As we noted on Monday, the NAACP wasn't exactly swift in condemning the racist strains in the tea party "movement" and calling out the likes of Winky and Dick "Major Dick" Armey to condemn the racist behavior of a number of party followers. The wording of the NAACP resolution was also fairly mild, not condemning the "movement" as a whole, but saying that the leadership should make it clear that racists are not welcome (but that might force a collapse of the movement -- editor's note).
Almost immediately after the NAACP's challenge was issued, the wingnut right rose in phony outrage, twisting the NAACP's words into a blanket condemnation, or in Winky's case, a personal attack. Not surprisingly, they've chosen to use the issue for political purposes, rather than deal with the issue itself. E. J. Dionne has a great op-ed piece exposing the right-wing's bob-and-weave tactics.
