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Chris Hayes and his Story of the Week on the predicament for Republican party and conservatives who are "creating their own electoral enemies" with "its visceral appeal to anxieties and fears of white Christians."

After listening to Republicans discussing their some of their losses after this last election, I'd say they're more than aware that they've got a problem, but are unwilling to admit they need to do more than put a little nicer window dressing on their policies. And I don't see them giving up on the fearmongering any time soon. It's all they've got left.

White identity politics doomed 2012 Republican effort:

Of all the surprising and revealing results from Tuesday night, there is one relatively small bit of exit polling data that I think is the key to understanding the entire evening.

You’ve probably heard by now that Mitt Romney won white voters by a sizable margin, while Barack Obama ran up huge margins among African-Americans and Latinos.

In fact, he won Latinos by 71% to 27%, an even wider margin than in 2008 when he won them 67% to 31%. But almost no one has noticed what to me is the most shocking result, and that’s how the two candidates did with Asian-American voters.

Now, Asian-Americans made up a very small sliver of the electorate, just 3%, so a presidential candidate’s performance within that group doesn’t necessarily carry with it massive electoral consequences.

But Asian-Americans are also, according to the latest census, the fastest growing racial sub category in America. In fact, the census projects that by mid-century they will make up 9% of the country. And as it happens, Asian-Americans are also the nation’s highest earning ethnicity, with median incomes even higher than those of whites.

So you might have predicted that Mitt Romney would do well with them, since he won among voters making more than $100,000 a year.

But he did not. He got creamed, losing Asian-American voters 73% to 26%. This is a shocking result not only because just 20 years ago George HW Bush carried Asian-Americans comfortably, or because the margin is so wide,but because the entire category of Asian-American is so obviously a construction there’s little reason to suspect members of the group would vote with each other in any discernible pattern.

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Islamophobia may have reached a point in this country where people condemn Christians who they suspect are Muslims without ever checking the facts.

In Phoenix, Arizona, a new Christian church has residents fearing that it is an Islamic mosque.

The Light of the World multidenominational church is being built just off of Interstate 10 and features a dome-like structure.

"Since the distinctive dome shape went up, church leaders said they have received phone calls from concerned neighbors who've mistaken the building for an Islamic mosque," KPHO reported.

"I heard many people, they came over and they say, 'Is this a Muslim temple?' No, it's not," church member Juan Calixto told KPNX.

"It is unfortunate that people are so intolerant to differences that they aren’t willing to see that the place of worship is not a mosque," said Tayyibah Amatullah of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Arizona chapter.

Church officials have hung a sign to let people know they aren't Muslim. "If you think we are different you are wrong," the sign reads. "We are building a Christian house of prayer."

"We're trying to let people know that we're Christian and our churches are modern," Uzieo Martinez, a church official told KPHO.

Officials are trying to avoid the type of backlash received by the Park51 Islamic center that is planned near Ground Zero.

The cultural center was largely ignored when The New York Times first reported about it in December 2009.

The project received wider notice in May 2010 when a community board considered the construction plans. Conservative bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer dubbed the proposed center the "Ground Zero Mosque" which started a national controversy.

"But with so many high-profile figures selling unfounded, anti-Muslim fear to the public, is it any wonder that all many Americans can see in Islam is a phantom menace?" asked Tanya Somanader at the liberal blog Think Progress.

Stephen asks Rep. Zoe Lofgren how hard it is to be a migrant farm worker and if she wants to make an anchor baby with him. Rep. Lofgren might not have wanted to make an anchor baby that they could then indoctrinate and turn into a "terror baby" by taking it to the "ground zero mosque" but I've got it on good authority that there might be some others willing to volunteer to take here place.

I look forward to tonight's show where Stephen is going to go out there and try to keep up with those farm workers. And apparently Colbert will be testifying "in character" before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration this Friday. That should be interesting to say the least.

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I thought these "Tea Party" candidates were supposed to be against "big government". Rick Sanchez had a somewhat contentious interview with the winner of the Republican gubernatorial race, Carl Paladino, yesterday on CNN. Paladino advocated seizing the site where the Park 51 Islamic Center is being proposed by using eminent domain, and he also said that no mosques or Islamic centers should be allowed to be built anywhere the dust cloud that carried human remains was located around ground zero. As Rick Sanchez pointed out to him, that stretched out quite a bit farther than the 1/4 mile or so Paladino was claiming.

I think this wingnut just handed his Democratic opponent Andrew Cuomo a huge gift with his election. And as Digby reminded us today, here are some of the things he sent out in some emails awhile backm, if you haven't already seen them -- All In "Good Fun".

This vile man was also very glib on his stand on abortion and stated that a woman should be forced to have the baby even cases of rape and incest and "the baby can be adopted". How charitable of him.

Here's the transcript via CNN where Sanchez followed up after arguing with him for almost 10 minutes over the building of the Islamic center:

SANCHEZ: All right.

We're back with Carl Paladino, who was the victor last night in the Republican gubernatorial race. He's kind enough to join us.

