
Don't call Hi Caliber a Republican rapper.
He prefers conservative hip hop artist, and has lent his rhyme to the tea party movement.
Cal, who wouldn't give his full name because he says he's been threatened by "liberals," starred in a FreedomWorks-produced video called "Patriotic People."
He rhymes: "Politicians need the truth, it will set you free, and I hope you paid attention to the march on D.C. ...Liberalism is like a cancerous tumor, just look at Harry Reid, Pelosi and Chuck Schumer."
TPMDC caught up with Cal, 34, a resident of the Jersey Shore.
"I am not a fan of Bush, and I'm not a rank and file Republican. I'm a conservative," he said.
Cal said he meets Democrats and Libertarians at the tea parties, and said it's unfair for liberals to call the group racist or redneck.
"I support the tea party movement because I feel they are the only people in the America who are not following lock-step, rank-and-file one of the political parties," he said.
Cal has had a busy few months, attending five tea parties and marching in Harrisburg, Pa. recently, but he's hoping to perform at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February.
He does a regular news "rap" for Monica Crowley's radio show.
Cal said he "reluctantly" voted for Sen. John McCain in last year's presidential race, and likes former Gov. Sarah Palin but said she is "damaged goods" for a 2012 races.
He blamed the media for going after her, but added, "She hasn't done herself any favors."
Cal said he thought former Gov. Mitt Romney would have fared better during the election, and warned the GOP not to put up a "wishy-washy Republican."
"I'm waiting for our messiah," Cal said.
He opposes Obama's policies and especially the auto industry and bank bailouts.
He wasn't paid for the video, but did it for free to "help out the cause."
Watch it here:
In our interview, Cal said he was tired of people calling him racist since he does not support Obama. He noted his wife and three children are black.
A construction worker injured after falling from a ladder, Cal blames an influx of illegal immigrants for a lack of jobs in his region.
Cal gave us a preview of lyrics from his upcoming video, "Colors."
He said it was inspired by someone who left him a voicemail calling him a "disgrace to humanity and a racist since I listen to Sean Hannity."
I've been called a wigger, a cracker, a poet, a rapper, a racist/ but to me race is not a factor/ don't care if you're white like Snow or much blacker/ all I want to hear is the sound of my children's laughter/ and guess what they are racially mixed/ so you could call me a bigot, I'll call you a hypocrite/ I've been arrested for being white and hanging with blacks/ I've been robbed by brothers for being white and that's a fact/ I've been called white devil, been called a n***er lover/ Got not love for Hitler, call Martin my brother/ You see we're all brothers in the eyes of Christ/ and to tell the truth, Jesus wasn't black or white/ that's a fact of life - both sides sacrifice/ Fighting for civil rights man, trying to unite/ don't believe the hype/ You got questions, I got answers/ Forget the Ku Klux Klan and forget the Black PanthersBlack, white, brown, yellow and red, we all did some bad stuff, we all caused bloodshed/
Ain't no one race better, man, use your head, so stop constantly hating, try love instead

Barack ObamaJob Approval |
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Viva!America!
November 20, 2009 5:13 PM
Liberal, democrat, conservative, republican or libertarian, you are all following lock-step to a specific ideology so spare me the we're-not-like-the-others nonsense.
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Walter Mitty
November 20, 2009 5:21 PM
Why is this guy news?
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jfields
November 20, 2009 6:53 PM
More Alan Grayson stories, please, and less stuff about pathetic Republican rappers.
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roxsteady
November 20, 2009 6:59 PM
He's a douchebage and while this African American female dates whiteboys too, she'd never date this idiot! Perhaps his wife was desparate! Or maybe she just as much of a wingnut as he is! Sure, they can have this fake ass, Jersey Shore rapper! We'll call M&M and have him kick your ass!
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commie atheist
November 20, 2009 7:11 PM
I've been called a wigger, a cracker, a poet, a rapper, a racist/ but to me race is not a factor/ don't care if you're white like Snow or much blacker/ all I want to hear is the sound of my wingnut welfare go KA-CHING!
Fixed that for him.
