Weigel

Has a Hip-Hop Barbecue Ever Created Jobs?

This Fox Nation splash page is an instant classic. hiphop It’s just… an odd editorial decision. Let’s be charitable. The splash goes to a summary of a Politico report on Obama’s birthday party, and the full report gives us a guest and music run-down. (The “didn’t create jobs” bit is a riff on the cheeky quote in the report from Jay Carney, admitting that the White House “doesn’t create jobs.”)

In the East Room, performers included R&B singer Ledisi, jazz musician Herbie Hancock and Wonder. The president encouraged everyone to dance — and they did. Lots of kids were on hand and they stole the show as they danced in the center of the East Room.
Celebrities at the party included Jay-Z, [Tom] Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, basketball stars Charles Barkley and Grant Hill, comedian Chris Rock, actor Hill Harper and Oprah Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King.
There was a DJ, too, who spun some hip-hop, but none of the people playing music were hip-hop artists! Look: When I’m promised a “Hip-Hop BBQ” in a headline, I expect nothing but hip-hop stars and enthusiasts eating BBQ. Instead, I learn that a collection of celebrities, some of them black, ate “chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta and salad” and then a bunch of pie before listening to Herbie Hancock. Fox Nation could have gone with the “Jazz BBQ Doesn’t Create Jobs” hed, I guess, but why not cut to the chase with something like: “Uppity Blacks Eat Soul Food and Laugh While You Hunt for A Job You Can’t Get Because of Welfare Queens, Affirmative Action, and Carjackers.”