Kanye West Rips Bush during Telethon

Near the end of NBC's Telethon, Kanye West, appearing with comedian Mike Myers, apparently went 'off script' and launched into some harsh criticism of W , the relief efforts, and the way black survivors have been portrayed.

and,

The speech was broadcast live on the east coast, but was censored on the west.

been there done that

He only said what peaple are thinking.

censored! what country is this? he said nothing wrong!

analog_robot was telling me about this last night. it's about time somebody had the sac to point out these views to a mainstream national audience, even if it makes mike meyers visibly uncomfortable on stage. unfortunately he got shut down faster than pat robertson.

any video?

go to the other thread

So what?

It seems like this is happening more and more. No matter how hard the administration and the major networks are trying to keep a lid on people's view of the government they can't keep it from boiling over.

Was this really the time and place to spew this though?

So let me get this straight, race baiting is ok when it's a rich black guy doing it as opposed to a rich white guy? Gotcha. What possible good does this arrogant grandstanding do (besides selling Kanye's new album)? This is not a time to divide the country and reopen old wounds. This is a time to rebuild and heal. This is so much bigger than race it's not even funny. If you feel the need to pick a side and be antagonistic (as juvinile as that act would be right now), then why divide it along race lines? The people hit hardest were the poor. Yes a majority of the impoverished in the Deep South are black, but that does not make this a racial issue. The color of the victims' skin is inconsequential. What matters is that these people never had a chance. They didn't have the means or ability to leave their homes, or else they would've. They didn't have homes in areas farther from the levees and they didn't have cars, and they didn't have homes built strong enough to stand up against a hurricaine because they were POOR! Nevermind the fact that this country was already opperating in a deficit and a majority of our National Guardsmen and Women are overseas dying in Iraq. Trying to turn this into a racial issue is disgusting, and a slap in the face of every non-black victim of this catastrophy.
I never liked Kanye West before and I fucking hate him now.

[Edited on Sep 03, 2005 by Akira]

I think so. It's directly related to the telethon for help, gives it more publicity and directs more attention on the president to cover his ass and help these people.

Also, if he said this on CNN people wouldn't be talking about it nearly as much today.

It's not Black and White.. It's Rich and Poor...

WORD!

I like Mike Meyer's reaction...they say to me, "Is this guy even aware the telepromted exists?"

seriously, if you are going to criticize someone, make sure you are just slightly more articulate than the one you plan on criticizing.

Kanye West is mcuh more atriculate then Bush, not sure where that came from though.

Either way K West is a douche, a very talented douche. This si the only time I've agreed witrh him beyond his music.

BUSH HATES POOR PEOPLE... The gap between rich and poor expands every minute.

always gotta make it racial, huh?

Bush doesn't care about people that don't vote or raise funds for him.

But you'd have to say though that there's a much higher percentage of black people who are poor than white people.

But people with birthmarks on their left buttcheeks have never been segregated from uh, birthmarkless people though.

Video?

http://media.putfile.com/Kanye79

I'd be willing to bet that if Condoleezza ran for president against any white Democrat nominee the majority of black people would vote against her.

depends on the part of the country. Down in the Deep South I'd say there is a higher percentage of poor blacks than poor whites, but it's probably not as large a gap as you think.

It's like four in morning and I'm drowsing. The following may or may not make sense.

I'm happy that Kayne spoke his mind during the telecast, but I this has nothing to do with race. It's about a group of people dying while FEMA cuts communications and turn away supply trucks. It's about a president that sent all the National Guardsmen to Iraq, leaving the ones that were left behind overwhelmed with work. A president that also used the Iraq War to pissed away all the federal funding that was supposed to be used for disaster relief. This is about million things. Race ain't one of them.

Sitting here bitching whether or not Kayne should or should not have said what he said won't solve anything. Kayne had an opportunity to voice his opinion. Can we fucking blame him? Everybody in here would have done the same thing. Let's take the advice of Howard Beale from "Network": we gotta get MAD We gotta get up and voiced our opinions. Write to the White House(even though Bush ain't there half the time. Probably at his crib in Texas). Start a fucking protest. Donate to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army or other charities. Do something! Don't worry about Kayne West. He's rich and famous so he gonna be all right. Worry about the masses down South. Please!!!

OK, I'm done rambling.

[Edited on Sep 06, 2005 by D_Nut]