Barack the Magic Negro'-gate

[Big Don]

[FONT=Palatino, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+2]Barack the Magic Negro'-gate[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-1]Posted: January 01, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
Larry Elder
WorldNetDaily
Excerpt:

[/SIZE]
This is how the whole thing started.
David Ehrenstein, a writer who happens to be black and liberal, wrote an opinion piece in March 2007 in the Los Angeles Times called "Obama the 'Magic Negro.'"
He argued that whites, according to sociologists, stereotype blacks as "dangerous." But whites consider Obama accessible, likeable and "benign." This, according to Ehrenstein, explains Obama's "crossover" appeal.
The article insults a) Obama, by virtually ignoring his effectiveness as a candidate, b) whites, by accusing them of voting for Obama merely to assuage their own guilt and c) Sidney Poitier, the brilliant, groundbreaking actor, for ascribing his success to whites who find him safe and nonthreatening.
The article produced virtually no outcry.
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh then aired a song parody – set to the music of "Puff the Magic Dragon" – called "Barack the Magic Negro." Referring to the Times article, an Al Sharpton-like "singer" called Obama inauthentically black. Why, complained the singer, should white folks vote for Obama rather than a true black man "from the hood" like – me.
Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent the song on a CD with 40 other songs, in a Christmas mailer to committee members. Doesn't the mailer, asked several cable news programs, expose the Republicans – yet again – for their tone deafness on the issue of race? CNN host Anderson Cooper asked about the term "Negro." Isn't it pejorative?

End Excerpt
Quoted for emphasis:
David Ehrenstein, a writer who happens to be black and liberal, wrote an opinion piece in March 2007 in the Los Angeles Times called "Obama the 'Magic Negro.'"

If you haven't heard the song, you should, it is hilarious, and so obviously a jab at Sharpton, hearing the song you cannot draw the conclusions the left is trying to draw for you.
Read the full column. Elder makes some very nice points that some of you will NOT like. But, like gravity, just because you don't like them...
Here, Rush explains the song PARODY to a caller

 

[elder999]

David Ehrenstein, a writer who happens to be black and liberal, wrote an opinion piece in March 2007 in the Los Angeles Times called "Obama the 'Magic Negro.'"

And, I should add, Mr. Ehrenstein isn't exactly a fan of Barack Obama. IN any case, his piece, found here, was really more about a cultural phenomenon-and one that may or may not be genuine, at that-than it was about Barack Obama, though he was certainly the catalyst. I say that Mr. Ehrenstein is no fan of Barack Obama, in part because of his take on this alleged cultural phenomenon, and in part because he is a gay activist, and continues to have some genuine issues with Mr. Obama in this regard. In any case, the original piece in the LA Times wasn't insulting to white voters, Barack Obama or anyone else-contrary to what Mr. Elders alleges the piece from the OP.

It was a bit of fluff cultural commentary. It was just silly.

If you haven't heard the song, you should, it is hilarious, and so obviously a jab at Sharpton, hearing the song you cannot draw the conclusions the left is trying to draw for you.
Read the full column. Elder makes some very nice points that some of you will NOT like. But, like gravity, just because you don't like them...
Here, Rush explains the song PARODY to a caller

Sure, the song is funny. As parodies go, it's a bit mean spirited, and quite low-brow, but it's completely appropriate for Mr. Limbaugh's program, and the median aggregate mental capabilities of his target audience. :lol:

In other words, it was written so that not-very intelligent, resentful amd mean spirited people could have something to laugh at.
It's just silly.

It is, however, inappropriate for the Republican party to use it in the fashion in which they did. They're allegedly trying to get blacks to join the party and vote Republican in larger numbers, and this simply isn't the way to do it. It was stupid, and strategically short-sighted. It should come as no surprise that some were offended, considering the source -and you didn't hear any outcry when Rush ran it, because it's about what you expect from him. The inclusion of the song on a Christmas greeting CD from the RNC was not very smart, and inappropriate, but mostly, well-mostly it was just silly.

Mr. Elder's points aren't even relevant to any modern issue facing either party or white or black America today. The inclusion of a "history lesson" on the racial demographics and history of each party in this case is not only irrelevant to the issue at hand-it's just silly.

And, I should add that almost all the fuss over this is coming from the media, and the Republicans. There has been no response or request for an apology from Obama, or the Democratic National Committee. I'm fairly certain that they feel about the same as I do about the whole thing.

It's just silly. :lfao:

 

[DavidCC]

seems to demonstrate some of the reasons the GOP is failing.. near-sighted focus on what they believe is their core audience

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I found about 4 different variants on Youtube. Cute, bad, offensive, boring, etc.
People need to realize, there's nothing really Magic about Obama. He won an election, he did so by a respectable margin, but he didn't landslide, he didn't destroy his opponent, no "messages" were sent, etc. He's yet another young and charismatic man who managed to win an election.

