"One Man's Humor; Another Man's Slur!"

It's time to Break It Down!

Comedy and humor come in all shapes, sizes, and yes political stripes and colors too. Of course what one finds funny often depends on who is telling the joke, as well as on whom the joke is told. Last week David Letterman kicked off a firestorm of media frenzy and negative feedback when he joked about one of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughters. The Cliff Notes version of the story is he joked about the Governor’s under-aged daughter, a minor, getting pregnant by baseball player Alex Rodriguez. All things considered, the joke was not funny, and was definitely inappropriate. Alas, though it took him a while to get it right, too long in fact, Letterman did apologize, and appeared contrite in doing so.

Of course there is no dearth of underdeveloped would be humorists, and this week it was the Obama’s turn to act as Targets-in-Chief for failed comedic stylings. Starting with Mrs. Obama, first up, South Carolina Republican operative Rusty DePass, who joked on Facebook that Michelle Obama is related to a gorilla that escaped from the Columbia, South Carolina Zoo.

On Facebook, DePass wrote, ”I’m sure it’s just on of Michelle’s ancestors – probably harmless.”

Mr. DePass initially attempted to mute the reaction to his gaffe by claiming Mrs. Obama had asserted that man evolved from apes, and so therefore, she really made the comment; not him. Sigh, roll eyes!

Of course, when the Obamas are the subject, it is nearly impossible to leave the POTUS out…and the events of this week made no such oversight. Ms. Sherri Goforth, a legislative aide to Tennessee State Senator Diane Black, leader of the State Republican Caucus, sent an email to other legislative staffers with a picture depicting the 44 US Presidents. President Obama’s image, in the last square of the picture, is shown as two cartoonish white eyes peering from a black background.

Chip Forrester, State Democratic Chairman lamented that Ms. Goforth’s email joins a list of shameful episodes by Tennessee Republicans, including, a “Birds of a Feather” direct mail piece that featured black crows with the heads of Barack Obama and (African American) Rep. Nathan Vaughn, as well as the “Barack the Magic Negro” song that former Tennessee GOP Party Chairman Chip Saltsman sent to Republican Committee (RNC) members during his failed campaign for RNC Chair.

But let us be clear, this trend, and it is one, is not the sole province of South Carolina and Tennessee; neither is it limited to Black Music Month, nor to Republicans. In February 2009, Dean Grose, then Mayor of Los Alimitos California sent an e-mail to a colleague on the City Council showing a watermelon patch on the White House lawn, with the caption, “No Easter Egg Hunt this year.”

Apparently the art work and the joke were so compelling that in May 2009, Doug Fox, former North Carolina Chairman of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, used the same photo, changing only the caption to, “There goes the neighborhood.” It should be noted both Mr. Grose, and Mr. Fox later resigned.

Many who watch the events of our time closely argue that the Election of President Obama signaled a change in America, and I must agree that it has. But these events and many others like them are a sure sign that while Change may have come to Americans, not all Americans have Changed. As a result, we still live in an America where it’s “One Man’s Humor; Another Man’s Slur!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/16/tennessee.email/index.html

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9014570

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/B3/20090616/NEWS/90616109/0/NEWS03/Anti-Obama--racist-e-mail-sparks-controversy

http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/another-republican-sends-racist-obama-email/

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090616/NEWS0201/906160323/GOP+aide+rebuked+for+racist+e-mail

http://www.usnews.com/mobile/articles_mobile/gop-activist-apologizes-after-joking-that-gorilla-is-related-to-michelle-obama/index.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/06/14/2009-06-14_pol_gorilla_is_related_to_first_lady.html

http://www.foxnewsradio.com/2009/06/15/sc-republican-apologizes-for-comparing-michelle-obama-to-a-gorilla/

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090615/888/twl-gop-activist-apologizes-after-likeni.html

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=27756682523&topic=9013

http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/nation/another-politician-sends-racist-white-house-watermelon-emails/

http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/california-mayor-emails-white-house-watermelon-picture/

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_2317355.php

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/06/doug-fox-north-carolina-o_n_197632.html

http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/5087875/