It's not about stereotypes. It's about a political party using the POTUS's race as a joke-song. It wouldn't be right about anybody. I would like to think we are above making fun of each other over race, especially the President.

Make fun of his demeanor, make fun of his intelligence, make fun of his liberal agenda, make fun of his policy. Do not make fun of his race.

This isn't a case of libs calling Republicans racist, it's a case of Republicans saying "We are racist". How freaking clever, you took a mythical creature and compared him to the president by using a word that is offensive in the United States. Brilliant.

They need to cut this crap out if they want to win elections in states that aren't made up largely of racists (which is a diminishing pool of states).

Please read up on the situation before trying to define the situation.  This has nothing to do with a party using the POTUS's race as a joke-song...you're pretty far off from the facts to even suggest it let alone say it plainly.

The song was made well before he was POTUS so that angle is kind of ridiculous. It was written by someone who has no affiliation with republican party other than that he is probably a registered republican and makes songs for RL's show. He makes a living doing political parodies and given his line of work it is an appropriate song.  I could show you a number of comedians who tell jokes that would be highly innapropriate (far more so than this) for a politician to perform...its just one of those double standards where a comedian is accepted as simply being funny and having no malicious intent but a politician is overly scrutinized to death and assumed guilty until proven innocent in most cases (which is why its simply moronic for him to have gotten involved with it at all).

As for the republican party's involvement, you're just showing your feathers as a partisan here. The party has nothing to do with this story and it plays right back into the irony I was referring to before to even suggest so.  This is one politician who made a stupid choice to give someone else's CD as a gift and he erroneously thought it would be laughed off. The guy deserves scorn for being an idiot for sure, but to label someone a racist for this diminishes the true meaning of the word. Someone labeling him a racist for this is more likely to make me view them as a racebaiter than to see him as a racist.

The guy isn't a racist, he is just an ignorant moron.  To suggest he is racist is silly, and to try to suggest that his entire party is racist is flat-out farcical.

^^^ I agree... really ignorant decision, but it's definitely a big stretch to say they were being "racists". I think people just look for an excuse to pull the race card.

The democrats make fun of religious folk and "redneck" southerners all the time... I suppose that would fall under racism as well?

Either way, dumb move, but really overblown.

When someone doesn't agree with you attack them and claim they do not know enough about a subject to talk about it.

I don't see what the problem is, we mostly agree.

The situation isn't very complicated. Some Republicans think this is very funny and/or appropriate, other Republicans do not.

It is inappropriate by American cultural standards.

This is damaging to the Republican party and conservatism in America because people aren't going to read that much about any one particular event, they just see racist things that are coming out of the republican party.

I've said before that I don't want to see the Republican party fall apart, this is putting more pressure on the non-racist Republicans (the majority of Republicans) to either push the racist ones out or split the party further.

If an elected Republican hadn't defended the CD it wouldn't have made the news again or onto this site.

Sorry for the double post.

Also, I have agree with Tovya, it's stupid for liberals to unapologetically bash religious people...

...But, the Democrats are the ones who are going to be the incumbents for the next election.

^^I'm with you steven (seems like I am a lot lately). I never mind disagreements with anyone really, as long as the disagreement stays respectful. Trashing the current or in-coming president with childish remarks is just wrong, and actually hurts your cause (both sides really).

I debate religious people all the time, but I still respect them when I don't agree with them. And this goes for Bush (who fell off my happy-train long ago) and Obama whom I didn't vote for.  They still deserve the respect of their title of office... And as a opponent of Obama, I'll still give the guy the benefit of the doubt and see what he will do.

As for 2012....

If the Dems are smart, they'll ride as close to the center line as possible until that time (I happen to think that this should and will be Obama's strategy).

I know we'll disagree on whether or not they should but they can go to the left, they just have to get republicans to support it or do things that the majority wants (like government health care).

Then election time they can still claim to be center. Plus they'd be able to paint Republicans as the boogeyman who will steal their health insurance for an election or two until it is too late for it to be taken away.

The magical negro (sometimes called the mystical negro or magic negro) is a supporting, often mystical stock character in fiction who, by use of special insight or powers, helps the white protagonist get out of trouble. The word negro, now considered by many as archaic and offensive, is used intentionally to suggest that the archetype is a racist throwback, an update of the "Sambo" and "savage other" stereotypes.^[1] Spike Lee popularized the term, deriding the archetype of the "super-duper magical negro" in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University and at Yale University. - From that online encyclopedia!

Steven has hit the nail on the head, although I will clarify something.

Republicans are not necessarily saying, "We are racist," but that is how most people who read this will interpret it. So essentially the difference is meaningless in the eyes of the average person. Frankly, the party has said much worse things in the past, as have the Democrats, but this is quickly turning into a mini media storm as it is getting a good bit of press circulation.

Politics is never just about your intentions when you are doing something, it is just as much about how people will interpret what you have done. Any politician who doesn't recognize this is a complete moron. Damage control should take place before you do something if at all possible, not after.

Edit: And as the article I posted with reactions from other Republicans said, this wouldn't be anywhere near as big a deal if Republicans weren't losing just about every minority (Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics) by double digits.  Hell, Democrats are within 3-5% points of winning blacks by TRIPLE digits (100-0).

Lol @ fkusumot!