But, it's not a "miracle".

 

[Twin Fist]

the GOP is hardly failing.

This presidential election was STILL close in numbers, despite having a press corps 100% in the tank for the dems, having an economic crisis, MANUFACTURED by dems, a month before the election and a candidate that REFUSED to play hard ball with the enemy.

McCain could have easily won IF:
1- he played hard ball with obama's associations and judgement
2- he played hardball with naming the dems responsible for the housing debacle
3- he played hardball with the press
4- he played hardball with and pointed out that the dems have controlled congress for the last 2 years before the election
4- he played hardball and reminded everyone that the surge WORKED, and Obama was against it
see a trend here?


this election was no rout of the republican party, it was closer to a set up job on a candidate that wasnt willing to FIGHT for it.

 

[DavidCC]

the GOP is hardly failing.

This presidential election was STILL close in numbers, despite having a press corps 100% in the tank for the dems, having an economic crisis, MANUFACTURED by dems, a month before the election and a candidate that REFUSED to play hard ball with the enemy.

McCain could have easily won IF:
1- he played hard ball with obama's associations and judgement
2- he played hardball with naming the dems responsible for the housing debacle
3- he played hardball with the press
4- he played hardball with and pointed out that the dems have controlled congress for the last 2 years before the election
4- he played hardball and reminded everyone that the surge WORKED, and Obama was against it
see a trend here?


this election was no rout of the republican party, it was closer to a set up job on a candidate that wasnt willing to FIGHT for it.

so why did the GOP field such a weak candidate? IMHO myopic focus on their core membership.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Oh, I'm sorry, were you still operating under the quaint assumption that the voters were still the ones who picked who wins and loses an election? I would find it very hard to believe, given how things played out, that the winner and loser weren't scripted.

They all have the same bosses.

 

[tellner]

All I can say is "Stay classy, Republicans. So far you're keeping in character."

 

[Big Don]

so why did the GOP field such a weak candidate? IMHO myopic focus on their core membership.

I doubt that, the GOP's core hates John McCain.

 

[sgtmac_46]

so why did the GOP field such a weak candidate? IMHO myopic focus on their core membership.

By all winds of politics the Democratic Party SHOULD have been able to run the DNC janitor and win this election.....8 years of the Republicans in power, unpopular conflict, economic problems......the Republicans weren't going to lose because the Republicans are finished as a party, they were going to lose because the pendumlum swings toward the other direction naturally in times like this......and fielding such a mediocre candidate could be viewed as a mistake......or it could be viewed as not wasting a better candidate on an election that's doomed to failure!

There was nothing spectacular about Obama's showing.....in fact, i'd be concerned if I were the DNC about only winning by 9 million votes......during large portions of this race McCain the mediocre candidate was neck and neck with Obama. Obama BETTER have some magic over the next 4 years, because he promised an awful lot!

 

[sgtmac_46]

All I can say is "Stay classy, Republicans. So far you're keeping in character."

Not that the DNC has any kind of lock on 'Classy' behavior......in fact, the DNC and it's proxies are so notoriously unclassy that it's no real story when something like this flies out from the left.

Limbaugh intended the very reaction he got....a bunch of knee-jerks from folks thinking 'GOTCHYA YOU SOB!' and declaring this proof of Limbaugh's racism......only to get the inevitable deflation when confronted by the reality that it's a parody of the LA Times......in that sense it was BRILLIANT! And worked quite well.

 

[Gordon Nore]

All I can say is "Stay classy, Republicans. So far you're keeping in character."

The part about this story that I'm unclear about is this quote from the WorldNetDaily piece from the opening thread:

Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent the song on a CD with 40 other songs, in a Christmas mailer to committee members.

I get the sense that Saltsman, not necessarily the RNC, is responsible for distributing this to committee members. Why did he send it at all? The LA Times piece by David Ehrenstein became the excuse (not the inspiration) for Limbaugh's little musical parody, written by Paul Shanklin, an excuse to bandy about the word Negro. Saltsman's piece describes more benign cenematic images of the "Magic Negro," as a non-threatening, almost asexual persona that comes to the aid of white protragonists. The article, which I'd give a "C," focuses on pop culture examples and doesn't really have any political legs.

The song parody itself was -- and I agree very much with Elder's comments -- "low-brow," maybe a notch or two above a "coon joke." As an aside, I remember many years ago when Limbaugh briefly had a syndicated televsion show in addition to his radio broadcasts. In the early episodes, Limbaugh used a split-screen effect, where half the picture would show prominent African-American women like Betty Shabazz or Joycelen Elders, with Limbaugh on the other half of the screen making faces, clearly making fun of the way they speak.

