From WSJ:

Schlessinger said on “Larry King Live” Tuesday that she “made the decision not to do radio anymore” because she wanted to regain her First Amendment rights and say what’s on her mind.

Sure, that’s why she’s quitting…not because her advertisers told her they’re through with her after she blurted out racial obscenities on air.

Wow. What a hack.

Furthermore, this tired First Amendment argument really gets me going because, news flash, Dr. Laura wasn’t hauled away to jail or sued or had any of her rights violated. She lost her job. That’s it. And she actually quit before she suffered the embarrassment of not having her contract renewed.

So please Dr. Laura, if you think you need to quit radio in order to be free to say racially insensitive things in public…by all means. And you’ll find that people will shun you just as quickly off the radio as on.

Welcome to the real world.

Over the past two years I wrote, produced and directed a film called “We Will Make You Whole Again” with my co-director, editor and cinematographer Trevor Hawkins of Mammoth Media. Some of you know this because a couple months back I shared the trailer for the film and told you a little bit about what it was all about.

So now I wanted to make sure you knew that the film is available for download for just $5.

Still, why should you spend your hard earned money to watch it? After all, it’s just another short film.

Well, here are some reasons why you should check it out:

1. The themes of illegal immigration, sexual identity, domestic terrorism, the casualties of war and a post-racial society are definitely top of mind these days, and the film explores all of these through characters who are universally relatable yet also surprisingly unique.
2. In the increasingly noisy world of radio shock jocks and talking heads, the film only has one line of dialogue and is driven almost entirely by an original score, which has been described by the Kansas City Star as “melancholic, majestic, ethereal, ominous, somber and beautiful.”
3. The title of the film comes from a phrase an Exxon representative said to fisherman in Alaska during their very first meeting back in 1989. And our film premiered about a week before the current tragedy in the Gulf struck. Eerie timing to say the least.
4. Maybe I’m naive, but I believe the work I produce has value. In particular, when I work this long and hard on something, I think giving it away for free is silly. And I hope you know that I wouldn’t ask you to spend $5 to purchase this film if I didn’t think it was worth it. So while I won’t guarantee that everybody who watches it will enjoy it, I’m confident that the vast majority will.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it. The following are reviews from some folks who’ve seen it locally here in Kansas City…

The Pitch:

Strangers cross paths. They brush shoulders or hold a glance a beat too long. In that brief moment, lives can be changed. By now, this set up is familiar — it’s a theme routinely seen in movies because it speaks volumes about the human condition. Kansas City acts as the backdrop for another such film, the beautifully shot We Will Make You Whole Again.

Shane Adams:

The movie is really great. They’ve did a terrific job telling a compelling story about 6 strangers that feel disconnected from the world and each other because of things like age, race, sexuality, gender, language and culture, while revealing the common, everyday actions and emotions that unite them all.

kckimchi:

enjoyed the local short film We Will Make You Whole Again (@wwmywa) + the Q&A w/ @jpgardner last night. Check it out if you haven’t yet

strangegirl76:

Saw @wwmywa last night & thought it was amazing! You can download it for $5. DO IT!

inaki:

Wow. Beautiful work. Really well done. :)

platterscratch:

@wwmywa moving and brilliant. Bravo.

As mentioned, the film is available for download for just $5. That gets you both a high quality .mov file that you can view on laptops and HDTVs and a medium quality .m4v file that you can use on most any portable media player, the most common being the iPod and iPhone.

So, if you’re a fan on independent film consider buying a copy. And if you’re a blogger, please consider writing about the film.

Thanks much and I hope you enjoy, “We Will Make You Whole Again.”

Really Arizona legislature? Really Governor Jan Brewer? This is the time when you decide to make this switch?

And, from Politico, the text of the bill reads like some of the craziest satire…

“Public school pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people,” the text of the bill reads.

Haha, so…that legislation you passed several weeks doesn’t teach people to resent other races or classes of people? Hmmm….

