The far right is currently grasping at straws as the election slips further and further out of their grasp. Rush Limbaugh said this on the radio today:
We know that technological advancement is going along at light speed. And yet during this period of time, whether it be the last 57 years or be it the last 20 years, it seems that a majority of the black population has remained angry, frustrated, and behind. They've been left behind. They are acting like they've been left behind, and of course we've heard that this is because of racism, natural systemic institutional racism in America, that we are unfair, that this country is just horrible and rotten… We thought that it was just liberal welfare policies and all that that kept blacks from progressing while other minorities grew and prospered, but no, it is these wackos from Bill Ayers to Jeremiah Wright to other anti-American Afrocentric black liberation theologists with ACORN, and Barack Obama is smack dab in the middle of it, they have been training young black kids to hate, hate, hate this country, and they trained their parents before that to hate, hate, hate this country. It was a movement.
It sounds to me that Rush knows quite a bit about "hate, hate, hate" himself. [C&L]
Conservatives are still desperately throwing out the "Obama is Muslim/Arab" story on the off chance that there are still one or two gullible, Arab-and-Islam-hating people who haven't already been convinced of this particular falsehood. I don't think there are many of them left, but these guys get an A for effort. Yesterday on his show, Rush Limbaugh expressed such confusion as to why pollsters keep referring to Barack Obama as African-American instead of Arab, because his dad is from the "Arab parts of Africa." First he was "Barack the Magic Negro," then he was the "little black man-child" and now he's just an Arab. Alright, Rush. Whatever works with your listeners, right?
RUSH LIMBAUGH: These polls on how one-third of blue-collar white Democrats won’t vote for Obama because he’s black, and — but he’s not black. Do you know he has not one shred of African-American blood? He doesn’t have any African — that’s why when they asked whether he was authentic, whether he’s down for the struggle. He’s Arab. You know, he’s from Africa. He’s from Arab parts of Africa. He’s not — his father was — he’s not African-American. The last thing that he is is African-American. I guess that’s splitting hairs, I don’t — it’s just all these little things, everything seems upside-down today in this country.
Rush Limbaugh is crazy, racist, sexist, and generally out of touch and wrong. Obviously, this comes as no surprise to most anyone that isn't a fan of his show. The latest: He believes that no one ever criticizes Obama because you can't be mean to "the little black man-child." If Rush Limbaugh were actually treated like the fringe bigot that he actually is, none of this would really matter. In reality, about 20 million people tune into his show a week. CONTINUED »
Everyone, Especially Tavis Smiley, Already Knew That
The New York Times has declared that most of black radio firmly in Barack Obama's pocket. Little surprise there. Yet, there are folks who are probably outraged at such an outright show of racial favoritism and will complain that black radio hosts are "blindly" following the black candidate. At these folks, I yawn and roll my eyes… for so many reasons.
The Times is paying particular attention to Barack's army of radio hosts for one reason — someone out there needs to combat the arch-conservative ratings behemoth that is Rush Limbaugh (and his various copycats.) And, frankly, Limbaugh and Co. have a much harder time drumming up enthusiasm for their candidate than the Obama-supporting liberals (of all colors) on the radio do. CONTINUED »
Because he’s an imbecile and increasingly insignificant and a drug addict (in that order), Rush Limbaugh needs to say outlandish, off-color nonsense if he is to remain even in the extreme periphery of the public eye. This is a fact of which Limbaugh is quite aware, which is why he’s using photographic evidence of an uncontacted Amazonian tribe to remind everyone he’s a bigot.
Republicans heart Obama? I know he's big on the bipartisanship, but I would actually feel better if guys like Rush Limbaugh would keep their Obama compliments to a minimum (especially after this.) It makes me squeamish. Although if/when Hillary is out of the picture, I'm sure they will more than make up for these niceties with their typical hatefulness.
"Who's not proud of this kid?" says Amanda Carpenter, national political reporter for the conservative site Townhall.com. "He has a story people feel good about."
