Bob Herbert done lost his mind!

Generally, I agree with New York Times columnist Bob Herbert on his take on racial politics, but when he is wrong, he is really wrong. I was at the gym yesterday morning when I saw him on MSNBC talking about "background phalluses." Based on the recent ad from the McCain campaign against Obama, this is Herbert's reasoning on why it is racist.

From The New York Times:

Evidence? John McCain needs no evidence. His campaign is about trashing the opposition, Karl Rove-style. Not satisfied with calling his opponent’s patriotism into question, Mr. McCain added what amounted to a charge of treason, insisting that Senator Obama would actually prefer that the United States lose a war if that would mean that he — Senator Obama — would not have to lose an election.

Now, from the hapless but increasingly venomous McCain campaign, comes the slimy Britney Spears and Paris Hilton ad. The two highly sexualized women (both notorious for displaying themselves to the paparazzi while not wearing underwear) are shown briefly and incongruously at the beginning of a commercial critical of Mr. Obama.

The Republican National Committee targeted Harold Ford with a similarly disgusting ad in 2006 when Mr. Ford, then a congressman, was running a strong race for a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee. The ad, which the committee described as a parody, showed a scantily clad woman whispering, “Harold, call me.”

Both ads were foul, poisonous and emanated from the upper reaches of the Republican Party. (What a surprise.) Both were designed to exploit the hostility, anxiety and resentment of the many white Americans who are still freakishly hung up on the idea of black men rising above their station and becoming sexually involved with white women.

Dude, what are you smoking? I nearly fell off the treadmill when Herbert went into his theories on sexual relations between black men and white women.

I really thought McCain was making fun of Obama pop culture status, but that's just me...

But, honestly, I really didn't see all this sex stuff in the ad. I realize race is going to play a large role in the campaign, but isn't this a bit much...

Watch the ad for yourself: