"Barack the Magic Negro" Still Troubles the RNC

Quotes of the Day - December 28, 2008

"The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party. I am shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate, as it clearly does not move us in the right direction."
- Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan, who is running for reelection.

"Unfortunately, there is hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race. This is in large measure due to President-elect Obama being the first African American elected president. I don't think any of the concerns that have been expressed in the media about any of the other candidates for RNC chairman should disqualify them. When looked at in the proper context, these concerns are minimal. All of my competitors for this leadership post are fine people."
- Former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell, who, if elected, would become the first black RNC chairman.

Both men were responding to a mailing of a music CD sent out to RNC members by Chip Saltsman, who is also running for the RNC chairman post. The CD contains a Barack Obama parody made popular by Rush Limbaugh, "Barack the Magic Negro." The song, set to the tune of the 1960s pop hit "Puff the Magic Dragon," was first played on Rush Limbaugh's radio show in 2007. Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column that suggested Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans.

Saltsman, a former chair of the Tennessee Republican Party, was a top advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and managed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign.

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Peter Yarrow, who co-wrote "Puff the Magic Dragon," called Saltsman's decision to distribute the parody tune "offensive," and "shocking and saddening in the extreme."

In a statement sent to CNN, Yarrow wrote, "It is almost unimaginable to me [that Saltsman] would seriously be considered for the top post of the Republican National Committee. Puff, himself, if asked, would certainly agree."

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"Barack Obama The Magic Negro"

plez sez: i'm not sure who came up with the parody, but it is low class, kind of juvenile, and not very funny... i guess rush's listeners will laugh at just about anything that lampoons the opposition. limbaugh's listeners are mindless trolls!

you just have to ask yourself: "what was this yahoo, chip saltsman, thinking?" and what the HECK was he trying to prove by including this miserable parody on something that was sent out with his name on it?

didn't the republicans just take a major ass whuppin' in november? aren't they thisclose to losing the senate to a super majority of democrats? didn't "BARACK the magic negro" damn near lap john mccain in the election with popular and electoral votes? and wouldn't the republicans like to have just a few of those former red states (like virginia, north carolina, and indiana) back? in the near future!?

does plezWorld find the song offensive? NO! i have a pretty thick skin and something this stupid doesn't even move my "knee jerk reaction" needle.

but plezWorld recognizes this as the most ass-backwards act of an imbecile in quite a long time. black people voted about 95 to 96 percent for barack obama, one of the main contenders for the rnc chair is a black guy (that shufflin' grinnin' ken blackwell)... and the chipster is sending out music cd's with music that is offensive to black people!

hmmm... so much for the republican's BIG TENT!

it's been seven weeks since the election and the leadership of the republican party still hasn't figured out why they lost in a landslide!

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and i have no comment about the utterance of ken blackwell ("...all of my competitors are fine people."), except i hope he wins! i really do! *smile*

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the Washington Post article about RNC reaction to the Obama parody.

Read the New York Times article about "that song."

Read the CNN.com article about RNC members' reactions.

Read the CNN.com article about Saltsman defending his decision to send the song.

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Barack & Michelle Obama on "The New Yorker"

"The Politics of Fear” by Barry Blitt, July 21, 2008 edition of The New Yorker

plez sez: The blogosphere has certainly been buzzing since The New Yorker released the cover artwork for next week's magazine. The reactions have ranged from an acknowledgement that this is satire, to utter dismay, to cries of racism, to accusations of sexism (for real!), combined with lots of gnashing of teeth (plezWife is pissed!), especially from a number of Black bloggers: Afro-Netizen, Acting White, Booker Rising, Afronerd, Electronic Village, AverageBro.com, the field negro, thestateof.com, Homeland Colors, Jack & Jill Politics, and African American Political Pundit.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton called it "tasteless and offensive" and, according to Jake Tapper at ABC, another high-profile Obama supporter called it "as offensive a caricature as any magazine could publish."

Talk about piling it on thick, you'd think it was another cover with Barack Obama in the crosshairs of a rifle!

It appears that plezWorld is going to side with the minority view of this knee jerk reaction to a The New Yorker magazine cover. A few years ago, for their Easter edition, the magazine portrayed the Easter Bunny nailed to the cross - I imagine a slew of those fervent Christian bloggers went on a rant about that one, too.

