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Re: [Phys-l] Conservative/Liberal science?



While I agree that the column does not address the role of Al Sharpton, it does address how Obama is not being a genuine black person. The Sharpton connection comes from events that were occurring at the same time as this column was written. The last two lines of the column say it all: "For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him."

Bill


William C. Robertson, Ph.D.


On Nov 14, 2010, at 4:32 PM, John Mallinckrodt wrote:

I've been trying to heed Bob's advice here and let this decidedly minor and non-physics related issue slide, but I can't allow his characterization of Ehrenstein's opinion piece as "basically describ[ing] how Rev. Al Sharpton was thrown under the bus by the Democrat Party in favor of the shiny new black candidate Barack Obama" to go unchallenged. As far as I am concerned, our above average intelligence phys-l colleagues can read the piece

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-ehrenstein19mar19,0,5335087.story?coll=la-opinion-center

and the Wikipedia article describing the subsequent Limbaugh affair

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_the_Magic_Negro

themselves and come to their own conclusions.

John Mallinckrodt
Cal Poly Pomona

On Nov 14, 2010, at 3:05 PM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:

Could we please lay this turkey to rest once and for all. The origins of the title "Barack the Magic Negro" comes from an L A Times Op Ed piece that basically describes how Rev. Al Sharpton was thrown under the bus by the Democrat Party in favor of the shiny new black candidate Barack Obama. Sharpton had "paid his dues" as a liberal Democrat, yet he was supplanted by the party with a newcomer who had not yet established his credentials. Sharpton was quite upset about this and commented on it often on his talk radio show. Many had pointed out that the snubbing of a long time black liberal could be taken as racist.

The parody song steps in after all this had transpired. In it, Rush (actually a comedian Paul Shankland wrote the parody song) cites the L A Times article and has someone mimick the voice of Al Sharpton singing into a bullhorn (Sharpton had used one in the overtly racist anti-Jewish march he led through Crown Heights in NY). There is nothing racist about the parody. In fact, it's main point was poking fun at how liberals act blind to racism when it comes from their side (just as conservatives do). If nothing else, the parody decries racism. People need to listen to it and make an effort to recall the polical events surrounding the last presidential election before heaping it with criticism.

The parody is still played on occasion on the Limbaugh show because his mainly conservative audience have little tolerance for the race baiting antics of Rev. Sharpton and enjoy hearing him put down. The parody has become like a "theme" that Rush plays whenever a news item comes up involving Sharpton. Oddly enough, despite the title, the parody has little to do with Obama himself - just Sharpton's reaction to him.

Bob at PC

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