Pajamas Media

73 Comments

1. Typewriter King:

I’d just like to point out that the man in black-face in the image beside Obama, Al Jolson, was actually a good early civil rights advocate, and the best singer of the first half of the twentieth century, to boot.

And I’m fairly positive Ace of Spades coined the phrase “magic retard” a week or so before David Ehrenstein’s column was published.

As I recall, he noted then that most of the more popular ‘magic retards’, the simple minded with the hearts of gold, were portrayed as African Americans. Joe Coffee from The Green Mile and Radio from ‘Radio’ being the most high-profile.

The rationale behind coining the phrase was to give a short-hand to the practice of script-writers inserting members of marginalized groups as props that assist protagonists, while getting no treatment in the scripts as developed characters in their own right.

Without the short-hand, we’re forced to elaborate on the concept in run-on sentences, see.

Jan 4, 2009 - 3:31 am 2. syn:

The joke is on Democrats and how they use dreadful identity politics to divide and conquer; they need racism, sexism, homophobia and class warfare in order to maintain control over the Democrat Slave Plantation.

Take a look at Reid’s Senatorial actions regarding Obama’s Senate seat; he figures he has enough racists in his group so he is demanding a couple of sexists to balance out the power structure.

One of these days blacks, females, homosexuals and the poor are going to realize they’re just useful tools for their Democrat Slave Masters.

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:08 am 3. Mike:

The problem I as a conservative have with the whole affair is that the Republican Party has just undergone a thorough drubbing and the last thing the party needs right now is a juvenile prank from someone who wants to be its chairman. We are facing the possibility of the establishment of a socialist state right here in the US in the next couple of years and I believe the leaders of the party need to be concerned with reality not with crappy little songs. Rush can put anything on his program he wants. He, by his own word, is an entertainer. What I am saying has nothing to do with PC speech. I don’t give a crap about PC. What the conservative movement needs right now is some wisdom and adult behavior.
———————————
You liberals need to pay lots of taxes cause someone needs to pay for all the free stuff Obama promised me!

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:26 am 4. Ann:

The guy that used this in a mailing is obviously either ignorant of political reality or incompetent.

However, the ditty was obviously not racist, as those of us who have known about it for a year so knew from the beginning.

One upside I see from the current brouhaha is that the dims once against reveal themselves to be completely humorless. There is no bore like the bore who refuses to see humor in anything that touches on “himself”.

I’ve laughed myself silly as well over the sale of Reid’s “shut Rush down” letter…Rush did a great job auctioning the letter off and the families of Marines who have died in action got something like $4 million from Rush and the lady who bought the ltter. Now THAT is humor at work, doing a very GOOD work!

All Paul Shanklin did was introduce the public to the thoughts and opinions of a liberal columnist. That’s all he did. If there were an issue here, it would be at the feet of the libs, not the conservatives.

Jan 4, 2009 - 6:07 am 5. Jack Sams:

Obama is a Negro….what is racist about it?

Jan 4, 2009 - 6:29 am 6. Maggie:

The song is not racist and there is nothing wrong with gifting a Shanklin album. Liberals routinely ridiculed Bush and other conservative leaders with in far more offensive ways. Why are conservatives so sensitive to liberal criticism? Toughen up.

Jan 4, 2009 - 7:10 am 7. Anthony:

It may be worth knowing that Spike Lee popularized the term “magic negro” at his university film classes. At least this gives some context to its origins and meaning.

And in that context it is not racist at all, though, if used positively, it serves as a kind of left-wing sympathetic magic.

It’s also worth knowing that when I heard Spike Lee use the term on Charlie Rose several years ago, the use was critical.

Jan 4, 2009 - 7:39 am 8. David Thomson:

“racially insensitive”

What does it mean to be “insensitive?” This nebulous term is open to abuse. Should our social mores be dictated by those who are too easily hurt—or cynically seeking a way to intimidate those who disagree with them? Ron Radosh has pointed out that members of the American Communist Party some sixty years ago employed such tactics to eliminate competitors from the top positions. One could find themselves attacked for uttering phrases like black-ball or white-wash. Thing have only gotten worse since then.

Jan 4, 2009 - 7:43 am 9. toby:

“Was the ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ Ditty Really Racist?”

Who cares, it was in bad taste, just as a song Kennedy the magic Irishman would be in bad taste, or Lieberman the magic Jew.

Come on guys, let’s criticize policies and views and leave this kind of crap to in the gutters.

Conservatives don’t need such childish songs to make a point.

