There is something oddly familiar about the rise in racist attacks against President Obama. Some of the best historians in America say that the wealthy landowners and bankers of the South during the time of the Civil War used their power to convince poor southern farmers that they needed to take up arms and defend their way of life. What they were really doing is protecting the investments of the wealthy, while being manipulated through racist fears. The same is true of the attacks against Obama. Mike Papantonio spells it out for us in this week’s Pap Attack.

Farron Cousins is the executive editor of The Trial Lawyer magazine and a contributing writer at DeSmogBlog.com. He is the co-host / guest host for Ring of Fire Radio. His writings have appeared on Alternet, Truthout, and The Huffington Post. Farron received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of West Florida in 2005 and became a member of American MENSA in 2009. Follow him on Twitter @farronbalanced