This whole Ludacris thing is...well, ludicrous...

As someone who is a pretty avid watcher of news stations (which usually leads to an inordinate amount of being pissed off), this story about rapper Ludacris is pretty ridiculous at this point. In an hour-long segment last night one commentator (I refuse to ever call a lost of these bozos strategists) referred to Ludacris as being "from Obama's camp" and another said this will be like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright story. If it turns out to be anything more than a rapper releasing a song, the entire American public deserves to be punched in the eye.

First off, before I talk about why this IS NOT a story, let me explain why the news media is going to act like it is for the next day or so. In 2006, Ludacris met with Obama in Chicago to discuss, among other things, youth activism. This one meeting is apparently enough to make them "friends" in the eyes of some commentators. Earlier in his campaign, Obama also said that Ludacris (and other rappers like Jay-Z) were on his iPod. Of course, Obama followed up those questions while voicing his "concerns" over the language in hip hop music (but every politician has to do that because people won't vote for hip hop fans without any disclaimer, but that's a completely different topic for a different day).

So let's think about this, really. Obama is at the center of controversy because a rapper he met one time two years ago and occasionally hears on his iPod made a song urging people to vote for Obama. Of course the song won't help his campaign, but let's not act like Obama gets his tips from the guy who co-starred in 2 Fast, 2 Furious. To act like this reflects on Obama is the absolute highest echelon of absurdity.

I'll tell you why it's a story though. The media keeps getting accused of giving Obama favorable treatment, though studies show it's actually the other way around, and they're trying to "balance" the coverage. Whether it's bringing up a week-old Luda song or attributing a quote to him without giving the full quote...