Here’s more from this wacky law…

The law prohibits the teaching of any classes that promote “the overthrow of the United States government,” “resentment toward a race or class of people,” “are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”

Neither the governor nor the bill’s supporters have identified examples where a Chicano studies class has advocated the “overthrow” of the federal government, and the bill’s opponents in the state have expressed outrage over what they see as a law that unfairly targets Hispanics.

Here’s more about the schools that are the target of this bill…

The Tucson Unified School District program offers specialized courses in African-American, Mexican-American and Native-American studies that focus on history and literature and include information about the influence of a particular ethnic group.

For example, in the Mexican-American Studies program, an American history course explores the role of Hispanics in the Vietnam War, and a literature course emphasizes Latino authors.

So then…how many of you have taken ethnic studies classes in college? Remember them? If so, remember how they were EXACTLY like what’s described in the above quoted passage? If not, please tell me, but that’s what I remember.

But now we find the real reason why this is happening…political opportunism…

[State schools chief Tom] Horne, a Republican running for attorney general, said the program promotes “ethnic chauvinism” and racial resentment toward whites while segregating students by race. He’s been trying to restrict it ever since he learned that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told students in 2006 that “Republicans hate Latinos.”

Really? You’re going to not only get offended but also quote a civil rights activist?

Another question…it seems like the only schools affected are in Tucson, but obviously bills have broader implications once passed. What about the universities? Are they prohibited from teaching Chicano studies or Black studies classes?

The answer is no, not at all. In fact, apparently no ethnic studies classes at all will be affected in any way whatsoever…

The measure doesn’t prohibit classes that teach about the history of a particular ethnic group, as long as the course is open to all students and doesn’t promote ethnic solidarity or resentment.

But hey, thank whatever deity you believe in for laws that solve problems that haven’t even started yet. Whew!

And, by the way, for those of you who have taken any sort of ethnic studies classes…did you ever advocate overthrowing the government or hating people of other races after you took them? Sure, some may build up a healthy disdain for those forefathers and foremothers who violently discriminated against folks just because they were different, but unless “learn to hate people of other races” is in the curriculum, it’s up to the individual to not place the sins of the past on the present’s shoulders.

Of course, you know what might cause hate and resentment towards an ethnic group?

Arizona knows!

And scene…

The Tea Party protests last spring could have been the start of something important in American politics had it not been for the vocal group of far right wingers who insisted on leveling all sorts of racially charged attacks at Obama and his supporters.

Well, this weekend they’re holding their convention in Nashville, Tennessee and former Congressman Tom Tancredo was a speaker.

And boy did he deliver the red meat.

And boy did the crowd eat it up.

Check it out…

Yes, that’s just the type of hearty, bombastic rhetoric that builds strong coalitions of independent and swing voters.

I also liked how he talked about voting tests in one breath and socialism in the next, thus proving that irony is indeed dead…and least in Nashville this weekend.

Well done Tom!

In the past week, Obama’s approval rating has finally slipped below the 50% mark in Gallup’s daily tracking poll.

The reason why?

His support among white voters has fallen from 61% to 39%. And that could be a big problem as he looks towards 2012.

Or is it such a big problem? Or a completely manageable one?

Looking at Gallup’s exit polling from the 2008 election, we see that Obama lost to McCain among white voters by double digits.

True, Obama’s approval among whites is still 5 points under the 44% who threw their support behind him last November, but that’s the story…Obama’s “approval” has really only dropped 5 points among whites who voted for him.

Long story short, if these voters weren’t planning on casting a vote for him anyway in 2012, well, there was little he could have done in the first place.

One of the most intellectually dishonest political commentators is at it again.

What’s weird is his reason for not answering the question. Basically, he says there’s no way he can define “white culture” without getting himself in trouble. And that begs the question…why make a statement that claims Obama has a deep seated hatred for it? I mean, if you’re defending white culture, why would there be any reason to not define it?

