Breaking: Rush, KOVR, and "Barack the Magic Negro"

Hello Everybody:  So, remember a month or so back when Rush Limbaugh ran a parody song on air, entitled "Barack, the Magic Negro?"  Well, there have been some developments to this story I thought you all might find interesting.  It would appear that a morning news team on a CBS affiliate(KOVR) in Sacramento, after recently airing a story citing the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh's "Barack the Magic Negroe" parody, has incurred the wrath of Rush.  Before you read this diary, check out the link:

http://www.cbs13.com

Part of what interests me about this is Rush Limbaugh's response to the KOVR news team.  I will provide the MediaMatters link that displays his story(that way noone will have to actually go to his website, ewww), and then I'll catch you after the jump.  Plus, a modest call to action.

http://mediamatters.org/...

Oh, and just for kicks, here is the link to KOVR newsteams response:
http://cbs13.com/...

Here's the scoop:

Very recently, Chris Burrous and Lisa Gonzales, along with some other members of the Sacramento CBS afilliate KOVR news team ran a segment about Rush Limbaugh's "Barack the Magic Negro" parody.

BURROUS: There is a controversy brewing here this morning, likely will be hitting fever pitch as we go through the day, of Rush Limbaugh's program for years and years, and when he was here in Sacramento, and since he's been national as well, has had parodies of people -- song parodies -- a lot of them pretty funny, but there's one out there that he's airing on his show about Barack Obama some are calling racist.

There are groups this morning saying that not only is the song racist, but it's putting Barack Obama at increased danger. You know, of course, last week we reported that he has gotten Secret Service protection -- the earliest for any presidential candidate. Is Rush Limbaugh's "Barack, The Magic Negro" song racist? What do you think? Vote online at CBS13.com.

He's had a lot of parody songs, Lisa and Jeff, some funnier and less sensitive than this one.

LISA GONZALES (anchor): I want to hear from Rush. I want to know why they made this song.

BURROUS: He has --

JEFF JAMES (AM meteorologist): He ought to know better. Once he starts to even go near that line, you know? It's never a good idea.

BURROUS: Kind of a timing -- post-Imus here. A bit much, some are thinking.

GONZALES: Can we call, Rush?

BURROUS: Exactly. Go dial him up. Limbaugh doesn't make up the songs himself. This guy named Paul Shanklin, he pays him to play them and make them up.

This is interesting b/c Chris Burrough makes a causal link between the timing of racial undertones of Rush's parody and Obama recently being assaigned two Secret Service security detail teams.  He implies that songs like the Barack parody that was featured on Rush's show put Obama at an increased risk of danger.  Seems like a fair argument to me.  And as far as causal timing goes, I also seem to remember CBS.com recently getting rid of the comments option on stories involving Barack.  They cited an overwhelming amount of racist postings.  Could this also be a result of the spreading of Rush's Barack parody, which has become an internet viral video?

Rush fires back
It took only a few hours for Rush to catch wind of the KOVR segment and make it the focal point of his May 7th show.  His response to the allegation/implication that his Barack parody puts Obama at an increased danger?

Yeah, I'll tell you what: If I were to think about Barack Obama being in any trouble -- needing Secret Service -- I would look to Clinton Inc. before I looked at me. Try that, drive-by media. Get that out there.

Yep, you read it right.  He actually accuses the Clinton camp of somehow causing an increased danger to Obama.  I'm telling you folks, it really seems like Rush is starting to lose it.

Modest Call To Action
I went to the CBS13 website and found that they have been inundated and overwhelmend by Limbaugh supporters.  The poll has been concquered by Limbaugh wingnuts and there are 4 pages worth of comments from Limbaugh supporters.  It is obvious what happened.  Rush made the CBS13 segment the focal point of his May 7th show, a show that is nationally syndicated, and also showcased the segment(and his response) on the front page of his website.  This caused a spurious nationwide reaction from the Limbaugh crowd.  I'm certain that the CBS13 poll has been compromised by an influx of traffic from Rush Limbaugh's website.
Howsabout everyone who reads this diary just take a quick moment to visit the pollpage and vote.  And howsabout everyone who has another extra moment go ahead and post a comment on their website detailing how they feel about Rush and his history of racial comments.  Let's not allow Sacramentoans to think that Rush and his cronies actually speak for them.  It'll only take you a second.
Here's the Poll:
http://cbs13.com/...
Here's the comments page:
http://cbs13.com/...

And one more interesting quote from CBS13

Before today's show, Chris Burrous, CBS13 anchor, says he read an article in a newspaper about a group who found Obama's song racist. After he read the article, he says he immediately went to his computer to listen to the song, but says he hesitated and felt like he should turn down the song because of a black co-worker nearby. This prompted him to pose the question to viewers of whether viewers thought it was racist. He asked the question on air and also posted a poll on the website asking the same thing. Hours later, the poll was the focus of Rush Limbaugh's show.

Why is this significant, you ask?
Here's why you should care:  Rush Limbaugh has been acting pretty crazy lately and that is why now is the time for us to call him on his wingnut platform.  Rush has dominated talk radio since the late 80s, when he basically carried the Republicans to victory.  Nowadays, his nationally syndicated radio show reaches a significantly LARGE audience.  It can be easily argued that Rush's brand of racial undertones in politics is detrimental to representative democracy.  Simply put, Rush's racist message reaches too large of an audience to be ignored, and I think this recent spat involving him and KOVR is the perfect opportunity to call him on his bullshit.  Here's what a writer from the Chicago Tribune had to say:

The Rush Limbaugh radio parody "Barack the Magic Negro" is picking up speed on the Internet with lyrics that mock Sen. Barack Obama's popularity with white voters and portray African-American activist Al Sharpton as sputtering with jealousy of the younger black politician.

[...]

Obama's status as the first African-American with a realistic chance of winning the presidency highlights the ambivalent state of racial tolerance in the country: Even as he attracts massive and adulatory crowds, he also inspires hateful remarks and threats that carry distinct racial undertones.

In the past week, for example, the U.S. Secret Service determined that the Illinois senator merited a special security detail and assigned one not only to him but to his house in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood.

[...]

While national surveys suggest the country is willing to elect a qualified black president, the rising tensions so early in the campaign suggest a disquieting side. And the parody by Limbaugh, who boasts a large and loyal following of listeners, reminds that much of the discussion will take place far from the staged debates and campaign events.

[...]

But Limbaugh's critics say the song goes too far and predict that it could influence the pop-culture understanding of Obama and of black politicians in general.

"We take these things seriously because there's a consistent pattern of them making their way into the mainstream media and then the mainstream consciousness," said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, a non-profit media watchdog group that has been monitoring the broadcasts. "It's important to shoot these things down."