Video: NBC attacks Rush as “getting a free pass” for parodying “Obama The Magic Negro”
posted at 11:29 am on May 21, 2007 by Ian
NBC’s “Today” show attacked radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh for his parody of an LA Times op-ed titled “Obama The Magic Negro.” As I mentioned two weeks ago, the parody song is now well over 2 months old, yet the media is just getting to the hitjob now. Have “some wonder” whether the piece in question is over the line (with the “some” being unnamed reporters looking for a way to pull an Imus on Limbaugh), throw together a few verses from the song written and sung by “white political satirist” Paul Shanklin, put in a video clip of Limbaugh, cue the nerdy, white, liberal media watch dog from the leftwing Soros-funded hyper-partisan Media Matters for America and voila, you have yourself a hit piece. That MMA is passed off as a neutral observer here gives the game away.
Yes, NBC did mention that the song was inspired by an LA Times opinion writer, but did that matter? No. Both “Today” and the columnist, David Ehrenstein, passed the “magic Negro” idea’s origins off as incidental.
(bp)
Blowback
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Wow, these people are really desperate to get Rush aren’t they?
Bad Candy on May 21, 2007 at 11:32 AM
“Funny or bad taste?”
FUNNY!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WildcatFan on May 21, 2007 at 11:36 AM
Funny for us Bad taste for the liberals
Hell even my dad laughed about it and he’s a democrat (but he’s one with a sense of humor)
Defector01 on May 21, 2007 at 11:38 AM
…and NBC slips in the viewer polls ever lower.
d1carter on May 21, 2007 at 11:41 AM
How many times does he have to explain this to people. Don’t they get it…they are confirming their own racism. idiots….
sunny on May 21, 2007 at 11:41 AM
In terms of content, I don’t have a problem with it.
I must admit I didn’t care for the “Minstral” voice singing it.
A “Peter, Paul, and Mary” voice singing of it might have been less offensive-sounding, at least to me.
asc85 on May 21, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Funny as can be. Shanklin’s parodies of Jackson and Sharpton are hilarious. Anyway, isn’t it all about Sharpton rather than Obama?
Oooooo, nuance.
SouthernDem on May 21, 2007 at 11:47 AM
Will never be an Obama fan but,….I am Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs….
soulsirkus on May 21, 2007 at 11:48 AM
HA! Try again, Libs! Desperate to get rid of Rush…
Boo freakin Hoo
tickleddragon on May 21, 2007 at 11:50 AM
It’s not a “minstrel voice”, asc85, it’s Al Sharpton, through his bullhorn. There’s nothing “minstrel” about this parody at all.
tickleddragon on May 21, 2007 at 11:52 AM
“Legitimate political satire? Or something darker?”
Darker eh? Is that a racist comment about the light-skinned Obama? I didn’t watch the whole clip, but its clear to me that NBC newsmen are racist against Barak. Especially the black man who made this comment.
Shame on you NBC!
BelchSpeak on May 21, 2007 at 11:53 AM
This is, of course, what happens when people react to something without doing any research for themselves.
KNEE-JERK.
(not referring to you asc85…meant the media and media sheep)
tickleddragon on May 21, 2007 at 11:54 AM
Negro. Negro. Negro. OK you go you can banish me now!
Oh yea I gotta wait 2 months while they think up the proper strategy.
Gwillie on May 21, 2007 at 11:54 AM
Imus was an easy target because MSNBC and CBS are liberal and they cave like a house of cards in a hurricane whenever there is any kind of PC correctness going on.
I feel that their blowhard wind wont carry much weigh with Rush however.
William Amos on May 21, 2007 at 11:55 AM
So tired of the phony self-righteousness. Whipping themselves into a froth for the express purpose to … “uplift the downtrodden” blacks…? Nooo. Just to fabricate a wrecking bar with the hopes of damaging Rush.
Their “sincerity” is breath-taking.
naliaka on May 21, 2007 at 11:57 AM
They didn’t have to do anything, Rush sent over all the research when they ask him to come on the show.