Check out this cringe inducing video…

Let me clue you in to what Beck means when he talks about white culture: money. Because by making these idiotic claims he can tap into a small, but dedicated base of folks who think that the white culture is under attack from all sides and they’ll buy his books, watch his TV show and listen to his radio screeds.

In the end, Beck’s certainly no dummy, but if he’s not smart enough to navigate a simple interview with Katie Couric, well, he’s probably not long for this media world.

( Editor’s note: If you come over here and start claiming things about Beck that aren’t true or defend Beck with a bunch of vulgar language and throw insults around, your comment will be deleted. Do us all a favor and just don’t comment. )

This is a difficult post to write. But some issues, no matter how distasteful, must be faced squarely. Sadly, the numbers speak for themselves. Racism is on the rise in this country.

Why the dramatic rise in racism now? I cannot answer that. Perhaps the problem was here all along and we simply chose not to see it. It was easy to ignore in the months following the election when Obama’s favorability rating was over 70%. In the euphoria of his election, many of us became too complacent about racism. With a 70% favorability rating for the President elect, we were all too willing to overlook the 30% of racist Americans who remained. It was an easy mistake to make, the racists were outnumbered by more than two to one.

Few now remember that November 2008 to January 2009 was the golden age of the new post-racial post-partisan America, ushered in by the election of our new President. Our pundits in the mainstream media helped us to understand and appreciate the deep import of the election, and the possibility of finally turning the page on our racist history.

Maureen Dowd – Nov. 9, 2008:

Joe Klein in Time – Nov 5.2008:

Keith Olbermann – Nov 5, 2008:

Jimmy Carter on Jim Lehrer – August 25, 2008

“But I don’t think there’s any doubt that there’s a spirit and a bright, new hope for America within this country and around the world. And if Obama is elected, which I think he is going to be, then I think that will be the transforming race for the end of racism, and prejudice, and hatred between races in this country.”

As always, Jimmy Carter was far ahead of the curve, predicting the golden age of a post-racial America months before it came into being.

That was then. This is now. What happened? Perhaps it was just too easy to pretend the problem was not there.

Here are the facts. Racism has been rising steadily over the last few months. In recent polls, President Obama’s approval number has dropped from 70% to 50%. This means the percentage of racists in this country has risen from 30% to 50% – a 67% increase in only eight months! Even more alarming, close to one out of two Americans are now racist. We have reached a tipping point. If this trend continues, the racists will soon be in a majority. Now, more than ever, we need the pundits and sages of the mainstream media to speak out. Racism is so insidious, so deep rooted, that we may not even know whether we are racists, unless or until bloggers and pundits make that determination through psychoanalysis.

Some of those same strong media voices who were sweeping the racism problem under the rug in January, are finally sounding the alarm now that the full scope of the problem has been recognized.

Dowd – Sep 13. 2009:
Representative Wilson shouting from the floor? = Racism

Bravo. How brave, this extraordinary willingness to make specific accusations of racism on the basis of nothing more than the imaginary voices in her head. Of course, it would be even braver if Maureen lived in a country, where, unlike here, she and her paper could be sued for slander. Sadly, some do not appreciate her principled stand against imagined racism. What are we to make of those such as blogger Clifton, who shamelessly asserts: “There is enough real racism in the world as it is; you are not helping anyone by making sh*t up!” Clearly Clifton is a racism denier.

KLEIN on Scarborough – Sep 11. 2009:
Protests in opposition to Obamacare? = Racism

Joe, keep speaking out. The administration is in denial over the real reason for the opposition to their policies. Your clear dispassionate analysis may yet snap them out of their dangerous delusions. What could they be thinking? Could anyone really believe that – a President who signs an earmark stuffed budget that quadruples the deficit, pushes through an almost $1T pork laden stimulus package that does not stimulate, takes over car companies, bails out investment bankers, institutionalizes the Bush/Cheney unitary executive, is pushing massive new energy taxes and wants an additional $1T in new health care entitlements – would raise strong opposition? Nonsense. Who could be opposed to such enlightened policies? The opposition is obviously racist. That is the only rational explanation.

