Classical Values :: An unhelpful mouthful (but at least there's money behind the mouth)

An unhelpful mouthful (but at least there's money behind the mouth)

A performer named Kanye West made some statements at a live NBC fundraiser yesterday which have pissed a lot of people off:

West: I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food."

That's a good point, which I tried to address in this blog the other day.

I don't think it's helpful to attribute factual on-site reporting to racism, though. If CNN and Fox go in there with cameras and shoot footage of mostly black looters in a mostly-black city, to call it a deliberate "portrayal" strikes me as at least as unfair as the related approach of reporting unconfirmed incidents of cannibalism, then blaming that on racism. (The latter link comes from RedState.org, although I think the reference to "four whole days without Twinkies or collard greens or whatever" is also unhelpful at a time like this.)

West continues:

And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch.

From what I can see, he's wrong about race as the reason for the delay. The primary reason for the delay in sending in the National Guard was that Governor Blanco had not requested them.

As a matter of fact, there are constitutional considerations. Something New Orleans Mayor Nagin seemed to acknowledge (albeit with contempt) during his recent interview with station WWL:

WWL: Well, you and I must be in the minority. Because apparently there's a section of our citizenry out there that thinks because of a law that says the federal government can't come in unless requested by the proper people, that everything that's going on to this point has been done as good as it can possibly be.

NAGIN: Really?

WWL: I know you don't feel that way.

NAGIN: Well, did the tsunami victims request? Did it go through a formal process to request?

You know, did the Iraqi people request that we go in there? Did they ask us to go in there? What is more important?

And I'll tell you, man, I'm probably going get in a whole bunch of trouble. I'm probably going to get in so much trouble it ain't even funny. You probably won't even want to deal with me after this interview is over.

(More discussion of the details here by General Blum.)

Sigh.

Anyway, back to Kanye West's fundraiser remarks:

I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there.

I'm assuming he meant shopping in the sense of shopping for the correct charity. Contributing the largest possible sum he can is admirable -- and as I said yesterday, it does give him a certain moral standing to complain. It doesn't give him the right to be right, though, and I'm not sure I understand the logic of "my people." If the people in New Orleans are "his" people, then who would that make "mine"? Is there a proprietary interest in people by virtue of their skin that supersedes nationality? Are these people Americans or are they not? And if they are Americans, why don't I have just as much right to call them "my people" as Kanye West?

So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible.

Sorry, but I'm unable to make literal sense out of that statement, although I think he's complaining that the country has been "set up" to help poor and black people as slowly as possible. If he means that white people would have been helped sooner under the same circumstances, what is his evidence of that? I'm not sure about the racial breakdowns of neighboring Alabama and Mississippi, but apparently the governors in those states requested more Guardsmen before Lousiania Governor Blanco did. I know that all three governors are white, but is West suggesting Governor Blanco is more racist than the other two? On what basis?

I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can.

Well, that's a nice concession. But is it intended literally, or as sarcasm? I cannot be sure, as I didn't see the show and I am forced to work from a written transcript. (Another limitation of blogging, I guess.)

We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!

That's quite a mouthful. Yes, there are people who could help who are in Iraq. But there are also people who could help who are not in Iraq. The latter outnumber the former by a fairly large ratio. If we look at the military figures alone, there are presently 138,000 troops in Iraq, out of a total of 1.4 million active duty personnel. Ten percent are in Iraq. But the complaint about the fact that they now have "permission to go down and shoot 'us'" strikes me as inconsistent with the complaint that they could help, but they're in Iraq.

Statements like Kanye West's make me wonder again whether or not part of the delay might have been caused by fear of authorizing the pulling of triggers.

Gee. I wonder if the critics of what's going on want to have it both ways.

UPDATE: Donald Sensing compares Mayor Nagin to Kate Hale, and links to a common sense observation from Reason's Glenn Garvin:

American presidents, with good reason, do not treat local jurisdictions like conquered territories, subject to military occupation at the whim of the White House.