The satire that one finds on the cover (and inside this magazine, for those of us who actually read it) can be quite provocative at times. But then again, isn't that the purpose of satire? It is supposed to poke the sleeping dog, it is supposed to to show the absurdity of a situation, it is supposed to shock you... or else, it isn't satire!

Some have suggested that The New Yorker is now duty bound to dredge up a similarly offensive cover for John McCain. Why would they? It wouldn't be funny, because he isn't going to be the next President of the United States! So it wouldn't be very provocative nor insightful... besides, which rumors about John McCain are false?!?

This cartoon basically laughs at those who succumb to "the politics of fear" as spouted by those dreaded Republicans. If nothing else, the ones who came up with the fodder for this cartoon should be lambasted, not the artist who satirized them!

There are those who are afraid that some American voters will see the magazine and (heaven forbid) they will believe everything on the cover of a magazine that they don't have the intelligence to read is true... and then they won't vote for Barry! It's time to buy a clue, ya'll... those slack jawed yahoos who are going to base their vote on the cover of The New Yorker never had any intention of voting for Obama in the first place: no matter how much AMBI® Fade Cream Michelle Obama slathers on her face, and no matter if Barack Obama decided to die his hair blonde, grow it out and wear it in a mullet!

This isn't some slick campaign mailer sent out by the McCain campaign that uses subliminal messages with rumors about the Obamas that we've never heard before. If you are blind, deaf, and dumb, you've seen or heard reference to everything on the cover artwork during the last nine months by some instrument of the right wing wacko squad:

Obama in "Muslim" garb - If you recall, Hillary Clinton (who happens to be a member of the left wing wacko squad) said, "I don't know if he's not a Muslim," during the campaign

Portrait of Osama bin Laden above the fireplace - "Obama sounds an awful lot like Osama if you ask me" has to have been uttered once or twice over the past year on Fox News Network

American flag in the fireplace - "Why doesn't he wear a flag lapel pin? He must not be patriotic!"

Michelle Obama sporting the Angela Davis afro, wearing camo pants, and sporting a Black Panther sub-machine gun for extra measure - Cindy McCain during one of her more sober moments said, "I don't know about her, but I've always been proud of my country."

The Obama Fist Bump - "...a terrorist fist bump?" as heard on Fox News Network soon after the Obamas' gesture at his victory speech on June 3rd

And if you look real hard at the picture, all of this is taking place in the Oval Office on January 20, 2009!

Come on folks, it is what it is, Barack Obama is going to be scrutinized, he is going to be poked and prodded, he is going to be lied about, and some pretty ugly stuff is going to be said about him. But he's also going to be the next President of the United States... you people are going to have to get used to this, and you may as well start now!

Personally, I think this cover would be an excellent treatment for a skit on an episode of Saturday Night Live after the general election in November!

NOTE: plezWorld has been a subscriber to The New Yorker magazine for over ten years. For those who are so inclined, this issue of the magazine has a very insightful article on Barack Obama's early years as a politician in Chicago.

Clinton & Obama's Drugs

In light of her staffer's resignation over comments about Barack Obama's past drug use, Hillary Clinton becomes fodder for Maureen Dowd's editorial satire.

Reefer Madness in Iowa, a New York Times op-ed piece by Maureen Dowd.

With the Iowa campaign in wild flux — and in the case of Hillary, acid reflux — The Des Moines Register decides to hold a tie-breaking debate with the two Democratic front-runners.

Carolyn Washburn, the phlegmatic editor of [The Des Moines Register], once more moderates.

WASHBURN: Senator Clinton, I’d like you to start us off by explaining why your campaign has been getting down and dirty with someone so clean and articulate?

CLINTON: I apologized to Senator Obama. I absolutely did not authorize or condone the remarks made by one of my co-chairs in New Hampshire about my distinguished colleague’s youthful indiscretions. If primary voters don’t care that he did “a little blow,” then my goodness, why should I? Even if he had packed a straw full of the white rabbit and had a snow bunny blow it in his ear, who would care, for Pete’s sake? I only wish I knew all that colorful chasing-the-dragon lingo. Senator Obama certainly has a lot of street cred, even if it isn’t Main Street. We owe it to the good people of Iowa to stick to critical issues like the economy, and how to get a fiscally responsible budget like we had in the ’90s, the ’90s, the ’90s —

WASHBURN: Snap out of it.

