This strange interaction doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Kanye is obviously a very troubled man with a lot of problems. It just makes my blood curdle thinking that this is what the US government has come to now... it's a clown inviting "superman" to have an expletive-rich rant.
Kanye's comments about how he "loves Hillary" but she doesn't relate to him because she's not a man "tossing a football around" with a son is just sexist. There's nothing else to it. He doesn't support her because she's a woman and couldn't possibly "excite" him enough. This is what America has come to. Hope you're happy, Trump supporters and non-voters.
4
Correction Charles, Kanye allowed himself to be used for a few 'spectacular' moments with the man who would be president.
Kanye to me is the black version of Donald Trump, always vying for attention; even bad attention will do.
1
Black Americans have been callously used, abused, kept poor, and kept angry for half a century of democratic party control ... or should I say: a big con.
Kanye (who is a stable genius) sees through all that.
And leftists and liberals are terrified.
It's that simple.
Trump is for all Americans. Especially the average Joe. That means he's 110% for average Joe Black Americans too. It's an integral part of making America Great Again.
5
At some point, urban minorities will get tired of living on the poorest areas of our segragated cities with bad schools, bad roads, bad cops, bad rentals, etc.
I'm not saying that all the Democratic mayors and politicians are racists or bad people, but they've done a very effective job of keeping their cities segregated for many years.
Making sure the that White, and rich neighborhood schools are far superior to those in minority areas was brilliant political strategy.
Zoning, rent control and lots of restrictions keeps things and people locked in too.
I admire the blatant trickery! And they still vote for you. You are very sly. Give the rich, middle class, and white people what they want, security, high real estate values, low taxes.
The minorities vote for you anyway!
But, someday, the minorities will tire of your hypocrisy, your promises. Tired of being marginalised.
A populist, not Trump, will take them from you. You have failed them and should be ashamed.
6
it must be quite the burden to be the center of attention every single day. Or it just shows how enough will never be enough for the monsters we humans have made.
2
Among the many sad takeaways from this spectacle is that Kanye succeeded where few have; he made Trump seem almost well-reasoned and thoughtful.
3
The premise of this column feels patronizing and oddly racist. Why assume that Kanye West -- a wealthy powerful force in the entertainment industry -- was being exploited by the powerful white guy in the room? Kanye is just as likely to be exploiting the moment for his own attention-seeking purposes. There is no doubt the Trump was being disingenuous about his concern for criminal justice reform; he just wanted to be photographed with an African American (has anyone forgotten that rally where he pointed to a man in the audience and said, " look at my African American over there.") But it doesn't hurt Kanye to have an open invitation to the White House.
6
Who's using whom?
5
Mr. Blow, usually I'm right there with you. I admire your work and have been inspired by you many times. But this time, I'm sorry to say, you've got it wrong.
Kanye West, like Bill Cosby, may have mental problems, but he's also a uniquely talented grown-up and a free agent. Letting him off the hook by characterizing him as a victim of a bigger lunatic than he is doesn't cut it.
It's awful and cringeworthy when African-American superstars behave badly. We want our icons to be good role models. But sometimes they're not. Sometimes they're cheesy, sleazy, self-aggrandizing creeps who may even break the law and do heinous things. We have to hold them to a high standard and they have to take responsibility for their actions.
Of course, Trump is using Kanye, but it's quid pro quo. The truth is painful, but it is what it is. Kanye is no victim.
2
I have achieved consciousness! I totally get Trump.
He's an alien. A Ferengi, right out of the fictional Star Trek: Next Generation, but he's a real live orange-hued ET!
As a clan, "The Trumpgi are greedy, avaricious, ruthless, cowardly and completely unscrupulous. For centuries the famous Trumpgi Rules of Acquisition have been the guiding principles of the galaxy's most successful entrepreneurs. These 285 Rules of Acquisition range from,
#1 "Once you have their money, never give it back."
to
#21 "Never place friendship before profit."
These rules and hundreds more have taken many successful Trumpgis to new frontiers of profit."
Now, we know.
He's clearly illegitimate as president. Who knows what planet birthed Donald J. Trumpgi.
Boy, talk about an illegal alien!
5
Very, very wise of Mr Blow not to say anything critical about Jim Brown who was also happy to be in the room with President Trump on behalf of Amer-I-Can. Best to focus on Kanye.
1
Fox News Website: EntertainmentPublished February 21, 2012Last Update November 20, 2014
"Kanye West's charity spends more than $500G annually, donates $0, report says"
Also uses the N word, calls women Ho's, all the rest in his music. But suddenly Fox and the rest of the right love him. Never mind their rants when Obama invited other entertainers (rappers & such) to the White House. See also: Chicago Tribune, Rex Huppke, October 12, 2018. But hey, Kanye and Trump seem to have the same charitable philosophy.
4
I don't share your opinion. It is two insane narcissists using each other.
5
I think you are wrong to give Kanye a pass in suggesting he was just being used by Trump for good PR. Actually in some ways I think it was the reverse or that both were using one another. Kanye has a record of behaving in ways at various events that causes controversy and promotes his image as a radical player on the big stage. The most obvious was his televised unfair mistreatment of Taylor Swift at the MTV awards. This got him national exposure and advanced his street creds as a no holds barred rapper. Of course we all should also remember he's part of the Kardashian family who have made their TV empire on a reality show filled with outrageous behavior of the various family members. This latest episode with his well publicized speech supporting Trump at SNL and then the White House Trump MAGA hat visit follows this same formula. He got in the national news and created a sensation really about nothing other than his support for Trump.
3
The best (or worst) part was when Kanye pulled up a picture of an “iPlane” that apparently should replace AF1.
Mr West said the best thing for Black depressed areas would be better economic opportunity not welfare checks or similar programs. He asked for economic incentives that would even out the difference between Asian factories to our factories. Why can't Atlanta GA or Chicago make Adidas/Nike stuff? because of cheaper labor costs and if that could be fixed that would help the poor areas not welfare checks. I think that's what Mr West said.
3
The man who ran an ad-- calling for the execution of black teenagers who were later proven innocent--is now champion for prison reform and justice for minorities? A con man working his game to perfection!
9
Kanye West is a multimillionaire. If he is being used it is with his willing participation. Fact is Kanye's politics are horrendous and counterproductive and he has to own that.
1
Trump: How can I use this attention-seeking, mentally ill person?
Kanye: How can I use this attention-seeking, mentally ill person?
Now that’s what I call a meeting of the minds.
11
The situation is doubly sad. You have two seriously mentally ill individuals--each with their own followings--that, in itself, an indication of a degree of arrested development amongst a large number of their followers and supporters--using each other to reinforce their own narcissitic needs for attention and adulation. What we have here is a failure to medicate in both of these individuals and an absence in the social/celebrity universe of what it means to be a fully functioning normal human being.
7
Don't blame Trump. Kayne has made his own bed.
1
Is this the same Kanye West who said he would run for president in 2020? I guess that means he has to primary his buddy Donald Trump.
2
Earlier in this century, Jon bon Jovi, of all people, told Larry King thatr he didn't want a president with whom he could drink a beer...he wanted a president who was the smartest person in the room, that he (JbJ) could sit at the feet of and just listen.
He then went on to say that he really wanted a president who had better things to do with his time than have a beer with him.
Maybe instead of focusing on Kanye West and any of a number of this attributes, we should start thinking about the very little time this president seems to devote to the serious matter of governing.
11
Stop and frisk helped the woman and children who lived in the neighborhoods where it was employed. Desmond Tutu's belief that things eventually will get better caught my attention recently instead of always pessimism and dragging each other down. Maybe that is what inspired Kanye West. He is certainly a talent.
3
I typically agree with 99.99% of what Charles Blow writes- but this one; no.
Anyone- and- I mean- anyone with a functioning brain knows Donald Trump does not care one wit about any of the issues he purportedly invited Kanye and Jim Brown (why him?) to discuss.
It would not have mattered who Trump invited, the discussion would have been vacuous at best; all focused on Donald Trump.
Now Kanye:
Millions of us globally deal with our own Kanye West; a bi-polar individual who revels in the highs & lows of the illness because they refuse to take medication to moderate. Anyone with a "Kanye" knows the almost lunatic atmosphere in which we live trying to deal with them;
Kanye willingly allowed himself to be the fool for Donald Trump- and he played the part to perfection. That Trump will use this meeting for his own good- is merely a by-product of the absurdity of the meeting.
4
West and Trump have a lot in common. They are both narcissists, both surrounded by sycophants, both live in alternate universes where their every assertion magically becomes a fact, and both say they have more money than they actually do.
Less than a decade ago, Kanye was hundreds of millions of dollars in debt from his fashion venture. Today, he's almost a billionaire? Recently, he said “I am currently the single highest paid person in footwear. That means I make more money on shoes than Michael Jordan.” People who follow the business say there's no way that's true. His performance in the Oval Office makes me wonder what he gets out of his Trump love financially. He's not there for altruistic reasons - it's transactional.
6
You must be joking. Are you saying someone as successful and smart and self-aware as Kanye West is not responsible for his own actions and words? I mean, puh-leeze.
3
@free range: And bi-polar. You have no idea what it is like to be bi-polar, or to deal with someone who is bi-polar. Like a train that is flying off the tracks and into your face! While bi-polar people can certainly take advantage of others (that is part of the illness), because they are so delusional, narcissistic, grandiose, dishonest, and psychologically fragile, (yet they overwhelm you) they too can be taken advantage of...especially by someone who tells them how great and wonderful they are. How brilliant. How talented. I have long suspected that trump may also be bi-polar, but the disease is SO clear in kanye west. trump is clearly a malignant narcissist and a pathological liar. What other disorders may crossover with his narcissism and pathological lying, bi-polar may not be one of them. Although from trump's behavior and language, sociopathy and psychopathy come to mind.
1
@Elin Minkoff I hear you. However, I've known bipolar people and they have trouble functioning in a way that's true of Kanye only intermittently. Besides, what does it take to see clearly the evil person that Trump is? Look at all of his policies, all across the board. Kanye must be aware of that. And if that's true, since bipolar or not he's functioning in society, his actions are accountable.
Looks like Kanye wanted to get used. Looks like he intended to upend BLM. Did he?
2
Sorry, Mr. Blow, but Kanye West is no victim. It's two powerful men leveraging one another.
A great example of racial equality, if you ask me.
5
If Kanye's wife cares about him at all, she will have him involuntarily committed for a few days to evaluate him and get him on appropriate meds and a therapy schedule. What he did in the Oval Office was self-harm.
5
Say what you want, at least president Trump and Kanye West do care. What is obvious, is the lack of black leadership and accountability to the urban black population. Horrible schools, run by politically controlled teacher unions and school administrations doom almost all students to poor education and a future that leads to crime. Why doesn't Mr Blow use his abilities and power of his words to write to help make positive changes instead of denigrating those that do. That a true challenge, Lets see if Mr Blow is willing to respond to, If not he should go away and make way for those who will
@Gary: Trump only cares about himself and Kanye needs psychotherapy.