In the wake of Obama's remarks about unity on the night of his Iowa caucus victory Thursday, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and self-described conservative, called it "one of the most remarkable speeches I've ever seen."
Bill Bennett, the conservative author, said on CNN that it was a "remarkable breakthrough" for "Barack Hussein Obama, a black man," to win in a "rural, white farming state." Rush Limbaugh added his voice on the radio, saying that Obama and Mike Huckabee, the Republican winner in Iowa, "had really uplifting, inspirational speeches."
Outrage! Shock! Oh, nevermind. It's just Rush Limbaugh.
Democrats, he said, "want to get us out of Iraq but they can't wait to get us into Darfur."
What he said next, however, was brazenly out of context. "There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting block, they're in trouble."
"The black population," said a caller, to which Limbaugh replied, "Right."
Perhaps he conveniently forgot the glaring differences between Iraq and Darfur or that not many Democratic politicians are in favor of sending a lot of troops there or that a lot of black voters are far more interested in how candidates are going to handle problems here than in how they're going to handle the ones in the Sudan. Or perhaps he's just grumpy because he was overdue for his Oxycontin fix. Either way, I see no reason to pay him any mind, except for the fact that millions of people do just that every day.
In Los Angeles, institutionalized racism, 1. Black firefighters, 0. [LDN]
Should we look at blue-eyed soul artists in an imitation-is-the-best-form-of-flattery way? Or is their success something more sinister? I don't know, but whatever Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake, and Amy Winehouse are doing, they're doing it right. [BAW]
It's easier to call black and Hispanic congressmen stupid and incompetent than to give them proper respect. [Time]
52-Room Farmington, CT, Mansion For Sale, Complete With Stripper Poles And Bullet-Proof Windows
Fireman Rodney Jean-Jacques, aka Cal Akbar, aka the Philly City Council's PR nightmare, will likely be fired over lyrics in which he threatens to turn cops into "bacon bits." I can't imagine a way to do that while practicing fire safety. [AP]
50 Cent is selling his 52-room Connecticut mansion. It got a little cramped, and he needs something bigger. [EURweb]
Proof that there should be more stringent requirements to become a judge: a Texas one recently alerted a black attorney to the fact that blacks were big and strong because they survived the slave trade. [ABC13]
Edward F. Boyd, a pioneer businessman who helped to integrate the corporate division of Pepsi-Cola and had a hand in eliminating black caricatures from advertising, died at 92 yesterday. [CNN]
"Barack the Magic Negro" wasn't fazed by Rush Limbaugh's "Barack the Magic Negro" parody. I'm scared to ask Al Sharpton what he thinks. [BAW]
A month ago, this song, featuring Paul Shanklin singing "Barack The Magic Negro" in an over-the-top minstrel voice that's supposed to represent Al Sharpton, aired on the Rush Limbaugh Show. The song was in response to an unfortunately worded LA Times opinion piece, but that's besides the point. This is a fun "parody" as much as Don Imus's "nappy-headed hoes" remark was good-natured ribbing. Yet, there was very little fuss. This song is basically blackface in audio form.
I have a good idea for rappers and music execs who feel like they're the scapegoats in the Don Imus debacle. Make Rush Limbaugh yours.
The far right is currently grasping at straws as the election slips further and further out of their grasp. Rush Limbaugh said this on the radio today:
Rush Limbaugh is crazy, racist, sexist, and generally out of touch and wrong. Obviously, this comes as no surprise to most anyone that isn't a fan of his show. The latest: He believes that no one ever criticizes Obama because you can't be mean to "the little black man-child." If Rush Limbaugh were actually treated like the fringe bigot that he actually is, none of this would really matter. In reality, about 20 million people tune into his show a week. 
The 
Because he’s an imbecile and increasingly insignificant and a drug addict (in that order), Rush Limbaugh needs to say outlandish, off-color nonsense if he is to remain even in the extreme periphery of the public eye. This is a fact of which Limbaugh is quite aware, which is why he’s using 
Republicans heart Obama? I know he's big on the bipartisanship, but I would actually feel better if guys like Rush Limbaugh would keep their Obama 
