In case anyone doubts that some Republican [3] leaders are racists, Chip Saltsman [4], a candidate to chair the Republican National Committee [5], has clarified things a bit by sending a Christmas gift to committee members that includes a music CD with lyrics from a song called "Barack the Magic Negro," which was first played on Rush Limbaugh [6]'s right-wing radio show. The song, performed by conservative satirist Paul Shanklin [7], features Shanklin doing an impression of black Al Sharpton [8] and mocks Barack Obama [9] along with other black figures including Snoop Dogg [10] and Louis Farrakhan [11]. The song is part of a compilation of 41 similar conservative songs titled "We Hate the USA." Other selections include "The Star Spanglish Banner [12]," an anti-immigration tune that begins, "José can you see..." Cultural critic David Ehrenstein, who was the original inspiration for "Barack the Magic Negro" by writing a column with that title in 2007 [13], is gay and of partly African-American descent. He responded to the controversy [14] over Saltsman's hateful holiday gift by pointing out that he was critizing Obama (for pandering to anti-gay Christians [15], among other things) even before it became fashionable for conservatives to do so.