So, Chip Saltzman is running for RNC Chair. While he's doing this, he distributes a CD that includes a song called, "Barack the Magic Negro." Initially, some Republican so-and-sos castigated him for his insensitivity, but this being the GOP it was only a matter of time before there was an inevitable couterreaction. The blogosphere has been awash in commentary about this (see these), but I'll say this: I get the feeling that this guy might lack the sort of racial sensitivity to bring culturally conservative Blacks and Latinos into the GOP fold.
I also love the idea that something can't be offensive if it's a joke. It's pretty asinine, and I thought we had moved beyond that. But now it appears that a circling of the wagons is in progress. After all, an authentic member of the tribe has been attacked! This aggression cannot stand. And this is ultimately what the right's obsession with "political correctness" is all about. They see it (whatever it is) as some sort of threat to their tribal identity. I'm not sure what PC means anymore, and I'm not sure what people aren't allowed to discuss these days. When Sarah Silverman is one of the most popular liberal comedians around I don't think there's too much that you just can't say about other folks. And I'm sure that it all differs somehow from, I don't know, the fact that proponents of a non-abstinence only sex ed regimen are shouted down by the right for wanting to teach kids to have sex? To conservatives, political correctness seems to mean anything they disagree with or that portrays them in a bad light. I guess it's sort of like the new "fascist."
So, will this wind up helping Saltzman? Probably. To back down now would be a sign of weakness. Not to hit back would not show resolve. This is the way that politics is played in today's GOP.