Gwillie on May 21, 2007 at 11:57 AM
Okay, Everyone! Sing it with me… (and Al)
Barak, the Magic Negro
Lives in DC
The LA Times, they call’im that
Cause he’s black, but not authentic – ly!
tickleddragon on May 21, 2007 at 11:58 AM
I actually wasn’t referring to the report…but about how people are reacting to the report. We ALLLLLL know that NBC is not the least bit interested in doing the research.
tickleddragon on May 21, 2007 at 11:59 AM
Come no folks, no way was the song inspired by the remarks of libs themselves. Not with lyrics like “The LA Times, they called him that…”. It’s purely incidental.
I also like how they began the voice over just before the song mentions the LA times.
Right Tracker on May 21, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Rush doesn’t work for NBC, GE, CBS, ABC, Viacom, CNN, Time-Warner, etc.
Rush is employed by ……… Rush, owner and self-appointed CEO of the “IEB” network.
So who’s gonna fire ‘em jerkwads?
fogw on May 21, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Nothing like watching the liberals at NBC dive head first into a very shallow pool.
doriangrey on May 21, 2007 at 12:03 PM
From Wikipedia:
The term was popularized by Spike Lee, who dismissed the archetype of the “super-duper magical negro” in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University and at Yale University.
Great, is this another one of ‘their words’ that we aren’t allowed to use?
BohicaTwentyTwo on May 21, 2007 at 12:04 PM
At least we know in advance what Rush wil be spending a couple of hours on his show today.
Hopefully, he’ll get around to turning up some heat on the enforcement-last amnesty bill.
Valiant on May 21, 2007 at 12:06 PM
If he weren’t white, would it matter? If the LA Times writer was white, would it have mattered?
Opinion: The power of the press is being abused.
looking4statesmen on May 21, 2007 at 12:13 PM
i think NBC is just trying to deflect criticism of their network since Imus was in NBC’s employment when he made his controversial remark, and had been make remarks like this for years while working for them.
mfnorman on May 21, 2007 at 12:14 PM
“Getting a free pass”? What does that even mean? I despise journalists for this sort of slapdash nonsense.
Kralizec on May 21, 2007 at 12:24 PM
IEB???? Is that like “Improvised Explosive Broadcasting?”
sweetlipsbutterhoney on May 21, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Slow news day what with only illegal amnesty, fighting in Lebanon, etc.
SouthernGent on May 21, 2007 at 12:25 PM
I LOVE this visual, doriangrey
tickleddragon on May 21, 2007 at 12:28 PM
No offense taken! But thanks for considering that it might!
asc85 on May 21, 2007 at 12:32 PM
NBC News, as is their practice, dredges up old news to create a non-story. Evidently, there weren’t any stories on the wires about their two favorite subjects, the castigation of religion and the praise of homosexuality.
With their viewer-ship steady declining and Limbaugh’s steadily increasing, jealousy appears to be at work here through the use of the proverbial ‘hit piece’, which will do nothing because their preaching is only being heard by their liberal choir.
pocomoco on May 21, 2007 at 12:35 PM
Sorry, should have been EIB.
“Excellence in Broadcasting”
fogw on May 21, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Liberal Overreach. Heh. I guarantee any sponser that drops Rush will be boycotted so fast, it’ll make their bottom line spin.
Didn’t anyone ever tell these guys that if you go after the King, you better kill him?
Iblis on May 21, 2007 at 12:59 PM
I think all of you are forgetting something; that we conservatives are too damned thick to “get” parody or satire. We don’t see the many levels of humour in John Kerry’s “botched jokes.” Hell, we don’t even recognize fine art when we see it submerged in a jar of piss.
saint kansas on May 21, 2007 at 1:01 PM
Are we allowed to use the term Negro on Hotair or would we be banned?
What about nappy headed hos?
Tim Burton on May 21, 2007 at 1:15 PM
Funny but true.
PattyAnn on May 21, 2007 at 1:31 PM
If Rush is guilty than so is NBC. Both are airing something they did not originate.
Wade on May 21, 2007 at 1:36 PM
Seriously – they’re just catching on to this now? How freaking desperate are they?
