# Rapper Common invited to the White House **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683 "2011-05-12T18:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/21 "2011-05-16T20:05:10Z")
I can’t imagine Fox would get pissed if Charlie Daniels. Ted Nugent or any other rabid right wing entertainer went to the White House. Sure Daniels tells black jokes at his concerts but he doesn’t use the N word, and he said proudly that the small town south isn’t going to put up with no dang gay pride march anytime soon (one gay group offered to do one if at the same time Daniels would sing _The South’s Gonna Do It Again_ at a concert in Harlem- he didn’t respond), but he’s old and white so that’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/22 "2011-05-16T20:05:39Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Or the even more closer parallel, Bob Dylan and Hurricane Carter. Both wrote songs about people they believe are innocent as part of a larger context of artistic work. No one gets pissed when Dylan goes to the White House. Well, yeah, obviously not. Bob Dylan isn’t a “thug” “rapper”. That makes it totally different. Johnny Cash once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die. Then he played at a prison, strongly identifying with the prisoners themselves. But he also was neither “thug” nor a “rapper” so he’s A-OK. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/23 "2011-05-17T01:40:52Z")
Anyone watch the debate? I can’t yet since I’m at work, but I’m wondering what those who don’t have dogs in either camp think especially. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/24 "2011-05-17T01:48:19Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Well, yeah, obviously not. Bob Dylan isn’t a “thug” “rapper”. That makes it totally different. He’s also seventy years old, and not really a relevant cultural figure anymore. If he’d been invited to the White House in the mid-sixties, there probably would have been a similar “scandal” to the one around Common. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/25 "2011-05-17T03:48:36Z")
I think I’m being relatively objective when I say [Stewart took this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ISpkUsBYuc). Of course in a real debate O’Reilly would have lost for interrupting alone. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/26 "2011-05-17T04:25:02Z")
Springsteen wrote a song about a convicted killer? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/27 "2011-05-17T04:32:43Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Springsteen wrote a song about a convicted killer? Convicted and executed no less. [Nebraska](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwcOhOv4fho) was inspired by [Charles Starkweather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Starkweather). ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/28 "2011-05-17T04:37:08Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Convicted and executed no less. [Nebraska](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwcOhOv4fho) was inspired by [Charles Starkweather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Starkweather). And Tom Joad is definately glorifiying a convicted murderer, albeit a fictional one. (Not really sure why we’re asking about Springsteen though) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/29 "2011-05-17T04:38:37Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > And Tom Joad is definately glorifiying a convicted murderer, albeit a fictional one. > > (Not really sure why we’re asking about Springsteen though) Stewart mentioned him in the debate linked to above as somebody who’s sung about convicted murderers yet been to the White House without causing an outrage on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/30 "2011-05-17T04:39:56Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Convicted and executed no less. [Nebraska](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwcOhOv4fho) was inspired by [Charles Starkweather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Starkweather). Well that would explain why he was honored by President Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/31 "2011-05-17T04:44:01Z")
Johnny Cash visited the White House numerous times and performed for numerous presidents. Imagine how Fox would react if his [Delia’s Gone](http://www.lyrics007.com/Johnny%20Cash%20Lyrics/Delia%27s%20Gone%20Lyrics.html) was a rap song. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/32 "2011-05-17T04:44:10Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Well that would explain why he was honored by President Obama. Your contention is that Obama is pro-murder, and hence seeks out people who sing about it to the White House? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/33 "2011-05-17T04:49:32Z")
O’Reilly moved the goal posts about three times during that one interview (or as Stewart said, kept moving to smaller and smaller boxes). Fox News would supply great examples for teaching critical thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/34 "2011-05-17T04:52:34Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I can’t imagine Fox would get pissed if Charlie Daniels. Ted Nugent or any other rabid right wing entertainer went to the White House. Sure Daniels tells black jokes at his concerts but he doesn’t use the N word, and he said proudly that the small town south isn’t going to put up with no dang gay pride march anytime soon (one gay group offered to do one if at the same time Daniels would sing _The South’s Gonna Do It Again_ at a concert in Harlem- he didn’t respond), but he’s old and white so that’s okay. Ted Nugent once said he wanted to kill American soldiers in their fox holes. He also admitted to having sex with his own teenaged daughter, but he gets called a “patriot” by Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/35 "2011-05-17T04:57:06Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Johnny Cash visited the White House numerous times and performed for numerous presidents. Imagine how Fox would react if his [Delia’s Gone](http://www.lyrics007.com/Johnny%20Cash%20Lyrics/Delia%27s%20Gone%20Lyrics.html) was a rap song. We could probably start a new thread of “name artists who have works that portray a murderer in a positive light and have performed at the White House”? Paul McCartney has “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”. I’m sure there must be more. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/36 "2011-05-17T04:59:00Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Ted Nugent once said he wanted to kill American soldiers in their fox holes. **He also admitted to having sex with his own teenaged daughter, but he gets called a “patriot” by Fox News**. :eek::eek::eek: I’ve never heard that before. What’s the deal here? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/37 "2011-05-17T05:01:06Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Johnny Cash visited the White House numerous times and performed for numerous presidents. Imagine how Fox would react if his [Delia’s Gone](http://www.lyrics007.com/Johnny%20Cash%20Lyrics/Delia%27s%20Gone%20Lyrics.html) was a rap song. The Fox News argument would be that he never sang about killing cops. I was surprised Stewart was able to meet O’Reilly’s more stringent standards for poets. For me it’s enough that violence is a part of almost every famous musician’s discography. Who cares if it’s a song about killing cops or killing your girlfriend? Stewart was able to find other musicians who sang about cop killers, and then of course O’Reilly moved the goalposts once again. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/38 "2011-05-17T05:07:47Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > :eek::eek::eek: > > I’ve never heard that before. What’s the deal here? He once adopted a teenaged girl so he could legally bang her. [http://www.nme.com/photos/the-21-grossest-moments-in-rock/170145/17/5](http://www.nme.com/photos/the-21-grossest-moments-in-rock/170145/17/5) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/39 "2011-05-17T05:08:42Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683/40 "2011-05-17T05:14:54Z")
Also didn’t Nugent once boast about dodging the draft back in the '60s? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rapper-common-invited-to-the-white-house/581683.md?page=3)