Now, as for Limbaugh himself, I love the quote in the OP where he's explaining the song to a listener who objects to the use of the word Negro.

CALLER: Okay. Yeah, so that was my question there. You know, I feel like as a country that we should definitely be propelling forward, and this generation, and bringing light to the rest of this world.

RUSH: Well, I can tell you think the term negro is inappropriate, that it's old hat and shouldn't be used, that it's divisive and this sort of thing, and you may have a point, but remember what we do on this program. We illustrate absurdity by being absurd, and the other element of this is that Sharpton has been quoted in the New York Post as being jealous that Obama is getting all this support as a black presidential candidate. Remember, Joe Biden said, "Hey, we got the first clean, articulate, intelligent black guy running for president." How do you think this makes Sharpton feel? He's run for president twice. How do you think it's going to make the Reverend Jackson feel? So the story was that there's a little jealousy out there. So, these two things just fit together. It was like a harmonic convergence here on this, Uriah. Now that you know the context and the details, let's listen together to Al Sharpton and "Barack the Magic Negro."

So when did Limbaugh develop all this sympathy for Sharpton and Jackson? Nah, the cut and thrust of this is that Limbaugh gets to use the lamest excuse in the world. It's ok for me to promote the use of the word Negro, because I hear a black person say it.

The story itself is silly. Mr Obama has shown no signs of distress, and Limbaugh has been caught in the act of being himself.

 

[Marginal]

the GOP is hardly failing.

This presidential election was STILL close in numbers, despite having a press corps 100% in the tank for the dems, having an economic crisis, MANUFACTURED by dems, a month before the election and a candidate that REFUSED to play hard ball with the enemy.

McCain could have easily won IF:
1- he played hard ball with obama's associations and judgement
2- he played hardball with naming the dems responsible for the housing debacle
3- he played hardball with the press
4- he played hardball with and pointed out that the dems have controlled congress for the last 2 years before the election
4- he played hardball and reminded everyone that the surge WORKED, and Obama was against it
see a trend here?


this election was no rout of the republican party, it was closer to a set up job on a candidate that wasnt willing to FIGHT for it.

If he hadn't pandered to a useless base by picking Palin.
If he hadn't sung "Bomb bomb bomb Iran...."
If he hadn't picked up Rove for his campaign...

 

[Big Don]

If he hadn't pandered to a useless base by picking Palin.
If he hadn't sung "Bomb bomb bomb Iran...."
If he hadn't picked up Rove for his campaign...

If he hadn't spent the ten years prior to his campaign pissing off the Republican base...
If he hadn't outraged the Republican base by sponsoring a bill that would have given amnesty to illegals...
Picking Palin is the only thing that got him as many conservative votes as he did.
The only one's rooting for McCain during the primaries were the media and the democrats, the ones who saw he'd be an easy target.

 

[Marginal]

Picking Palin is the only thing that got him as many conservative votes as he did.

Moral conservatives perhaps. She alienated everyone else.

I truly dearly hope she sticks around for 2012.

 

[Twin Fist]

marginal, I get it. You are a partisan, you cant or wont say ANYTHING good about ANYONE on the other side, and while that makes me sad for you, I get it

people LOVED Palin, for the same reason people loved Bush in 2000.

they are both regular people, that the common man can relate to.

that is the same reason ironically that the liberals loath them both.

A person cant see themselves as the "elite" if they are too common. And liberals love to think they are the elite.....

Palin was a genius choice, everyone BUT hardcore liberal partisans loved the gal.

Be carefull what you wish for, give that lady 4 years with some smart handlers, and she will kick your obamasiah's *** in 2012

 

[Marginal]

people LOVED Palin, for the same reason people loved Bush in 2000.

they are both regular people, that the common man can relate to.

Does that guff about me being a partisan mean you're not supposed to be a partisan, tf?

The only thing I see is an unreasoning fear of electing someone perceived as smarter than the voter. (Which is flat out moronic. Someone capable of leading, not someone capable of being led should be in the higest office.)

The common man best relates to a pampered rich kid?

The common man relates to a woman who hangs around with witch doctors, and unapologetically grifts city and state offices as well as the GOP itself? (She comes off as a younger version of Blago.)

These ain't the heady bootstrappy stories of self made people that are supposed to be held so dearly by the common man.

The elite label is such a load. Bush *is* an Elite. The only reason it's wheeled out is in the event that one candidate is perceived as educated while the other appears dumber than a bag of hammers.

I'd be perfectly willing to vote for a Republican candidate if they came across as thoughtful and/or intelligent. Once they roll out the "hur hur hur", I'm gone.

