[avacado]

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Hey Katie! Do you still hate black people?

Excuse me, but what occasioned that outburst? Know something I don't?
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Katie Couric always leads into questions like that where the person really cannot answer back. She dooms them before they can even speak. The above is a hypothetical question she would present to Bush, so I flipped it by asking her that.

[Tiny]

That's just unfair to poor Katie. Do you still beat your wife too? /s

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

That's what's known as a loaded question, like "when did you stop beating your wife?" It's a rhetorical device that the Left does seem to engage in more than the Right.

The simple retort is "I don't accept your premise." or words to that effect. "Your question assumes that I've ever beat my wife. [that I hate Blacks.]" When employed skillfully it makes the questioner look stupid. Tony Snow is a master of the form, and he uses a stiletto, not a sledgehammer, which is why he is so often credited with giving some hack (e.g., Helen Thomas, David Gregory) a beatdown.

The reason that it is so tough talking to a liberal is because they make assumptions (e.g., anyone in favor of welfare reform is a racist) that they are not even aware are assumptions.