Because remember, according to Andrew Breitbart and the new school of right-wing commentary, if you even mention the issue of race in the political context that means you're “playing the race card.” (And that you're most likely a racist. Or so they say.) It's a dumb trick right-wingers are using in order to water down the charge of racism, which then inoculates them from making hateful comments that in the past were considered to be out of bounds.

But the strategy can also boomerang.

Take a look at this passage from Fund's union-bashing column in the WSJ, in which he fantasizes about union violence:

Last August in St. Louis, tea party supporter Kenneth Gladney was set upon by SEIU members during a town-hall meeting on health care. They were apparently angry that an African-American was supporting the tea party and hurled the “n” word at him while beating him to the point where he required hospitalization. St. Louis County officials waited until November to press assault charges against two SEIU members. Four others were charged with interfering with police during the incident. All six have pleaded not guilty.

First, let's count how many lies Fund can peddle in a single paragraph.

-Gladney was not set upon “during” a town-hall meeting. If Fund can't even get that simple fact right, why should we believe anything else about his telling of the tale? (Read more about the soggy Gladney story, here.)

-Gladney did not require hospitalization. Gladney, along with his manager/lawyer/friend chose that night to go to the hospital where they started dialing up reporters to tell their partisan tale of woe. In fact, right after the brief altercation, parts of which were captured on video, Gladney appeared to be unharmed with no visible injuries. (Police called to the scene did not see any Gladney injuries.) Also, to date Gladney has refused to release his medical records from his hospital visit so we can see what local doctors had to say about his alleged injuries. (If the beating was so savage, why were SEIU members only charged with misdemeanors?)

Fact that Fund don't touch: It was actually the SEIU member who required hospitalization that night and was treated for a separated shoulder.

Now, and this is where the race issue comes in, where's Fund's proof that an SEIU member used the “n” word during the altercation? To my knowledge there has never been any independent confirmation of that charge. There is no video of the slur, for instance. And as you'll recall, according to Breitbart and conservatives, if someone using the “n” word in a political context and it's not captured on video, than the allegation is baseless. Well, it's now been nine months since the Gladney altercation, and nobody has been able to produce any proof the “n” word was used.

The only person who has made that claim is Gladney. And since Gladney has lied about other facts surrounding the case, why should we believe him in this instance? The police never independently confirmed that the slur was used. And the SEIU member in question has denied using the “n” word.

More facts that Fund conveniently ignores: The SEIU member is actually a minister and is also black, which would significantly reduce the odds of him hurling the “n” word. (I get the feeling Fund wants very much for readers to believe that a white union member beat up a black bystander. Not true.)

But hey other than that, Fund's racially-charged telling of the Gladney tale, and Fund's fervent fantasizing about union violence, is dead-on.