Candy Slice on May 21, 2007 at 1:37 PM
When I was a tyke in the early 60s my mother held a little get-together for her friends at the beach house we were living at. My mom never forgot the time (she told me a few times over the years) when I saw a black man near me, turned to my mother and asked her if the man was made of chocolate. I don’t remember any of this but I was told I was a big hit of the party.
Coronagold on May 21, 2007 at 1:39 PM
Then you missed the joke. The purpose of the parody isn’t targeting Obama. The target is Sharpton, and his comments that Obama isn’t an authentic negro, that he isn’t “black enough”. If the parody isn’t done in Sharpton’s voice then it’s just racism. Done as it is, it’s poking fun at Sharpton’s racism.
That the MSM sails right past that fact to call Limbaugh a racist is par for the course, but still disingenuous and stupid.
Freelancer on May 21, 2007 at 1:48 PM
Oh, and they made certain to let you know that Paul Shanklin is WHITE, while showing you his picture.
Freelancer on May 21, 2007 at 1:49 PM
From Wikipedia
The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them
Every commercial on TV has a “magical negro” in it. Have you not noticed?
The white guy is always the stupid person and the butt of the joke. It’s so obvious, you would think Hollywood had something to do with it ;:-P
abinitioadinfinitum on May 21, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Rush warned KOVR TV in Sacramento and NBC to stop using/referring to some video that had been falsely attributed to his show. Did that video come up in this story?
RushBaby on May 21, 2007 at 2:00 PM
What about “faggot”?
csdeven on May 21, 2007 at 2:06 PM
I still haven’t gotten anybody to answer the most important question of whether Barry O is actually magic or not.
Doghouse on May 21, 2007 at 2:36 PM
Not just Rush.
Jim Treacher on May 21, 2007 at 2:36 PM
The white guy is also (almost) always the guy writing the magic negro into his script. I think there’s some sort of Magic Negro macro in the screenwriting software.
I know, I’ll just hit Shift+N and get Morgan Freeman’s agent on the phone!
saint kansas on May 21, 2007 at 2:43 PM
There’s no question that he’s magic, although I think it was either Slate or Salon that first questioned in print if he’s really “black” or not.
I suppose it’s too late to record my Santana parody “Black Magic Negro” and partake in the media frenzy.
saint kansas on May 21, 2007 at 2:48 PM
What have they got against Sharpton diction style?
bloggless on May 21, 2007 at 2:53 PM
Would the parody made the news if it weren’t so dead-on-target?
.
GT on May 21, 2007 at 3:55 PM
I think that NBC and Today should stick it where the sun don’t shine!
NBC should stick to using explosive charges to blow up GM trucks on Dateline exposes. Why report the truth when you can make it all up.
BTW, I look forward to hearing a rendition of “Matt the Magic Eunuch.”
georgej on May 21, 2007 at 6:35 PM
Play that race card every chance they can get. One of these days they are going to run out of cards and no one is going to pay attention.
omegaram on May 21, 2007 at 7:10 PM
NBC should change their call letters to NRH.
No Ratings Here.
Serious, the today shows audience are the people on the street that walk by the studio window.
Kini on May 21, 2007 at 7:10 PM
They didn’t have to dredge, they just read Daily Kos. A diarist there has twice in the last few weeks had a recommended diary about Rush and this song.
I really think most news producers are just trolling Daily Kos for stories. How else do Cindy Sheehan, Jeff Gannon, and Macaca rise to the level of news-worthy?
Its frightening.
You know what’s gotten a lot better lately? CNN’s American Morning. Kieran Chetney, John Roberts, and a new producer have really changed that show.
MayBee on May 21, 2007 at 7:17 PM
Being a liberal means being able to accuse someone of racism if they use a forbidden word in describing how you yourself used that word.
In other words, how long do we let these assholes get away with this hypocritical bullcrap?
What’s the excuse for not having mass protests and call-ins? Just because we have JOBS and FAMILIES and RESPONSIBILITIES? HA! When did that ever stop a liberal from holding a protest?!
Merovign on May 21, 2007 at 9:40 PM
Who knows? Maybe if they had those things…
Freelancer on May 22, 2007 at 1:37 PM