The majority is looking over its shoulders

Christopher Hitchens, writing in Slate, puts the recent Beck/Palin rally at the Lincoln Memorial in context. He sees it as conservative leaders realizing that whites will probably not be in the majority sometime in the next few decades. American is certainly not getting swarms of immigrants from England. Conservatives want to "take back America" but one must ask "From whom?" While liberals are an obvious reply, non-white immigrants are also a big part of it. Hitchens also notes that many conservatives are carefully not commenting on the color of Obama's skin -- that would be blatantly racist and would bring harsh criticism. The attacks are instead about his place of birth and religion. That shows up the prevalent fears -- the white majority will be submerged by immigrants and challenged by a religion that is mostly Third World. Beck's message this time was rather wimpy. It probably won't stay that way.