“It’s hard out here for a pimp,” U.S. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton might be thinking about now. As her poll numbers plummet and her electoral chances begin to evaporate, she’s been left to play the part of an emotional wrangler. First by crying, and then by complaining about the treatment of her daughter on the campaign trail.
Last week the Clinton campaign had a collective conniption fit as fill-in MSNBC commentator David Shuster wondered aloud about how Chelsea Clinton was being pressed into service to appeal to “superdelegates” to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Was the nearly 28-year-old Chelsea, he mused, “sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way” by her mother?
Fur flew. Shuster was suspended, then formally apologized on the air. Amateur linguists wondered en masse whether or not “pimp” was actually a pejorative term anymore. (Actual linguists insisted that it was.)
But let’s go backward to April 2007, when rapper Timbaland held a benefit for Senator Clinton’s campaign and raised a reported $800,000 for her. Timbaland’s lyrics feature a whole lotta pimpin’, and the coarseness of his language didn’t seem to bother Hillary when it wasn’t being directed at her daughter.
Message: Demean inner-city black women all you want as long as you don’t bring it into my house. (I can hear Captain Renault from Casablanca remarking: “I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”)
Here’s a sampling of Timbaland’s lyrics, apparently suitable for the Clinton campaign:
From “Considerate Brotha”:
I maim hoes for makin’ me cum, then make her buy me some rum
I got the town ho-infested, you seen ‘em
Invested in prostitution, turned it into an institution …Admire the merchandise, talk back get slapped twice
or handheld, I got women sendin’ me panties in my fan mail
Pimp hat with a big mouth, ATL, dirt South
Hoes comin up short? Hoes finna get cursed out! …From Raggedy Ann & Andy to daiquiri drinks and brandy
I take ‘em off the streets and put ‘em back on with a lil’ candy
I’m the - pimp of the year, I’m a pimp all around
A pimp of the town - we pimpin ‘em up, HOES DOWNFrom “Kill Yourself”:
If U Close To Me, U Supposed To Be,
But Most Of U Rap Niggas Is Hoes To Me,
Wherever U From, The Question I Ask,
Is Do U Think I Give A F***, Riddle Me That …Go Getcha Gun, Go Getcha Click,
Imma Be Rite Here Chillin’ Wit Yo B*tch,
U Mad At Me? ‘Cuz I’m Gettin’ Rich,
Well Put The Pistol To Ur Head And Empty The Clip, Pop Nigga!And my personal favorite, from “Who Am I”:
Scoop a shawty an she thick
And tha b*tch gets grip in them hips
Putta d**k on tha lips top it doggie style, she my homie gal
So I tricked on that b*tch
Now who you be?
The one who’s on tha dance floor
Sex gon be one of tha mass hoes
Freak on a bad hoe
You’s could really wanna flash gold
Turn a hater to a sass hoe
It’s official. David Shuster singlehandedly coarsened the U.S. presidential season and unfairly injected the crudest misogyny into the Clinton campaign. Right.
I was gonna write something snarky but. Eh…
Timbaland should write Hilbilly’s speechs from now on.
I though pimp was not a bad term anymore, with shows like Pimp My Ride. There was no need for Shuster to apologize, I don’t like that guy!
Remeber SNL got in trouble for making fun of Miss Clinton, but she was child then.
Shuster used a common and valid meaning of “pimp.” She IS pimping her daughter out. The crazy thing about the Clintons and the media’s pandering is that the story has become Shuster and MSNBC instead of these sociopaths pimping out their daughter.
Now it looks like the Minutemen are pimping her out.
Pic of Chelsea with Minutemen supporter. (Hawaii meeting)
http://www.thesitrep.com/blog/2008/02/17/ms-minute-man-meets-chelsea/
Let’s be realistic. The offensive term here wasn’t the word ‘pimp’ (although I can see that as sexist)
First of all, Shuster was the guy unlucky enough to be the one sacrificed to appease the feminists. Chris Matthews for one has said a litany of anti-woman, anti-Hilary things over the campaign, and after there was a call to action about these comments I’m guessing the networks just wanted to make it go away and hence Shuster got offered up as a sacrifice.
Secondly, EVERY person on the campaign trail uses their family to make them seem more presidential. Is Michelle Obama being pimped out? Cindy McCain? Were the Bush twins pimped out? Did Stephen Harper pimp out his family when he brought them on the campaign trailer? He has a daughter, is he pimping her out for allowing her to come with him and speak to people her age? The main reason that the comment was sexist was not because the word ‘pimp’ was used, it was because a woman was being attacked for the common and even required practice of bringing your family out on the trail. Male ambitiion = fine, female ambition = perverse.