As part of their ridiculous ad campaign, the National Black Republican Association counts Martin Luther King, Jr., among its ranks without providing historical context. Instead of listing blacks who were members of the party pre-1960s, here are some living, breathing, modern-day black Republicans on which to feast your eyes. Yes, that's card-carrying Republican JJ Walker (from Good Times) pictured with the devil incarnate.

The National Black Republicans Association has gone to a place where the RNC and John McCain certainly never could and no one ever should. The association has released two racially-inflammatory, misleading, and likely ineffective ads in an attempt to convince black voters that the Democratic party is full of Klansmen and (dead?) segregationists and that Barack Obama doesn't give a shit about them. Subtlety is not the NBRA's strong suit. Neither is the production of political ads. Never in the course of the two ads do the narrators explain — to what I can only assume is a highly unimpressionable audience of black, Democratic voters — whether or not there are any racists in the Republican party (there are!) and why it's in black voters' best interest to vote for John McCain (do tell!) and not just against the black Democrat.

Watch it yourself. Let me know if you're not convinced to join the GOP (or are happy that you are already a proud member).

The GOP jokesters (is that an oxymoron?) who came up with this handy pin probably thought they were being original, not knowing that the joke is so old and tired that old and tired Southwesterners in bolo ties were getting in trouble for uttering it in public places months ago. Nevertheless, Republicanmarket.com printed up the "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" of racist political jokes on a bunch of pins and sold them at the Texas Republican Convention last weekend. Of course, after photos of the pin hit the press yesterday, the state GOP representatives were shocked and appalled, vowing to never again invite the vendor to an event.

The damage was done, though. Just like the Obama sock monkeys*, which were scrapped by the naive and racially-transcendent entrepreneurs who conceived it, and those Obama=Curious George t-shirts that were rejected and denounced from sea to shining sea. There's plenty more to come, of course — during the campaign season and after Obama is elected. And it might get a lot worse than pins and sock monkeys.

*For the record, I'm not really sure how my or anyone else's criticism of Obama sock monkeys somehow means we are simultaneously condoning Hillary Clinton nutcrackers or that the sheer presence of Clinton nutcrackers somehow make Obama sock monkeys okay.

• Damon Dash and Rachel Roy just signed a $4 billion licensing deal for Roy's clothing line. This should put to end those Dame-Dash-is-bankrupt rumors. [NR]

• This is sort of preaching to the choir, but still. The war sucks. [JJP]

• Want to learn about the black family? CNN'll school ya. [CL]

• More on R. Kelly's pervy past. [SOHH]

• True, Chris Brown is younger than Rihanna. But she doesn't like them this young. [SR]

When black Republicans are accusing John McCain having an African American outreach that pales in comparison to George W. Bush, McCain's got major problems. Yvonne R. Davis, a former national co-chair for African Americans for Bush (really?), said that McCain doesn't seem to have the same interest in bringing blacks over to his side as Bush did. Perhaps he recognizes the futility?

Minus a couple of black folks seen with him on the campaign trail, you still don't see many in the room with McCain when he is meeting and greeting or standing in crowds.

What you see with McCain are packs of what Ron Heifetz in the Harvard Executive Leadership School calls older "silverback" white males. When President Bush was on the stump in 2000 and 2004, and later in the White House, African American Republicans often heard that President Bush strongly admonished his staff for inviting the same old white guys to everything.

It's bad enough for the GOP that blacks and Hispanic voters aren't in their corner — it also looks pretty bad when there are so few politicians of color repping for the Republican side. But since when have the major players really cared about that sort of thing?

At the start of the Bush years, the Republican National Committee — in tandem with the White House — vowed to usher in a new era of GOP minority outreach. As George W. Bush winds down his presidency, Republicans are now on the verge of going six — and probably more — years without an African-American governor, senator or House member. That’s the longest such streak since the 1980s.

Former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, who is black and a Republican, told Politico that when he ran in 1994, 13 other black Republicans were running for Congress. Watts was the only one who won, but the rest were viable candidates. This year, the Republican party has zero black candidates with a shot in hell of winning any major elections. Meanwhile, the Dems have 43 African Americans in congress.

None of this should come as any sort of surprise, although it seems that some GOPers with a clue have the decency to be a little uneasy about the all-white roster of candidates on the block in November. Particularly considering how "in" diversity is in politics right about now. [Politico]

TENNESSEE ATTACKS Michelle Obama might have finally become proud of America, but she's probably about to become disappointed again. [HP]

THIS HAS GOTTA HURT There surely won't be much news about this today — Clinton and Obama are the big stories — but McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, didn't do so hot in North Carolina. What, you ask, does "not so hot" mean when the only other GOPer he's competing against is Ron Paul? Well, a whopping 27 percent of North Carolina Republican voters chose to avoid actually voiting for McCain. In addition to the 8 percent that voted for Paul, twelve percent voted for Huckabee, who is not in the race, and four* percent chose "no preference."

