Monday, 14 September 2009

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  A Week of Outbursts: A Tactless New Tradition

  Over the past few years several annual traditions have developed in the realm of popular music.  For example, The Killers have made it a tradition to put out at least one uninspired Christmas single every year since 2005.  Rapper Ludacris has re-christened Labor Day as “Luda Day” in Atlanta, a day in which he gives away tricked out cars to impoverished families who really just need food and shelter.  And, not to be outdone, Kanye West has made it an annual tradition to go on a verbal tirade during the most inappropriate moments. 

  During the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West hijacked country music singer Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for winning Best Female Video.  He grabbed the microphone from her hands and expressed his opinion that R&B singer Beyonce should have won the award for her video for Single Ladies.  The crowd subsequently booed Kanye West off the stage.

  We’ve come to expect this type of maniacal behavior from Kanye West, who has habitually disagreed at awards shows and other public events about things that no one else cares about.  I don’t know if lack of tact is simply one of his wacky personality quirks or if it’s an example that people are just becoming rude, because in a similar outburst earlier this week, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) interrupted President Barack Obama’s address to Congress by calling him a liar. 

  While Rep. Wilson later apologized for what he did (as did West), it’s still not clear to me what he hoped to accomplish.  We all have a right to disagree with someone else’s political views, but there’s always a time and a place for debate.  As a congressman, Rep. Wilson should know that the time to debate is when Congress is in session, not during a formal presidential address.  Furthermore, as a representative, Mr. Wilson could always exercise the right which was given to him by his constituents and not vote for the proposed health care reform act.  It seems as if Rep. Wilson’s goal was not simply to disagree with President Obama, but to publicly disrespect him.

  It seems as if this is a tactic that Obama critics are employing more and more.  Two weeks ago Obama was scrutinized for planning to speak to America’s schoolchildren.  Critics feared that Obama would push his politics onto the naïve minds of America’s youth without allowing the “opposition” a chance to “respond”.  It turned out that Obama’s message to kids was not political at all; he simply encouraged them to work hard, stay in school, and stay away from Facebook.  One of the biggest anti-Obama campaigns has been the one headed by WorldNetDaily, a news website that demands for Obama to release a copy of his birth certificate.  These people are convinced that Barack Hussein Obama (they like to stress his middle name) was not born in the United States and, thus, has no right to be President.  And recently, Obama opponents marched on Washington to protest the health care reform bill.  While reading about this I saw a picture of a protester with a sign that read, “Jesus is the Messiah, not Obama.”  I have no idea what that sign had to do with anything.

  Now, I’ll concede that Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, probably endured more negative criticism than any president in history.  He’s been called a war criminal, a crook, and an overall dumbass.  He was hated worldwide and he was constantly heckled by calls for impeachment.  But the difference between Bush and Obama is that Bush was criticized for his politics while Obama is scrutinized for simply being the President.  The biggest gripe that Bush opponents had was that he was a liar (regarding Iraq having weapons of mass destruction).  Rep. Wilson called Obama a liar for something he hasn’t even done yet.  The way that some Obama opponents have behaved goes farther than a simple disagreement of politics.  With their lack of tact, disrespect, and overall paranoia, it seems as if they’re on disturbing crusade to not only voice disagreement, but to delegitimize his Presidency.

  I don’t know why it’s like this, but would Obama would be under this much scrutiny if he was fully white?

  A Republican publicly disrespecting the black President of the United States isn’t newsworthy anymore, and neither is Kanye West acting like a lunatic at awards shows.  But if Kanye West complained about Beyonce not winning an award during Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress, THAT would have been newsworthy.

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