(Via Glenn Reynolds.)

Hmmm.....

Does that mean Bush blew his moment of opportunity to really commit fascism?

MORE: According to Mr. Snitch, the video seems to be disappearing.

But the West video is nothing compared to the performance of Steve Gilliard (a humorless sort who tried to get Glenn Reynolds fired over a T-shirt):

Well, motherfuckers, and that means you, fat ass Goldberg and your master, Rich Lowry, PNAC Bitch Beinart, the racist wannabe white Malkin and the little fucktards at LGF, Bareback Andy and "Diversity" Instacracker, all you backstabbing, fag hating uncle tom ministers, you can see Dear Leader in action. America's largest port is gone, maybe forever, gas is $5+ a gallon and FEMA is coming. Whores come faster with old men than FEMA is getting to NOLA.

He's just getting warmed up, there.

Say 9/11 changed everything now, motherfuckers. Ooops, 9/11, 9/11. 9/11. Doesn't work anymore? Gee, maybe the sea of alligator MRE's once known as the citizens of New Orleans has something to do with that. Now you can shut the fuck up about 9/11. Bush just proved what would happen with another 9/11. Dead Americans as far as the nose can smell.

Drunken Chris Hitchens muttered some nonsense about blacks having it so good here. The poor man needs to stay in his bottle or go to Betty Ford before someone beats his treasonous ass stupid. Islamofascism means what, now motherfucker? Shove Islamofascism up your well travelled ass. The most dangerous thing to average Americans is not some mullah in Iraq, not even Osama Bin Laden, but George Bush. If he doesn't get you killed in Iraq, he'll fuck up saving your city so it turns into Escape from New Orleans. Armed junkies roaming the streets, looking for a fix, robbing and looting like Serb paramilitaries and about as sober.

I support free speech and I understand the need to vent, but I don't see how incivility like that is going to help anyone. (The comments aren't much better.)

Did I just say "incivility"?

I shouldn't use such strong language.

Comments

Yet, sadly, when the time comes for sober analysis, much of the MSM will probably give Nagin a pass, since he "must have been having a bad day." Whether Blanco gets the same seems a bit less likely, and here the blogosphere might actually have some impact on how her role is portrayed, though as Democrats, some of the left (in and out of the MSM) would likely prefer to give her a pass, too.

Aristomedes · September 3, 2005 05:19 PM

I don't give ---- what your skin color is, if you're "liberating" a TV from a stor or drugs from a hospital, you should be shot down. If you're shooting down rescue helicopters, you defenitely should be shot dead, or worse. Yes, I know I sound like Arnold Harris of Mt. Horeb, WI. I admire him and agree with him. He is a powerful man. Tough crimes committed during tough times call for tough harshness in return. Under the laws of Hammurabi, anybody caught looting during a fire was thrown into that fire.

As for those stealing food or water, OK, but I agree with Don Watkins that, morally if not legally, they should be expected to pay the owners back after the emergency is over. That appliees to the other favorite moral dilemma the altruists like to throw at us, i.e., what if your spouse is dying of some disease, there's only one drug that can cure it, and the pharmacist wont sell it to you except for a price you don't have the money for. Should you break in and steal the drug or not? Obviously, your selfish duty is above all to save your own spouse, so I would say you should steal the drug, but you must also resolve to pay back the money as soon as you are able, perhaps on an installment plan.

Steven Malcolm Anderson the Lesbian-worshipping man's-man-admiring myth-based egoist · September 3, 2005 05:42 PM

"Bareback" Andrew Sullivan? It sounds like Gilliard is making fun of Sullivan's HIV. Now that's class.

But back on topic: I wonder what Bush will do when the next hurricane is heading toward the coast. Will he pre-emptively send in federal troops? Will FEMA be on site in a massive show of force? Will Kayne West have access to a microphone?

John · September 4, 2005 08:13 AM