1
@Anna: They both need psychotherapy, but the kind of malignant personality disorders trump has are probably untreatable. Kanye's may be as well. But Kanye does need medication for his bi-polar disorder.
Trump is like winless Nebraska about which ESPN said today, "Every week is a new rock bottom." The Kanye West debacle was a new off-the-charts low. West is so not well. And Trump is so obviously the worst thing that has happened to black Americans since the KKK. This was the nth White House Trump Republican one-hundred-year hurricane of the psyche that we have suffered through during the past 2 years. The Chinese hoax marches on.
5
Please!
Who used whom?!
2
That Kanye West would provide the willfully ignorant bigot occupying the presidency with cover for his white nationalist beliefs (neo-Nazis and Klansmen are "very fine people"), just to selfishly attract even more attention to himself, only proves one thing: Kanye West doesn't care about Black people.
6
Kanye West. What's up with him? Something's definitely wrong. Which fits. Obviously, Trump has done nothing but harm to most Americans including black Americans. West's support for Mr. Trump has no basis in reality.
West's "Trump is superman" comment was bizarre and noteworthy. Please recall that the white nationalist immoral opportunist evangelicals said something similar to Trump the other day in his office when they prayed for god to give him "supernatural wisdom."
The Republicans thought that Trump with all of his pathologies would simply be their useful idiot, i.e., useful signer of wildly unpopular Republican legislation. Didn't quite work out that way. He did of course sign the cruel legislation. He doesn't care. But now the Republicans look like a Mussolini-lite party which has its eyes on the Nazi big leagues.
Trump believes West will be his useful idiot. But West is simply not well.
4
You left out one thing ... Kayne is an idiot. That Trump is one too is no excuse.
2
That is a very interesting perspective. Two people used each other. But one was castigated --Kanye-- and one reveled in the success of the interaction -- Trump. The amount of ink spilled on Kanye's demonstration way outweighs the amount of ink spilled on the Trump spectacle.
4
Shooting the messenger because the messenger whose mouth was tired and was not able to deliver the message eloquently should not muddle the message.
The objective was to bring more attention to the issues impacting black communities, like poverty, the underfunding of schools and the lack of economic investment in rough neighborhoods like Chicago. President Obama could have used his position to bring more attention to the issues , he did not. At least West tried.
1
Oh Please! Kanye is a performer. After last week, I don't understand why people buy his products. That was the first and last show I see Kanye perform. My husband (psychiatrist) mentioned he exhibited typical symptoms of schizophrenia.
10
Kanye West credited Trump for advising him to sign a promotional contract with Adidas, which he claimed would make him a billionaire.
Adidas, which also own Reebok, is the second largest footwear company in the world. It's a German company, which makes most of its shoes in China (pretty much all sneaker makers do).
Nike, an American company, is the largest sneaker company in the world. But apparently its embrace of Colin Kaepernick has soured Trump on Nike.
Not than anyone expects consistency from Trump who ad hocs his way through everything looking for the brightest spotlight, but boosting a German brand might make Kanye great again but it sure doesn't help American companies.
Trump apparently doesn't mean Buy American. He means Bye American.
10
Kanye doesn't have to worry about the IRS while DJT is in office. Small price to pay for being used.
3
I see a lot of comments saying that Kanye knew what he was doing and wasn't being exploited; that may be true on some level. On another level, I diagnosed Kanye with bipolar disorder a long time ago. I like that Charles Blow refers to Kanye as "troubled," because he is. I wish Kanye health. As for Trump, there is very little hope for curing narcissistic personality disorder.
14
Rarely do you see Trump listen, unless it's about him. Although Kanye was praising him, I noticed Trump appeared to be seriously engaged in what Kanye was saying as if it was coming from the the mouth of a scholar or person of great wisdom. since he invited the Press to film this segment of the Trump show, it was obvious that he wanted the world to know that he found a true source of wisdom that has made him think, or that the American public, particularly the black population, should see that he is serious about listening to one of their important representatives. After all, he needs the black vote. However, this being a segment of the Trump show, it was that, a show where no one but the ill informed would see anything more than humour coming from a homourless President as he used Kanye to their mutual advantage.
3
@DSS: I don't think that trump was seriously engaged in what Kanye was saying! I think that trump was PRETENDING to be seriously engaged in what Kanye was saying. I think that trump was at a loss for how he was going to respond to Kanye's rant. I think trump was thinking: "I better just put on my serious face, and nod my head." Kanye MAY be able to be helped by both medication and therapy, (bi-polar people HATE their meds--the meds keep them on an even keel, therefore cutting off their "highs.") but if some of his problem is due to malignant personality disorders, neither medication not therapy will help. trump has malignant personality disorders (character disorders--BAD character); no amount of medication or therapy can help banish or ameliorate those kinds of disorders. kanye may also suffer from those, but he is clearly bi-polar. A woman, in an above post, said her husband is a psychiatrist, and he saw Kanye's behavior as schizophrenic!
1
This is incredibly insulting and demeaning to Kanye. You should issue a public apology.
3
@Phil
Kanye is incredibly insulting and demeaning to himself.
3
@Phil: Kanye is a public figure and he put himself in a position of ridicule. trump does the same. When you are a public figure, and you do stupid (or corrupt) things, people, like journalists, and others, are going to comment on it. It goes with the territory of being one of the rich and famous-CELEBRITY! So people who cannot stand the heat should get out of the kitchen, so to speak, and not seek attention. There is definitely something to be said for living a quiet, little, private life. That is something trump and Kanye are not interested in. If Charles Blow had said anything that wasn't true, it would be one thing, but his reporting is quite accurate, and besides, this is an opinion article. Many celebrities (and trump considers himself both a celebrity as well as a "president") LOVE all kinds of attention and press, even negative. kanye acts like a lunatic, and, as such, he insults and demeans himself, just as trump does. People who are sick are obligated to get help, and not foist crazy behavior on everyone around them.
"Kanye was just being used." ya think? Even the die hard believers, have been onto this for years. It is the blunt cynicism that they appreciate. Next comes the faux protestations.
3
I agree with Charles Blow that the real clown in the room, as always, was Donald Trump. But that does not excuse Kanye West from wholeheartedly playing into Trump's greedy hands and buying into the patent medicine that Trump peddles.
West's concern over the unjust harsh sentencing of minorities is laudable, his fawning to a master con artist is not. Raucus theatrics designed to glorify autocrats do not help the cause of equal justice for minorities.
5
Please. Kanye is not a victim in any way. These are two of the world's most self-centered, self-serving, self-considered geniuses who make much ado about nothing and do even less.
7
Trump uses anyone and everyone he can. Kanye has mental health issues, which doesnt mean hes disabled or cannot think for himself. Trump has mental health issues; once again not disabled - although one could certainly argue the point. Kanyes willingness to embarrass himself by having a sit down with masta in the big house is just sad
3
@nlitinme: I think that when people have mental issues that they do have a disability of a kind, although many people with certain mental disorders can still be extremely high-functioning, but when the disorder affects your relationships, and causes all kinds of problems in your life...I would consider it, to some extent, to be disabling.
I thought Donald's swept back dyed blonde pompadour was in especially high couture for the meeting. I'm sure that Kim approved. The highlight of an otherwise extremely embarrassing celebrity event. Does he have no shame?
So sad!
3
As Yeezy shared his very limited understanding of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution he showed no understanding of how Trump and his father made their fortune discrimination against African American for housing. Apparently what the world was watching was two men with no understanding of principles but with limited entertainment value attempting to con the public again. I think we are are living through Network but this time it isn't a movie.
1
If it will save money and make people like him, Trump cares about it.
The same as Obama on gay rights, if it polls well, he's for it, if not, it's really just up to the states!
1
Their meeting was about criminal justice reform?
How did I miss that?
2
Why not Kanye's callous use of Trump? Who is playing whom for a fool?
1
I disagree that Kanye is being used. They're both using each other. Kanye loves the spotlight and will do anything to get it.
As I watched the bizarre clip of Jim Brown, Kanye West and Donald Trump chat before heading off to lunch I had just one thought. They deserve each other and now could they all just leave the public stage and write their memoirs.
1
Good idea! Wouldn't it be great if all actors and social media "stars" were silenced. Throw in sports stars too...To rely on them for insight is as foolish as getting news on Facebook.
I like your idea, but we have to let them speak.....We need people to stop listening to them for guidance and stop being influenced by what they say. It's likely created by a publicist anyway.....We need to treat them more like newspapers these days!! lol
One of the biggest evidences of the divide today in our world is your assumption that Trump and many Whites are knowledgeable about the struggles that many Blacks face every day. You expect Trump to know about your lived experience, read explanations of the issues Blacks have to deal with, and take decisive action on those problems. Yet how can he do that if he doesn't know what the problems are?
I don't doubt that you have a vastly different experience in life than me as a White Canadian, and I will never have anything close to a complete understanding of what goes on in your world. But I'd ask that you treat me, Trump, and others the same as I strive to treat you.
I read your column even though I often disagree with you because the only way I can learn if we do agree on something is if I know what that "something" is.
Kanye and Trump sought each other out in a mutually respectful manner to learn about the problems each of them face. Regardless of how it turns out I believe that was a worthwhile endeavour.
Now two people are either closer to the truth or just as far as they were before. And the alternative of no dialogue is guaranteeing we stay just as far apart as we are now.
1
"Trump’s Callous Use of Kanye"
Trump and Kanye West are both a couple of media hogs, eager to use each other for their own ambitions and aggrandizement. I'm sure they both know exactly what's going on.
3
If Kanye isn't responsible for himself, then the blame is on his family for letting him out of the house in this state.
1
@Cherie: When someone is mentally ill, and they are an adult, sometimes you cannot stop them from doing what they are going to do...Sometimes you cannot stop them from leaving the house in "this state." It would be wonderful if we COULD stop all mentally ill people from leaving the house, and not just from acting crazy, and embarrassing themselves...but from taking guns and killing innocent people. That is the problem with mentally ill adults and older teenagers; you cannot always stop them from doing terrible things, much less from leaving the house. They are often irrational.
Face the fact, Kanye wanted to be trump house boy and how he is.
The only thing trump did was let the show go on.
Both are make for each other
An extraordinary exercise in mutual back-patting. Now the question is: Who benefited most, the huckster or the hustler? And which is which?
2
Kanye is Trump's new token black now that Omarosa is an enemy.
1
For months now behind the scenes, in a program that has been totally missed and ignored by the Dems and the media - including the venerable NYT - Team Trump has been quietly increasing their outreach to black and Hispanic voters. Kayne's support will provide a huge help in this program. And calling him crazy or a race traitor just makes the Dems and media look even more desperate than they already are to denigrate any minority members who dare to stray off the liberal plantation.
Even a few points knocked off the normal Dem stranglehold on these minority voters and it's all over for the Dems for years to come. And with an improving economy, record low minority unemployment rates, rising wages and strong border control policies President Trump's rhetorical, "What have you got to lose" pitch gets stronger and stronger.
2
He uses everyone.
3
Kanye seems like a total embarrassment to the human race, as is this opinion piece. The headline sounds as if Kanye is intellectually impaired and a big bad white guy is taking advantage of him.