Jan 4, 2009 - 7:51 am 10. David Thomson:

“Who cares, it was in bad taste”

Nonsense. Talking about Barack Obama as something of a “magic negro” merely acknowledges a legitimate phenomenon in the United States. We should definitely be discussing this sort of thing. There are indeed numerous politically correct individuals who perceive Obama in somewhat magical terms. This is what helped him get elected! Let us never forget that the president-elect with his very thin resume would have been ignored if he were white. If we can’t discuss this matter now, when can we? Sometime in the 23rd century?

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:11 am 11. AnninCA:

It showed incredible poor judgment on the part of Republican leaders, regardless of whether it was technically racist or not. If someone cannot refrain from sending around such a bad joke in this day and age of instant media revelation, then there’s a problem in the brain area.

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:38 am 12. Charlie (Colorado):

It showed incredible poor judgment on the part of Republican leaders, regardless of whether it was technically racist or not.

Which Republican leaders, Ann? The guy who sent it around and was immediately scorned and reproved? Or the ones who imagined that people like you would distinguish among Republicans based on what they actually did instead of lumping them into one group?

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:46 am 13. RE:

It was neither racist nor in bad taste.

That Obama is an intruder on Sharpton and Jacksons’s race hucksterism is spot on accurate. People like Mr. Navarrete need to stop being such hypersensitive wimps that cringe from obvious truths the way a vampire retreats from sunlight. It’s really quite pathetic.

You want an example of bad taste? Try Al Sharpton and Tawana Brawley.

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:49 am 14. righty:

Can anyone see how one-sided this argument is? The parody is NOTHING compared to the treatment EVERYONE gave to Palin. They can dish it out but they can’t take it.

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:56 am 15. Saltherring:

“Was the ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ Ditty Really Racist?”

No more so than the reportedly 96% of black Americans who voted for Obama.

Jan 4, 2009 - 10:15 am 16. fred:

The people up in arms over this have not listened to it and really heard the lyrics, the people being parodied, and why it all came about.

“Barack the Magic Negro” is a hilarious slam at the LA Times, NY Times, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, JOE BIDEN, and all the liberal-Left establishment. They are the ones who are opportunists, racists, hucksters.

The only reason why this ditty is making the rounds with the talking heads is because it has become politically expedient and convenient for the Jackasses’ purposes. Nothing racist about the lyrics at all. It was inspired by the hypocrisy and racism of the liberal-Left. They like their pet victims compliant and truculent in a stereotypical way. They find educated blacks potentially a problem.

Can you imagine what the Left would do if Alan Keyes or Thomas Sowell were major, serious candidates for office? LOL!

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:11 am 17. Perfected Democrat:

Was there some reason why Martin Luther King was a Republican?

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:24 am 18. Jim Baker:

The answer is no.

Jan 4, 2009 - 12:06 pm 19. DavidN:

One interesting thing to note here is the origin of the phrase “Magic Negro” and *what it means*. Spike Lee coined the phrase, to describe a particular kind of character, a stereotype he’d detected in various movies. He mostly doesn’t like the character type, thinks that it’s used in a vaguely racist, condescending way. According to Wikipedia, the “Magic Negro” is a supporting character in a movie whose role, in the picture, is to assist or save the main (always white) character during the movie, often with some supernatural power and often at the expense of his own life. Apparently Steven King had characters of this type in several of his books (I don’t read King; I remember The Dead Zone being mentioned, but I could be wrong; The Green Mile definitely was included) and the archetype has been included in other movies and media. The point is that Obama being described as a “Magic Negro” now makes more sense. The mainstream media has been parodying itself since the election, with radio personalities on NPR (of all places) joking that Obama was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in apology for the four issues during the year where he wasn’t on the cover. People make jokes about him walking to and from Hawaii, healing the sick with his touch, etc. Makes the Magic Negro part seem more understandable, doesn’t it?

Not that this makes any difference. I still think it was unwise to do, because all of this explanation doesn’t carry much weight, along-side the left’s accusations.

Jan 4, 2009 - 1:35 pm 20. psota:

What we really need is a division of labor. Ridicule of your opponents leaders is a tried and true political tactic. It certainly worked against GW Bush who was derided as stupid, “Shrub,” evil, etc from the moment he took office. But for ridicule to work, you need the right people to carry it out. The Left has Michael Moore, Bill Maher, and the late Molly Ivins. The Right has Rush and Ann Coulter. What we don’t need is the RNC chair playing these games, too. Let the satirists satirize. Let the RNC chairs chair (or whatever they do). But trying to mix the two is asking for trouble.

Jan 4, 2009 - 1:58 pm 21. Bilgeman:

#9 Toby:

+1

Jan 4, 2009 - 3:52 pm 22. KJB:

Alternate title: “Was the ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ Ditty Really Necessary?”