And we are -- we have congratulated him for -- for this win, which takes him on to the general now in November.

You -- you said something interesting a while ago that caught my attention, because I was there during 9/11. I witnessed the second tower falling down. And I remember what you were explaining a little while -- when you said the dust cloud.

You said the dust -- you said you want to respect that whole area anywhere in the dust cloud that carried the human remains of the victims who died there that day. So, I -- I -- I believe what I hear you saying is, then, that you wouldn't want any mosque or Islamic center built anywhere in that area where the dust cloud was?

Because that was a vast -- if you recall, I mean, it stretched all the way to Weehawken, to parts of Hoboken, to, you know, all -- block -- miles from where this thing happened, right?

PALADINO: No, I don't think it went out that far. It went out about a quarter-of-a-mile, I think.

SANCHEZ: You would -- OK. So, is that what you're saying?

PALADINO: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Within a quarter-mile radius of Ground Zero, you do not want any --

PALADINO: Well, I -- I don't know the -- I don't know the exact distance. I don't mean to make out that I know the exact distance.

But wherever it went, wherever that dust is caught in the crevices of buildings or in the crevices of sidewalks, that's human remains, and it should be treated that way.

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Pundits at Fox News saw the worst intentions when Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said that if the Park51 cultural center was moved from its planned location, radical Muslims would take it as a sign that Islam is under attack in the US.

Jon Stewart noted Monday that Republicans had made similar "threats" as a way to influence elections.

"Had I known this would happen, we certainly would never have done this," Rauf told CNN's Soledad O'Brien. "If we move from that location, the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discorse. The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack."

"The concern for American citizens who live and work and travel overseas will be compromised if the radicals are strengthened. If we don't do this right, anger will explode in the Muslim world," said Rauf.

Fox News pundits immediately suggested that that imam was making a threat.

"Here is a threat he made yesterday," Steve Doocy announced the next morning.

"It's a veiled threat," said Laura Ingraham.

Michelle Malkin went a step further. "I don't think it's any mistake he used the word explode," she said.

But Jon Stewart pointed out that Republicans had been making their own "threats" as a way garner votes. "To use a cheap use of fear as a way to expedite your desired outcome, that is so a few years ago," said Stewart.

"It is absolutely essential that eight weeks from today on November 2 we make the right choice," Vice President Dick Cheney said while campaigning for re-election in 2004. "If we make the wrong choice the danger is we'll get hit again."

Gov. Mitt Romney did the same thing in 2008. "Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear on the war on terror," he said. "They would retreat, declare defeat and the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America."

Stewart noted the hypocrisy. "See that's not a threat. That's not a threat if you don't vote Republican, we'll be attacked by terrorists. Those are helpful warnings that have protected our country," Stewart concluded.

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Poor S.E. Cupp... apparently the "liberal media" "thought police" have intimidated her so badly she feels she's being "censored". Apparently she's not intimidated badly enough to quit going on ClusterFox and waving the bloody shirt as she does here, standing up for those poor downtrodden racists who are protesting the Islamic center in New York.

I wonder if Cupp thinks the ones egging this hatred on (like Fox News) should bear any responsibility for this?

Fire At Mosque Construction Site In Tennessee Ruled Arson

Heaven forbid that might require Cupp to have more going on in that empty head of hers than the list of Republican talking points she memorized for the day.

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After playing some of the extreme rhetoric coming from the likes of Newt Gingrich and Glenn Beck, Chris Matthews asks what’s driving the hysteria over the so called “ground zero mosque” and the apocalyptic language coming from the likes of Glenn Beck. The National Review's Reihan Salam apparently doesn't think that Rupert Murdoch has any control over Glenn Beck which I'll get to shortly.

Joe Klein says Newt Gingrich is smart enough to know better, which he is, but dismisses Glenn Beck as “something different” and a “paranoid lunatic who is a great entertainer” who is exploiting what always happens when we have a combination of a bad economic situation in the United States coupled with being at war. I agree with Klein that Beck is exploiting a lot of the real fear that is out there with the economy being so terrible right now. I disagree that he’s just some “paranoid lunatic”. Beck knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s happy to be using his fear mongering to enrich himself. He just doesn’t care what type of damage he’s doing in the interim. And I also agree with Klein that Beck is doing this with the full approval of his “puppet master” Rupert Murdoch.

The part of this segment I found really irritating was the National Review’s Reihan Salam and his dismissiveness of Rupert Murdoch’s control over Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck doesn’t do anything on the air without the full approval of his station’s ownership and to pretend he doesn’t is just nonsense.

Matthews: Reihan Salam, this whole thing, I think it gets ethnic, I think it is tribal. I listened to Rush Limbaugh this week saying, you know, we’re not Islamaphobic, we elected Barack Obama. That proves we’re not Islamaphobic. That’s saying he’s Islamic again when the guy’s a Christian.