OLBERMANN – Sep 8, 2009 “[video]:
Forced resignation of Van Jones? = Racism

I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to Keith Olbermann for stepping up yet again. The attack on Van Jones was so clearly rooted in racism that one must assume anyone who would suggest otherwise is also a de-facto racist. In this context, it was particularly shocking to me that Willie Brown, Democrat, former Mayor of San Francisco, frequent MSNBC contributor, and a man who worked directly with Van Jones would sadly be revealed to be a racist. From his column Sunday:

Willie Brown – a racist. Who knew?

Jimmy Carter – September 16, 2009
Joe Wilson outburst, Protests, Obamacare opposition? = Racism

NYT – “The former president first weighed in on Tuesday during a question-and-answer session at the Carter Center in Atlanta. Mr. Carter responded to a question about Mr. Wilson’s eruption by saying that he did believe it was laced with racism. Coupling the Wilson remark with the images in recent weeks of angry demonstrators wielding signs depicting Mr. Obama as a Nazi or as Adolf Hitler, Mr. Carter said: “There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.” He lamented the tone of disrespect toward the current president, adding: “Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care. It’s deeper than that.”

Only Jimmy Carter could speaks with sufficient moral authority to attribute Joe Wilson’s outburst, tea party protesters and health care opposition all to racism. We need that clarity now more than ever. But the more these thought leaders speak out, the more racism deniers come out of the woodwork. As if they would know better than Jimmy Carter what real racism looks like. And again, the administration refuses to face reality.

With the ex-president adding his voice to the media voices speaking out loudly and clearly, perhaps we can beat back the scourge of racism once again. While we may never again return to the golden age of November 2008 to January 2009 when only 30% of the country were racists, perhaps we can at least reverse the trend and insure that the racists remain a minority of the voters in this country. Before it is too late – like – before the next election.

^{Notes on this post: As is often the case with my posts, the idea for this piece emerged from a recent comment thread here at the Donk. A version of this post was cross-posted at Divided We Stand United We Fall where it garnered some interesting comments, and was subsequently linked at The Crossed Pond generating an even longer and more interesting comment thread.}

Some salient discussion of Glenn Beck’s mystifying comments with the Morning Joe crew, sans Morning Joe himself.

I think that they are all correct in their assessments.

I do want to highlight one thing that Willie Geist touched upon. Around the five minute mark, Geist posits the idea that, had some commentator on the left made a similar comment about George W. Bush or Dick Cheney, that Mika et al. might not have been as upset. I think that is an eye-opening question and should be given some thought.

Personally, I think Beck is way out-of-line for his comment if for no other reason than Barack Obama was raised by white folks. His mother and grandparents, about whom he writes and talks at great lengths, were far and above the largest contributors to his upbringing. So, for Beck to merely suggest, much less bluntly state as fact that the President has a ‘deep-seeded hatred for white people or the white culture’ is nothing short of irrational.

I do wonder whether Lawrence O’Donnell is correct; will Glenn Beck own up to his statement? Will he admit that he accused the President of racism? Or, as O’Donnell suggests, will Beck claim that he never made the remarks?

[cross-posted at ThePajamaPundit.com]

“This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.”
- Glenn Beck demonstrating again why he’ll only ever appeal to fringers

Here’s the clip…

At a certain point, even if you are Fox News, you really have to start wondering if Beck is all there or is just making stuff up for the sake of ratings. Because, either way, he is such a hack of a commentator that you’d think they have a hard time allowing him on air.

By the way, like my Ann Coulter policy, I’m getting close to never posting anything Beck says ever again. I’m almost there. Wonder what will push me over the edge.

About the author: Byron C. Tau is a journalism graduate student at Georgetown and a recent graduate of McGill University in Montreal. You can find him all over the Internet, from his politics and commentary website Heartless and Brainless to his Twitter account to his personal blog. His favorite topics tend to be civil liberties issues, freedom of speech issues, anti-nanny state stuff and hating on the Canadian political system. He also likes to cover the “game” of Washington politics and the usual inside politics process stuff.