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commie atheist
November 20, 2009 7:15 PM
So he's probably on disability, a government-run program, and maybe workman's comp, but of course, government is the problem. And of course the lack of jobs is because of illegal immigrants and has nothing to do with companies outsourcing jobs out of the country for the past 20 years.
Yeah, he's a moron.
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Neil
November 20, 2009 9:11 PM in reply to commie atheist
hey, come on. Give the guy a break!
He was deeply troubled by the thought of an illegal alien taking his job while climbing the ladder. So troubled, a flood of rhymes came upon him in the rural-white-libertarian artform known as the hippity-hop, temporarily distracting him and causing the fall. Therefore his fall and subsequent injury are clearly the fault of illegal immigrants, and ironically his own musical genius and martyrdom. And obviously, if we didn't have illegal immigrants then we wouldn't need worker's comp or government! QED.
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no_more_games
November 20, 2009 9:30 PM in reply to commie atheist
Yeah, what is his income? Does he cash checks from the gov'm'nt? If so, he's full of sh*t.
Yo, Cal! What up wid da gov'm'nt subsidy? Yo, 'baggers who walk the sh*t eschew subsidy (translation: don't rag on the hand that feeds ya'll)
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jjdjjd
November 21, 2009 4:33 AM in reply to commie atheist
disability is a government run program that people who work pay for. if you don't pay into it you can't collect it. the government isn't giving him anything. plus, its very hard to get approved for it.
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bogglesthemind
November 20, 2009 7:26 PM
Cal's a wingnut, Cal's a tool, the shit he spews make him look the fool.
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druncan
November 20, 2009 8:26 PM
i like how he says "so stop constantly hating, try love instead," and then equates liberalism with cancer. i was unaware that the best treatment for cancer was hugs and kisses.
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no_more_games
November 20, 2009 9:32 PM in reply to druncan
word!
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Corpiscator
November 21, 2009 12:00 AM in reply to no_more_games
...Up!
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Tombien
November 20, 2009 8:35 PM
Geez, a Republican rapper. How cool. Which figures, since in the last 10 years rap has devolved into a bloated money-obsessed business much like what happened to rock in the 1970s. And it fits that a Republican would wait until this time to embrace it.
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JNagarya
November 21, 2009 12:21 AM in reply to Tombien
And is riddled with killah gangstahs fightin' over turf.
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de TOQUEville
November 20, 2009 8:44 PM
Who. Gives. A. Shit.
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Dunvegan
November 20, 2009 8:50 PM
How about Bible Spice Palin take up the OG (Ogresse GOPer) rapper name of S'error MC (MC = Moose Caliber)...?
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Neil
November 20, 2009 9:02 PM
lol. Mos Def he ain't. the cultural evolution over the last century in America seems to be:
1) a left/liberal/progressive/radical subculture invents something new drawing from their unique experience and small/fast micro-culture.
2) conservatives and the mainstream hate on it for a decade or three. the hardcore being white "heritage" types ranging from hicks with confederate flags to Bill Safire, the NYT's late language-nazi.
3) conservatives and holdouts after some decades of resistance eventually come to embrace the new art/slang/fashion/movement.
4) conservatives then attempt to do it themselves, horribly badly.
They're not really "conservative." Behind the curve is more like it.
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JNagarya
November 21, 2009 12:23 AM in reply to Neil
"behind the curve" = backward.
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lovethesinner
November 21, 2009 1:38 AM in reply to Neil
I sent an email to one of William Saffire's columns once and was surprised to get an almost instantaneous reply. He didn't address the substance of my argument, but he did correct my syntax.
Loved your take on the culture of conservatives. Considering it's basis is over 2000 years old, you have to admire their tenacity, if nothing else.
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draftedin68
November 20, 2009 9:13 PM
Today's music's Pat Boone?
Who knew Pat was such a batshit crazy, (you name it)-phobic bible-thumper way back when he was a-rockin' an' a-rollin'.
Hey! Maybe Hi and Pat can do an album together.
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joeyess
November 20, 2009 9:35 PM
I won't watch it. no way. no how.
and you can't make me.
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bibimimi
November 20, 2009 10:14 PM
Joe The Plumber with goatee and fo'tie.
