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I agree with Chris Hayes completely here. If Republicans get back the House this midterm election this is what we're going to get to look forward to, one witch hunt after another from Republicans that makes the Clinton days look mild by comparison.

HAYES: Tom Tancredo, of course, is the anti-immigrant candidate. He is the "Bomb Mecca" candidate, but perhaps most hilariously, he`s also the "impeach Obama" candidate. For reasons that are as inexplicable as they are lackey, Mr. Tancredo thinks President Obama should be impeached.

And though Tom Tancredo`s name will not have an "R" next to it on the ballot, if he makes it that far, it is increasingly clear the Republican governing strategy should the party win back one or both houses of Congress this fall can best be described as Clinton era-esque and then some.

Republicans in the House and Senate wrote a letter late last week to the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanding an investigation into the Justice Department`s decision to not pursue a voter fraud case involving the New Black Panther Party.

They want a full and complete investigation into this outrageous decision by the Obama administration not to pursue criminal charges, just like the Bush administration. But that`s not the point.

The point is this tactic works. Investigators are now looking into the case which is described by one of those investigators, thusly, quote, "This has to do with their," meaning Republicans, "fantasies about how they could use this issue to topple the Obama administration. My fellow conservatives on the commission had this wild notion that they could bring Eric Holder down and really damage the president."

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This post by Digby was too good not to pass along. Real Americans Love Racial Profiling:

Chuck Todd subbing for Chris Matthews:

"There's growing evidence that Americans are willing to put up with racial profiling if it means their safety."

What do you mean "Americans" white man? I suspect Hispanic Americans, African Americans and Arab Americans tend to see their "safety" in slightly different terms.

But then they aren't Real Americans, are they?

I'd like to see the racial breakdown of that poll Todd was citing. As Dave already noted here, being a racist and in the majority doesn't make you right. Polls on Arizona immigration law remind us of a historic truth: Discarding the civil rights of others is always a popular idea. It would be nice if the Chuck Todds and Hardball producers of the world and their cohorts in the media took some time to read it. No instead Hardball had Tom Tancredo on and treated him as though he had something valid to say on the matter. I guess Michelle Malkin or David Duke weren't available.

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Heaven forbid Tom Tancredo could have ever allowed himself to look like a voice of sanity on this extreme Arizona immigration law.

Tancredo: I Always Thought AZ Immigration Was A Good Law!:

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo doesn't want you to get the wrong idea -- he never thought the Arizona immigration law went too far.

On MSNBC today, Tancredo (R-CO) clarified that though he said he does not want people in Arizona "pulled over because you look like you should be pulled over," he wasn't saying that he's against the law. Because, he said, "that is not the law."

"I like the law," said Tancredo, adding that "the fact is that it's a good law. I think that Arizona needed to do it."

He continued that he did say he would never vote for a law that required people to be pulled over for looking a certain way, but he had also said that the Arizona law doesn't require that, and his remarks were taken out of context.

From The Daily Show April 26, 2010. Arizona passes an immigration law that's too extreme for Tom Tancredo.

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From Dave Weigel at The Washington Post Tancredo: Send Obama 'back' to Kenya:

Former congressman Tom Tancredo's speech at the National Tea Party was a misstep that gave organizers their only lasting, negative coverage. At a Sunday afternoon tea party rally in Greenville, S.C., where he was the keynote speaker, Tancredo stepped in it again.

[Tancredo] said Americans have reached the point where "we're going to have to pray that we can hold on to this country."

As for Obama, Tancredo said, "If his wife says Kenya is his homeland, why don't we just send him back?"

The reference is to this speech by Michelle Obama, in which she mentioned her husband's famous trip to Kenya in 2006 -- she called it, in a slip, his "home country," not "homeland." Kenya was one of several African countries visited by the Obamas on the 2006 trip, but the only one to which he had familial ties -- hence the word "home," which she hesitates over just slightly.

TPM has the video of Tancredo from that day posted here Former Rep. Tancredo: Send Obama Back To Kenya!.

Tom Tancredo defended his remarks on the Ed Schultz show. His explanation, it's Michelle Obama's fault for bringing it up. Jebus what a creep. Ed Schultz called Tancredo out for his racism and Tancredo's response was to basically call anyone who points out racism a racist and says it is "you guys on the left who are engulfed in this concept of racism.

John already talked about what a piece of work this guy is back when he was attacking Sonia Sotomayor: Tom Tancredo calls Sonia Sotomayor a racist

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Dick Armey gave a speech at The National Press Club and had this to say about Tom Tancredo -- Armey Accuses ‘Destructive’ Tancredo Of ‘Alienating’ Hispanics.

Who in the Republican Party was the genius that said that now that we have identified the fastest-growing voting demographic in America, let’s go out and alienate them? [...]