The arrest of noted Harvard African-American scholar and The Root co-founder Henry Louis Gates, Jr. spread like wildfire across the blogosphere this week. Today, there are a few additional updates. First, the Smoking Gun obtained and posted the actual arrest report. Second, Slate enlisted the help of the ACLU in explaining away a lot of the charges made against Gates by the Cambridge police. And finally, last night’s prime time press conference on health care saw President Obama delicately wading into the issue in his last press answer, stating:

Now, I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that, but I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know, separate and apart from this incident, is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. And that’s just a fact.

The story is fraught with political and policy significance on so many levels that it’s no surprise that it spread so quickly. Washington is debating the confirmation of the first Latina Supreme Court associate justice — the same woman who has sparked a firestorm of conservative commentary concerning her judicial decision about affirmative action in New Haven and her comments regarding the jurisprudence of a “wise Latina” being better than a white male. Some commentators pointed out that the arrest happened just as New York Times columnist Ross Douthat wrote a piece saying that race-based affirmative action had to be abolished. Finally, the arrest happened the same week that CNN had been scheduled to run a special with Soledad O’Brien entitled Black in American 2. The political irony is almost palpable and seems to beg the question: does being black in America mean being arrested for disorderly conduct on your own front porch after getting a little miffed?

First, it’s pretty clear that the police acted inappropriately — at least if Gates’ version of the story is to be believed in its entirety. As Slate pointed out, it is a requirement that Massachusetts police show ID when asked. Second, a disorderly conduct charge in the state usually refers to conduct that will spark a riot. Blowing your cool on your front porch hardly seems to endanger polite civil society. Finally, as the Slate Explainer pointed out, getting upset and shouting at a police officer about being racially profiled is about as explicitly political as you can be — and thus count as protected speech under the first amendment.

But if it’s true that the Cambridge police acted foolishly and probably illegally, it could be equally true that this arrest says very little about the overall state of race relations in America or the many public policy debates surrounding it. As President Obama pointed out, racial profiling is a problem across America. I see it everyday in my Washington D.C. neighborhood. But at the same time, does the arrest of one prominent scholar in Massachusetts really negate Douthat’s point that perhaps affirmative action has run its course? Is one anecdotal case in one Massachusetts city really emblematic of the struggles of a whole race of people?

Race in America is a touchy subject, still. The latest Internet meme from today refers to a prominent AMA physician accused of forwarding racist photoshopped caricatures of President Obama as a witch doctor. It’s currently the lead story on Talking Points Memo. What these incidents do reveal is an American public hungry for a frank conversation on race and a media class only perfectly willing to oblige with stale, simplistic race-baiting. What they don’t reveal is a racist, bigoted society rotten to the core.

The rise of Americans like Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and others is more than just the tokenism that Martin Luther King Jr. warned Americans to avoid when talking about race. Women comprise a solid majority of college graduates at convocations every spring, and their salaries in major urban areas amongst unmarried, childless women are higher than men in almost all the major urban areas. The President of the United States is an African-American, who garner 66.8 million votes — 8.5 million more than his white, American male rival. Prior to his election, the previous two top foreign policy makers in the Bush Administration were both prominent and well-credential black Americans. There is a large and well-heeled black middle class in this country — one often marginalized in popular culture depictions of urban life media stereotypes and hip-hip rags-to-riches glory stories.

It does us no favors as a society to turn an unfortunate incident at Cambridge into a microcosm for all of American society. There is ample evidence for real and sustained racial progress, and America has mostly moved beyond some of the baser prejudices that haunted her for centuries. There are some barriers to achievement still, just as there are some opportunities for those of any skin color, gender or creed. Just as the election of one African-American hasn’t made racism disappear, the arrest of another hasn’t brought it back in vogue.

