent weeks, while facing a backlash from his own party, Jones announced that he was retiring from politics; a move that well-received by the public who overwhelmingly did not approve...