1
@Mel: Kanye IS impaired. I am not sure about his intellect, but he is psychologically impaired. trump is psychologically, intellectually, and morally impaired.
Kanye was used by Trump. Probably one of the most shameless displays I’ve seen from Trump, and that covers a lot of ground.
I can’t diagnose anyone’s mental fitness. But it certainly looks like Kanye needs help. Dismissing bipolar disorder and attributing his own actions to sleep deprivation is sad. A person can’t correct a problem they can’t admit to having.
When is this gonna end? I suppose a blue wave in November, at least in the House, will help put some checks on this idiot of a president. I fear we are sliding into something very close to fascism. The GOP won’t admit it much less stop it.
Kanye, and all of us who value democracy and decency, need help. All we can do, the only thing we can do, is vote.
4
" a rambling, incoherent, cry-for-help rant from the rapper"?
I listened to the exchange, and far from Kanye being used, he brought up several issues that should be supported by everyone in the black community. I guess it really irks Mr. Blow that Kanye can have Trump's ear while he can't.
1
Mr. Blow grew up in the South. He believes that all White Men are created evil. Too bad, he has learned nothing since.
3
This is the same man who...
bought full page ads in every major NY newspaper demanding the death penalty for five black men even after they had been exonerated for assault and rape in Central Park.
5
Oh please! The Democrats (and more recently the socialists like Bernie) have constantly fawned all over the hip-hop community which is of full of gratuitous violence, misogyny, homophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Asian racism, materialism and open flaunting of contempt for the law. Both Bill Clinton and Obama have openly associated with Louis Farrakhan as have some of the most powerful black Democrats in this country, including those in the race industry which is financed by the Democratic party. Mr. Blow says it's callous because someone whose political ideology isn't in sync with his own is flaunting his association with high profile blacks in order to win over black voters? If Mr Blow has no issue with the Democratic party, supposedly the "non-racist" party coddling Louis Farrakhan and having black anti-Semites like Trayon White and Danny Davis in the fold, then he really has no grounds for this moral indignation. At this point in time Mr. Blow has become a parody of himself, almost a caricature of what is wrong with modern liberalism.
5
@Tara Pines: You make some very valid points, but this article is about a hip hop/rap artist who is seriously mentally ill, and he is both putting himself on display, and trump is using him. He, too, may be using trump. But I think the broader issue at hand here is Kanye's obviously manic mental status.
While I agree wholeheartedly that Trump's only purpose for that meeting was to demonstrate his "love" for the black community and stoke his imaginary statistics for how much he has magically transformed the community's wealth and opportunities in a year despite hundreds of years of government policy that supports just the opposite, I simply cannot feel that Kanye was an innocent "used" party to the deal.
Kanye, much like Trump, has in my opinion enjoyed a wholly undeserved reputation as a "genius". It seems that has become a woefully diluted term in our culture. It seems disingenuous that those who prop him up as a genius are quick to defend him as a pawn. For all his self-aggrandizement about wanting to help Chicago's South Side, he squandered the supreme soapbox on everything but. For lack of better words, he pulled a Trump.
No, I don't think the media has been unfair to Kanye and I do think he was as much a spectacle as the other powerful man in the room with a mental disorder. He has a megaphone, as do his equally famous (and socially irresponsible inlaws), and with that comes a tremendous responsibility. If you defend Kanye, you are defending the very essence that is Trump.
92
Mr. West took the Reality TV tiara right off the golden head. He triumphed over Trump's pull-in, power handshake using the Kanye "Black Love Matters" power hug.
So, I still don't think that it's safe to play with MAGA fire, but Kanye moved-in close and was definitely starving-off the oxygen. Remember this press corps. Whenever the President leaves office, seek Kanye, the man who can close the circus by opening a grander one.
We could have, should have, turned it off. We continue to watch this dangerous clown and his incoherent activities as though we'd just passed a horrible accident on the highway and pulled over to watch all the chaos.
2
@Salye Stein: Yes, even in its horribleness, it is fascinating in that we know that what we are seeing is abnormal, wrong, sick, crazy...but we cannot pull ourselves away. It is because it is so insane, and we are not used to seeing and hearing this level of insanity...of wrongness...or SICK. It is mesmerizing in its foulness.
As he often does, Charles is underlining Donald Trump’s very well known defects. Just one more unsurprising example.
Charles might turn his attention to the failures of the GOP and their very dubious billionaire puppet masters. That is more important at the moment, with an election weeks away!
3
This President has been transactional throughout his entire life, through his business dealings, his political dealings and even in personal life. (his numerous marriages)
A person without empathy will discard the other end of that ''relationship'' the moment they no longer are a benefit to the parasitical host.
The only thing we haven't seen is some other B or C list star that has shown up in black face to sway another voting block.
All of the dog whistle code words remain though ...
2
Mr. Blow, this topic is beneath you. Kanye at the White House should never be the topic of an Opinion editorial and certainly not in the New York Times. The spectacle was exactly that. First of all, Kanye and Trump can relate to each other very well. Second, a hurricane had just gone through a swath of Florida and people are still lying dead - first responders still trying to reach areas from the storm path. Third, a prominent journalist has been killed by a new "ally". Mr. Blow - please, let's focus on the sanity of reality regardless of how harsh it is. The White House Tales are just the makeup of an American soap-opera with no end in sight.
5
Neither Trump nor West care about criminal justice. West already told us how he, like Trump, exploits such high-profile public appearances: "Celebrity...is the highest form of communication-we're like walking networks or TV shows or brands in ourselves." And, "I got the answers. I understand culture." This was a promotional event for Trump and West, nothing else.
Millions of people suffer daily because of Trump, but West is not being callously used or abused by Trump. West is exactly where he wants to be, just like the other narcissists and self-styled victims who choose to be in Trump's orbit. Seeing West as callously used is driven by the same misguided impulse of the Free Melania movement. If there was any doubt as to what Meania was about all along, just listen to her speak about cyber-bullying as Trump is doing it. She actually told us why she'd latched onto this legitimate movement. "I'm the most bullied person in the world," Melania said. Tell that to women who are sexually assaulted and try to speak out. Tell it to Hispanic and Muslim Americans. Tell it to African and Jewish Americans, deluged by death threats and images of lynchings or of concentration camps because they criticized Trump. Nearly 2 years ago Megan Garber of the Atlantic detailed how Melania was not being used. The same applies to Kanye West.
As West has told us:
"Don't even believe anything that I'm saying at all. I could be completely (expletive) with you, and the world, the entire time."
5
I found it disturbing for similar reasons. El Trumpo was definitely exploiting Kanye for his own benefit. That he was not questioned about that on the spot bothers me. It looked to me like Kanye was having a contest with EL Trumpo to see who could spout the most nonsensical BS in long winded unpunctuated rantings and get away with it without being challenged by anyone over it. El Trumpo has been getting away with it for the last 3 years. Before that he probably did the same thing to his small circle of employees and family.
Kanye is not someone without agency. I think he has a mental illness and associated mental processing problems exacerbated or caused by that illness, but it is not disabling. His success in music and having a family is proof of this.
@magicisnotreal: Many mentally ill people are high-functioning and successful. Anyone can have a family, despite being mentally ill. What effect does a serious mental illness have on someone's family? The fallout from mental illness can be horrific, not just on the mentally ill person, but on their family. I think of the kardashian-west little ones: Not only are they living a make-believe life, but what will the effects of their dad's mental illness be upon them? Upon their mother? Healthy the whole thing is not.
Why did my comment that pundits should not use a derogatory term when describing Kanye not get accepted? (I'll omit it here at the risk of my comment not being accepted again.) This sir is callous also. Have a great day (trying to be civil here)
1
Kanye West made a CONSCIOUS choice, Mr. Blow. He and Trump used each other. What do they primarily have in common? Hmm, they have out of control, narcissistic egos with a tragic backdrop of stupidity and arrogance. And, boy, do they love their male privilege.
Race is the minor character in this drama. The main characters are EGO.
7
In this age of the liar in chief, can we stop pretending that Kanye West is an artist, or smart? He and Trump are big dummies. These emperors have no clothes, and somehow they've hoodwinked millions into believing that there's something there there. Empty celebrity culture is a scourge and both men are naked emperors whose coarse and stupid mumblings have hijacked and destroyed any hope of true culture.
3
Yes, Kanye is being used exactly as all the Trump supporters out there are, and just as the Kardashians use their audience, and their sponsors use consumers. Fear and hatred and ignorance is being exploited by the rich. Trump is giving is an ugly view of people who are so utterly transactional in all their dealings that they cannot imagine any other way. After 2 years of this catastrophe, at least 41% still approve. We have nothing to be proud of Americans. 41% of us (at least!) are identifiably bad people. I'm sure there are more who just have too much sense to admit it. I am disgusted by America and ashamed of America. I'll vote, but it is with a heavy heart. I did think we were better than this.
10
@mary bardmess
The reason America's bicameral legislature exists is to give voice to both sides so there can be an exchange of ideas and debate on the issues.
Whether the party out of power agrees or not they [you] still have a forum to argue for change/amend existing laws and help craft new one's.
Those who are in the party in power who refuse to compromise are just as culpable as those in the party out of power who won't budge. As any good mediator will tell the public, if both "sides" walk away feeling slighted it was a success.
2
Dear Mary,
It is highly unlikely that your disapproval of 41% (or more) of America, your disgust, your shame, or your heavy heart can ever be changed. Might one ask the serious question, "why do you stay?"
1
Stop and frisk...."did not work well in New York. In fact, a federal judge found that the way the city used the policy was unconstitutional because of its extreme racial bias".
Total non sequitar. The fact that it was found to be unconstitutional has no bearing on whether or not it was effective. And, the ruling was under appeal until the appeal was canceled by the current mayor. So I would say it's constitutionality is still unsettled.
3
Get real, Mr. West was there for the publicity.
Two fools had their moment.
7
This is the same man who, at a campaign stop in Maine just a few weeks before the 2016 election, praised his vice-presidential nominee, Mike Pence, because he “increased the mandatory minimum sentences for the most serious drug offenders” in Indiana, and Trump suggested, “We must make similar efforts a priority for the nation.”
___
Does your sense of righteous indignation waver if it's your child or family member being harangued by a serious drug offender to sell/buy their product?
Is Justice a slap on one wrist or a slap on both wrists?
4
Kanye has been exploited by SNL too. And just about everyone else. But that's the game he and wife Kim play. It's just about impossible to feel sorry for them. It is possible to feel sorry for our country. The day after a disastrous hurricane, instead of working, our fake presidient is meeting with this idiot to distract from all the real problems we are facing. Did I mention that it worked? Sigh.
13
Two points:
First, to claim that President Trump has no interest in or capacity to solve the inner city crime issue when democratic policies and administrations have been in place in virtually every major American city for the past few decades is really rich!
Second, to imply that Kanye was sitting in the Oval Office because he is mentally disabled and/or unstable is symptomatic of profound bigotry on its face. The thought that a "normal" African-American would be a conservative has likely never occurred to Charles Blow!
3
"And, that doesn’t mean easy."