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:16 pm 23. Scrapiron:

Funny that the brain dead liberals don’t point out that the term ‘magic negro’ came from a far left wing liberal at the LASlimes. I guess they see the disaster of Hussien coming (Richardson was about the 10th shot) and are trying to slander someone else with their own failures.

Someone please name one honest (even half honest) person that Hussein O has as a friend or business associate. They ain’t there, only criminal associations his entire adult life.

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:32 pm 24. Chuck:

Ruben, while I appreciate your attempt to find what is really “offensive” about this song, there is absolutely no excuse for a candidate for RNC chair to distribute this song in an effort to garner votes. That fact alone says everything about the state of the Republican party. Say what you want about prominent blacks who doubted Obama’s authenticity at the beginning of his candidacy, but those doubters have been thoroughly shamed simply by his election. I remember Andy Young saying Bill Clinton is every bit as black as Obama back in late 2007. As a black man, that comment made me write off everything Andy Young has ever done. He is despicable. That doesn’t excuse Chip Saltsman’s distribution of this song. That action tells me that the Republican party is still actively pursuing racist support. There is no denying it. That is the ultimate offense. Don’t try to shift blame, and stop writing articles about this. Everytime I see the word “negro” next to the name of my president, I’m offended. Your indignation needs to go away. There is no justification for this crap. It should be condemend outright. Stop handwringing and do the right thing for once. Geez.

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:40 pm 25. Joe:

The satire of Sharpton is very funny and dead on. There is nothing racist about it as anyone will learn if the origins of the term “Magic Negro” are briefly investigated. The outrage of the left and the NRC candidate, Duncan, is artificial and opportunistic. This continued focus on the subject is a joke in itself.

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:41 pm 26. Valerie:

Ya wanna know why the Republicans lost the last election, here’s a nice capsule summary: because the Republicans have to keep explaining crap like this.

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:55 pm 27. jvon:

Also, Dude, “Chinaman” is not the preferred nomenclature.

In all seriousness though, we need someone as RNC chair who can focus on the task at hand — taking back our Congress and coming up with a viable candidate in 2012 — and we certainly don’t need stunts like this.

Jan 4, 2009 - 5:57 pm 28. Will:

The puppet Barak Hussein had better get used to being made fun of. No one is beyond criticism either.

Jan 4, 2009 - 6:00 pm 29. marsouin:

It’s amazing that any Obama supporter would feel entitled to any moral authority whatsoever over race given Obama’s lurid past.

Jan 4, 2009 - 6:59 pm 30. kadazalu:

Oh, good grief. I am so sick of everyone everywhere being offended about something. If our biggest problems in life are about someone saying something ‘to offend’, we’re pretty dang lucky. I’m from the deep south and if I were offended every time I heard a joke from a late night comic about meeting a future spouse at a family reunion, not having teeth, or eating road kill I would be mad all of the time. Some of those jokes are pretty funny!

Jan 4, 2009 - 7:51 pm 31. Clinker:

President elect Barry H Obumble is a half negro, so of course Chuck is insulted. I am too, but by all the Chucks in this country who voted for a negro for president based on the color of his skin, and simply for that reason. There was no other reason because the negro has done nothing for anyone in this country except further his own career and used all the crap out of Chit-cago to get where he is. Get over it Chuck and fact the fact that your negro president elect has done more to cause racism in this country than any one else in the past 150 years!!!!

Jan 4, 2009 - 7:55 pm 32. CrusaderPatriot:

Finally, one person who gets it! Don’t forget VP Joe Biden said Obama is the “first clean and articulate black candidate” which is also in the parody. The fact is which the writer eluded to here, is that this parody illustrates DEMOCRAT RACISM!

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:17 pm 33. Linda Mae:

Wikipedia has an excellent article which credits Spike Lee for using the term in his college course a few years ago. It also lists “magic Negros” from movies – beginning with Uncle Remus in 1946. I suggest all commentators look it up and read it.

You should also look up the 41 songs on the CD. McCain was also satirized. Satire and parody are attempts to humorously make a point. They’ve been used since man began to communicate. To those who are offended by only one cut of the CD – get a life.

You can’t complain about this if you didn’t say anything about SNL calling Palin a MILF (mother I’d most li8ke to f.) I think both are equally demeaning but then – that is parody.

I also advise readers to find the Rahm Emmanuel roast Hillary and Obama participated in and review Obama’s comment about Rahm Emmanuel. He said that Rahm’s accidental cutting off his middle finger while working in the deli rendered him mute!. I think the complaining is just political and I’m tired of holier than thou’s clogging up the airwaves with their sophomoric concerns. I also would love to see the video of Obama using kick boxing to wipe out a fellow Illinois Congressman during their altercation.

