Community Corner
Should the President Attend Concert Featuring Rapper Who Once Sang Anti-American Song?
The president plans to attend a concert that includes PSY, the Korean "Gangnam Style" rapper who once sang about murdering American soldiers "slowly and painfully."
A furor arose recently when it was learned that President Barack Obama would be attending a traditional Christmas concert this year that includes an appearance by PSY, the Korean rapper who has become a media sensation with his song “Gangnam Style.” The fallout is over anti-American sentiments PSY espoused in a song back in 2004 with words that advocated killing American soldiers and their families “slowly and painfully.”
A petition objecting to the president's attendance that went up on the White House petition website was promptly removed, according to an article in The Daily Mail. It was reported to have “violated the terms of participation,” although it is not clear what terms those were.
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Veterans and families of American soldiers reportedly took to the airwaves and the Twitttersphere urging the president not to attend the concert or to have PSY scrapped from the lineup. So far, it appears neither is going to happen. The White House has reportedly confirmed that the president will be in attendance, as is tradition, and the Korean rapper remains on the lineup. PSY has since apologized for his 2004 anti-American lyrics.
What do you think? Should everyone let bygones be bygones or should the president ask that PSY be struck from the lineup as a term of his attendance?