The quotation "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, scene II. The phrase has come to mean that one can "insist so passionately about something not being true that people suspect the opposite of what one is saying."  (Wikipedia).

When left-wing ideologues from politicians (Weekly Standard article) to Hollywood actresses like Janeane Garofalo (Daily Caller article) pronounce racism is behind the tea party when there is absolutely no evidence or sense of the accusation, it makes one wonder what's behind such baseless charges.  Incredibly, Garofalo, my shining example, from RealClearPolitics.com even goes so far as to state,

"Herman Cain is probably well liked by some of the Republicans because it hides the racist elements of the Republican Party. Conservative movement and tea party movement, one in the same.

"People like Karl Rove liked to keep the racism very covert. And so Herman Cain provides this great opportunity say you can say 'Look, this is not a racist, anti-immigrant, anti-female, anti-gay movement. Look we have a black man.'"

What?  That would be about as smart as sucking down cod liver oil to prove orange juice isn't your favorite beverage.  If she doesn't sound like someone possessed with racism, I don't know who does. And what makes Garofalo's statement so incredibly stupid is that she thinks the tea party hates blacks with such incredible intensity, and yet they would nominate Cain for the highest office in the land just to prove a point. Tell me, Janeane, does that mean we are really smart or really stupid?  And if we nominate a black and a woman, does that mean we are racist and sexist?

None of this is a surprise to conservatives.  We are frequently accused of racism and all sorts of other undesirable qualities when we disagree with a liberal on anything.  It's why we can't discuss politics with most liberals: they can't follow a train of thought without injecting some off-the-wall comment about your character.

Don't like paying taxes?  Racist.

Don't want to extend unemployment?  Racist.

Don't want to increase the federal deficit?  Stupid and racist.

Don't like broccoli?  Racist.

Interestingly, pollster Frank Lunz says his focus groups have consistently picked Herman Cain as the most likeable in the Republican debates -- odd coming from a bunch of racists.  Karl Rove must be a busy man conducting secret briefings to all 90M people who identify with the tea party in order to get them to present a cohesive story.

Fortunately, most Americans are familiar with the ridiculousness of these claims and either agree because they are left wing sheep or are sensible and know better.  However, there is an opportunity here for conservatives that should not be overlooked: turning the issue from one of whether the tea party is racist or not to one of how intelligent the left is, and point out that, in fact, the left's behavior can only be driven by either stupidity or embarrassing semi-subconscious racism.  Middle of the road citizens know the tea party is not racist, but they haven't put statements like Garofalo's into perspective - that only an idiot or a racist would say something like that with such conviction.

Unfortunately, Democrats treat blacks as a group and assign them no individuality.  My blog post "The Boxer Racist" outlines how Democrats behave in a manner that demonstrates just how little respect they have for blacks.  It is truly phenomenal.  Every conservative who is irritated by the racist charge should be consciously aware of the nastiest form of racism that exists in the Democratic Party, and be able to reverse the charge.

Of course, not all Democrats make the racist charge so easily, and they are worthy of discussion concerning political issues.  However, those who frequently fling the charge about should look to their souls and see if it isn't latent racism within themselves that motivates them to, as Ms. Garofalo says, hide their racist element by attacking others.

Going forward, whenever we face that charge, we should turn it around and ask if the accuser isn't the guilty party.  Proclaim that you think they protesteth too much.