As a Tea Partier, I fully support the right of black Americans to defend themselves against racist lynch mobs…

…and I call on all governments – from the tiniest ward to the shadowy extra-national Illuminati (whose all-powerful overlordism I wholeheartedly embrace, by the way) – to remove any and all impediments from individual citizens defending themselves and others from racist lynch mobs. And from other forms of violence, too, but for right now let’s stick with the racist lynch mobs.

What’s that, you say? People don’t need to “defend themselves” while we’ve got the police to do that job? Yeah, I’m sure poor blacks living in the Jim Crow era would agree with you completely on that.

The story: a Congressional Black Caucus member says tea partiers “would love to see you and me…hanging on a tree.”

Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat from Indiana who serves as the CBC’s chief vote counter, said at a CBC event in Miami that some in Congress would “love to see us as second-class citizens” and “some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me…hanging on a tree.”

It’s the typical, traditional, “conservatives are racist” smear. Yawn.

Many of my fellow conservative bloggers are outraged by this slander, and with good reason. It’s slander.

But let’s be honest: we cannot categorically rule out any possibility of any such horrific racist associating him or herself with the Tea Parties in some fashion or other. Mind you, I have no proof that any such racist is associated in some way with a Tea Party (and neither does Rep. Carson), but it is entirely possible that, among the thousands – possibly millions – of official and unofficial Tea Party members, such a person exists. Maybe even two.

(Note to you, hypothetical racist lynch-mob Tea Partier: please call MSNBC. They desperately want to speak with you.)

Therefore, as a Tea Partier myself, I call upon my fellow Tea Partiers, conservatives, and Republicans to support the right of African-Americans to defend themselves, their families, and their fellow citizens from any such violence through a common-sense interpretation of the Second Amendment.

You have the right to carry weapons in your own defense, and I urge you to do so. Insofar as the laws where you are allow it, that is, and if they don’t allow it, I urge you to work to change those laws.

We cannot regulate whatever darkness exists in the hearts of men. We can protect ourselves against men acting on that darkness when the situation warrants. And, let’s be honest again: any time a group of people wants to put a rope around your neck and throw it over a tree branch, the situation warrants.

The NRA should call up this Rep. Carson and offer him a free membership.

One more thing: I’m reminded of this little bit of history that went around the blogosphere a while back:

Most people think King would be the last person to own a gun. Yet in the mid-1950s, as the civil rights movement heated up, King kept firearms for self-protection. In fact, he even applied for a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

A recipient of constant death threats, King had armed supporters take turns guarding his home and family. He had good reason to fear that the Klan in Alabama was targeting him for assassination.

William Worthy, a journalist who covered the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, reported that once, during a visit to King’s parsonage, he went to sit down on an armchair in the living room and, to his surprise, almost sat on a loaded gun. Glenn Smiley, an adviser to King, described King’s home as “an arsenal.”

Dr. King practiced self-governance. Follow his example, Rep. Carson! Support self-governance!

UPDATE - Linked by Paco and Mind Numbed Robot, whose mind isn’t so numb that he can’t recognize reason when he sees it. Thanks guys!