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planetsean
November 20, 2009 11:04 PM
How long until the inevitable male prostitute web ads are discovered???
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Waltz
November 20, 2009 11:10 PM
"I'm waiting for our messiah," Cal said."
And yet conservatives say liberals think of Obama as the messiah.
Also, just because your wife and children are black doesn't mean you're not racist.
I have a friend who is married to a Filipino woman and he is one racist dude.
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commie atheist
November 21, 2009 3:29 AM in reply to Waltz
Lou Dobbs is married to a Mexican woman, and yet he spews the most racist garbage about hispanics. Go figure.
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rbeats
November 20, 2009 11:18 PM
He is from Jersey, enough said.
Gutter culture music, for a gutter culture party.
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unknowncitizen
November 20, 2009 11:31 PM
I don't understand why he shared that he was a construction worker who fell off a ladder. Is he still injured? Does he still work construction?
Unless he is on a permanent disability (he looks like he moves as well as any chubby white dude I know) he is simply a singer/songwriter, right? What's his connection to the construction trade now? If he's healed from his injuries suffered from the fall, why does he still identify himself with the event?
If he once worked construction, got hurt, got kicked to the curb, healed up and now can't find work, he isn't "a construction worker injured after falling from a ladder" anymore is he? He's simply an underemployed rapper, unless freedom works has got him on the payroll full time.
If he is on SSA permanent disability - OMG, Freedom Works must be shredding all communications records as we speak.
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Corpiscator
November 20, 2009 11:55 PM
Well, I listened to the whole rap and he is
>spreading a patriotic message (never explained)
>upset about left congressional corruption (fails to rap that it goes bothways)
>Doesn't like Charlie Sheen and his friends (irrelevant)
>Likes Joe Wilson after the SOU shenannigans (predilection for poor life choices)
>DC march >1million (no math skills and/or gullible optimist)
>upset that media wants to crucify conservatives (wtf???)
Overall, he seems to be hallucinating about personal values attributed to the constitution that do not actually exist. I would say he has a bright future in rap.
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kth
November 21, 2009 12:15 AM
don't care if you're white like Snow or much blacker
Clearly a double-entendre reference both to the late Bush press secretary, and the Canadian reggaeton performer.
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superking
November 21, 2009 3:44 AM
Opening the video with a 9/11 truth dis??? Immortal Technique, you just got served! Lets see those two face off in a rap battle!
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mroben
November 21, 2009 3:56 AM
I find it amusing that he apparently thinks that MLK would be "down" with his perspective. It's also quite revealing that he equates the Black Panthers, a group that originated in trying to protect their communities from corrupt cops, to the KKK. The basis of hip hop was a marginalized culture's expression of the harsh reality they had been left with from the late 70's recession to the public school art cuts (along with other social programs) of the early 80's. As always, the powerful have now taken notice of the "hipness" of this art and seek to exploit the authenticity of the medium for their own elite interests. This is not a new phenomenon; see Thomas Franks 'Why Johnny Can't Dissent'. If this is hip hop then the artform is truly dead.
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jjdjjd
November 21, 2009 4:40 AM
listen and read the hate that is coming out of your mouths. all because some disagree with you. who would you hate if everyone was a liberal? i'm sure you all would find someone. it is hate that keeps liberals and conservatives going. without the hate you would all wither up and die.
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midnight rambler
November 21, 2009 2:47 PM in reply to jjdjjd
I know this is going to come as a shocker to you, but it's pretty much universal human nature to mock people one considers to be morons. The reason it comes across as liberal vs. conservative is because this is a political forum, not because that's the only motivator.
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ARG in Chicago
November 21, 2009 7:21 AM
Christina, nice job on MSNBC this morning! I happen to be up early on a Saturday.
-- ARG
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mickey g
November 21, 2009 8:07 AM
I'm gonna go out on a limb & suggest that this ain't the dude that Chris Rock was referring to in his "what's the world comin' to" riff.......
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ShawninMo
November 21, 2009 9:41 AM
Wow. They prostested what the government was doing and didn't burn one flag? Those conservatives sure don't know how to protest.
With all Obama has planned for the next three years, he won't be a starving artist for long.
