Proper Reaction?

Eugene Robinson's "Purge This Poison" piece talks about the "rightness" of the NAACP's "Tea Party is Racist" resolution now being proved true by the actions of the Tea Party expelling Mark Williams:

That was quick. We now have proof the NAACP was right.

When the nation's leading civil rights organization passed a resolution condemning displays of racism by tea party activists, leaders of the movement reacted with umbrage so thick you could cut it with a knife -- then demonstrated that the NAACP's allegation was entirely justified.

On Sunday, the National Tea Party Federation announced it had expelled one of the movement's most prominent figures -- a California blowhard named Mark Williams -- because of the outrageously racist things he had said about the NAACP. Ejected along with Williams was his whole organization, Tea Party Express, which had been a particularly active, high-profile group.

The last straw was a "satirical" letter that Williams, a right-wing talk radio host, posted on his website. It was supposed to be a missive from NAACP President Ben Jealous to Abraham Lincoln, and the Tea Party Federation deemed it "clearly offensive." With good reason.

I think the Tea Party was right to denounce Williams from only a PR standpoint.

But I have a question for Robinson and the rest of the NAACP: Have you ever publicly expelled someone for making comments that could be construed as racist?

No.

Yeah, thought so.