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The Right Hook, a weekly segment which covers the machinations of the right wing, from the Republican Party to the Tea Party Patriots, and beyond. By Chris Bennett

Nevada’s Senate candidate Sharron Angle made yet another gaffe this week. The Tea Party hopeful stirred up a controversy by telling a group of Latino high school students that they looked Asian to her. New York Daily News reports that Angle was responding to students’ questions asking the candidate to explain her recent TV ads which show dark-skinned men who appear Latino crossing the border. Angle told the students that they were misinterpreting the commercials. She said “I’m not sure that those are Latinos in that commercial. What it is, is a fence, and there are people coming across that fence.” Referring to the diversity of the U.S. population, Angle added “I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me.” Angle spoke about her half-Latino grandchildren and then mentioned how she was once mistakenly called “the first Asian legislator in the Nevada Assembly.” Somehow though, Angle and incumbent Democrat Harry Reid are neck-and-neck in the polls for the Senate seat.

The latest survey of likely voters by the right-of-center Rasmussen Reports shows anti-immigrant candidate and voter-suppression advocate Tom Tancredo has surged to within four points of his opponent in Colorado. The survey shows Democrat John Hickenlooper at 42 percent, Tancredo at 38 percent, and Republican Dan Maes at 12 percent. At a Tea Party Nation rally this year, Tancredo advocated re-instituting the literacy test for voter registration. This practice was used for decades to suppress the African-American vote in the South. You may also remember Tancredo as the guy who said Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was a member of the “Latino KKK.” In order get enough signatures to run, Tancredo signed on with the American Constitution Party, which sounds like a reasonable enough name for a party. But the American Constitutional Party is based on the principles of Christian Reconstructionism whose believers advocate having Biblical Law made the law of the land, including the stoning of adulterers and the execution of LGBT people. Sort of like a Christian version of the Taliban.

Delaware’s Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is learning about the First Amendment to the Constitution. O’Donnell, who says she intends to make decisions based solely on the Constitution, said yesterday in a debate with her Democratic opponent Chris Coons, that she does not believe that the founding document calls for a separation between Church and State. [Sound Clip] I guess O’Donnell needs to bone up a little bit on the intricacies of the Constitution.

And finally, Joe Miller, the Tea Party Senate candidate from Alaska, who calls unemployment benefits and the minimum wage unconstitutional, has also revealed his position on free speech. Earlier this month Miller announced that he would no longer answer any more questions about his background or personal life. Miller has been accused of using government computers for campaign work, and once violated Alaska state nepotism rules by having his wife work for him when he was a magistrate judge. On Sunday night, Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger doggedly questioned Miller after a town hall meeting on public property. Miller, who prides himself on his knowledge of the Constitution, responded by having his private security detail handcuff and detain Hopfinger. While this event sounds real close to the definition of kidnapping, it is indicative that Tea Party and Republican candidates this season seem to be avoiding the free press for their favorite propaganda organ, Fox News– where Miller went to explain his version of the incident to Neil Cavuto.

The Right Hook– Reality Based News and Views.