What’s the fear among the elite members of the Republican establishment, who’ve been elected to serve the wealthiest one percent, such as the trust fund babies, the banksters and the corporations and their CEOs? That perhaps there could be some kind of power outage this summer while Fox “News” or Clear Channel drones their magical blend of Orwellian hypnosis (not wealthy themselves, but hate gays and love Jesus! remember… Democrats love gays and hate Jesus! remember… Republicans want you to have guns and love Jesus! remember… ), and the GOP base rabble could potentially overhear Obama and the Democrats talk about verboten topics like income inequality, unemployment, or tax fairness and begin drifting out of Fox’s hazy and yet comfortably warm mind-vacuum, blinking rapidly, before the power grid could be restored.

So what’s a good Plan B? Good old fashioned racism — early and often. If there’s anything the Fox News audience seems to be more against than the gays, it’s the “not white” races. The base won’t need the full programming to remember things they already know.

Charles P. Pierce says,

This is likely going to be the most obviously racist presidential campaign the country has seen since people went out a’whispering about Warren Harding’s black ancestry. Even if Willard Romney has the stones to unequivocally denounce the entire network dedicated to boosting this stuff into the mainstream, which he doesn’t now and never will, he can’t stop it. It’s a feature of conservative politics, not a bug.

Don’t believe it? It’s just beginning:

• Chris Wallace: ‘McCain was crazy’ not to attack Obama with Rev. Wright – Fox News host Chris Wallace on Friday suggested that it would be “legitimate” for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to attack President Barack Obama for his association with Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. “As far as Rev. Wright is concerned, I think it had a lot of relevance and I think when you look back on it, [former Republican presidential nominee John] McCain was crazy not to bring it up,” Wallace told Fox News host Gretchen Carlson. “Not in a matter of exploiting it, it’s a legitimate issue.” — Raw Story

• During the May 17 edition of Fox News’ Hannity, host Sean Hannity disagreed with the Romney campaign’s decision, stating: … I believe that the president’s relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a man that influenced him for over 20 years, inspired him, is a very important campaign issue. After all, it is a matter of character. – MMFA

• In a May 18 post, on his blog, RedState, CNN’s Erick Erickson praised Breitbart.com for its May 17 “vetting” of  Obama, using the post to call Obama a “Composite Kenyan.” – MMFA

• Obama Derangement Syndrome, cont. – Arizona edition: Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R) told KFYI he’s not entirely convinced President Obama was really born in the United States and suggested he could be knocked off the state’s presidential ballot. Said Bennett: “I’m not a birther. I believe the president was born in Hawaii — or at least I hope he was. But my responsibility as secretary of state is to make sure the ballots in Arizona are correct and that those people whose names are on the ballot have met the qualifications for the office they are seeking.” – Political Wire

Wouldn’t it be great if these birthers (or, really, the panderers to birthers) like Bennett and Arpaio and whoever else is but isn’t a birther this week would compare for us not only ROMNEY’S and Obama’s birth certificates — but their own, and let us all in on the big difference. Just so we all know… so that we all can be on the same page.