Jan 4, 2009 - 8:33 pm 34. gcblues:

of all the things one could say about the president elect, negro, is one of the least descriptive. his color is close to the least important thing there is to say about him.

so lets stick to actual fitting descriptions. a liar. corrupt. far left. a know nothing professor. etc. negro is simply a distraction. there is no question we need to politically destroy him, his agenda and his party. lets keep the target in our sights, ok? aim for the political heart and the political brain, neither of which are black. aim at the corruption. aim at the lies. aim at the stupid ideas and welfare mentality. race will only distract from the necessary ends.

Jan 4, 2009 - 9:07 pm 35. Mark H.:

The problem is, Republicans don’t understand Information Operations, otherwise known as marketing. As long as they (Republican Leadership) hand these opportunities to the Democrats, we (pundits and regular rank and file Republicans) have to defend the party in media ad nauseum. On defense is not the way to win the future. The Democratic party has so many corruption scandals, and THIS is in the headlines.

Jan 4, 2009 - 9:53 pm 36. Patterson:

‘“Was the ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ Ditty Really Racist?”

No more so than the reportedly 96% of black Americans who voted for Obama.’

Ditto

Jan 4, 2009 - 10:29 pm 37. David Gillies:

Re the song: it was an unforced error. It was politically tone-deaf. Now, I’m about as doctrinaire an anti-fascist, anti-socialist, anti thought-police individual as you are likely to find in a month of searching. But there is an axiom that holds true in politics more so than even in other fields of life: cut your coat according to your cloth. Sure, the racial politics of Obama’s rise to power should not be de facto out of bounds. But for God’s sake, people, if they are to be examined, let us do it in a hygienic and unimpeachable fashion. I am not happy that Obama won the election. But I will not permit my criticism of him be sullied by the ranting of bigots or loons. He is the President-elect of the United States of America. Examination of his role should derive from the highest-minded sources there are. To demean him as a ‘Magic Negro’ has no more weight than to have demeaned Ronald Reagan as an ‘actor’. There is not an iota of evidence to show that Obama is anything other than a good and decent man, even if we disagree with him, and to fall prey to wicked and narrow-minded casts of mind is to find ourselves in exactly the same position that the malevolent left finds itself in its utter disdain for another good and decent man, George W. Bush.

Jan 4, 2009 - 10:31 pm 38. Ricardo:

What a neat gift idea.. I thought about buying one for my father and conservative friends. Why not we all listen to Limbaugh and enjoy all of Shanklins Parodies. Yeah this particular parody on the CD is a bit edgey for the simple fact that most uninformed people wouldn’t understand even after a detailed explanation. This should not be an issue its a gift and how it became public i dunno. Maybe it was Mccain being a Maverick(backstabber). I dunno.

The real issue here is the Liberals are controling what is news. The Liberals are controling what we can and can’t say. They are defining what is racist.(and we are complicit)

They are kicking our butt when it comes to shaping public opinion. Indoctrinating kids at the schools, movies, news outlets on and on. Its amazing we aren’t in worse shape. We need a new strategy that counters the Liberals more effectively.

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:39 pm 39. newscaper:

I do remember originally chuckling over the ‘authenticity’ arguments (haven’t heard this parody).
It made the ‘real’ blacks sound racist to question Obama’s credentials, so to speak, so that was amusing.

However, upon further reflection, the unspoken notion that they should blindly vote for him en masse simply because he shared, far, far back, some African genes is actually the more racist argument.

The ‘authenticity’ angle actually is not irrelevant — it is perfectly normal human nature to tend to support “one of us”. Surely the criterion for that membership is more meaningful if it is shared experiences rather than just melanin.

I am waiting to see if/when all of those who voted for Obama, not as the Racial Redeemer, but at least as a chance to finally tell all the Sharptons and Jacksons STFU (”Hey, we’ve got an African-American Prez, you cant ask for anything more”) get a rude awakening.

In terms of keeping the demands for special treatment going, I could easily see the “Hey, your guy’s the president” again rebuffed with a renewed, “Hey, but he’s not *really* one of us.” And why not? He was raised ‘white’, not ‘black’, apparently lived an upper middle class life in Hawaii, and is not even a descendant of the slaves at all.

In hindsight I think the supposed Jeremiah Wright misstep really did work to Obama’s advantage after all — sure, Wright pissed off a lot of whites,but i think the criticism of Wright actually made many ‘real’ african-americans rally around Obama. Then given the fact McCain wouldn’t (and perhaps in political reality truly *couldn’t*) beat on the Wright connection, the gain Obama made in further energizing blacks may have made up for the modest number of whites who were otherwise going to go for Obama but would have been sufficiently repelled by Wright to change.

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:53 pm 40. Rick:

I hope you republicans continue to find nothing wrong with acts like the “Magic Negro” song.