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bluestatedon
November 21, 2009 10:40 AM
"if you don't pay into it you can't collect it."
jjdjjd, let me spell it out for you, since you don't seem to grasp the nature of shared risk. Anybody of Caliber's age who's been on unemployment disability for even a moderate length of time draws down benefit totals that vastly exceed what he has paid into the system via his taxes. Which means that the only way he could continue to receive benefits is due to the fact that OTHER workers have also paying into the system with their taxes as well, and have been doing so for years prior to his needing his benefits. The whole enterprise is based on the actuarial fact that not everybody who pays into an insurance pool will need to draw upon it. This is the dirty little secret anti-tax conservatives never address: if citizens were able to receive monetary benefits that did not exceed by one cent what they paid into the system, they'd be in deep shit when needing help.
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jjdjjd
November 21, 2009 11:28 AM in reply to bluestatedon
you think i don't know that? that is how insurance works. you could buy a million dollar policy and make 1 payment, hop on a plane, crash, die, and the company would have to pay off the million. remember, in this case you have no choice, if you work you have to pay into social security disability. he did. he got hurt, so he can collect. now if he's faking it i'm with you, but the screening of his claim is very lengthy and must meet all the criteria. it take months to do this. what is your point, that people who are not liberals shouldn't be able to collect? i think you think that people who don't agree with the government but collect some form of government money shouldn't be able to collect any form of social security. am i right? i worked my whole life, paid the max just about every year and now collect retirement social security. if i don't agree with the current government you're saying i can't protest? bullcrap. i should just be greatful and shut up? bullcrap. if i live long enough i will recieve more then i paid in. on the other hand if i die soon my family doesn;t get the excess that i paid. by the way, so you know, congress gets to spend the money that you pay into ss now, that use to not be so, it was actually in a 'lockbox' but HAD SO MUCH MONEY IN IT CONGRESS TOOK IT AND NOW SENDS THE SSA AN IOU. i got an idea, why don't we set up a commission, you can be the head, and when liberals are in charge only liberals can collect, but when conservatives are in only they can collect. is that how you want it? jeez bluestate, i don't know how to figure you out, sometimes i vote for a republican [not often] what would you do with me? i just voted for christie over corzine because my home state, which is a very bluestate, has so much corruption i had to vote against the dems. would you shoot me for doing that? do you know how bad things have to be for a republican to win in new jersey? please , no more lectures from you on 'how things work'. my father paid into ss his whole life, died 1 month before his retirement, never collected a dime. it works both ways.
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ShawninMo
November 21, 2009 12:26 PM in reply to bluestatedon
You fail to acknowledge how much taxpayers do put into the system. Corporations don't pay taxes, they pass them on to the consumer. Just like when fuel prices spiked. EVERYTHING went up. The companies merely passed it on to us.
The day we buy our first candy bar with out birthday money we got from grandma, we became a tax payer. It's more than just the 10, 20, or 30% tax bracket we belong to, it's all the taxes the government thinks it's forcing corporations and small businesses to pay as well.
Imbedded taxes keep poor people poor too you know.
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jjdjjd
November 21, 2009 1:28 PM in reply to ShawninMo
on that i agree with you. everything is taxed. as a former small business owner i can assure you my business paid taxes, if my taxes went up i passed that on to my customers by raising prices.if i didn't i would have to close up shop and lay=off all my employees. what would you have me do? are you against profits? where do you work?
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ShawninMo
November 21, 2009 1:41 PM in reply to jjdjjd
That was for bluestate and his comment about people taking more from the system than they pay into it. We are the sole revenue source for the government and we start from the day we spend our first penny.
Profits are good. That's how companies expand to create more jobs and raise the wages of their current workers, but it's also how corporations pay CEOs ten fold what they're worth.
You can't punish a corporation by taxing them. You only punish the consumer.
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Hidden Oak
November 21, 2009 11:11 AM
Conservative Hip Hop artist = oxymoron, like Jumbo Shrimp. Hey, there's your new name!
