I heard the hubbub over the Ludacris rap number that had so many people worked up this week, and I must say – I get it.

I get what Ludacris was attempting to accomplish in his own inimitable verbal style. He supports Senator Barack Obama, and he’s doing it the only way he knows how, through his music. He’ll probably succeed in getting rap fans (read: young, marginally socially active potential voters) to get involved in the Election process. I’ve already heard soundbites from plenty of African-Americans who had no problem with his referring to Senator Hillary Clinton with the “B-word” and President Bush as “mentally handicapped”. I think Ludacris tapped into some very real feelings that Clinton was standing in the way of Black History and that Bush has never been a favorite among Blacks.

I also get what has offended so many. Even in the land of free speech, there is no excuse for misogynistic soundtracks, or calls to intimidate by “painting the White House black”. After years of divisive discourse, I think we’re all tired and put off by that kind of talk.

I think what bothered me most, however was the line about John McCain not deserving any kind of chair, “unless he’s paralyzed”. That goes beyond “talking smack” in the current climate. Even joking about or condoning the physical harm of any other human being is wrong, but to do it to someone with such a record of service to others is truly reprehensible. Can’t that be compared to Hillary Clinton’s reference to Bobby Kennedy being assassinated as a justification to her position that anything can happen in a campaign? So many African-Americans complained that she was insinuating bodily harm could (or would) happen to Obama if the campaign dragged on. How could anyone be upset at the Clinton remark and stay silent on or affirm the ones made by Ludacris? You cannot, and stay on the moral high ground.

Senator Obama was right to distance himself from his famous young supporter in condemning this song. Doing so could go a long way toward convincing us – all of us – that he really is serious about uniting a divided and aggrieved electorate. But, will the McCain campaign pick away at this sore? Will young Blacks call Obama a sell-out and turn their backs on him? Will we laugh one day soon at just how much we made over a silly clumping of words? I’d like to think we can learn from this.