To me, what is most notable about these smears is that they are coming from the right. I remember a time that whenever a conservative spoke out against welfare programs, minimum wage laws, or affirmative action, he was branded a racist by the radical left.
Yet, with the neocon hijacking of the conservative movement, they caved in to such strategies because they were clearly focused on foreign policy and remolding the world into a Pax-Americana utopia. Petty discussions about racism stemming from disagreement on social and domestic issues is an annoyance to them, and a distraction.
Yet what have the neocons done now? They've pulled a page from the playbook on the left. We've come full circle, now. So-called "conservatives" are fully engaged in race baiting and smear tactics, the same strategies that conservatives always identified as evidence that the opposing side didn't want to argue facts and ideas, but wanted to call-names into the issue went away.
The neocons are hanging themselves. They are showing Americans that there is no difference, none at all, between themselves and the left-liberals who, while arguing vehemently over the details, still want America's "greatness" to be demonstrated throughout the world with force. Social issues and charges of racism just keep the political mob satisfied that America is "on the right track." In reality, these tactics are now employed by the neocon right and liberal left to marginalize anyone who speaks out against their common agenda.
But, the fact that Ron Paul has raised 18 million says that Americans are onto the game.