The Republican Party is the most naturally talented party at losing its natural constituents in the history of the world. This party was born with the emancipation proclamation and can’t get a black vote to save its life. How do they do that? Well, the same thing with the Hispanics. [...]

When I was the majority leader, I saw to it that Tom Tancredo did not get on the stage because I saw how destructive he was.

As Think Progress noted:

Armey’s remarks have clearly made “nativist-extremist” groups that are trying to exploit the momentum of the tea party movement nervous. Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC) quickly came to Tancredo’s defense and started urging its members to attack Armey’s immigration position. According to ALIPAC, Armey has been fighting to “keep the illegal immigration issue out of the Tea Party movement.” On an organizing conference call hosted by NumbersUSA, callers dismissed Armey as not being a “true tea party patriot,” but also sought tips on how to translate their anti-immigrant views to fit the tea party narrative.

I find Armey's statement pretty ironic given the amount of blatant racism we've seen the movement feeding off of to get their base riled up. As the ADL noted, the movement has some bigger problems than just Tancredo. White Supremacists May Attempt To Co-Opt July 4 "Tea Parties" To Promote A Hateful Agenda

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Tom Tancredo continues his media blitz on Hardball with David Shuster giving him a chance to put his racism on display yet again. He refuses to apologize for the La Raza remark and says he's not sure if the Obama administration "hates white people" or not. He also says that the "moderates" in the GOP are the reason they're losing elections. Yes... Tom Tancredo actually thinks the GOP still has moderates in their ranks. Well okay, they've got two.

When Tancredo misstated what La Raza meant and Shuster tried to correct him he just shouted over him. I know if the GOP has any influence with Tancredo since he's not in the Congress any more, but if they do they'd be wise to tell him to get the hell off the air. He's not doing them any favors with these rants.

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Rachel Maddow responds to Tom Tancredo's racist screed on Rick Sanchez's show comparing La Raza to the KKK. She explains what the NCLR's mission actually is.

"Strengthening America by promoting the advancement of Latino families." And as Rachel notes "it's also the largest national Hispanic and advocacy organization in the United States". La Raza responded to Tancredo as reported by the Colorado Independent:

La Raza blasts Tancredo for Klan comparison: ‘Get his facts straight’:

The National Council of La Raza doesn’t think much of former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo’s attack on the 40-year-old civil rights organization as “a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.” The Littleton Republican made the claim Thursday afternoon in an interview on CNN, arguing his claim that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sottomayor “appears to be racist.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” National Council of La Raza spokesperson Lisa Navarrete told The Colorado Independent. “He’s defamed our organization and told falsehoods about our organization without any basis in fact or evidence. That’s not who we are or what we do.

“If you look at Mr. Tancredos’ record, he’s often spoken about things he doesn’t know anything about.”

While the stakes couldn’t be higher, with Sotomayor poised to become the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, Navarrete sounded more weary than incensed over Tancredo’s latest antic.

“He’s at the far extreme of the Republican Party,” she said. “He’s someone who has been instrumental in alienating the Republican Party from the Latino community. We’ve been urging the Republican Party to try to outreach to the Latino community, and they did a good job of it until they let people like Tom Tancredo take over the debate on immigration.”

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Rick Sanchez brings on Tom Tancredo and Media Matters' Eric Boehlert to discuss the right's accusations that Sonia Sotomayor is a racist and should be disqualified from serving on the Supreme Court. Today Tancredo decided his dose of the crazy on The Ed Schultz Show just wasn't enough and takes it a step further.

h/t Think Progress for the transcript

TANCREDO: If you belong to an organization called La Raza, in this case, which is, from my point of view anyway, nothing more than a Latino — it’s a counterpart — a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses. If you belong to something like that in a way that’s going to convince me and a lot of other people that it’s got nothing to do with race. Even though the logo of La Raza is “All for the race. Nothing for the rest.” What does that tell you?

SANCHEZ: Alright. We’re not talking about — we’re not talking about La Raza –

TANCREDO: She’s a member! She’s a member of La Raza!

Thankfully Media Matters' Boehlert was there for a dose of sanity and called out Rick Sanchez who was still quoting Sotomayor out of context and corrects him for his error. Boehlert, the author of the great book "Bloggers on the Bus," called the attacks on Sotomayor a "rush to the gutter by the right". You can watch the entire exchange courtesy of Media Matters here.

John Amato:

I ask once again. Why is Tom Tancredo on my TV? It's all for "conflict." He has nothing to offer and is no longer part of the GOP. He's a former anti-Latino House Republican who ran for president on a racist platform. He's there to call Sonia a racist. That's his function and it's one that he performs well. He's the Mozart of Racism.