Salam: I don’t think that’s quite what it’s saying. I think what it’s saying is that Barack Obama is someone who comes from a very different kind of background and Americans have embraced him in large numbers. I also think the idea respectfully that Glenn Beck is… ah… you know… is being controlled by Rupert Murdoch as his puppet master gets things wrong. (crosstalk)

When you look at Glenn Beck you see someone for example, remember Louis Farrakhan and the Million Man March. What was the Million Man March about? A lot of people were terrified by that. It caused a lot of consternation among liberals and conservatives. But ultimately what you saw was an event where tons of African American men got together and it was really about identity and pride.

And I think that when you are looking at our politics right now, it’s true that in an economic downturn you see a lot of confusion, you see a lot of uncertainty and there is a decent number of people who feel like now “have nots”, but they feel like “are nots”. They feel like they’re not being respected in our public life and they want to assert themselves….

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The Daily Show's "Aasif Mandvi worries that a few good apples at an Islamic center in Murfreesboro, TN could ruin it for the rest of the terrorists." Here's more from TPM:

Mosque Ado About Fear-Mongering: Right Wing Takes On Muslim Worship Anywhere And Everywhere:

Long story short: It's starting to become clear that some conservative groups think that if Muslims are able to worship on American soil, the terrorists have won.

In big cities and small rural communities, from New York to Tennessee to California, the right-wing fear machine is spinning up to take on the construction of mosques and Muslim community centers. In each case, the argument is essentially the same, when the hedging is peeled away: you don't necessarily have to exercise your freedom of religion in the privacy of your own home, but hey, you can't do it in public here either.

July is proving to be the month where the tea party movement is finally coming to grips with -- and rebuking -- some of its more racist elements, a move that many observers would say is a long time coming. But at the same time, plans to build an Islamic community center near the Ground Zero site in New York City has brought to the surface a different kind of bigotry among some conservatives -- namely, the idea that if Muslims are allowed to worship where they want, terrorist violence will spread across the country.

Read on...

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One Fox News host may be in denial about the effects of rampant Islamophobia over the so-called "Ground Zero mosque."

While reporting on the stabbing of a Muslim New York City cab driver, Alisyn Camerota maintained anti-Islamic rhetoric had nothing to do with the crime.

Michael Enright was charged Wednesday with attempted murder as hate crime for allegedly stabbing Ahmed Sharif in his cab Tuesday night. The attack allegedly began with Enright asking Sharif if he was a Muslim. When the cab driver answered yes, the attacker yelled, "As-salaam alaikum. This is a checkpoint, this is checkpoint, motherf**ker, I have to put you down." Sharif claims that Enright then took out a knife and slashed his throat, face and arm.

Enright reportedly volunteered for Intersections International, a pro-Islam global initiative. He had recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan where he filmed military exercises.

Fox News' Steve Doocy explained that liberals were placing the blame on anti-Muslim rhetoric. "Suddenly everybody is going look, that guy went berserk because clearly, this Islamaphobia that is brewing in Lower Manhattan because of the mosque, that's the reason that guy slit his throat!"

Camerota quickly offered a more benign explanation. "It turns out that this kid was just very drunk," she said. "It appears that he flew into this drunken rage."

"Now, why he asked if the driver was Muslim, why they had that exchange in Arabic, only he knows," Camerota continued.

"It seems like this kid has struggled with alcoholism. He's had a history dust-ups with the NYPD. Minor but all alcoholism related and that that's what is probably behind this."

"Nothing to do with anti-Muslim sentiment," she concluded.

But the New York Daily News reports that there is even more evidence that says Enright was harboring anti-Muslim feelings.

When he was arrested Tuesday in midtown, Enright had a personal diary filled with pages of "pretty strong anti-Muslim comments," a police source said.

The source said Enright's journal equated Muslims with "killers, ungrateful for the help they were being offered, filthy murderers without a conscience."

But The Associated Press was told that the notebooks did not contain any anti-Muslim rants.

While Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade said he was aware of the diary, he seemed to dismiss that it could be related to opposition to the Park51 cultural center, an Islamic center and mosque planned near Ground Zero.

"He has kept a diary with some anti-Muslim phrases and beliefs but let's not everyone jump to conclusions and immediately tie his actions to the mosque," said Kilmeade.

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Dan Senor appeared on The Dylan Ratigan Show to discuss the "controversial" Kingdom Foundation owner and Newscorp investor Al-Waleed bin Talal and I'm not sure how anyone can sit through this much spin without their head hurting afterward. It's funny how the "controversy" wasn't quite so "complicated" when Senor was explaining it on Fox & Friends the other morning, or before Jon Stewart called him out for failing to note that Al-Waleed bin Talal also owns part of Newscorp.

And shame on Dylan Ratigan for sparing Senor any embarrassment and misleading the viewers with the very selective editing of that Daily Show clip. Anyone who didn't watch the entire segment would have no idea that Stewart called out Senor and showed him on Fox & Friends fear mongering over the Saudi prince's Kingdom Foundation and lying by omission about his stake in Fox. Looks like Ratigan didn't want to make Senor have to explain why he didn't want the viewers at Fox to know the Saudi prince they were fear mongering about owns part of the network they were watching.