RACIST SONG PARODIES DISTRIBUTED BY TN GOP HEAD

First things first: Happy New Year 2009! Now, let’s get this party started shall we? We shall get it started with the Grand Ol’ Party, namly the Tennessee GOP. You might remember them from their past exploits. First they put out a press release using Barack’s middle name as an insult, trying to tie him to anti-Semitism (and using that picture of Obama in Somali dress).Then they did a commercial going after Michelle Obama for the “first time in my life I am proud of my country” line, and now they are passing around on a CD that “Barack the Magic Negro” song first made famous by Rush Limbaugh’s program, and another that hasn’t been mentioned much, a song titled “Star Spanglish Banner,” that disparages Latinos. . Of course, given the fact that the Governor this GOP chapter gave Tennessee, a guy named Don Sundquist, was down with the Council of Conservative Citizens, it isn’t even all that shocking. In fact, Chip Saltsman (pictured), the guy who sent the CD around (as part of a bid to become the next head of the National Republican Party – go figure), and who was active in then-Congressman Sundquist’s run gor Governorused to work for Former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee who had once sent a videotaped message to a CCC conference, so we are just hitting it out the park with this one! It brings us to something in particular though. On the Crooks and Liars thread discussing how Bill OReilly addressed this on his program, it was noted, “None of the guests seem(ed) to remember that as soon as Barack Obama was elected, the airwaves were filled with right-wingers — from Bill Bennett to Sarah Palin to Michelle Bachmann — talking about how Obama’s election made them feel good about America and themselves because it was such a racial landmark and how it proved racism was now dead in America.” Well, let’s be honest. When people talk about who injected race into the campaign, it was actually Rush Limbaugh who early on gave everyone this song, was the one who started on Barack Obama calling him a “Hafrican American” and would not let up on the issue, as evidenced by his little tiff with Colin Powell. If conservatives want people to stop making a big deal of race, they should start by not making a big deal of race.

CNN

The chairman of the Republican National Committee said he was “appalled” by a song called “Barack the Magic Negro” on a CD distributed by one of his political rivals.

“The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party,” RNC Chairman Mike Duncan said in a statement reported Saturday afternoon by Politico.

“I am shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate, as it clearly does not move us in the right direction.”

Chip Saltsman sent RNC members the parody CD “We Hate the USA” for Christmas, which includes the controversial tune. He defended his decision Friday, telling CNN the song was clearly intended as a joke.

“I think most people recognize political satire when they see it,” Saltsman told CNN. “I think RNC members understand that.”

Saltsman, a former chair of the Tennessee Republican Party, was a top advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and managed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign.

He is one of several candidates running to replace Duncan in the closely contested race to lead the Republican Party.

The song, set to the tune of the 1960s pop hit “Puff the Magic Dragon,” was first played on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show in 2007. Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column that suggested Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation’s history of mistreatment of African-Americans.

Saltsman said the song, penned by long-time friend Paul Shanklin, should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times.

The CD includes parody songs referencing former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, among other targets.

Also Saturday, Peter Yarrow, who co-wrote “Puff the Magic Dragon,” called Saltsman’s decision to distribute the parody tune “offensive,” and “shocking and saddening in the extreme.”

“It is almost unimaginable to me,” Yarrow wrote in a statement sent to CNN, that Saltsman “would seriously be considered for the top post of the Republican National Committee. Puff, himself, if asked, would certainly agree.”

Yarrow, a member of the 1960s folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, was a contributor to Obama’s presidential campaign.