Your ignorance will lead to a continual democratic majority.

Jan 5, 2009 - 4:03 am 41. stu.b.con:

Hey Rick–you mean like you and fellow nitwits constant referencing Hitler/Bush? Cheney/Vader? You are all thin skinned hypocrites. The only thing racist about this parody is the commentary in the LATimes that was its genesis

Jan 5, 2009 - 4:29 am 42. edit35:

==Rick: “I hope you republicans continue to find nothing wrong with acts like the “Magic Negro” song.”==

We Republicans will continue to find humor with songs like “Magic Negro” as long as Democrats keep promoting PAY-to-PLAY politicians (Blago, Richardson, Hillary, etc) while claiming that is the norm.

Jan 5, 2009 - 5:23 am 43. Timothy A. Shackton:

I thought it was funny. The left will always use race to bait the right unfairly, it has always been this way. We just need to keep laughing about it and making jokes that sabotage their intent (like this joke did and will do ultimately). Nobody has mentioned the fact that a lot of people thought Puff the Magic Dragon (the original song) was written about smoking weed. Now that’s a twist on the magic negro song that is really, really funny.

Jan 5, 2009 - 6:04 am 44. wade:

How would the liberals have handled the reverse situation? They would have hammered the Republicans back immediately bringing out over and over again that a black conservative LA columnist started using the term first and that they were only repeating it. Their media allies would have “sensed” the need to help them turn this back on the Republicans and we would have seen it over and over on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and all the liberal newspapers. The entertainers would have jumped in to be sure the dopes who depend upon them for their “news” knew the score and they would spin it to the determent of Republicans. The professors in academia would bring it up in their university classes slamming the Republicans for bringing up the term and make excuses why the Democrats carried on with it. The New York times would have several front page, above the fold stories about how Republicans started it and these stories would be picked up by all little newspapers all over America and all would be anti Republican in the slant. The political cartoonists would get in the act and portray it however they wished regardless of truth or fact. A Hollywood leftist would pump out a movie called “The Magic Negro” that would be completely fiction but would label Republicans as the real culprit. And the looney left would be out demonstrating against Republicans at speeches and other public venues. The leftist media would cover these demonstrations (even if only a couple of people showed up) and plaster it all across the news.

In the end, Republicans would have been tarred for bringing the “Magic Negro” term to light in the first place and no one would be ignorant of the “facts” as the left wanted it portrayed.

You know, sort of like every election cycle.

Jan 5, 2009 - 6:18 am 45. Barnestormer:

Try this as a blown-gasket recovery technique:

Instead of focusing on Obama, train your attention on the “narrator,” that reliable race-baiter, fraud-purveyor and extorionist extraordinaire, (not to mention, ex-presidential candidate) Al Sharpton, and ask: how far off the mark is the portrayal of his Obama envy?

The “Magic Negro” may be light brown, but his detractor is dark green.

Jan 5, 2009 - 7:13 am 46. Paul - Indiana:

Magic Negro? More like Magic Mulatto.

Jan 5, 2009 - 8:32 am 47. Robert Hurley:

The comments on this post are great evidence of one reason why the Republicans lost the election. Most of you do not know why it is insensitive and why it is political dynomite. Keep it up and you will lose again four years from now. As a Democrat I should be encouraging you.

Jan 5, 2009 - 12:34 pm 48. Cybergeezer:

What’s come to my attention is the paradigm of “political correctness” in use by blacks and Democrats that they hope has the effect of mentally enslaving those not of their color or beliefs. And the mainstream media is quick to launch into this propaganda, also. Sly attempts to curtail and suppress free speech and expression.

Jan 5, 2009 - 1:28 pm 49. RealityCheck:

The problem isn’t that it’s racist (it isn’t). It’s that it’s a Republican mentioning Obama’s race and not gushing with praise (e.g., calling him ‘clean and articulate’). That’s all the modern liberal-run media needs. Our media has successfully indoctrinated generations into thinking of racism when they hear the word Republican.

You can put the blame on the guy who distributed the song, but it doesn’t belong there. It’s on the systematic brainwashing that takes place in our society that tells our citizens that if it’s not ‘progressive’, there’s something wrong with it. Something evil and sinister and wrong. And the only way to fight that kind of thinking is to be subversive. Conservatism has to go subversive, trick the kneejerk people into reacting when there’s nothing to react to.

Which is why I think this is a great moment for Republicans and Conservatism. This song isn’t racist at all. And anybody who says it’s racist is pretty clearly an idiot.

Jan 5, 2009 - 2:12 pm 50. wayne:

When will the left stop blasting the right over something they know they can generate media outrage over about how it “demonstrates right wing racism”?

