On 'Barack The Magic Negro'

The Washington Post has a nice summary of 'Barack The Magic Negro', which Republican National Committee chair candidate Chip Saltsman distributed to potential supporters on a Christmas CD:

The song, written by conservative satirist Paul Shanklin and aired repeatedly on Rush Limbaugh's radio show last year, is sung in the imagined voice of the Rev. Al Sharpton to the tune of the old Peter, Paul and Mary song "Puff the Magic Dragon." It was inspired by a March 2007 column in the Los Angeles Times by David Ehrenstein, an African American writer who sought to place Mr. Obama's candidacy in the larger context of what he called "the magic Negro," an idealized figure who assuages liberal guilt and fulfills white Americans' desire for "a noble, healing Negro." Mr. Shanklin took the column and ran: "Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C./The L.A. Times, they called him that/'Cause he's not authentic like me./Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper/Said he makes guilty whites feel good/They'll vote for him, and not for me/Cause he's not from the 'hood."

While this AFP piece suggests that 'Barack The Magic Negro' "has triggered a nasty battle for the soul of the struggling [Republican] party," Posts Washington and Huffington both reach the same sad conclusion- Saltsman's actions may actually have helped his candidacy.

Happy New Year (and Thanks) from Enduring America

I'm returning to the UK from the United States tonight, so an early Best Wishes for 2009 to all of you.

It's been a real pleasure starting up Enduring America with the support of readers. We've exceeded our wildest expectations and, with your comments and feedback, hope to make even bigger strides in the next few months.

And while I'm here, a big thank you to a lot of folks in the US who have gotten my family through recent days. I can be a bit critical of the US Government and American institutions, but Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration staff, medical personnel, and airline crew have all been outstanding during the medical crisis that overtook us when we arrived last week.

Gaza: Top Black Comedy Moments --- "I Will Turn Into Biscuits"

Intended humour:

At the Hassouna Bakery near Shifa Hospital, about 100 men and 50 women waited in separate lines to buy bread. Amal Altayan was telling others in the line that she kept her cellphone in her pocket so that if an Israeli missile destroyed her house she would be able to phone for help. The other women mocked her, saying that if a missile hit her house, she would be gone. Showing familiarity with the kind of knowledge circulating in Gaza these days, Ms. Altayan replied, “It depends. If it is an F-16 I will turn into biscuits, but if it is an Apache I may have a chance.”



Unintended humour:

A pro-Israeli lobbyist, noting the Palestinian and Israeli death tolls:

The problem is that the numbers are not very flattering.

Unintended humour (2):

Former Israeli Government press advisor:

When you have a Palestinian kid facing an Israeli tank, how do you explain that the tank is actually David and the kid is Goliath?

Gaza Update (2 p.m. Israel, 7 a.m. Eastern US): The Israeli War Continues, Fuel and Food Crisis in Gaza

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5osk2toY1E[/youtube]

Later Update: Gaza Black Comedy Moments

Israel has rejected a French proposal for a truce to allow aid into Gaza. Using the same line put forward by the US Government on Tuesday, Israeli spokesman Mark Regev insisted on "a real and sustainable solution", one that would "not [be] a Band-Aid that will just kick the can down the road".

Regev's statement, however, hides division in the Israeli Cabinet, which discussed the French proposal for four hours. According to The Daily Telegraph, Minister of Defense Ehud Barak supported the two-day truce but was overruled by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Lvini.



There is no fuel and electricity in Gaza, as Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday again hit the offices of Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and the Interior Ministry. The Israelis also reinforced their economic stranglehold by bombing the "lifeline" for Gaza, the tunnels connecting it to Egypt.

The European Union again called for "an unconditional halt to rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel and an end to Israeli military action". Gulf Arab leaders agreed on a demand for a cease-fire but unsurprisingly, given Saudi Arabia's backing of the Palestinian Authority against Hamas, were divided over support for the Government in Gaza.

Gaza Update: Hamas Vows to Hit Back

On the political battlefront, there were a couple of notable press conferences on Tuesday. Proving that Twitter has arrived, the Israeli Consulate in New York took its case into cyber-space with a question-and-answer session. Standard diplomatic lines --- "We'd rather negotiate than fight" --- but one key theme is Israel's bolstering of the "acceptable" Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas' conference, while an old-fashioned presentation to TV cameras, was more significant, however. A masked spokesman set out a resolute line of threatened retaliation:

We tell the leaders of the enemy - if you continue with your assault, we will hit with our rockets further than the cities we have hit so far.

Far more important than the number of rockets and how far they are flung is the political message:

If you think that Hamas and al-Qassam will be crushed, we will rise up from the rubble.