 

[Twin Fist]

the funny part is, everything you JUST said is the exact opposite of reality.

And no, I am not a partisan. I have voted for dems, and for independants (voted for perot, TWICE)

I dont believe for one second that you have EVER voted for a conservative. Your head would explode first.

The common man isnt afraid of someone smarter than they are, but they dont have much tolerance for someone talking DOWN to them, such as "we know better what to do with your money than you do, so we are gonna raise your taxes, trust us, we're smarter than you" a hallmark liberal posistion (translated from politico to english)

Bush doesnt come across as a pampered rich guy. he comes across like your next door nieghbor. Mine anyway, dont know about yours...

And every single BS accusation you libs hurled at Sarah palin failed, was proven false and/or misleading, and showed JUST how scared of her you were.

because people LOVED her

You can sit around at your cocktail parties and tell yourselves that she alianated people, but it is just mental masturbation

people LOVED her. The people. She is a totally 100% self made person. She wasnt born rich, she didnt attend an ivy league school, yet she won a mayorship, then a state goveners office. All while taking on corruption in her own party. That is simply the facts. Lie to yourself all you want, but that way lies defeat and humiliation.

you guys lost in 2000 and 2004 because you underestimated the other side. Do yourself a favor and dont do it again in 2012. Just because someone has a little accent that annoys you, doenst mean he or she is stupid and not to be taken seriously.


But, to get back to the topic, the parody song is totally right in one respect, you KNOW sharpton and Jackson are seriously pissed about the Obama win, aside from the fact he pulled off something they couldnt, he has effectivly put them out of work.

No one can cry about the man holding them down NOW.

 

[Marginal]

I dont believe for one second that you have EVER voted for a conservative. Your head would explode first.

Believe what you like.

The common man isnt afraid of someone smarter than they are, but they dont have much tolerance for someone talking DOWN to them, such as "we know better what to do with your money than you do, so we are gonna raise your taxes, trust us, we're smarter than you" a hallmark liberal posistion (translated from politico to english)

Eh. Not much different than, "We've got to protect the rich, because we might be rich someday." (All while grinding away at some go nowhere job.)

Bush doesnt come across as a pampered rich guy. he comes across like your next door nieghbor. Mine anyway, dont know about yours...

Bush IS a pampered rich guy. Doesn't really matter how he comes across. That is the fact of his existence.

And every single BS accusation you libs hurled at Sarah palin failed, was proven false and/or misleading, and showed JUST how scared of her you were.

I dunno. That's an awful a lot of smoke.

You can sit around at your cocktail parties and tell yourselves that she alianated people, but it is just mental masturbation

George Will's efforts, not mine.

people LOVED her. The people. She is a totally 100% self made person. She wasnt born rich, she didnt attend an ivy league school, yet she won a mayorship, then a state goveners office. All while taking on corruption in her own party. That is simply the facts. Lie to yourself all you want, but that way lies defeat and humiliation.

Bush went to an Ivy league school. Bush was born rich.

Obama worked to get into an Ivy league school. He's the legendary bootstrappy guy you all claim to hold as an ideal. Heck, Bill Clinton's a better example than Bush or Palin too in terms of self production.

Just because someone has a little accent that annoys you, doenst mean he or she is stupid and not to be taken seriously.

Meh. She'll be impeached by then.

But, to get back to the topic, the parody song is totally right in one respect, you KNOW sharpton and Jackson are seriously pissed about the Obama win, aside from the fact he pulled off something they couldnt, he has effectivly put them out of work.

By appealing to the common man more successfully than an old rich white dude did.

 

[jarrod]

i just want to throw in that, as a moderate, palin scared the hell out of me. i didn't vote for obama because the 2nd amendment is important enough to me to lose my vote if a candidate doesn't support it. i didn't like that both candidates supported the bailout because it flies in the face of capitalism & fiscal conservativism. so i'm not speaking as someone coming from the far left here.

any chance mccain had of winning my support went out the window when he selected palin. she does come off as down to earth, & i'm sure she would make a fine neighbor. but she had little experience, is married to a succesionist & spoke in support of that group, & said that the iraqi war was a task appointed to us from god. anytime a politician starts citing god as a source of authority, i get twitchy. & it's not because i'm not a christian. if you look at the bible, the rulers that god worked through weren't exactly benevolent (herod, the pharoahs, etc).

above that, she's an airhead. i can kind of understand choking on national tv & not being able to name a single newspaper or news magazine. but not naming one when you graduated with a degree in communications & journalism is a bit much. really, nothing about her inspired any faith in her ability to lead. for my end, it has nothing to do with elitism & everything to do with not believing she is competent, informed, or capable.

just my $.02,

jf