Simple answer: once they have finally succeeded in finding a legal way to sterilize, lobotomize, and finally euthanize every last conservative on the planet.

This is a religious war and the Liberals have become the Spanish Inquisition (not the Monty Python variety either!!).

Jan 5, 2009 - 2:26 pm 51. NMSC:

sure, the left scores political points but there’s no need to stop exercising your freedom of speech. frankly, the black community comprises a tiny portion of the electorate and if they’re gullable enough to believe that the poverty-enabling dems are not racists themselves, that’s their own problem. if repubs want to score more valuable political points, all they need to do is focus on getting the white female vote. they are eager to find a home after having their eyes opened to the hypocrisy of the dems. get sarah palin back up there, tone down the abortion rhetoric, beef up stories on how the iraq war and overthrowing the taliban has improved the lives of Mideast women, get ayaan hirsi ali up there with palin. it’ll be over after that. don’t worry about the race crap.

Jan 5, 2009 - 3:19 pm 52. Cybergeezer:

50. wayne;
Right on! The left is using the media like the Arabs.

Jan 5, 2009 - 4:15 pm 53. SeattleBruce:

17. Perfected Democrat:
Was there some reason why Martin Luther King was a Republican?

==============
Here’s a good treatment of that topic.
<a href=”http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.DYK-Why%20MLK%20was%20a%20Republican”http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.DYK-Why%20MLK%20was%20a%20Republican

As to the topic of this post, the Dims don’t have a sense of humor, nor do they have a sense of irony in that all of the quotes in that song are from Dims and Libs. That being said, I do tend to agree with some of the comments here that Rs need to be wiser in how they utilize the media. It’s not a matter of PC, but a matter of prudence and diplomacy. We all know many people that aren’t diplomatic, yell at people in restaurants or fly the bird at people on the freeways. Humor done at the wrong place, at the wrong time, can be equally damaging. What’s fine and dandy for Rush, may not be so for the potential RNC chair, in our age of wall to wall cameras and analysis and certainly not when the Lame Stream Media and to some degree a good portion of what gets defined in the news cycle is in the hands of the lefties. Why, from the RNC side, give them ammo? Rush and cohorts can all keep us chuckling, fine (if Obama let’s ‘em stay on the air??), but as someone earlier suggested, we need to use prudence and leadership now, to reclaim the sensible American public.

Jan 5, 2009 - 5:16 pm 54. SeattleBruce:

17. Perfected Democrat:
Was there some reason why Martin Luther King was a Republican?

==============
Here’s a good treatment of that topic. (try to get the link in there.)
http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.DYK-Why%20MLK%20was%20a%20Republican

Jan 5, 2009 - 5:18 pm 55. SeattleBruce:

24. Chuck
“Everytime I see the word “negro” next to the name of my president, I’m offended.”

=============

So you must be very offended at the liberal LA Times journalist who conjoined Spike Lee’s term with Pres. elect Barack Obama? I didn’t notice you mention either of them as objects of your disgust at this in your rant (although you did mention Andy Young).

Jan 5, 2009 - 5:27 pm 56. SeattleBruce:

25. Joe
“There is nothing racist about it as anyone will learn if the origins of the term “Magic Negro” are briefly investigated.”

==========

But this is the wisdom issue – how many people will know nothing more than that the dude (Saltsman will be forgotten by most – they’ll just tie it to Rs and conservatives) that was running for RNC chair had some kind of CD that had a song called ‘Barack the Magic Negro?’ Probably 75% will go no further – no matter how educated. That’s why the Ds and Libs are making bricks from this political hay. Most in the public will not even briefly investigate, as they’re too busy, or they’re apathetic.

Jan 5, 2009 - 5:33 pm 57. SeattleBruce:

26. Valerie:

Ya wanna know why the Republicans lost the last election, here’s a nice capsule summary: because the Republicans have to keep explaining crap like this.

==============
Yeah, stuff like this doesn’t help, but as others have pointed out about what happens when the shoe is on the other foot – you forgot about the complicit, fawning, Obama-adoring, forgive-all, free pass for all, press. Have we ever seen such an in-the-tank, activist press?

Jan 5, 2009 - 5:37 pm 58. Rosemary:

Obama is not a NEGRO, he has NO slave blood in his body, He is 6% “african american” which is NOT enough % to claim as part of your race (it needs to be 12%)

I heard this song last year. Not news.

He is the “magic Negro” for those that worship him.
For that the singer (Al Sharpton, from his infamous megaphone) is saddened that BHO gets the nod…. just. not. fair.

crybaby democrats

Jan 5, 2009 - 6:03 pm 59. Ann:

The Magic Negro ditty is a satire on Al Sharpton and Joe Biden. That’s reality, people. It just quotes things Al Sharpton, the L.A.Times and Joe Biden said about Obama.