“We’ve got to say to our children, yes, if you’re African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. That’s not a reason to get bad grades. That’s not a reason to cut class. That’s not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands. You can not forget that. That’s what we need to teach all our children: no excuses.”
- Obama talking to the NAACP yesterday

In fact, here’s the speech and you should definitely take a look. Because I think that after you watch it you’ll understand why it’s one that only Obama could give. And the quote above can be found about 24 minutes in and it gets one of the biggest rounds of applause.

I wonder if Jesse Jackson is furious…

In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court has reversed the appellate court decision on a controversial race case involving firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut.

Previously, the appellate court including Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, ruled that the city of New Haven did nothing wrong by throwing out the results of a promotion exam because no African Americans and too few Hispanic firefighters passed the test. In a decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the High Court disagreed:

Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.

Kennedy was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Predictably, the dissenters came from the “liberal block” with the dissenting opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who said the white firefighters “had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them.”

Sotomayor has been criticized for the appellate court’s decision, partially for its ruling and partially for what some perceive to be simplistic and faulty legal logic. If the Supreme Court had reversed the ruling with something other than the usual 5-4 split, Sotomayor opponents may have found some traction with this issue. However, with retiring justice David Souter essentially voting to uphold the lower court’s ruling, I imagine this case will quickly fade from the Sotomayor debate.

Note: The original title of this post implied the court ruled in favor of only white firefighters. This is an inaccurate representation of the case as two of the firefighters receiving promotion are Latino.

Looks like I’m not the only one.

From Huff Post:

“Of course this disturbs me,” said Lionel Sosa, one of the more influential Hispanic media advisers in the GOP. “I’m not surprised at Rush Limbaugh but I’m very surprised at Speaker Gingrich because he is one of the key people who knows the importance of the Latino vote to the Republican Party. He must realize how his rhetoric, if it does influence any Hispanics, how damaging it could be. This [confirmation] is something that is going to happen anyway. For a senator to have strong opposition to her, they are either not aware of the impact Latinos will have on the next election or they don’t care.”

Ultimately, I don’t really know how much play Newt’s comments are getting among Hispanic voters, but if he runs for President, they’ll definitely be part of the debate.

The last paragraph in SCOTUSblog’s evaluation of her decisions on race says it all…

In sum, in an eleven-year career on the Second Circuit, Judge Sotomayor has participated in roughly 100 panel decisions involving questions of race and has disagreed with her colleagues in those cases (a fair measure of whether she is an outlier) a total of 4 times. Only one case (Gant) in that entire eleven years actually involved the question whether race discrimination may have occurred. (In another case (Pappas) she dissented to favor a white bigot.) She particulated in two other panels rejecting district court rulings agreeing with race-based jury-selection claims. Given that record, it seems absurd to say that Judge Sotomayor allows race to infect her decision making.

Does any reasonable person think she’s a racist? And I’m genuinely surprised that Gingrich actually went there because it plants him firmly on the unreasonable fringe.

Moving on…

Check out the clip at the BBC.

However, I will offer one question to this: do you view Obama as an “African-American” president?

Yes, I know he is and it’s a historic day, but (to me at least) he just seems like the President. And maybe that’s the most enduring legacy of MLK’s work…that race really isn’t an issue anymore.

Sure, there are still pockets of ignorance here and there, but for the most part that crowd is dying out in favor of a generation that actually does look at the content of somebody’s character instead of the color of their skin.

Thoughts?

Here’s the deal…if Chip Saltsman can honestly spin this whole flap by saying that those who called him out for his racially insensitivity are simply pandering to the national press, well, the GOP has truly become the party of clueless white people.

Politico explores the acute tone deafness:

Four days after news broke that the former Tennessee GOP chairman had sent a CD including a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro” to the RNC members he is courting, some of those officials are rallying around the embattled Saltsman, with a few questioning whether the national media and his opponents are piling on.

“When I heard about the story, I had to figure out what was going on for myself,” said Mark Ellis, the chairman of the Maine Republican Party. “When I found out what this was about I had to ask, ‘Boy, what’s the big deal here?’ because there wasn’t any.”

