Shorter Taibbi on Tea Party: Many older Americans believe colored people don’t deserve equal rights.

Matt Taibbi:

“Let me get this straight,” I say to David. “You’ve been picking up a check from the government for decades, as a tax assessor, and your wife is on Medicare. How can you complain about the welfare state?”

“Well,” he says, “there’s a lot of people on welfare who don’t deserve it.”

My understanding of domestic politics changed after I learned about the research that conclusively links views on welfare to diversity.

There are many who would rather starve than share the table with a “stranger”.