Is it possible that Kanye is trying to open up a new demographic to sell his products to? How much profit do those hats generate? And couldn't the lyrical genius have spent just a little bit of time teaching President Turnip how to speak English?
Kanye's association with Trump has likely ruined his career. He's still rich and everything. However, Kanye in Trump's White House is the rough equivalent to a retirement announcement. He never seemed to care about his fans before. Well, he's nailing that coffin lid down awfully tight these days.
I'm only surprised how clueless Trump seems about the exchange. Yes, Trump is explicitly trying to exploit Kanye. However, he's really not that popular. I've literally witnessed a festival with Kayne fans chanting "[expletive] Kanye!" as they marched away from the stage. Fortunately, I had never intended to attend that performance. Even more hilarious though, former fans had somehow managed to generate signs and t-shirts with the same slogan by the next day.
Kanye was never as well liked as Trump thinks.
4
One is a rapper, the other is accumulating a rap sheet. Both are unbalanced. One needs help the other needs to be removed from public office. Anyone who is objective, who has America's best interests as a starting point, finds president trump a callous liar and will resent his manipulation of Mr. West who was clearly unhinged and in need of help. But clearly the narcissistic, political need to appear with a popular black performer to obfuscate his almost universal disdain by artists and for people of color trumped good sense and compassion. And leave it to GoP mouthpiece Fox News to try to spin this 'very very sad' meeting into something positive.
Stay tuned. Given professional sports teams' refusal to visit the White House what's next? A trump belated invitation to Russia's soccer team for a photo op? Bad taste, shame, the rape of compassion and good sense are always on display by this administration...until we decide as a country we are better than this. We are better!
3
Can someone please remind Kanye to take his meds?
I fear that there is no medication available for what ails Donnie.
7
Kanye has become wildly rich; he loves to do outrageous things to draw attention to himself; he has a huge ego; he has married a rich woman (also wildly successful, financially); he likes hanging around with other rich and powerful people; he cares not what other people think; and he has enough money to be impervious to other people’s opinions.
He has truly crossed racial boundaries and, contrary to Mr. Blow’s opinion, was not at all used. He wanted to have an audience with the POTUS and got one. (He has also talked about running for President.) He is an obnoxious, narcissistic, empathy-less rich jerk. In other words, he is the black Trump.
9
"Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody looking for something
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused."
Dirty birds of a feather flock together.
5
Kanye is nuts. Get him into treatment before he hurts himself more.
We need to seriously consider changing the laws on involuntary commitment for the mentally ill.
7
@Bob Woods
Because he's black and supports a (R) POTUS who's not a professional politician?
@Coffee Bean
No... so that Trump will have a companion in confinement.
@Bob Woods: Not only is Kanye hurting himself with his mental illness, but he has a wife, and three little children! Living with an untreated bi-polar person is a nightmare...a lot of damage and chaos.
It looked to me that West was cycling through some sort of manic episode. So Trump not only used him for being black, but grossly used him despite his mental illness. That was what disturbed me the most.
8
“I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good."
- Elvis Presley, letter to Richard Nixon, 1970, requesting a meeting at the White House.
@Steve: Oy!
I almost always find Mr. Blow's opinions and writing informative, thought-provoking, and correct. However, I cannot see Kanye West as a victim. That is ridiculous. Just because he displays symptoms of irrational, illogical, superstitious thinking does not make him the mentally ill victim Mr. Blow describes. Kanye West is just one of many fawning, flatterers who wish to profit from Trump's power, ruthlessness, and criminality. Mr. West uses his association with Trump to further his own fame and notoriety, even receiving an Op-Ed piece by Mr. Blow. Please, restore some sense and logic to your thinking, Mr. Blow, and spare us the sympathy for the blowhards and bullies.
3
Kanye West, Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas -What do they all have in common. They have all undermined the lifelong efforts of Martin Luther King and all those who have fought for equality for African-Americans. Sad.
8
As I read the comments and having watched the video from the oval office, it is obvious that Kanye is off his meds. Making conversation that was disorganized and poorly focused made me concerned as a professional. Mr Blow might be right about DJT, but Kanye was not capable of making a cogent argument for anything.
6
If you put that ridiculous display in a movie scene, nobody would pay to see it.
The attraction of the American people to witness the nonsensical ramblings of two self-absorbed babbling fools is only a tribute to its non fictitious absurdity.
Content has nothing to do with it, Charles.
2
Two peas in a pod, each representing the worst in us in their own ways. Shame on the media for covering this ridiculous publicity stunt.
10
Trump using that nicompoop Kayne? Are you kidding?
3
Their meeting was transactional: Kanye puts on a show, diverts the headlines, creates circus buzz; Trump gives Kanye global exposure with a meeting at the Oval office desk; both hug, go home and watch the pundits explode, make plans for another circus.
100
Mr. West suffers from mental illness (admittedly); POTUS appears to be personality disordered. Neither condition precludes conscious decision making and premeditated action. Which is why we should all be concerned. The patients have indeed taken over the asylum.
3
Pardoning 50 thousand inmates with drug related crimes would make Trump a Savior. His international popularity would soar, and his brand would quadruple in value. Nothing is more important to Trump but the wealth of his family/brand. The invitation of Kanye is just the first step on the staircase to the presidents eternal fame.
And Trump's polls went up.
If someone votes for Trump's Republicans in the midterms just because he was willing to give Kanye a public rant, well, we need to educate the American public on just how government works and why it is so important, and why it is not to be left in the hands of profiteering con men.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
3
Charles, so you don't think that those that sell opioids to people that are addicted to them should be punished for abetting the epidemic of opioid abuse?
Are the drug dealers just innocent victims too?
1
Kanye is just trying to expand his listenership into Trump's base. Next up, an evangelical themed CD. Trump for his part failed to provide Jim Brown enough blocking to break free. Maybe the President should have taken a knee before the meeting.
President-for-Life Trump has big plans for American prisons that have nothing to do with “reform”.
“Lock her up!” is more than a campaign slogan, as events that transpire in 2019 and 2020 will reveal.
2
To me, the worse thing about that Oval Office meeting was the President of the United States exploiting for PR purposes a person who obviously needs professional help for his mental issues. Shame on Trump and everyone else in the room, from advisors to journalists.
The "Trump Doctrine" is chaos. Nothing more, nothing less. He will continually do, and threaten to do, the most egregious things within his power to keep us all off balance. Doing so allows him, and his oligarchs, to continue to rob us blind.
Of course he takes advantage of people who feel their 'privileges' are under attack--middle class white men who, even while being robbed of their economic futures, still feel entitled to the privilege of being above women and people of color.
Thus we see, first hand, the nexus between fascism and criminality.
1
And Kanye's callous use of Trump. I for one found it abhorrent to see such a spectacle in the hallowed regions of the Oval Office.
Do you not think that they are using each other?
3
Two massively narcissistic egos on full display. Nothing to see here folks, and certainly no hope for "justice", no matter one's race or gender.
2
"Callous?" that's almost a compliment for Trump. "Shameless" is closer.
3
Kayne West, a descent of slaves might deny slavery, a depravity thrust on his ancestors. But he cannot deny his own genealogy and the ugly fact that his subjugated ancestors were real victims without any choice. Trump is callous, we all know that. But if Trump is callously using Kayne, it is because Kayne allows being used. Kayne is no victim. That is his choice. For once, I will not blame Trump!
1
Kanye was not being "used" by Trump any more than Trump was being used by Kanye. They each feed off publicity and any audience that will satisfy their insatiable desire for admiration. A perfect match. The person that deserves some sympathy is Jim Brown. He has actually done work in the past to advance the cause of others who are less fortunate. I sincerely hope he hasn't been blindsided. He was and will probably always be one of the greatest running backs to play football.
2
Thanks for enlightening me. I watched the whole spectacle live and had no idea what was going on. All I know is that I wanted it to end!
Funny how white collar crime like tax evasion, which the Trump Family may be engaging in, doesn't necessarily garner the same severe punishment as drug possession.
2
I really think you should give all people a little more credit for being able to think for themselves. Personally, I think I would rate celebrities near the bottom of the list when it comes to places to seek political or,for that matter, any advice.
1
Kanye can't be used by anyone - he's free spirit
19
Ridiculous! Kanye is delusional. Trump used him and his wife to secure some Black votes. Mrs. Johnson was convicted of cocaine distribution and money laundering for a Colombian drug Cartel. She was not incarcerated for possession, or small time sales. Perhaps her connection to the cartel and money laundering should be examined by Mueller or the NYS AG. One must ask what Trump is getting out of it.
2
@Gerhard: But kanye is not the brightest light on the tree, and he constantly seeks attention and publicity, ergo he can be used. And used he was, and certainly will continue to be used by trump if trump sees him as a link to African American voters. trump trots kanye out like an exotic pet; it is truly cruel and disgusting. The entire Oval Office debacle was an embarrassment; a sideshow. But Kanye seems to love it. I wonder how Kanye cannot see that this creature, trump, is NOT his friend, but I fear Kanye is both needy and gullible.
I saw Kanye perform the other day. I know he's super popular and I should have seen him before this. I'm glad I didn't. I think his voice and performance are very overrated. He and his wife. Good thing I still have the choice of not watching or reading about either one of them. Or are the Republicans going to take free choice away from us to?
Bye the way, Trump uses everyone and every thing.
3
"Trump never cared about criminal justice reform."
Mr. Blow - One thing that could be gleaned from Kanye's ramblings in the Oval Office is that Kanye could also care less about criminal justice reform.
They were two very rich men in a room focused on making America great for millionaires again.
10
Kanye West's support of Trump is part of the President's plan to earn African-American support. He has pardoned African-Americans including the boxer Jack Johnson, who was unfairly accused of violating the Mann Act about 100 years ago. I suspect that as his reelection approaches, the President will pardon more African-Americans who were treated poorly by the criminal justice system and make a concerted effort to reduce the killings of African-Americans is poorer neighborhoods - especially in Chicago and Baltimore.
The Democrats and President Obama basically avoided these actions so as not to antagonize the police unions - who contrary to popular belief - are solidly in the Democratic camp because they have such outstanding benefits and retirement options. If the President succeeds in receiving as little as 20% of the African-American vote, he will reconfigure politics. Mr. Blow surely knows this, and this may be a reason why he and so many other African-American liberals are upset with Kanye West.
3
@Joseph Bentivegna
You are misinformed. Jack Johnson is not a hero to black people contrary to what white people think, so his pardon is just another blip in the news cycle. The pardon of Alice Johnson means zippo to black people because she headed a drug ring and dealt death and destruction to the black community. I assure you had Ms Johnson run her drug ring in Calabasas, Kim K would have petitioned to keep her in prison instead of seeking a pardon for her.
If Trump is truly interested in seeking black support so we will "honor" him with our votes, he can make changes or convince state and local officials to make changes so police officers are consistently indicted, convicted and sent to prison for killing unarmed blacks; so white people (largely white women) are indicted, convicted and sent to prison for calling 911 on black people for the "crime" of living our lives. If Trump can pull all of this off so we are treated like American citizens instead of runaway slaves, he would get more black votes; until then, photo ops with unraveling rappers, and pardons of long dead people who disdained other blacks and people who deserved their prison sentences are meaningless.
