Limbaugh’s derisive jab at Obama called racist

KansasCity.com ^ | 5/06/07 | Chicago Tribune

[mylife]

Man! I've been trying to tell you..I've had to put up with this crap all my life!

"Magic Johnson"

[Wallace T.]

I suspect Rush is essentially throwing down the gauntlet to the liberals, challenging them to take him down. He is the 800 pound gorilla of conservative talk radio: no one, not Hannity, O'Reilly, Savage, Levin, or anyone else you can name, has half his impact. Except for O'Reilly, none are particularly vulnerable to a national boycott because most of the sponsors are local businesses in the hundreds of markets they serve. The businesses sell mostly to white males, who would ignore any call by Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton to boycott any given conservative talk show.

Rush knows this, and, in all likelihood, Jackson, Sharpton, George Soros, etc., know it too. So good for him in taunting them with the "Magic Negro" ditty.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Think Rush will go on Al Sharpton’s show and apologize?

LOL

[L.N. Smithee]

Of course, there is no mention of the original liberal LA Times article for "The Magic Negro" in this report, is there?

The original ChiTrib story does mention Ehrenstein's column on the "Magic Negro" stereotype. It also quotes as if on cue a spokesmouth from Media Splatters:

---

Obama's campaign called the song "dumb," and a spokesman said the campaign doesn't think anyone is taking the song seriously.

But Limbaugh's critics say the song goes too far and predict that it could influence the pop-culture understanding of Obama and of black politicians in general.

"We take these things seriously because there's a consistent pattern of them making their way into the mainstream media and then the mainstream consciousness," said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, a non-profit media watchdog group that has been monitoring the broadcasts. "It's important to shoot these things down."

---

Trib scribe Christie Parsons, the story's author, doesn't inquire as to what exactly what message would be "making [its] way into...the mainstream consciousness" that would be detrimental or dangerous to Obama, and the disingenuous Mr. Frisch doesn't offer an explanation. Of course, the answer to that question -- had someone bothered to ask it -- would be "none at all," because Obama is not the target of Paul Shanklin's barb, it's Sharpton, who, unlike fellow former DNC Presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, was slow to audibly support the only African-American running for the Oval Office for -- "some say" -- self-serving reasons.

Of course, Media Matters wouldn't waste time issuing press releases about how Rush Limbaugh was saying unkind things about Al Sharpton. They want to make people believe that by refusing to kiss up to Barack Obama, Rush is inspiring people to harass, threaten, or even harm him. But that's not surprising, since most liberal activists like the Splatters gang and Sharpton think people are stupid enough to take their word for things.

Unfortunately, they are often right. Notice how Obama's brush-off of the controversy didn't end Parsons' story then and there.

[Democratshavenobrains]

As soon as I heard that song, I knew Rush was going to be pilloried for being racist.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Only a racist would call “The Magic Negro” raciest.

[redgolum]

Knew it was just a matter of time.

[melt]

"The headline needed a barf alert."

"Barf Alert!" I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I 'll be more respectful next time...

[jordan8]

Here is a story of real racism, racism that can only happen because the Chicago Tribune lies about it knowing full well their lies help cause it.