Womp. Sometimes I wonder if some of these MSNBC panelists will ever be able to resist the temptation to play into caricatures of themselves and maybe stick to intellectually honest, reasonable argumentation instead of descending into despicable race-card territory, but just last week Chris Matthews was once again musing on how it is that anyone black could possibly support the Tea Party, and then suggesting that ethnicity was a factor in Michele Bachmann’s recent criticisms of the president. So, heck, here’s Mike Barnicle and Al Sharpton starting the week off right by bringing anti-Semitism into the fold in discussing the backlash against NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s self-funded gun-control campaign, because let’s be real: Who could possibly be opposed to sentiments like “I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom,” other than hateful, racist, anti-Semitic, bigoted fringe lunatics? Good question, guys. Really valid and hard-hitting, you know? Via National Review:

“Let’s get down to it, Mike Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, there’s a level of antisemitism in this thing directed towards Bloomberg,” Barnicle argued on Morning Joe , “It’s out there.” “No doubt about it,” Sharpton responded.

“If he was not a big-city Jewish man and was from another ethnic group, in some parts, I think it would be different,” Sharpton continued.