*Not sure about the remaining 3 percent.

• Republicans are ignoring the GOP this election season? Okay, well, that means everything is status quo, then. [LW]

• A group of Maryland students are collecting interviews from several of the states oldest blacks for a project that is turning out to be the most comprehensive studies of black life in the region. [WP]

• What happens when your own past intersects with your work. [USAT]

• "What gives you cause for hope or despair when it comes to race in America?" [MSNBC]

• The South African "urine stew" video is just a tip of the iceberg. [AA]

George Bush decided to be more introspective than usual yesterday during an Oval Office interview with American Urban Radio Networks. When asked about his relationship with blacks during his tenure as president, he actually admitted that it was probably his fault that black people don't like him very much. But if you know it's your fault and you don't really do anything about it, what does that say?

“I guess people get images in their mind in the political world where they just don’t get to know a person’s heart. I’m sure it’s my fault that I wasn’t able to go into some African-American communities and share my heart,” Bush said.

“Secondly, I am a Republican and there is a suspicion of being a Republican. You hear, ‘Aw, Bush is a Republican. He doesn’t care about us.’ And I understand that. And our party has to do a better job of making sure our policies are viewed as hopeful policies. I guess that’s the reason why,” he said.

“I was disappointed, of course,” Bush said of his inability to curry favor among blacks. “When I was governor of Texas they got to know me pretty well down there and I got a pretty sizable African-American vote, which I was proud of. When I ran for president I got whomped pretty significantly in the African-American community and I was disappointed, truly disappointed.”

He was so disappointed that he made sure to avoid appearing before the NAACP for most of his presidency.

Also, way to be careful not to mention Hurricane Katrina! Or that war that all of those young people, many of them blacks, are dying in. Because that would be just a little too honest. [AAS]

• Well, the New York Times enjoyed Lil Wayne's concert last night. [NYT]

• A black Republican goes for the hard sell. [NM]

• Maybe our National Association of Black Journalists can send an emissary to South Africa to help handle this issue. [AA]

• Dr. Dre is launching a line of "premium alcohol." As a producer/rapper, it was his logical next step. [CM]

• I once thought this presidential race would never get old… [TRS]

The brains behind the GOP know that there are some sensitive issues coming up in the general election that have nothing to do with politics. When you're running against a "historic first," nasty campaigning can be a tricky thing. So the RNC has commissioned experts to figure out just how far they can go without coming across as anymore racist or sexist than people think they already are.

The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved. The secretive effort underscores the enormous risk senior GOP operatives see for a party often criticized for its insensitivity to minorities in campaigns dating back to the 1960s…

In other words, Republicans should expect a severe backlash if they say or do anything that smacks of politicizing race or gender. They didn’t need an expensive poll to learn that lesson, however.

They could simply have asked Joe Biden, John Edwards, Bill Clinton or any number of Democratic politicians who stung over their choice of words in this campaign already.

Despite their best efforts, I find it hard to believe that a whole lot of "undisciplined messaging," which is what stategists call language that can be "perceived as discriminatory," not to mention very disciplined, GOP-coded messaging, won't make it's way into the general election. [Politico]

Mike Huckabee on South Carolina's penchant for the Confederate flag (which, incidentally, is not South Carolina's flag):

"You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag," Huckabee said at a Myrtle Beach campaign event. "In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do."

One member of a "broad coalition of black conservatives" fighting tooth and nail to keep Mike Huckabee in the race:

"Inside-the-beltway Republicans have lost touch with the increasing
seriousness with which heartland conservatives relate to the traditional
values agenda," states Star Parker, a nationally syndicated columnist and
conservative activist. "More and more folks are feeling personally
assaulted by the meaninglessness that is gripping our culture and believe
that Mike Huckabee is the only republican candidate that embodies the moral
clarity of the GOP ideals. The groundswell generating support for
Huckabee's candidacy understand that moral and economic health go hand in
hand and should not be underestimated."

A few months ago, I tried to watch a bit of a GOP debate. I felt sort of like I was in bizarro world — the things they were accusing each other of were the very things I would laud them for! They were bragging about things I found reprehensible! It made me dizzy. So, no, I did not watch last night's debate. But based on this clip of the debate from CNN and Rush Limbaugh's harsh words for John McCain, things are going to get uglier in the Republican Party the more secure McCain's front-runner status becomes.

• More on Ron Paul's anti-gay/racist newsletters, which he says he didn't write and didn't have time to monitor properly. And yet he allowed his name to be splashed all over them. [CNN]

• Tony Yayo swears that a convicted felon slapped the teenage son of Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond earlier last year. That's convenient. [USAT]

• The abortion vote that both Clinton and the GOP might use to discredit Obama — for opposite reasons. Which, to me, sort of makes it null and void. [PP]

• Uh, Rev. Al? How do I say this… Umm, I don't need you to handle my racial controversy. But thanks anyway. [WSOCTV]

• More on the heart-sinking subprime lending disaster. [BE]