CLINTON: Sorry. Anyway, even if Senator Obama were still riding the snow train, I would not allow any revelations about it to sully this campaign. I’m not sure who that young man in a hoodie was that Barack was talking to outside tonight, before the debate. I’d seen the young man earlier, standing around in the shadows outside. But that’s neither here nor there. Even if I had been able to see whether any money was exchanged, or who was selling to whom, I would not allow anyone in my campaign, even that scamp Mark Penn, to use the word cocaine, cocaine, cocaine —

WASHBURN: Senator!

CLINTON: Continuing in this vein, I just want to conclude by saying, both in terms of experience and illegal substances, I am vetted. I am tested.

WASHBURN: Senator Obama, what would your priorities be as president?

OBAMA: I will pass a health care bill because I am not a polarizing person whose negatives are completely off the charts, and I’m certainly not threatening to drag down the whole party at a time when we should be killing the Republicans.

WASHBURN: Are you referring to Senator Clinton?

OBAMA: Most certainly not. I want to bring a new kind of politics to Washington that can reverse the polarizing atmosphere of the ’90s, the ’90s, the ’90s.

CLINTON: Don’t bogart the time, Barack. I’d like a hit. Carolyn, shouldn’t there be some timing device to let my young friend know when he’s going over, something that would go “BONG!”

OBAMA: I know what you’re doing, Hillary. I wasn’t born yesterday. She wants Americans to think I’m so young and green that I can only run for White House intern. It would be a stain on me to sink as low as her.

CLINTON: I don’t appreciate that crack. If you’re going to needle me, Senator —

OBAMA: In turn, I would like to reply that what this country really needs is change —

CLINTON: Change is mine now, Senator Belushi. Bill and I stole it weeks ago. Some people believe you get change by hoping for it. Some believe you get change by snorting it. I believe you get it by working hard.

WASHBURN: Can you both please describe the key features of what you consider to be the best education system in the world?

CLINTON: Well, I know that some of my supporters have been spreading gossip that Senator Obama loves the madrassa system for pre-K through terrorist training camp. But there is not a gram of truth in those accusations. We shouldn’t inject intolerance into this race.

WASHBURN: I would like to talk about the Peru free trade deal that was signed on Friday. You both missed the vote.

CLINTON: Oh, Barack should take that one. His views on Peruvian are positively flaky.

OBAMA: You’re the flaky one, Hillary, backing up the president when he wanted to rush into Iraq and wage this trillion-dollar war.

CLINTON: It’s no wonder you didn’t want to go into Iraq, Barack. There are no free bases there.

WASHBURN: All right, you two. We’re out of time. Have a Merry Christmas and —

CLINTON: And I am sure that Senator Obama is dreaming of his usual White Christmas. Hitch up the reindeer!

WASHBURN: As I was saying, a Happy New Year.

CLINTON: He gets no kick from Champagne ...

plez sez: depending on how you look at it, this could be considered to be a pro-Obama piece... but then one would wonder how the continuing to highlight Obama's use of drugs as a college student will help him in his run for the White House. even though, the "white horse" was not the indiscretion of choice for plezWorld, it would be disingenuous for me to hold such a youthful indiscretion against Obama. but i tend to wonder how he will sell this indiscretion to middle america who may be hesitant about casting a vote for a Black man in the first place. i'm glad that we don't have an "i didn't inhale" moment to bandy about - talk about lack of character and integrity (ole bill clinton must be the first person in the history of illegal drug use to have brought the reefer to his lips and didn't inhale... puh-leeze!).

i would like to see Obama pull away and win this thing, but i wonder if his admitted indiscretion will not only be fodder for op-ed satire, but also for a full-blown frontal assault by the republicans, granted he makes it out of the democrat mud-slinging contest. i don't know, these weekly spats with The Hillary may breath new life into the Edwards run, who may finally have the opening necessary to pull off a couple of early upsets in the primary races. you can't sling mud without getting a substantial amount on yourself.

the 2008 primary season began too early (spring of 2007) and has given the primary combatants too much time to raise money and bicker amongst themselves about non-issues (in plezWorld, the use of recreational drugs 20 years ago is a non-issue). i'm afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better, sort of like the new and improved expanded Christmas shopping season (it now begins around Halloween!). the 2012 race will probably begin in earnest in january of 2011... get ready.

we need to get off of smoking the political crack pipe before fall's first frost! as you can see, there are no winners, because even political crack is whack!

iRack

This is a hilarious!

plez sez: I own an iPod, but you have to check out the iRack!

hat tip: In Search of Utopia