Tammy Bruce and "Barkie"

I like to yell at the radio. One way to guarantee this is to listen to right-wing talk radio. I was listening to Tammy Bruce on the way home today and I kept hearing her refer to President-Elect Barack Obama as "Barkie." I've done some searching on Bruce's site and find at least two references to "Barky" and "Barkie." I understand this can be said to be short for Barack, but... Is it just me or are others bothered by this? Does this sound awfully close to "darkie?" Is this an example of conscious or unconscious deniable racism? Am I reading too much into this?

It is especially helpful to think of this in the context of other examples from talk radio. Over the summer and through the fall, Rush Limbaugh refered to Obama as a "man-child." He didn't refer to him as "boy," but what is a "man-child?" Listen to some of this on Joe Lyles' podcast.

I'll post some more on the Limbaugh example a little later. Stay tuned.