Alabama Republican Committeeman Paul Reynolds said the fact the Saltsman sent him a CD with the song on it “didn’t bother me one bit.”

“Chip probably could have thought it through a bit more, but he was doing everyone a favor by giving us a gift,” he said. “This is just people looking for something to make an issue of.”

“I don’t think he intended it as any kind of racial slur. I think he intended it as a humor gift,” Oklahoma GOP Committeewoman Carolyn McClarty added. “I think it was innocently done by Chip.”

Yes, the leaders of the Republican party are claiming that as long as you use a racial term in a joke…it’s okay.

“What? Can’t you take a joke? Don’t you have a sense of humor? Jeez, everything’s so politically correct these days.”

Somebody please save these people from themselves.

Along with Michael Steele, Charlie Crist seems to be attempting to move the Republican party into the 21st Century.

Here’s a statement he recently put out about the Chip Saltsman/”Barack The Magic Negro” stupidity…

As the GOP Chairman in one of our nation’s most ethnically and culturally diverse states, I am especially disappointed by the inappropriate words and actions we’ve seen over the past few days. I am proud of those party leaders who have stood up in firm opposition to this type of behavior.

In Florida we have worked hard to reach out to ALL citizens to promote the Republican Party’s principles and values while ensuring that our commitment to African Americans, Hispanics, and other minority communities is sincere and credible. Actions such as the distribution of this CD, regardless of intent, only serves to promote divisiveness and distracts us from our common goal of building our party.

Today, the GOP has an unprecedented opportunity to embrace change and inclusion, and we are either going to welcome this opportunity fully or watch it slip through our fingers. We can only achieve success if Republican leaders reject racial or any other acts that divide us and instead embrace what unites us as a nation.

The question is…will it work?

Well, when a high ranking Republican leader gives a CD with a song on it entitled “Barack The Magic Negro” as a Christmas gift to members of the Republican National Committee, one thinks there’s a LONG way to go yet. Because not only is it completely tone deaf to where we’re at right now in our nation’s history, it’s also needlessly divisive.

What’s more, he didn’t apologize and positioned an apology as pandering.

And maybe it’s just me, but I’m getting really tired of the pathetic defense of “What? Can’t you take a joke? Don’t you have a sense of humor? Jeez, everything’s so politically correct these days.”

Still, it’s encouraging to see high ranking Republicans speak out.

Let’s hope there are more.

As usual, he’s pitch perfect…

Yes, the idea that increased African American turnout may have helped passed this ridiculous discrimination so tragically ironic it hurts. I mean…69% supported this ban? In California?? Really???

Truly crazy stuff. And it proves, yet again, that discrimination knows no color and we have a long, long way to go before we become a truly inclusive nation.

Moving on…

Yes folks, it was more than just an election.

And now we can finally say goodbye to all that.

I’ve been hearing a lot about this lately…the idea that people say they won’t vote for Obama, but when they get into the polls they will.

The evidence is obviously all anecdotal, like this story from Salon where a couple voters use the N word in reference to Obama…but say they’re supporting him anyway.

And then this story from Politico reveals many similar stories…

Anecdotes from across the battlegrounds suggest that there’s a significant minority of prejudiced white voters who will swallow hard and vote for the black man.

“I wouldn’t want a mixed marriage for my daughter, but I’m voting for Obama,” the wife of a retired Virginia coal miner, Sharon Fleming, told the Los Angeles Times recently.

One Obama volunteer told Politico after canvassing the working-class white Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown recently, “I was blown away by the outright racism, but these folks are … undecided. They would call him a [racial epithet] and mention how they don’t know what to do because of the economy.”

I also have my own evidence, and it comes in the form of my grandfather. I love him, but the guy is definitely a racist. And yet, he’s going to vote for Obama today. Now, would he admit that to anybody but his family? Probably not.

These are obviously the extreme cases, but what about all of those other voters who feel external pressure to not vote for Obama because of generational, familial and peer pressures? How will they vote today?

For what it’s worth, something to consider as we see the results start rolling in.