And There Was Much Rending of Garments

Rubin Navarette asks the age old question (as of 1968, or so), "Is This Racist?" Specifically, he asks this of the "Barack the Magic Negro" parody put forward by putative (and I hope soon to be called "failed") RNC Chairman candidate, Chip Saltsman. The consensus seems to be, "Spike Lee said it first. Thus, ipso facto, it is not racist." The real question in my opinion should be: "Is this what we want our RNC Chairman to be doing all day?" My answer is "No."

What we really need is a division of labor. Ridicule of your opponent's leaders is a tried and true political tactic. It certainly worked against GW Bush who was derided as stupid, "Shrub," evil, etc from the moment he took office. But for ridicule to work, you need the right people to carry it out. The Left has Michael Moore, Bill Maher, and the late Molly Ivins. The Right has Rush and Ann Coulter. What we don't need is the RNC chair playing these games, too. Let the satirists satirize. Let the RNC chairs chair (or whatever they do). But trying to mix the two is asking for trouble, and Saltsman has stirred up plenty to no good effect.