Quote of the Day

You know, normally something this stupid wouldn't bother me, but this story really gets under my skin. If they can try to paint Common as a 'dangerous black man,' what black man is immune? If they think Common is vile, then I know they have no use for my black ass. Common is beyond the pale, Michelle Obama hates whitey, Eric Holder is protecting the New Black Panther Party, Shirley Sherrod is discriminating against white farmers, Barack Obama is giving reparations to black people? Conservatives, do you realize how stupid this sounds to black people? (And I know that black people aren't the audience for that kind of talk, there's no need to point that out to me.) Seriously, you can't find less-threatening black people.

And fundamentally, I doubt if they even think Common's that bad. He's a convenient target for a bit of demagoguing, which is even more repugnant. At least when Lee Atwater used the "Let's dredge up the 'dangerous black man' feelings for a cheap political hit" ploy, he'd choose an actually dangerous black man.

—David White, a commenter at Ta-Nehisi Coates' place, on the rightwing shit-fit about First Lady Michelle Obama having invited rapper and actor Common to the White House for a poetry event.

Common, for those who don't know, is a Chicago rapper who is not only talented, but seems like a pretty decent guy. He responded to fans' complaints about his earlier material containing homophobic slurs by vowing not to use them anymore, and responded to criticisms about misogyny in hip hop by noting that pop music as a whole is pretty misogynistic and it's something on which artists across genres should work together to resolve.

No wonder the never-gonna-listen, never-gonna-self-examine, never-gonna-change dipshits of the rightwing hate him.