1
I see both of them as having mental health issues; narcissistic personalities, and both share total denial.
The one without the hat is also set on destroying institutions, which while imperfect, gave hope for a democratic society.
As for his using Kanye West, is there anyone he doesn't use or deride or in some way make smaller?
9
Right On.
4
Make America Great AGAIN -- When does Trump think it was great and when did it stop being great?
I'd say that this article hits the nail on the tangerine head -- when mandatory sentencing was considered a panacea.
3
Why are Establishment and liberal African Americans so afraid of wonderful free thinking African Americans like Kanye, Condoleezza, Candace Owens, Clarence Thomas, Thomas Sowell, Coleman Hughes, Larry Elder, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, etc., etc., etc?
6
@Pinuk "Free thinking" is an interesting euphemism for manic--as Kanye clearly was.
I (an African American) have listened to Ms. Rice and Mr. Sowell and found their analyses at times interesting but ultimately wanting; the remainder of your list are, at best, intellectual lightweights.
But since we're providing suggestions here, maybe you should give a listen to some wonderful free thinking European Americans: Noam Chomski, Elizabeth Warren, Al Gore, Rachael Maddow, Robert Reich, etc., etc., etc....
3
I just watched two men, Kanye, who didn't make any sense as he rambled on and the expression on Trump's face was looking at a black man who he only cared about because Kanye, complimented him. It was a spectacle of two idiot men.
It gave the late night comedians more material to mock the President and Kanye.
16
I lean to the side of Kanye West being used. Charles Blow provided factual call-outs on Trump's hypocritical exploitation. The NYT Opinion writers must continue their courageous daily call-outs on Trump, until he's rightfully ejected from the office of POTUS.
10
What a pair. Kanye was useful to Trump in many ways there; a dynamic stooge of the first order:
First, Kanye gives Trump some "non-racist" credibility. Not actual credibility, but enough to give his base some deniability. That's all that matters.
Next, the subject of Kanye's concern makes Trump to appear caring about black prisoners, and not an entirely selfish person.....Again, appearances only, but enough for his Cult to be able to defend him within their tortured minds.
Lastly, Kanye played the black-faced fool, the goof-ball deranged Rapper whom Trumps base just hates and disrespects as a no-talent jiver.
While the Times may forget this, there is a whole portion of the populace---within a wide spectrum of politics---that considers Rap wildly violent, grossly misogynistic, vulgar, puerile and the worst possible influence on Society in general. Trump was using Kanye to laugh at and reinforce notions of white supremacy....
And the same story with Beyoncé and her black leather, Black Panther, bandoleer slung, performance at the Super Bowl halftime. Don't folk get it? Black Panthers scare people and they always have, even those who can be very sympathetic with deep concerns about civil rights.
Kanye and Beyonce were simply used to further the racial tensions and the divisiveness that is sweeping this Country. And in this regard, they are on Trump's side; knowingly, like Kanye, and perhaps unknowingly, like Beyoncé.
9
Just another luminary visiting the White House in the footsteps of Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent.
11
I'm neither a Trump nor a West fan. But if you watched the televised meeting and believed Mr. West was operating under his own steam, then the consequences lie at his door, not at Trump's, as Trump is well known to exploit every situation for his own gain.
If instead you think Mr. West was operating with a mental impairment, then why is his family letting him behave this way? Don't they have his best interests at heart? Shouldn't their motives be called into question if anyone's should? It's not enough to say Mr. West will do what he wants, because mental illness is unpredictable and sometime results in violence. A duty is owed to those who live with this illness. Mr. West's family needs to step up.
2
@Nancy
I agree!! I was surprised Kim didn't accompany Kanye to the WH. She usually defends him on social media but she has nothing to say now.
So how was this spectacle any different from the one with Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Caribou Barbie? Trump's true position on criminal justice reform was made clear long ago with what he had to say about the Central Park Five. There's a good reason for the line about a leopard and his spots.
5
Yes folks, we truly are having debates about two reality-TV stars embracing in the Oval Office.
13
In agreement that this spectacle in the sacred Oval Office was an exercise in public relations for both damaged participants. The larger question here is with the many serious issues impacting this Country, today, how can this White House spare the time for Matinee Theater?
1
It's difficult to feel sorry for Kanye because of his endless self promotion. But it's obvious Kanye has some ongoing mental health issues, so of course Trump would find that an appropriate time to exploit him.
13
According to Blow, 'The spectacle wasn’t really Kanye...'. That's news to most people who watched the psychodrama featuring two of the country's most infamous narcissists. In the Oval Office, sitting across from one another were Kanye, a relatively harmless mass of delusion and Trump, the dark force of democracy's destruction. Kanye was the clear winner, taking a full 10 minutes to speak his scrambled mind to Trump's amusement. Hey, maybe Blow was right in thinking that Trump really won the match. How often are two sick showmen given such a showcase? Think of it as a perfect illustration of our country's place in the world.
1
There is no other place to comment on this, so I am doing it here.
Remember the pastor who was being held prisoner in Turkey?
He returned to the United States and fist thing, visit the White House.
He even said a prayer for Trump......on one one knee.
I guess one could say this white evangelical took a knee for trump. Okay for him, but not the football players......go figure.
Trump and West...The Donald and Kanye.
They deserve each other.
3
Had there been any real attempt to address criminal justice reform, this meeting would not have taken place as a staged spectacle.
3
trump pulled the same stunt with the pastor who just got out of turkey in one piece. Imo, Kanye and the pastor are both complicit.
The whole West- Kardashian spectacle is all about what they can get for free. Free Public Relations, free food, free drinks, free exploitation.
They bring in a party of ten and even then...... stiffed the waitress after a comped $1,000 bill.
They live for this stuff. And their fans think they care....
1
Trump is a media hog, and the Kanye spectacle fit perfectly into his strategy of dominating the media every day, especially on television. This scheme worked for him during the campaign, when most media outlets saw profits rise as they covered his every tweet, every phone call to the media, and every appearance. Of course the media must cover the president, but in Trump's case, the coverage was excessive during the campaign, and has continued to be out-of-bounds during the last two years. Heading into the midterms, Trump is hiking up his TV appearances, the Kanje performance being just one of his campaign stops. How complicit does the media need to be in giving him the daily exposure that is geared to gaining partisan political advantages
1
People who are extreme narcissists are master manipulators. Trump is one of the best of the best.
7
It seems that the ignoramuses with the loudest mouths get the most attention. Perhaps this is because too many people do not have the critical skills to see through their nonsense. Perhaps our schools should emphasize education rather than job training.
7
There is another element of these public displays to consider, the president's vacuous desk. A desk that has only a couple of telephones indicates a person that has nothing to read, contemplate or consider. It was the same vacant desk on display when he met with Mr. West's wife. The president likes to refer to himself as a genius, but historically geniuses had messy desks, which is also an indication of creativity. Does anyone else find it troubling that our president has nothing on his desk?
2
Kanye was not being used. That is making a victim out of someone who isn't.
He got something out of it, something that mattered to him. Don't think of him as being a child. He is an adult who acted on his beliefs.
I just wish I had been listening to his music so I could send a message by stopping doing that. Alas, after he married a Kardashian, and I had to see something about that every day on my Google News feed, I had never even heard of the guy.
I didn't miss much. But he acted in his own self-interest. At least give him the respect of treating him that way.
4
I get why Trump is willing to use/abuse Kanye. But I cannot for the life of me figure out what Kanye thinks this is doing for his "brand".
3
Like the "troubled rapper" I too have a bipolar condition, a more accurate label I learned from my BP hero Richard Dreyfuss. It's harder to fight stigma when the term 'disorder' is attached. Search history, hard to find any innovation or novel insight from somebody who didn't have an affective disorder, from da Vinci to Jobs. Both these paradigm-shifting geniuses regarded as having been BP.
Like Kanye, I've been embarrassed myself by a mistimed 'word salad'. I can tell you it almost never reflects the true state of my rationality, but rather the enthusiasm of ideas coupled with high creativity and a limited social filter.
But my gaffes were made at an holiday dinner or on a first date, not witnessed and mocked globally. Leave the poor man alone.
3
@Henry Bogle
I am sympathetic, Henry, but the issue is far more consequential than just this one exceedingly wealthy person grappling with a mental disorder.
He is being used to simultaneously prop up Trump's "non-racism" and also a false humanistic concern for prisoners, neither of which he cares one whit about.
Kanye was used as a prop to further racism and the anti-social and selfish concerns of Trump and his wild-eyed Cult Base. Kanye provided cover so that his base can continue deluding themselves about their Cult Hero.
---------------------------
Democrats are being totally outflanked when they somehow think that respect of a deranged and often violent "art form" (Kanye), and the acceptance of scaring folk with Beyoncé's Tribute to Black Panthers, is somehow useful to re-uniting this Country.
And suggesting open-borders, another strident note in these unbalanced times, may well cost this election. Wise up Dems, various right-wing operations are playing you. And me, as a life long left wing Democrat.
Maybe Trump didn't care about criminal justice reform, is it so wrong for him to pay attention to it now? How much should it matter by what means his attention was drawn to the matter - should it come from wealthy donors (No, that would never happen).
Is criminal justice reform needed? Likely yes.
But because it involves the current president we'll get this screed. Yawn.
2
Reminded me of the Democrats rants during the Judge Kauvanugh hearings. No reason, just promotion.
4
Charles, I absolutely agree that Trump used that sad performance by a troubled Kanye. It truly was an embarrassment for both men-Trump for sullying the Oval Office with Kanye's sick rambling harangue. They both enjoyed it!
Excellent article. I am from Hyde Park in Chicago. I lived here since I was 21 I am 71+ knew Kanye history before the Kardashian's. They eat men for breakfast. He is spinning out of control under their watch. So the article: On point Mr Bow. I pray for this young man has children. He grew up without his father around. Lost his mom, didn't take off to grieve. Young people are in denial about death of a parent someone they feel will be here til they are 100 years old. She managed him. I have 4 black grandsons. I watch them grow lived in house with them often. I had a strong African American dad, my grandfather was educated and cousins. I worked with kids. For 55 years. They are our future. Destroying Public Education will fill up prisons and crime will rise. So invest in Education. War is privilege white man legacy. Creates wealth by selling those million dollar weapons. But atomic kills. "Everyone"Thanks for the great article.
6
This is one spectacle I couldn't bring myself to watch.
But then again, I always go out of my way to avoid watching anything Donald Trump has to say live on TV.
In any case, at least the SNL send-up was spot on -- and probably more informative than the actual event.
4
Two men who understand the value of publicity for self-enrichment---nothing more, and nothing less.
296
@James
"Hollywood!" as the WWII Japanese submariner cried out.
@James Interestingly, both are mentally ill.
@James
Both spectacularly nuts.
