You can rationalize all you want. The fact is the word Negro is not used today in any way then an insult. It is racist. I want to fight for conservative principles. I have no desire to defend a stupid song which should never have been written or aired by Rush...Certainly not given out by any RNC official. Let’s try to be the smart party for a change.
Did you get this all bent out of shape when the LA Times wrote the story in the first place?
You don’t understand what kind of power play is going on here...
While I don't think it's always racist (context matters), I agree that it should be assumed that any use of that term by a conservative will be assumed to be racist. But, if the MSM was doing it's job, they'd point that that Shanklin was making fun of Obama being called that by a left-wing LA Times columnist, as the song lyrics quite clearly state and nearly all of Rush Limbaugh's listeners are well aware of. The song also calls him "articulate", "bright", "clean", and "nice-looking" which can also be considered racist in context and would be, if it weren't for the fact that it was Joe Biden who called Barack Obama those things, which is what the song is making fun of. The song is a spot-on and hilarious spoof of things that the left wing was saying about Obama during the primaries if you understand the context but without the context or actually looking at the lyrics of the song (which nobody seems to be talking aout in the MSM for obvious reasons), it just looks like another example of Republicans being racist.
You can call it “rationalization” if you wish, but it remains reality.
The ignorance lies in getting caught up in the use of a word - whether or not it should be allowed, and by whom. I can guarantee you that the word Negro is used by many people and in ways that are NOT insulting. There are many reasons for it to be a source of pride rather than insult, and hopefully the day will come when the ignorance surrounding it will be done away.
The point is that the parody DOES NOT need defending. The main reason some conservatives think it has to be defended, or condemned as the case may be, is because they are letting leftists define the song and dictate the circumstances surrounding it.
You will only be able to “fight for conservative principles” and win, when you refuse to allow leftists to set the premise of the arguments.
The reason Duncan practically broke his neck bringing this to the attention of media is obvious, and I seriously doubt it has much at all to do with his being “shocked and appalled” by the song. He is running for RNC Chairman against the guy who handed out the parody CD. Trying to make an issue of this is much more reprehensible to me than anything on the CD - real or imagined. The action is rife with hypocrisy, imo. The song is less about Obama than about the hypocrisy of those blacks who took it upon themselves to decide his “authenticity” - not as a politician, or even as a liberal, but as a black man. Authentically audacious!
I don’t want Duncan to be chosen, nor Saltsman. Steele and Blackwell are the two best candidates, imo, and, as much as I like Michael Steele, I prefer Blackwell because I believe he is the more conservative of the two men, and will work harder to move the party in that direction.