Limbaugh unrepentant over derogatory Obama song

Leading right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been repeatedly airing a derogatory and racially charged song about the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Limbaugh, whose right-wing talk show is one of the most listened to in the US, has been running a song called "Barack the Magic Negro," to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon." On his show, Limbaugh says he is an entertainer and the song is a parody. He justifies it by saying the first linkage of the term "magic negro" to Obama was by a black commentator, David Ehrenstein, in the Los Angeles Times. Limbaugh claims that "magic negro" is a historical cultural term, a reference to benevolent African-Americans portrayed in old films. Another of the shock jocks, Don Imus, was sacked last month after making racially and sexually demeaning remarks about a university women's basketball team. Obama's campaign team described the song as dumb. Obama, who could become the first black president, said he had not heard the song but had heard about it. He played down the row, saying that he did not take himself so seriously that he became offended by every comment made about him. Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, a US monitoring group, said that he did not see a difference between Limbaugh and Imus, and accused Limbaugh of inflaming his audience. He described the song as being consistent with previous comments by Limbaugh, such as referring to Obama as "Halfrican American." Frisch said the song was first aired in March and there had been a lot of internet traffic. The mainstream media had been slow to respond but papers such as the Chicago Tribune were now beginning to take notice. He said the slow response was partly because the media saw Limbaugh as being on the fringes. "I take him seriously because he has a large audience," Frisch said, adding that figures such as Vice President Dick Cheney had been guests on the show. Obama last week was given secret service protection after threats appeared on white supremacist websites. The CBS News website this week took the unusual step of blocking all readers' comments on its stories about Obama. Mike Sims, the director of the website, said CBS could not collectively delete the ugly remarks because of their "volume and persistence." A CBS spokeswoman said the block is intended to be temporary.