I believe you ascribe a consciousness and intellect to Trump that he simply does not possess. Like most people, and many world leaders, Trump is mostly unconscious about his motivations and behavior. If Kanye West is being used by Trump for politics then he is also being used for entertainment by SNL, his fans, and media pundits. If he is truly mentally ill and in need of help, then we should all be ashamed and embarrassed for ourselves and our callous inhumanity which is the true source of injustice.
Trump and Kanye are very much alike, and the population is seeking entertainment and comfort in its unconscious haze. How else could a person who is unwilling to take responsibility for actions from an alcoholic stupor 35 years ago be acceptable as a judge on the supreme court.
4
Remembering Donald Trump's very public calls for punishing the Central Park Five, five young men who lost years of their lives due to a gross miscarriage of justice. Is Kanye West aware of this part of Trump's long history of hostility toward equal justice for all Americans?
West appears to be desperate for attention, and Trump cynically exploits that.
8
Two narcissists using each other...and all those cameras.
19
It was somewhere between a circus of elephant admiration and a freak show of clowns.
3
Trump knows his audience.
Kanye is right about one thing, a certain demographic views us (blacks) as monolithic and really mindless pawns that vote blue every year.
What Kanye doesn't understand that voting is a lot more than preference for millions of minorities and other groups-it's life and death. Trump uses Kanye and other blacks like him to show how he can't be racist because one famous black guy loves him. How far we have come........
4
Imagine being a conservative who woke up from a 10-year coma and saw this "meeting"!
14
Notice that Trump just sat there and pretend to nod/listen while his Dennis Rodman ranted. Trump is incapable of dialoguing, even of listening to others. His brain, what remains of it, doesn’t work well enough to respond substantively.
Imagine what an impediment that is to being our President!
11
Is this what America has become? A nation where the leader uses others for his own gain, while simultaneously being used without knowing so by many others, most notably the republican politicians who enable him to do their bidding?
SAD!
5
I would certainly agree that it's hard to underestimate Trump's unprincipled venality and crass opportunism. But Kanye West, no child of the ghetto himself, can't possibly have believed Trump really wanted to talk to him about the topics mentioned. Why West chose to do this I can't say. But the bizarre Oval Office event certainly looks as though for once there was someone in the room weirder and more incoherent than Trump.
6
Trump is nothing more than a narcissistic soul crushing bully.
Democrats: The progressive party.
Republicans: The regressive party.
Reverse Citizens United.
9
Hi Charles
Thank you for your column.
I know hiw despicable the fake president is.
However Kanye hiw could you? Kanye is an adult with every resource available to inform him. He does this?
I really lost faith with his, to me snide, fashion show at MSG. It displayed very expensive clothes, based on homeless people’s dress. In other words he devised to profit on misfortune, selling expensive clothes with holes and tears.
Speaking of tears that made me cry.
Please get help Kanye.
7
Kanye is seriously mentally ill. This is unmistakable.
Why anyone would think this would keep Trump from using him as a political prop is beyond me. When has Trump ever, ever, ever shown he has an ounce of decency?
8
Trump is a transactional leader who uses everyone around him for his own oblivious rat races between his id and ego. He is in turn used by everyone around him. Doesn't that remind you of, say, Kanye West? True one percenters.
I'm less inclined to give Ye the victim role but that's just me.
4
If anyone has explained why Jim Brown was sitting next to Kanye in the meeting, I haven't seen it.
And while we're at it, who originally suggested the meeting take place? And don't stop there, does anyone know what they all discussed at lunch?
I don't know about anyone else who has listened to a full replay of what Kanye said, but to my way of paying close attention, he was not at all "incoherent". And I'd like to know where I can get one of his new hats with "Make America Great" on it. I hope they are blue, so Democrats can wear them, and shout, "Lock him up!" at you know who.
4
Poor Jim Brown, sitting there, undoubtedly thinking to himself: stuck in the middle of two fools. Somebody should interview Jim Brown, on the promise not to release the video until Trump's finally out of office.
4
“... we have every right to be incredulous about Trump’s manufactured concern for the criminal justice system’s propensity to chew up black lives and destroy them.”
There is not a person in Trump’s sphere that he would not happily throw under the bus the moment they have outlived their usefulness to him, and that certainly includes Kanye West- his current useful idiot “du jour.” Trump is a man without empathy whose concern for others stops at his own fingertips, and when he thinks about our justice system at all, it’s generally to ask for the harshest penalties to be applied, even to those proven innocent.
Donald Trump is no judicial reformer, he is Madame Defarge.
7
Charles is correct again. However, everything that this white house does is equally fraudulent. This was the first time I saw Kanye and I must say he is as much a fool as Trump.
6
Kanye and Trump used each other. Trump and Kanye are joined together at the hip for their hatred of one person. You know .....that guy that had the nerve to call them both inept and ignorant. President Obama knew what he was talking about. Birds of a feather....flock together. The GOP blasted Mr. Obama for his meeting with rappers but highly praised these two. Go figure.
8
Oh please. Save your sympathy. This is just Kanye being a Kardassian. That entire pantheon could live by the motto: "There's no such thing as bad publicity."; and he certainly married into the right clan to nurture his ego and narcissism. Like attracts like. So it should surprise no one that they found a kindred spirit in 45.
17
Oh please, Kanye wants to be exploited. He isn’t doing anything he doesn’t choose to do.
163
@Alexandra Hamilton
So true.
Let's face it - he didn't marry Kim Kardashian for her brains or her beauty. She has neither. What she does have is a love of publicity and notoreity.
Strictly self serving and self aggrandizing. Just like Trump.
Is it a wonder he invited HER to the Oval office and not a strong, intelligent woman?
Strong, intelligent women scare and repulse him. They expose his many and varied weaknesses.
6
What happened in the Oval Office with west was disgusting to say the least. But then, everything that involves that person in the White House is disgusting. He is the most uninformed, unplugged, unhinged person who, sadly is playing the part of a President. He should never be interviewed.....last nights 60 Minutes proved that. He seems to want the world to acknowledge just how unfit he is for the job. He and his crooked cohorts should go back to his reality show, and then and only then it can be all about him.
9
That little show for the press was cringe inducing - I couldn't keep watching. Kanye's performance on SNL was bad as well. It's hard to watch someone crash and burn so hard on the national stage.
4
Mr. Blow, Kanye West is responsible for Kanye West. He is an adult. Please respect him as such and stop excusing his ignorance.
11
We should remember that we have gratuitously mean-spirited, hypocritical and sanctimonious leaders like Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions and Mike Pence in power because we put them there. We have seen the enemy and it is we. Our leadership mirrors us.
2
It wasn't long ago that we had a president who could articulate an intelligible, consistent, constructive national policy message in good grammatical form and remember what he said from day to day.
This Trump character is being propped up by Republicans in Congress and the excruciatingly thoroughgoing catalog of high crimes and misdemeanors that Robert Mueller is slowly compiling.
Haven't we had enough?
6
Seeing Trump use someone who is clearly mentally ill is more than cringe-worthy, it is despicable. This man has no empathy, no common sense and no moral compass. But what am I saying, he actually paved the way for outright murder by taking money from and schmoozing with the thugs running Saudi Arabia and Russia.
How many bodies must we step over and incarcerate before people figure it out. I hope someday to see Trump pay for his crimes by donning an orange jumpsuit. Like Al Capone, it might be over tax evasion and money laundering rather than the murder and mayhem he has wrought on the nation and the world.
3
There is no excuse for either of these narcissists trying to pretend they care about other people of any color. Having delusions of grandeur and an audience that is thirsting for entertainment of any kind means we have them in our face every time we look at the news, but why have we allowed them to infest our government?
You can pity them, make jokes about them, hate them, and try to ignore them, but the bigger question remains. Why are people so focused on sick, creepy individuals like these while our environment and all life that depends on it is being rapidly destroyed?
5
Kanye appears to be mentally ill and the republicans gleefully allow him to make a fool of himself and then they try to Hold it up as some kind of tolerance
Kanye needs help but the republicans would rather use him and laugh at him. A true low point
15
Kanye also wants to "use" Trump in support for his projects. What was "sad and tragic" is that you have two mentally ill men--Kanye with apparently uncontrolled bipolar disorder, and Trump with an anti-personality narcissism disorder each needing to share a sick ego high. It's a case of not one, but "Two Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." In Kanye's case, there are successful treatments such as lithium that he needs and could stabilize him. The real tragedy for Donald Trump, the nation, and the world is that sociopathic narcissism is difficult to treat at best, and with a 71-year old man almost impossible. It may be too late for him, but let's just hope that we wake up in time to escape "The Madness of King Donald."
4
Sure Trump used West... but only because West allowed himself to be played. A dupe duped by a dupe...
5
Mr West let himself be used. I do not feel sorry for him. He may indeed need psychiatric help, but he has hitched his wagon to Mr Trump out of his own free will. For a fading star, a few minute in the limelight is everything. Perhaps now he realizes we all are looking at a pathetic has been.
4
If Mr. West had an ounce of self-awareness and knowledge about the criminal justice system, he would have walked into the Oval Office, shook the President's hand, taken a knee, not said a word for 60 seconds, stood up and left.
But then if the President had an ounce of integrity and knowledge about the criminal justice system, he wouldn't have to.
Still I suppose Mr. West performed a small service: an hour spent talking gibberish with celebrities is an hour less that the profoundly lazy Trump has to spend meeting with Steven Miller on how to reinstitute the caging of brown children at the border or with Jeff Sessions on how to put more Americans in prison or death row for drugs.
4
Trump thought this performance by a patently unhinged African American multi-millionaire would improve his standing among American Blacks? That it would divert attention from more than thirty years of blatant racism, continuing right through his illegitimate presidency?
I believe...and fervently hope...Trump is mistaken.
8
Trump's abuse of a Kanye is sickening, and predictable.
5
West has publicly acknowledged that he has been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and, more recently, that he is not taking his meds.
Trump's photo op with Black Celebrities was not only clueless and cynical, it was cruel.
12
I've never listened to any of Mr. Wests songs, but in the past, many people have called him some type of genius. From what I have seen with his Trump worship, he comes off as a real dummy.
The Trump history of racist attitudes is loud and clear. In his memorable campaign announcement a couple of years ago, he called Mexicans murderers and rapists, etc.
I'm at a total loss trying to understand how any minority group can see a friend in the hate mongering, divisive, Donald Trump.
5
I agree with everything that Charles said.
3
Another clownfest which misfired for Trump this time. The days of this circus is beginning to lose it's appeal even for the faithful supporters of the defective ringmaster.
5
The whole Kanye in the Oval Office is really troubling and is exasperated by the timing. Ioccurred around the time Hurricane Michael was causing deadly havoc and Saudi Arabia is suspected to have killed a US resident.
While both Donald and Kanye seem to have major personality issues only one is the POTUS.
6
I usually agree with Mr. Blow but in this case I do not. Kanye West chose to meet Trump in the WH. He's not a victim. He's an enabler.
7
They deserve each other.
5
After watching some of the Kanye photo op in the oval, I kept thinking about how the right wing media and candidate Trump would have reacted if it had been done during the Obama administration. They would have pounced on it like it was the end of civilization. Kanye is nuts and so is Trump. The War on Drugs was concocted to hassle anti Viet Nam war liberals and has caused untold damage to minority communities for years. The left coast states have figured this out, the voters have figured this out, and it is high time Washington figures this out. Kanye needs mental health help and so does narcissist Donny.
