NAACP Chairman Julian Bond opened the NAACP's national convention in Milwaukee as he has other such gatherings in the past -- by attacking George W. Bush and other conservatives.

The NAACP's national confab got underway yesterday in Milwaukee. Bond took the opportunity to take swipes at Bush and others, of course, reserving special venom for black conservatives.

Bond opened with an attack, saying, "Milwaukee is the home of beer, of brats and the Bradley Foundation," and blasting Bush for failing to appear at the NAACP's annual convention for the fifth straight year.

Bond explained his reference to the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation later in the speech, saying it is among entities that fund what he called "fraudulent" civil rights organizations.

He charged that the organizations appear to back civil rights but push school vouchers, use legal means to assault affirmative action and try to redraw political boundaries in hopes of preventing people of color from being elected to office.

Such organizations have had black "hucksters" on their payrolls for 20 years, said Bond to thunderous applause.

"Like ventriloquist dummies, they speak in their puppet master's voice, but we can see his lips moving," he said.

Similarly, Bond fired at organizations that have tried to "seduce black clergy" to conservative causes and criticized what he said is an attempt by the Bush administration to replace vital public welfare programs with faith-based organizations.

He gave special importance to the continuing battle over Bush's judicial nominees, especially a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, saying the high court needs another independent-minded justice like her. Too many Bush nominees to federal judgeships have made rulings that hurt the civil rights movement, he said, calling newly named federal appeals court judge Janice Rogers Brown "the female Clarence Thomas."

The former Democratic Georgia state senator blasted the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate for failing to hold a roll call vote on a resolution apologizing for failing to enact an anti-lynching law first proposed 105 years ago. He named eight Republican senators who did not co-sponsor the resolution, saying, "If a United States senator in 2005 cannot apologize for that, what outrage is deserving of an apology?"

Targeting the Bush administration, Bond said it was "outsourcing torture" by sending terrorism suspects to foreign lands and backing economic policies that have created "an ownership society, where you're really on your own."

"They profess to being true believers, but they're really true deceivers," he said.

It's nice to know that his priorities are "in order" -- helping communities overcome social ills is not important in his mind. After all, he's more concerned about partisan politics.

Bond's statements continued to skirt the partisan line that has threatened to invite additional scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service over the past several years. The NAACP has been placed under a magnifying glass by the IRS regarding it's tax exempt status. Ongoing investigations have examined whether or not the NAACP is a partisan organization, contrary to their stated non-partisan goals.

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