Of course, this reminds me of the dynamic we saw illustrated during the election: You’re accused of a smear when you accurately quote a democrat.

Nothing of what is in “Barack, the Magic Negro” originated with either Rush Limbaugh or Paul Shanklin.

That’s what makes this whole recent episode so hilarious. The hysterical misdirected reaction of the libs and lefties prove that they don’t know the facts about the song and apparently aren’t up on current events.

Jan 5, 2009 - 6:23 pm 60. Kurt:

Ann, I’d think it was hilarious, but the reality is that in our current age with our biased press, liberals and lefties mischaracterize reality, and their mischaracterizations are carried forward as unquestioned fact. Consider the term “swiftboating,” for instance. To the person who gets most of his or her information from the mainstream press, to “swiftboat” is to articulate an unjustified, unreasonable, and malicious smear against a candidate. In reality, the swiftboat vets made charges and allegations based on inconsistencies, flaws, lies, and misrepresentations in John Kerry’s record, charges he never answered seriously or satisfactorily. But that hasn’t kept the press from acting like “swiftboating” is a low blow. This “magic negro” controversy is the same thing. As far as the Democrats and their agents in the press are concerned, the facts don’t matter as long as they can use it as a tool for attacking Republicans.

Jan 5, 2009 - 8:26 pm 61. Jim Baker:

Cheer up, folks. Fewer people watch the talking heads making up the news every day. Just wait until one of the media outlets figure out that people are starved to see and hear real news. Imagine news reporters actually trying to cover non-media inspired events. The advertisers are waiting for this, too. They are getting damned tired of shelling out big money for commercials to be shown between episodes of “OJ Goes to Jail”, “Jon Bonet Ramsey, Mystery Murder”, “Fat People Weight Loss Freak Show”, and “Roswell, the Space Alien Town” to dwindling audiences of more and more moronic viewers.

Jan 5, 2009 - 10:44 pm 62. Rational Asian - Honolulu:

Humor is a very subjective thing. I find Al Franken to be a very funny guy, by the way a big congrats to the former funny man from SNL for putting another check mark on the W column for us Dems.

Why are some of the conservatives still mentioning Palin 2012? Be careful of what you wish for. Are you folks that dense and have not learn anything from 8 yrs of Bush? Here is an illustration of what could happen.

Immoral Clinton > incompetent and clueless Bush > inexperience Obama > incompetent and clueless Palin > asian or latino person to be determined.

Laugh all you want for the “Magic Negro”. I, along with the rest of the world will wait for a bigger joke and laugh when Palin come out of hibernation. Thanks to McCain or the genius that come up with the idea of nominating Palin as the #2 for its ticket. I hope that genius will still be around ‘12. It was a laugh riot and I don’t recall a more entertaining campaign season.

Jan 6, 2009 - 1:55 am 63. Another View:

I don’t find the song racist. And racist is to strong a word to call Saltzman. He clearly made a tasteless decision. But it speaks volumes that the man running for RNC chair would be so divisive. I expect it from Rush.

The Author has it wrong. It would be irresponsible not to admit the GOP is much much more intolerant than the Dems. And until that ugliness is gone the GOP is finished. I can be conservative myself. It’s not the values we should embrace. It’s the intolerance we should reject.

Obama has lived the Black experience. Hes been called a N….. in anger, hes been followed around stores, ect. The urban or rural ghettos are not the Black experience.

Jan 6, 2009 - 4:23 am 64. Ann:

Kurt, you’ve characterized the problem well.

It bothers me a lot that we are apparently getting to the point where the way we construct and communicate points of view now needs to be (always) driven by our assumptions regarding how they are going to be used against us.

You’re probably more right than not in your bottom line, but it makes me sick to think that ignorance and humorlessness in political discourse means that we have to self censor when we are in the conversation.

Obama brushed this off and laughed about it when it was brought to his attention, saying (something like), “Well, that’s what Rush does…” I heard that audio and he did indeed say it in a casual, humorous tone.

The dems and their groupies are perfecting mass passive aggressiveness with regard to victimhood. Frightening that it can be packaged into a political force.

Jan 6, 2009 - 4:26 am 65. Another View:

10. David Thomson:

“Who cares, it was in bad taste”

Nonsense. Talking about Barack Obama as something of a “magic negro” merely acknowledges a legitimate phenomenon in the United States. We should definitely be discussing this sort of thing. There are indeed numerous politically correct individuals who perceive Obama in somewhat magical terms. This is what helped him get elected! Let us never forget that the president-elect with his very thin resume would have been ignored if he were white. If we can’t discuss this matter now, when can we? Sometime in the 23rd century?
Jan 4, 2009 – 8:11 am

This is the Jackie Robinson syndrome. Was he the best? That is debatable. Most say no. Jackie was also the “magic negro”. Obama may have a thin resume but he runs circles around the ol boys network as did Jackie. And there were and are plenty of Blacks who could have run this country. The magic is relative.

