A hint of racial insensitivity shouldn’t be all that disqualifies Chip Saltsman from the GOP chairmanship.
If the goal is to grow the party, why elect, as its public face, another aging frat boy-type in a red tie? That’s one constituency the Republicans have locked up.
And why would you want, as leader, someone so ignorant of public relations? Assume that all the Republican complaints are correct — the media is making an issue out of nothing, political correctness is again running amok, etc. Shouldn’t Saltsman have anticipated what would happen if he promoted a song called “Barack the Magic Nego”?
That alone should’ve eliminated Saltsman from competition, but instead it’s bolstered his candidacy. He’s pissing off “the right people,” just like Sarah Palin did. That’s good enough for the Hannity wing of the GOP.
Thinking Republicans need to acknowledge that their party has been hijacked by callow talk radio hosts and pundits. Picking Chip Saltsman would be preaching to the choir.
Last I checked, that strategy hasn’t worked out too well.
Thank god Jock does not look like him… He is hideous.
As a hard core Conservative Libertarian. my only comment when I heard this was “You have to be kidding me me. What an idiot!”.
This guy possesses weapons grade stupidity.
I checked into this a little further. The song is a parody that makes fun of Al Sharpton and the title comes from a column questioning Obamas authenticity as a black man written by a black journalist published by the LA Times.
Still bad judgement to pass it around, but also reported without explanation or background nearly 100% of the time.
Do you think Saltsman appreciates it on that level: “Yeah, Sharpton is right. Obama’s not a real black man!” Please.
Have you heard the song? Obviously not. Only a complete moron would hear the song and think it was slamming Obama. Since you are clearly not a moron, I can only assume that you have not heard it.
I never said the song was questioning Obama’s “blackness” but that it was making fun of Sharpton. The title was taken from the article and was also being used to point out all the bigotry in the Democratic party at the time ie Biden and his “clean and articulate” comment, Hillary “he can’t win” etc
For anyone interested in actual knowledge of this situation, here are the lyrics, sung in parody by an Al Sharpton impersonator
“The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s not authentic like me.
Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper
Said he makes guilty whites feel good
They’ll vote for him, and not for me
‘Cause he’s not from the hood.
See, real black men, like Snoop Dog,
Or me, or Farrakhan
Have talked the talk, and walked the walk.
Not come in late and won!
[refrain] Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.
Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.
Some say Barack’s “articulate”
And bright and new and “clean.”
The media sure loves this guy,
A white interloper’s dream!
But, when you vote for president,
Watch out, and don’t be fooled!
Don’t vote the Magic Negro in –
‘Cause — ’cause I won’t have nothing after all these years of sacrifice
And I won’t get justice. This is about justice. This isn’t about me, it’s about justice.
It’s about buffet. I don’t have no buffet and there won’t be any church contributions,
And there’ll be no cash in the collection plate.
There ain’t gonna be no cash money, no walkin’ around money, no folding money.
Now, Barack going to come in here and –
Is it just me or does he look like Quagmire from The Family Guy?
My post was not about the song, but about a tone-deaf candidate for GOP chair. If you think Rush Limbaugh is a hoot, then you’re probably amused by the parody. Saltsman seems to be just another GOP goober.
The lyrics don’t matter, because nobody is going to be quoting them. The title “Barack The Magic Negro” is so clearly intended as a stand-alone laugh line that parsing the lyrics is beside the point.
Sansho1 – so the facts, i.e. the lyrics, don’t matter because nobody bother to read them? …they just go by headlines and sound bites…. sounds like a typical voter to me…. So nice to know that I can read the cover of “War and Peace” and have the subject covered because, after all, nobody quotes it anyway
atlmalcontent – but the basis of your evaluation of the bad judgement was the song as a demonstation of his tone deafness, so it is about the song.
I thought the song was juvenile and poorly written, but not racist. As a songwirter, I probably would have chosen a different words in some places becasue it doesn’t flow very well. BTW, the lyrics were written, for the most part, by Limbaugh and performed by a guy named Paul Shanklin. Google is a wonderful thing.
also, this controversy has pretty much killed hi candidacy within the GOP
again that Google thing rocks.
I want to make clear, I am not defending Saltsman, I am pointing out how things get twisted in reporting. People are getting their undies in a wad over something that was not done, namely the impugning, or perception oof impugning, Obama.
It also points out biases and perception, as illustrated by Sansho saying the lyrics don’t matter because the title allows a person to believe what they want to believe, independent of actually knowing the facts. The perfect consumer for editors and propogandists everywhere.
After all, “Mein Kampf” wasn’t about German imperialism and eliminating Jews, just look at the title there is no need to actually read it.
According to some sources, it’s helped his candidacy.
any links? I would love to see who think this has helped.
Read my post, the link’s within : Politico story
Sorry, I didn’t read the Politico link earlier, but I have to say that I think this is another example of the headline not summarizing story.
According to Politico;
- The RNC Chairman denounced the song and Saltsman’s dissemination of it explicitly.
- The North Dakota state party chairman questioned Saltsman’s viability going forward.
- The Michigan party chair “chided” Saltsman for sending the song out.
- An anonymous committee member said that Duncan and Anuzio had eliminated themselves for “pandering to the media”.
- Politico called the the statement by Blackwell a “vigorous defense” of Saltsman and it was anything but and didn’t even mention him, except as a memebr of the group of candidates.
- An anonymous source “close to the race” said that at least 12 committee members contacted Blackwell to thank him for defending his opponent in the race.
So Politico took three named sources (heavily outweigh anonymous sources, IMO) on the record who explicitly denounced Saltsman and two unnamed sources, only one of which said it actually helped Saltsman and came up with his headline. Amazing.
This is about as clear an example of a poorly written headline (that is being charitable) as I have seen in a few days.
Trotting out Godwin’s Law on me, eh, Dale? I know referencing Hitler is supposed to end the discussion, but I’ll respond anyway.
I used to sell promotional products, and almost all of it was crap. Sure, the pens would write, but they’d bleed. The frisbees would fly, but wobble. The CDs would play, but few people were likely to play them. The best you could say for most promos is that somebody might find it clever at a glance, maybe use it once, then throw it away. That strikes me as the spirit of Saltzman’s gift — a cheap, throwaway laugh. That’s what I meant in my previous post — that whatever satire the song may actually possess (and, in reading the lyrics, I can see that it does), it’s immaterial to Saltzman’s intent.
Now that makes sense.
Godwin’s Law made me hit Google…. thanks for that.
To all, apologies for the long post, I had some time at work and a shot of espresso in my already High Test coffee.
Godwins Law relates to comparing someone to Hitler or the Nazi’s i.e. Republicans are Nazi’s.
It’s a stretch to say I did that, but thanks for the education anyway.
Actually it is closer to the idea of illustrating absurdity by being absurd.
I still say he looks like Quagmire
from Wikipedia – In a Christmas Day review of The Spirit (film) New York Times movie critic A.O. Scott suggested that “a similar axiom” to Godwin’s Law, “applied to Hollywood, would stipulate that every movie star must eventually dress up in a German War uniform.”
HELLO TOM CRUISE!!!
This is truly hilarious.
Cheers to you, Dale!
Now I HAVE to go see Valkyrie, but only after “Paul Blart – Mall Cop”! High culture for me woohoo!!