You know, I'm not black, but there's a whole lot of times I wish I could say I'm not white

Talk radio is, of course, the House that Rush Built. It's also The House That Has, Like, 9 Zillion Rush Wannabes Living In It. One of them, Mark Williams is profiled in this morning's Globe, on account of his having attached himself to the Tea Party movement. Here are some gems.

The 54-year-old Massachusetts native regularly lambastes President Obama as a communist bent on undermining the Constitution, and last week likened him to such dictators as Stalin and Pol Pot. On his blog and elsewhere, he rails against Obama as an “Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug,’’ and “racist in chief’’ for his comments about the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his own home.

Other officials have received rougher treatment: Williams has called former President Jimmy Carter a “slithering worm of a man,’’ and claimed Carter’s support for Arab leaders indicated that he “longs for an oven of fresh baked Jews.’’

Haha! Up yours, Godwin!

Page 2 of 2 --When asked why he invokes the long-debunked smear, Williams said he sometimes exaggerates for effect to spur on the audience, and conceded that Obama was “probably’’ a natural-born citizen. But in the next breath, he claims public documents raise the possibility that Obama is both foreign-born and Muslim.

Williams said he uses strong language to bolster his arguments and animate audiences, and that his forceful rhetoric, even if it skirts the truth, is appropriate to fight the threats presented by the Obama administration.

In 2005, Williams stirred controversy when he said in a televised interview that residents of New Orleans “didn’t have the necessary brains and common sense to get out of the way’’ of Hurricane Katrina because they expected the government to “do absolutely everything for them.’’ He also said Kanye West, a rap star who had recently said that President George W. Bush “doesn’t care about black people,’’ was a “Klansman in black face,’’ according to a CNN transcript.

Still, he reserves his wrath for Obama, whom he often refers to as Barack Hussein Obama. He said he mentions his middle name to underscore what he considers Obama’s un-American views.

“Culturally, he is anything but an American,’’ he said. “He doesn’t like Americans, and he treats us like garbage.’’

Having the middle name "Hussein" is an un-American view. Duly noted. But this is the jewel in the crown.

Criticism of Tea Party activists as bigots, Williams said, was a media creation. On social issues, most members are libertarian, he said. “What do I care if two guys named Bruce prance down to City Hall and get married?’’ he asked rhetorically.

The Tea Parties aren't bigoted, according to the guy who uses "Muslim" as an epithen and thinks New Orleans blacks need to learn to float. Talk about a clean bill of health!

Not surprisingly, some in the TP movement want to distance themselves from the excesses of the Tea Party Express. In some cases (not all) I'm sure there's a personal level of revulsion. But if you want to make sure your Tea Party makes more noise than the one thrown by a 5 year old and her teddy bear, decency goes pretty fast.