4
Trump doesn't care about ANY issues that don't immediately concern himself. The meeting was just another pep rally for his own ego, but Kanye's an adult; he can look out for himself.
I'm more concerned about his claiming this morning that "rogue killers" killed Kashoggi because the Saudi king says he knows nothing about it.
I am truly sick of his dragging our country through the mud, relinquishing our leadership in every area.
He has no morals himself, of course, but our country used to.
7
Trump is hoping that Kanye will generate votes from African Americans in November.
1
Racist attacks on Kanye West from Democrats are a new low. Probably won't last long before some other new low is hit, though. It is really getting out of control. This is what a party in crash and burn mode looks like.
5
Racist attacks from Democrats... Seriously? Most of the attacks toward Kanye have come from the black community. Most of the people I have heard speak about it are seriously concerned for his mental health and justifiably so. Trump used Kanye to keep himself in the news cycle and it backfired on him.
1
Blacks criticized Kanye because he is black.
Supporting Trump while black.
2
Mr. West is cozying up to POTUS because he chooses to do so. And, his own wealth and fame allow him to do so. Kindred spirits, it would seem. Mr. West, Ms. Kardashian, and POTUS are among the 1% (at least POTUS claims to be) who want to continue multiplying their wealth at the expense of others. I don't see it as exploitation. It's two birds of a feather.
214
@JaneM
Well said JaneM.
Blow's talk of a "cry for help" and the notion that Kayne West being used is comical, and, I would think in Blow's world, profoundly insulting that any African-American supporting Trump was so unaware they could be easily manipulated. They just aren't smart and need psychological help, Blow concluded
It is class, not stupidity or a cry for help. Social class makes a profound difference - black, white, brown, yellow, red and everything in between.
Like the inability of the Meetoo women to explain the vicious women in government and CEOs, Blow is intellectually unable to deal with the contradictions.
@JaneM: It is BOTH. If Kanye was not so needy, so gullible, and so attention-seeking, trump would not be able to involve him. We do know that there are thousands of celebrities who would not be seen dead or alive with trump.
I don’t keep in touch much with America’s popular “culture,” but what I saw of Mr. West the other day tells me that he is a perfect fit for President Trump, who by his promises to Make America Great Again for his supporters is bringing long needed interest and attention to the hopes and dreams of mentally confused Americans.
10
It was nothing more or less than a misdirection play, at a time when the questions about the missing/dead/dismembered reporters began to surface. "Look over here; look at this shiny thing!"
2
"Trump’s Callous Use of Kanye"
I thought it was obvious from Trump's silence that it was Kanye that used Trump. Both will throw anything under the bus for money.
3
Don't know what I saw there, except two damaged personalities which interlocked in bizarre fashion.
While there is some logic in "Don't vote dems just because you are expected to", it pales in comparison to "GOP works all day to gerrymander and purge YOUR vote".
Prison reform ? Sure, privatize it....that's Trump Prison Reform.
11
As I expected , exhaustion is setting in . The president, (small p ) , is destroying whatever fabric was left holding together America’s political and social norms . The circus seems to never leave town . We here n New York have known this fool for a long time , he was a foot note on the social scene since the 80’s .
So now , the same tourists who flock to the old trade center site , like ghouls , to stare into a pit , have rallied around him like children running after the ice cream man .
He will never hold a rally in NYC because we know him all too well.
He comes to your America , the one that is narrow minded, scared and looking for a daddy figure to make the uncertainty of the future and today’s issues disappear with knee jerk, uninformed , science denying catch phrases.
We are expected to lead the way here in this country . The damage being done with the buffoon in office will become harder to repair as time goes by . I look forward to the day that the circus truly leaves town for good .
11
Sadder still was Trump's exploitation of a mentally ill man. Kanye's battle with bipolar disorder has been public and heartbreaking. He has appeared on multiple television shows where he has exhibited erratic and manic behavior, and then been ridiculed afterward. Though he is surrounded by family and hangers-on, it seems little is done to actually help Kanye. Trump's cynical manipulation of Kanye is just one more in long line of examples of the cruelty Trump can inflict for his own benefit. For anyone who has suffered from bipolar disorder or who has a loved one who has, that White House meeting can only have been distressing to witness. Kanye is a man in need of help. I hope he gets it.
3
What really got me in this whole charade was how Trump exploited an apparently severely mentally ill man. He gouged Kanye who, like other mentally ill persons, was tragically vulnerable to exploitation. Other human beings have no meaning for Trump; they are merely tools to be used for his own glorification. Of course we know he is also ill with a personality disorder, but Kanye’s mind is shockingly disorganized and his family should see to him getting immediate care, without which he may be headed for tragedy. Trump will manipulate even damaged souls and victims of all kinds, hurricane for example, to his own advantage. He is a bottomless human vacuum.
14
Trump is just as deranged as West and they are both just doing what they want to do. West wanted to promote Trump and be in the Oval Office. Trump wanted the enthusiastic endorsement of a famous black artist. They both got what they wanted. I hate Trump but to scold him for entertaining West is taking it too far. Why was this piece even printed?
"drug dealing" just the name gets you riled up because of the intense unrelenting propaganda from evil Uncle Sam. Think about it "drugs" what does that mean? In this country it refers to chemical compounds that are NOT made by big pharma who has bribed our entire political system. So who is the real drug dealer or dealers? We all know now that the real villains the real bad guys all wear expensive suits and work for a company that has bribed Congress therefor they are "legal" and those who do not bribe are deemed villains but what is the difference? The reality shows us that the big companies like Purdue who has addicted our entire nation to opioids have virtually no punishment. I don't see SWAT invading homes or offices I don't see ALL of their property confiscated, I don't l see anything but profits as the crisis rages on in a country so vile it refuses to provide health care for it's own citizens.
The dumbest thing we ever did was criminalize compounds or plants based solely on racism. Our war on drugs has killed our nation.
So Mr. Blow, is Trump "using" Joy Villa too? How many Americans are you going to disparage for having freedom of thought?
Do you also support Don Lemon's "token" line? Must someone be eloquent when speaking in the oval office, as Bakari Sellers demanded. Doesn't an American, of any color, have the right to be heard in the oval office without being scripted, or in the majority.
Free speech is a thing, like due process. Just imagine an America where a black man doesn't get a job just because a white woman accused him of anything, and the black man is told he's not eloquent enough to defend himself.
5
The Kanye spectacle was classic narcissistic behavior on Trump's part. He doesn't mind using people as long as doing so brings attention to him.
When you pair that with Trump's demonstrated lack of a moral compass, what you have is an unfolding tragedy that's likely to get worse before it gets better.
3
Stop and Frisk could be worse.
When I and my Russian-speaking Finnish girlfriend took our place at the end of a very long line moving slowly to the opening of Lenin's tomb in Red Square in Moscow the winter of 1973, a sandwich I had not yet eaten bulged my winter coat pocket noticeably. A Soviet soldier with a rifle slung over his shoulder walked up to me, patted the bulge and said something in Russian. "He wants you to show him what's in your pocket", my girl translated. "And suppose I don't feel like showing it to him?" I responded. "Then he'll shoot you," she announced matter of factly. I pulled out the sandwich, he looked at it, and walked away. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov saved again!
Trump said it all when he praised Alice Marie Johnson, who was convicted of cocaine distribution, as unfairly treated in the very same breath in which he promised to “make certain categories tougher when it comes to drug dealing.” Our President may orchestrate a little air time with “his” African American but his real message was the same open code as Nixon’s “War on Drugs” that Reagan doubled down on: Don’t worry, white people. We’ll keep all those folks of color behind bars for you.
5
We now have politics based on social media followers and "likes".
We are a full-blown Idiocracy.
15
Trump hasn't mentioned Kanye in a tweet since September 30. No tweet re Kanye at this event. What does this say about its importance?
My impression of the coverage was: This could have been scripted by Samuel Becket - it is absurd. We have a Black celebrity praising a White celebrity using all of the anti-Black sentiments making the White celebrity glow with pride. Who was playing the other or was it simply mutual playing with neither side realizing the absurdity.
Clearly, Gudot isn't coming any time soon. Maybe in some fourth act, but not soon.
4
There was no altruism in that room.
No coherent desire to fix the problem and to reform the root causes of America's unmatched incarceration rates.
Only two shallow people exploiting each other.
And in so doing, both exploited the dignity of the White House and mocked cadres of people working hard for prison reform and for the well-being of communities and neighborhoods--people who really care.
378
Do you think that Kanye really cared or even realized he was being used? He had a public platform that fed his ego.
SNL had it right.
202
Kanye West obviously doesn’t give a dead, half-eaten rat’s bottom what anyone else thinks about him. If you’re not pale in America, that takes serious self-confidence and guts. I salute him for his self-confidence, willingness to speak his mind and put his personal credibility behind what he believes. And his support of Trump clearly isn’t crazy but mainstream – or Democrats wouldn’t be so concerned at the increasing traction Republicans, overwhelmingly also for Trump, are building as we approach an election that they once saw as their salvation.
But Kanye West uses Trump every bit as much as Trump uses him. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship.
Far from not knowing that “the criminal justice system mistreats and over-penalizes black people for drug crimes”, as Charles claims, Trump made such a free admission on-air to Fox. Charles seeks to exploit a sympathy many Americans have for the excessive sentences meted out to low-level drug distributors of color, when what Trump, Pence and others have advocated are harsher sentences for the kingpins at the top – of ANY complexion.
And the contemptuous criticism of stop-and-frisk in NYC is extreme. Cops performed them disproportionately in neighborhoods experiencing very high levels of violent crime, and they happened to be neighborhoods of color. If a neighborhood is 80% non-white, then cops focusing on reducing violence in those neighborhoods aren’t going to be stopping a lot white guys, because there are precious few of …
13
… them walking the streets. It may be that only 6% of stops resulted in arrests, but the levels of violence in almost all of those neighborhoods dropped in NYC – and the cops claim that their stops, and the fear of being caught with an unlicensed weapon resulting from stops, had a lot to do with those reductions in violent crime. I agree with the cops because their arguments make sense, and because they’re backed by the numbers. It’s true that stop-and-frisk was only one tool on a cop’s tool belt, and they may have over-used that one tool, but New Yorkers threw out a LOT of babies with the bathwater by tolerating an effective ban on stop-and-frisk.
2
@Richard Luettgen
"but the levels of violence in almost all of those neighborhoods dropped in NYC – and the cops claim that their stops, and the fear of being caught with an unlicensed weapon resulting from stops, had a lot to do with those reductions in violent crime"
"The cops" are mistaken. The levels of violence have stayed down in NYC long after Stop and Frisk was effectively disbanded. And there is little proof stop and frisk was effective at lowering crime, in NYC or Chicago.
Correlation does not imply causation, which I am sure you know, but are counting on low-information readers to ignore.
