They Are Just Making This Too Easy

I didn't really post anything about the Chip Saltsman story where he sent out the "Barack the Magic Negro" song to all his friends up until now because it has been widely covered and I really didn't have much to add. I didn't think it was that earth shattering because I have always seen the Repubican party as white and racist. Now I know that there will be card carrying rank and file Republicans who will be offended by that but I have some advice for you. If you want to stop being seen as racists stop supporting racist elements in your party. There aren't a whole lot of Democrats listening to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. I don't see Howard Dean sending out racial parodies of Condeleeza Rice. It is what it is. But here is the thing, not only did Saltsman not apologize about the incident, he didn't even admit it wasn't a very smart thing to do at a time when his party is trying to reach out to minorities. Hell he basically said he didn't do anything wrong and get over it. I mean I should also point out that the CD had the "Star Spanglish Banner" on it as well. Stay classy GOP

Now I don't honestly know if Chip Saltsman is a racist or not, but I do know at the very least he is very racially insensitive. But I blame not only him but also the few black folks that actually are members of the Republican party. They are so eager for those white folks to accept them that they never stand up and protest when members of their own party pull this kind of bullshit. Ken "Uncle Tom" Blackwell almost fell all over himself trying to defend Chip Saltsman which in my eyes is enabling. From now on whenever Saltsman or any other GOP member tells a racist joke the can say "Don't worry, Ken said its OK". Talk about being a useful fool.

This is why I say the Republican party is about to go the way of the dinosaur. They aren't headed for the wilderness, they are headed for the abyss. Time has truly passed them by and they still don't get it. Minority outreach will become more and more important in the coming years because very soon there will be more minorities in this country than there will be white people. And after so long of not caring about the minority vote, the good white folks in the Republican party have not the first clue about how to reach out to those minorities. They think that if you just explain that the "Magic Negro" song is just a joke then nobody will really care. Especially if its a joke from that notoriously funny guy Rush Limbaugh. Seriously.

Now today we get a story from Politico with this headline:

'Magic Negro' flap might help Saltsman

I absolutely hope so. I want Chip Saltsman to be the RNC chair so bad I wish I could vote for him two times. Because anything that helps him is going to hurt the Republican Party. If they can't see that electing a guy to lead their party who sent that CD out is going to cost them minority votes in perpetuity then they deserve to have him as chairman.

Speaking of the RNC I wonder what their committee members think about Saltsman's stunt.

“When I heard about the story I had to figure out what was going on for myself,” said Mark Ellis, the chairman of the Maine Republican Party. “When I found out what this was about I had to ask, ‘boy, what’s the big deal here?’ because there wasn’t any.”

Well thats just one white guy, lets see if anybody else has an opinion.

Alabama Republican committeeman Paul Reynolds said the fact the Saltsman sent him a CD with the song on it “didn’t bother me one bit.”

“Chip probably could have thought it through a bit more, but he was doing everyone a favor by giving us a gift,” he said. “This is just people looking for something to make an issue of.”

Oh so he was doing everyone a favor. Oh now that makes all the difference in the world. But maybe these views aren't all that representative.

“I don’t think he intended it as any kind of racial slur. I think he intended it as a humor gift,” Oklahoma GOP committeewoman Carolyn McClarty added. “I think it was innocently done by Chip.”

Yeah, it was a humor gift... because Saltsman is a fucking joke. What makes it so bad is that the song isn't funny AT ALL. Over at Coates' spot we had a conversation about a different parody song of K Fed a few weeks back that had racial overtones. Now that song was bad, but it sounds like comedic gold compared to Limbaugh's tripe.

Now I know what you are thinking. "What about the hanful of white guys who came out and blasted Saltsman over the gift." Well I would point out that Mike Duncan had a vested interest in doing that seeing as how he is the current RNC chairman and wants to keep the post. But thats not even really my strongest selling point today. What do you think other party members think about Duncan coming out and doing the right thing and saying Saltsman was wrong?

Not everyone is so sure, with some RNC members contending that Anuzis and Duncan may have actually hurt their candidacies with their responses.

“Those are two guys who just eliminated themselves from this race for jumping all over Chip on this,” one committee member told Politico. “Mike Duncan is a nice guy, but he screwed up big time by pandering to the national press on this.”

Ok Ok so thats just one anonomous person. I mean surely nobody else in the Republican party thinks like that.

While South Carolina GOP Chair Katon Dawson and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele have decided to stay away from the controversy, offering no comment, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who would be the party’s first black chairman, has drawn notice for his vigorous defense of Saltsman.

“Unfortunately, there is hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race. This is in large measure due to President-Elect Obama being the first African-American elected president,” Blackwell said in a statement. “I don't think any of the concerns that have been expressed in the media about any of the other candidates for RNC chairman should disqualify them. When looked at in the proper context, these concerns are minimal. All of my competitors for this leadership post are fine people.”

As a result of his position, a source close to the race said that at least 12 uncommitted committee members have contacted Blackwell to thank him for his support for Saltsman and have expressed anger toward Duncan and Anuzis “for throwing a good Republican under the bus.”

Indeed, in a fluid race in which six candidates are vying for the votes of 168 members, both Blackwell and Saltsman stand to benefit from a backlash to the flap.

Yeah you read that right folks. Sending a "Barack the Magic Negro" CD out and defending the guy who did it will get you MAJOR street cred in the Republican Party. Coming out against such a racially insensitive and all around dumbass move might get you fired though. Great job on that minority outreach thingy Republicans.

Is there really anything more to say? I mean I haven't even brought up the disasterous Republican positions on Economic and Foreign Policy. What exactly does a Republican bring to the table these days? IMHO not much.

So don't believe the hype Republicans, you aren't going into the wilderness. you are going into the abyss. I can't say that I am sorry to see you go.