CATHY YOUNG: Tea Partiers Racist? Not So Fast. “The lead investigator, political science professor Christopher Parker, graciously provided me with the fuller data — which strongly contradict the notion of the Tea Parties as a unique hotbed of racism.” Given that Joan Walsh was stumped by a veiled Keith Olbermann reference I wouldn’t expect her to tease out much useful information here, so I’m hardly surprised to find that her take is wrong.