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jjdjjd
November 21, 2009 11:43 AM in reply to Hidden Oak
boy if things don't fit into your little box the name calling starts. what about me? some things i'm conservative on, other things i'm liberal. sometimes i vote republican, most times democrats get my vote. i really don't fit into your box. i voted for obama, but he better start leading, because i voted for him to get us out of this mess, not to blame bush for it. if he does, great, i vote for him again, if he doesn't i vote against him. you see like most americans, i'm the 'swing voter' an independent. neither liberals or conservatives can vote in anyone by themselves, they need the independents help. where does that fit into your little box? i have been called many names, by both conservatives and liberals, in todays world if i don;t agree 100% of the time with you liberals i get lambasted. its no longer enough that agree 80% of the time. make fun of us all you want, if you do, you will see the republicans back in power. the pendulum swings back and forth.
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commie atheist
November 21, 2009 12:52 PM in reply to jjdjjd
Let me guess - you used to consider yourself a Democrat, but thanks to 9/11, you're outraged by Chappaquiddick (h/t to Michael Berube).
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DM2000
November 21, 2009 12:01 PM
The gov't is giving him something. They are giving him a guaranteed disability program. As a member of the tea party group he is basically protesting against his own benefits. Being on disability and protesting gov't spending is like going into your boss' office and demanding he cut your salary.
The problem I have with all the tea party small gov't folks is that they always blame the poor, minorities and immigrants for Americas problems.
Why not focus your ire on the large multinational corps. that are outsourcing jobs, lobbying congress to water down regulation and shift the tax burden from the rich to the poor and middle class?
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jjdjjd
November 21, 2009 1:32 PM in reply to DM2000
no commie, i consider myself independent. as for chappaquiddick, that was in '69, 40 years ago. if it was you that did it, you would have been in jail.
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jjdjjd
November 21, 2009 2:06 PM in reply to DM2000
the government gives nothing without taking it 1st. the corporations are leaving america because they are overtaxed. this has been happening for 50 years. both parties are responsible. if you buy a chevy its probably made in canada or mexico, if you buy a honda its probably made in america. you can tell by the VIN number, if it starts with a 1, its made in america, 2 for canada, 3 for mexico, b for germany, j for japan. dont blame the corporations, they in it for the money, blame the politicians, they the ones who killed the goose that was laying the gold eggs. jeez, are all democrats against profits today? where you work? if ur company don't make a profit you out of work. you want to nationalize everything? go ahead, they be less jobs for everyone then. i tell you whats unfair, a poor person has to pay the same sales tax as the rich, in my state its 7 % , why not make the rich pay more or give the poor a card that they are tax exempt? the oil companies make about .08 cents a gallon, the government, between local, state, and federal male .30 cents [depends on the state], so who really make the most on a gallon of gasoline? the oil company gunna always make their money, if not they go out of business. you want a good example of socialism, move to california, but hurry, it may cease to exist soon. they are already paying people with IOU's, you can't stop the corporation's from making money, but you can stop the government from overtaxing. just cut the fraud, waste and corruption. i live in jersey, there is so much corruption this very blue state just voted in a republican governor [not that it will help]. maybe he will steal less. 104 politicians from both parties, [but mostly dems] were put in jail recently in my state for taking bribes. yes the poor get screwed all the time, but we gotta find honest men to lead us, not the crooks that are in now. 3 out of the last mayor's of newark went to jail, one still in jail. the current mayor is new, so give him time. no one should wonder why that city is so bad, the leaders are corrupt. but the people their kept re-electing sharpe james[currently in jail]4 time, ken gibson before him for 12 years, hugh addonizzio 8 years, all indicted for corruption. 40 years that is, but hey, they kept voting for the same guy. in the meantime the gangs control the city, half the population left, its a mini-detroit. if we don't start being honest about what is really the problem soon it will be like detroit everywhere.
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frankenheimer
November 21, 2009 2:36 PM
Sounds like being a conservative rapper is a lucrative niche. I mean anyone gets publicity? Anyone?
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Tosh
June 6, 2010 11:15 PM
"I'm waiting for our messiah," Cal said."
And yet conservatives say liberals think of Obama as the messiah.
Also, just because your wife and children are black doesn't mean you're not racist.
I have a friend who is married to a Filipino woman and he is one racist dude.
m65 kamagra
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