Jan 6, 2009 - 5:05 am 66. Barnestormer:

60. Kurt
Following your logic, O’Neill, Corsi, and the others should not have published Unfit for Command because of the potential for the MSM to pervert the term. “Willie Hortoning” is what they do. The answer is not to be cowed into silence, but to be armed with the facts and challenge the revisionists at every deceitful turn.

Jan 6, 2009 - 5:55 am 67. Marauder:

“The Magic Negro ditty is a satire on Al Sharpton and Joe Biden. That’s reality, people. It just quotes things Al Sharpton, the L.A.Times and Joe Biden said about Obama.

Of course, this reminds me of the dynamic we saw illustrated during the election: You’re accused of a smear when you accurately quote a democrat.”

Exactly. Anyone who thinks the song is racist should be after those guys, not the people who simply pointed out what they’d said.

I thought it was a pretty good spoof on the concept of being “authentically black”.

Jan 6, 2009 - 7:01 am 68. NMSC:

I think it’s funny when people say Repubs are intolerant. Intolerant toward who? Intolerant of black people? Because they are the only ones who insist the black community take responsibility for their behavior and their relentless racism? And Repubs are much more tolerant of some other groups than the Dems by the way. When we speak of “tolerance” it all depends on who you’re talking to. Both sides have “tolerance” issues.

Jan 6, 2009 - 10:53 am 69. Paul:

“It showed incredible poor judgment on the part of Republican leaders, regardless of whether it was technically racist or not. If someone cannot refrain from sending around such a bad joke in this day and age of instant media revelation, then there’s a problem in the brain area.”

Where were these (or any appropriately defensive) comments and their originators, when President Bush was being raked over the coals so viciously during his administration? I am in no way hinting that I staunchly supported the still incumbent President in some decisions he made and acted upon; but at the very least, he still deserved a show of deference from US citizens. So, isn’t this soft pedaling and defensive posturing around the President-elect edging toward hypocrisy, given the stunningly comprehensive bi-partisan lack of respect President Bush sustained?

Now that BHO has become the favored public icon, let him take the hits. If the MSM has its way (they seem so very successful at it these days, BTW), even these mild jibes will not penetrate the thin veneer of their favorite protegé.

Jan 7, 2009 - 1:18 am 70. Pat J:

I wonder what the reaction would be if someone satirized “Puff the Magic Dragon” with a song called “Bush the Idiot Warmonger.”

Jan 7, 2009 - 9:14 am 71. cro-bar:

Not rascist,absolutely hilarious song, but tone deaf & stupid by a politician. Anyone this inept & sloppy enough to let this slip thru is disqualified to be chairman of a party. He’s not Rush Limbaugh by a long shot. Come on,it was a goof up, there are better choices for chairmen, we are in deep doo if this guy is chosen.

Jan 7, 2009 - 12:09 pm 72. Bad Joao:

I kind of liked the song even if it is considered in bad taste. Its funny and stupid and sort of depicts what allot of people are thinking. It also serves to illustrate how bad the Republican leadership has fallen. Just to even things up and be PC however, Im more than willing to listen to the catchy tune of Bush, the tragic white trash idiot. Lets see if that loudmouth fat assed,Rush will give it air time.

Jan 8, 2009 - 2:55 am 73. Obama is NOT Black:

Obama is NOT “Black”. He is a half white mulatto bi-racial character whose father is from Africa. Obama does not have a drop of slave blood in him.

Sorry if you Democrats find this FACT somehow offensive. It just shows what mental midgets you are and also shows you are in fact race obsessed bigots.

Sorry if you stupid moron Democrats don’t like it. Sorry if you stupid Democrats don’t like the truth. Nobody invented the facts, they are what they are.

Obama does not have an ounce of black American slave blood in him and thus the Democrats asked the question several years ago “Is Obama black enough”.

In fact DEMOCRATS originally coined the phrase “Barrack the Magic Negro”. A Democrat wrote it. A Democrat published it in a Democrat run newspaper. And Democrats championed the phrase and concept back during a time when Hillary was supposed to be the Democrat candidate.

Now the Democrats would like us all to just quietly forget they ever said it. Sorry, we will continue to throw this in your face Democrats for as long as you keep dodging the issue and as long as you keep trying to play your vile race card against everyone who disagrees with you.

Jan 9, 2009 - 1:57 am

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