If you haven't seen or thought much about the racist and sexist Pepsi Max commercial, Sister Toldja breaks it down for you here. To sum up:

1.    It's insulting to portray a woman as shrewish, hostile, controlling, emasculating, and/or acting as the "dietary police."

2.    It's demeaning for the commercial to just come right out and say "that guy would find a blonde white lady much more attractive than his heavyset, dark-skinned wife." (To her FACE.)

3.  It's racist to assume that an upset black person will automatically resort to physical violence, particularly in a situation that doesn't call for it.

So you've got a shrewish wife, a black guy who can't stop staring at blonde white ladies, and violent behavior. Honestly, what's to like? Welcome to an age when trolling is considered a valid tactic by multinational corporations, because we sure as heck wouldn't be spending all this time talking about an ad that just had kittens and flowers.

ANYWAY.

The first thing Rush Limbaugh has to say about this commercial is the first thing most white guys ever have to say. Which is inevitably some variation along the lines of "I don't see color." Not seeing color is a privilege that white people have. It's one of the biggest items tucked into our invisible backpacks.

Make no mistake: if you are not white, you are constantly being reminded of that fact. You don't have the luxury of "not seeing color."

Furthermore, when a white guy says he "doesn't see color," it can be roughly translated to "I have excused myself from having to think about racism." How very nice for you. Unfortunately, it's not the way the world works. Plugging your ears and singing "la la la" won't make it go away.

Rush's second line of argument is basically "I didn't think it was demeaning or disrespectful, and so it wasn't." Well, once again, how very nice for you, Mr. Limbaugh. I wonder how he would have felt if, instead of featuring a black man and a black woman, it featured Bill and Hillary Clinton. Or a fat old white guy in a suit and his thirty-years-younger fourth wife.

Just curious.

Rush then goes on to shake his finger once again at what he perceives to be the overly-touchy nature of non-white males. "I don't see this ad and immediately have a civil rights reaction," he says defensively. Because he's so awesome, you see. He refers to the congresswoman who is protesting the ad as "one of many people just sitting out there waiting to be offended."

This is Rush's perception of the world. That people are just itching to be offended by things. Rather than taking a step back and wondering if perhaps the world really is racist and offensive, he essentially blames the victim. Instead of evaluating the text, considering people's points, and perhaps admitting that it might be offensive (which he begrudgingly signifies briefly, before derailing himself) Rush instead blames the people who pointed out the racism.

Photo credit: Flickr/Patrick Rasenberg