In a July 7 Washington Times op-ed -- subtitled, “Obama protects the racists who back him” -- Ted Nugent joined other right-wing media in using the manufactured scandal surrounding the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation case as an opportunity for race-baiting.

From Nugent's op-ed:

Whether you believe Mr. Adams or not, the smoke swirling around this case gives serious pause to question whether racist flames are being fanned at the department.

Decisions such as these give an objective and fair-minded person such as me reason to pause. Where there is smoke there usually is fire.

And there have been plenty of smoke signals from the Obama camp since it took over.

You may recall that before Justice dropped the charges against the Panther thugs, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. stated during his first major speech at the department, during Black History Month, “When it comes to race, [America] continues to be, in many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.”

Mr. Holder did not give any specifics to substantiate his comments, which caused many Americans to think his remarks were fanning the flames of racism - including yours truly, the Motown Madman, carrier of the mighty Funkbrother torch.

President Obama then waded into the racial rapids in another matter by jumping to conclusions and siding with his black professor buddy who rightfully had been arrested by a white Cambridge, Mass., cop for resisting arrest. Turns out the facts did not support Mr. Obama's initial statements. The uproar over this racially charged situation caused the president to invite the white arresting officer and his black professor buddy to the White House for beers. So very presidential.

Moreover, before he was elected president, for more than 20 years, Mr. Obama and his family attended a church run by a maniacally racist minister who preached black racist theology. Mr. Obama quit the church when an ungodly, damning video of his racist minister came to light, unbelievably claiming he had missed the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's viciousness all those years. Yeah, right, and “Wango Tango” is a love song.

Are there racist flames here? That's for you to decide.