RNC candidate distributes controversial Obama song
By Reid Wilson
Posted: 12/26/08 12:10 PM [ET]
RNC candidate Chip Saltsmanâs Christmas greeting to committee members includes a music CD with lyrics from a song called âBarack the Magic Negro,â first played on Rush Limbaughâs popular radio show.
Saltsman, a personal friend of conservative satirist Paul Shanklin, sent a 41-track CD along with a note to national committee members.
âI look forward to working together in the New Year,â Saltsman wrote. âPlease enjoy the enclosed CD by my friend Paul Shanklin of the Rush Limbaugh Show.â
The CD, called âWe Hate the USA,â lampoons liberals with such songs as âJohn Edwardsâ Poverty Tour,â âWright place, wrong pastor,â âLove Client #9,â âIvory and Ebonyâ and âThe Star Spanglish banner.â
Several of the track titles, including âBarack the Magic Negro,â are written in bold font.
The song, which debuted on Limbaughâs show in late March 2007, latches onto an opinion column in the Los Angeles Times of the same title. That column, penned by cultural critic David Ehrenstein, argued that Obama could serve as a balm to whites who felt guilty about past treatment of African Americans.
Limbaugh first highlighted the column the day it ran, according to a contemporary report by Media Matters, the liberal watchdog agency. Media Matters reported Limbaugh repeated the phrase more than two dozen times the day the column ran.
The following month, Shanklin debuted his version of the song, sung to the tune of âPuff the Magic Dragonâ and performed in Shanklinâs impression of Al Sharpton.
âSee, real black men, like Snoop Dogg, or me, or Farrakhan, have talked the talk, and walked the walk, not come in late and won,â one verse in the song says.
Saltsman said he meant nothing untoward by forwarding what amounts to a joke more at Ehrensteinâs expense than at Obamaâs.
âPaul Shanklin is a long-time friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies,â Saltsman said.
Republicans searching for ways to attack Obama have been hesitant to embrace any reference to his race. Limbaugh presciently predicted his allusion to the column nearly two years ago would win attention from left-leaning organizations that would suggest he was using Obamaâs race against him.
By Reid Wilson
Posted: 12/26/08 12:10 PM [ET]
RNC candidate Chip Saltsmanâs Christmas greeting to committee members includes a music CD with lyrics from a song called âBarack the Magic Negro,â first played on Rush Limbaughâs popular radio show.
Saltsman, a personal friend of conservative satirist Paul Shanklin, sent a 41-track CD along with a note to national committee members.
âI look forward to working together in the New Year,â Saltsman wrote. âPlease enjoy the enclosed CD by my friend Paul Shanklin of the Rush Limbaugh Show.â
The CD, called âWe Hate the USA,â lampoons liberals with such songs as âJohn Edwardsâ Poverty Tour,â âWright place, wrong pastor,â âLove Client #9,â âIvory and Ebonyâ and âThe Star Spanglish banner.â
Several of the track titles, including âBarack the Magic Negro,â are written in bold font.
The song, which debuted on Limbaughâs show in late March 2007, latches onto an opinion column in the Los Angeles Times of the same title. That column, penned by cultural critic David Ehrenstein, argued that Obama could serve as a balm to whites who felt guilty about past treatment of African Americans.
Limbaugh first highlighted the column the day it ran, according to a contemporary report by Media Matters, the liberal watchdog agency. Media Matters reported Limbaugh repeated the phrase more than two dozen times the day the column ran.
The following month, Shanklin debuted his version of the song, sung to the tune of âPuff the Magic Dragonâ and performed in Shanklinâs impression of Al Sharpton.
âSee, real black men, like Snoop Dogg, or me, or Farrakhan, have talked the talk, and walked the walk, not come in late and won,â one verse in the song says.
Saltsman said he meant nothing untoward by forwarding what amounts to a joke more at Ehrensteinâs expense than at Obamaâs.
âPaul Shanklin is a long-time friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies,â Saltsman said.
Republicans searching for ways to attack Obama have been hesitant to embrace any reference to his race. Limbaugh presciently predicted his allusion to the column nearly two years ago would win attention from left-leaning organizations that would suggest he was using Obamaâs race against him.