1
@Richard Luettgen
West doesn't care what people think of him and it takes "self confidence" to rant like a foul loon? Trump has compassion for "low-level drug distributors" and what he says on Fox has any relation to what he actually thinks and does?
Just wow! That far exceeds even the usual knee-jerked, contrarian sophistry.
3
"We’re going to make certain categories tougher when it comes to drug dealing and other things. But there has to be a reform because it’s very unfair right now. It’s very unfair to African-Americans. It’s very unfair to everybody.”
Thanks for providing the Trump quote above. If there is one thing we have learned from the past two years, Trump stands by his promises. Of course he is still a very strong law and order guy, but if he recognizes that there are inequities, why not try to work with him as Kanye is?
1
@rpe123
Trump is a very strong law and order guy for YOU and everyone else not in the 1%.
THEY, including his son-in-law and thuse daughter and family, are exempt from tax evasion or avoidance - as they prefer to see it - and money laundering etc.
Have you not realized that by now?
12
@rpe123. It is euphemistic to call Trump “a strong law and order guy.” What he, and his many followers are, is authoritarian. They glory in ideas of grievance, punishment, and creating images of the enemy or “bad guy” (or girl — those nasty, impolite women!) Interesting how the ‘bad guy’ is always black or brown or red, always poor (due to his own failings of course, and perhaps maybe just because they were not making $200,000K per year at age 2.) Trump trotting out Kanye West, and poor Jim Brown who looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock, does not disguise Trump’s racism and authoritarian bent. Nor his strong desire to punish, to beat people up, to “Lock her up.” Wake up, people. The barbarian is not at the gate, he is in the Oval Office.
7
@rpe123
Do you honestly think that Kanye has the answers to help Trump solve this travesty? It's more like Stump Trump. Trump was speechless ( a first!) in his meeting with Kanye because the unfortunate Mr. West was incoherent, rambling and obviously suffering from mental delusions. Not unlike, Mr. Trump, himself.
Trump suggesting 'stop and frisk,' which mostly entraps minorities, should give you a clue to who he is, rpe123.
7
Blow did you happen to interview Alice Marie Johnson and find out what her take is on the issue?
You should have included her thoughts in are opinion
10
@Jim
Johnson was used just as much as Kane. But at least, in her case, Trump accidently did a good thing.
8
@Jimd
Are you giving Kanye credit for something his wife did?
2
Has ever Trump done anything else than using people to his interests?
47
Trump is the useful lackey for the GOP and kanya is the useful lackey for Trump.
What else is there to say.
46
I despised Trump the moment I saw him mock a disabled man. What he's doing with Kanye is simply a more elaborate display of that same mentality.
191
The Democrats are all in a tizzy over this one because you can palpably feel they are worried about a black celebrity leaning Republican and conservative which might make other blacks at least think about which party is actually doing more for them. It is patronizing of Democrats to believe that blacks--as a group--must be Democrats, and hold something against people who think otherwise.
8
Yeah. Sammy Davis Jr cozying up to Richard Nixon produced a sea change in the Republican demographic.
1
It’s quite obvious that all Donald Trump is trying to do with Kanye West is persuade moderate white citizens, in the run-up to the midterms, that he really is genuinely concerned about the sentencing system that has historically incarcerated African-Americans than all of America’s other ethnic groups combined. He advocated for the electrocution of the Central Park Five, for heaven’s sake, even after they were acquitted in court by DNA evidence that cleared them of the gang-rape. How this faux bleeding-heart B-movie plays out will be anyone’s guess but anyone paying attention could clearly see through the sham.
The president realizes that his “base” is solidly behind him. He knows that it knows (wink! wink!) that he doesn’t mean a word that he says. Indeed, he’s masterfully playing the role that fate has set him: liar and plunderer of the national (and state of New York) treasuries as he goes on about the “unfairness” of the correctional system. I can see Mike Pence now, laughing up his sleeve. Good Christian that he is, he is Donald Trump’s shadow. And while I’m on criminal injustice, how about the pardon that Pence refused to grant a black man who was unjustly convicted in 1997 for armed robbery? Pence has said that the appeals process must run its course. Of course, the now-vice president has lobbied for pardons for ranchers. But I digress.
So, Kanye, tell us: how was your visit to the big house? Did the massa treat you like family?
104
Absolutely Mr. Trump used Kanye West for political purposes. In a most cruel manner, characterized as an undignified display of sheer opportunism.
This president has knowingly surrounded himself with advisers and speech writers consumed with white nationalism, while alleging the issue is actually economic anxiety.
There is no alternate explanation. It started with Donald Trump demanding Barack Obama defend his legitimacy as president. Then, as president, Mr.Trump claimed Nazis are very fine people.
His administration has offered no serious criminal justice reforms. Police were told to be rough when arresting suspects. Black athletes were singled out to be routinely demeaned for their silent protest.
Here's a scholarly analysis of 73 formal speeches made by Donald Trump during the 2016 election--his appeals to white America:
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/lamont/files/trumps_electoral_speeches...
40
In monarchies and dictatorships, the ruler's personal good will is the only source of justice for the subjects. Kanye is just a few months or years ahead of time.
12
A useful tool serving the deceptive, calculating fool. As for criminal justice reform, this dangerous fool wants to lock any and all up who doth not please His Royal Hindness. This fool has "good chemistry" with Kim Jong. Bread and Circus brought to the world stage by the Ringmaster in Chief/Thief. Never thought that the Blight House would be so disrespected and treated contemptuously by and apprentice in chief of Jerry Springer and Al Capone merged.
26
Indeed, Kanye is just for show, as Trump remains the same 'racist'we have known all along. Trump is a showman, shameless it seems, in using 'famous props' for his own glory, just one more diversion from his multiple governmental undoings for self-enrichment... and ignorance/incompetence in state affairs, beyond a dangerous impromptu, 'off the cuff', comments and improvisational decisions impacting people, even nations, impervious to the adverse consequences of his stupid moves. Kanye is being 'used' but his ego may not allow him to acknowledge this fact. We are living a TV reality show unthinkable as recently as 2 years ago.
21
Trump needed a famous black guy that would be pro-Trump to parade around and Mr. West kind of fit the bill with the exception of his obvious mental challenges. This was a spectacle of a display of a rather severely handicapped man being used by our carnival barker President. Trump, may have looked like he was trying to appeal to African Americans, but really it was to his white base. It was; “See how foolish the black people can be, see how superior we all are compared to them?” It was embarrassing for African Americans, first because Mr. West was foolishly endorsing Trump, and secondly, West acted like an incoherent fool in front of the world. They all could have met privately, but Trump had all the media there to record a punch drunk West ramble uninterrupted for thirty minutes. Next, Trump will pardon Cosby and force him to eat jello in the oval office.
48
Hugging Kanye, kneeling to pray with the pastor released by Turkey, as always it's all about Trump. He prostitutes himself shamelessly for any bit of publicity. He is simply "fake news".
68
"Callous use of"?
They're both buffoons.
35
I'm WHITE and a lover of music from black artists and have been for about 45 years. I don't really know KANYE but I was disgusted at the spectacle because KANYE is bowing down and hugging a white supremacist and violating his race in the process. sickening!
43
You.forgot to mention the CP5. The innocent young men Trump labeled as "killers and thugs", even going so far as to take an ad out in the Times to promote their execution. Guess this why his base loves him.
30
@Mixilplix Don't forget, his Orange Majesty also kow-tows to evangelical Christians like Mike Pence AND white, middle-aged, rough-and-tumble BIKERs at the same time. Quite a juggling act to handle such diversity within the Base.
3
@Mixilplix
They were poor. Kanye is rich.
Heck, Trump would go golfing with O.J. if he had enough money left.
1
Charles is spot on as always with his taking apart of the venal, thin-skinned, narcissistic, mean- spirited, liar in chief. But he gives Kanye way too wide a birth. Kanye is the useful idiot, and he is happy being used — it is with his permission. Yes, Trump is way more contemptible (and dangerous) because of the power he has and his cult following, but Kanye is contemptible in his own right. Those who prop up, or find common cause with, the squatter in the Oval Office, are collaborators in the ongoing destruction of our once great nation.
106
@Fuego.
Agreed! Can you say, Mitch McConnell, Paul Bryan, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Grassley, Orin Hatch ... and so, so many more! These men were complicit in this administration's catastrophes and should themselves be drummed out of politics, and polite society!
3
@Fuego
*berth (not birth!). This is what happens when you type quickly in the morning on your phone on the subway when there is a signal in the station!
2
Seems pretty clear that Kanye was using Trump just as much as Trump used Kanye. I say let’em, it shows how callow, stupid and unhinged they both are.
74
It's arguable whether Kanye is more "troubled" than Trump and which one of them exploits the other more.
Obama - unlike his successor, generally not a name-caller - was publicly referring to Kanye as a jackass in 2008, nine years ago. If West is troubled, he has been at least since then; that hasn't prevented us from making him a celebrity millionaire many times over and laughably considering him a "musical genius." Or from electing someone as President who gets his briefings from Fox News and Kim Kardashian.
Of course Trump doesn't care about criminal justice. Trump cares about nothing but himself, that's obvious at this point to anyone who doesn't think God was involved in his election, who's not xenophobic, and who isn't desperately protecting their own pride after having voted for this imbecile.
116
@James Beethoven, Bach, Lennon and McCartney, Brian Wilson are/were musical geniuses. Kanye, not so much.
1
Why do apologists for the extreme left wing of the Dem. party, those who favor open borders, shredding the Constitution,abolishing law enforcement and the electoral college assume that when a person of color questions advisability of African Americans sticking with Dem. Party despite its poor record of defense for them that they r "troubled?"KW sounded rational to me, and if he advises African Americans to think on their own, to stop letting themselves be taken for granted by a party which defended Jim Crow for over 70 years, he is in good company. Candace Owens, Messieurs Webb, Elder, Inness "fils:" Does that mean that they are troubled too? All of us admire success, and Trump has earned the respect of millions in the African American community who also want a "piece of the action! If Trump can do it, why can't we, African Americans, including my spouse Juliana from Iburri , ask themselves!When is the last time that author ventured into west and south sides of Chicago to sound out the law abiding citizens re Trump? When did Trump's predecessor do so, despite fact that Chicago is his home town and 1 would think he owes a certain loyalty to its beleaguered residents who would appreciate his presence there?
5
@Alexander Harrison "...KW sounded rational to me..."
Oh dear Lord. The idiocracy is nearly complete: Kanye West and Donald Trump are heros.
3
Both Trump and Kanye are long overdue for a mental health checkup.
We ALL need to see a mental health professional from time to time.
Seek professional help.
24
"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
- Oscar Wilde
Trump's motto, apparently.
The carnival barker reveals the freak. Now, who is, between Kanye West and Trump, the carnival barker and who is the freak, is a matter of your perspective.
I'm undecided.
The Kardashians will monetize this. The Repubs will use it to accuse Dems of stifling dissenting voices, the mainstream media and opiners will move on to the next spectacle, the sun will rise tomorrow and the Great Lakes are still comprised of water.
The tragic punch line, however, is that mental health funding, by both public dollars and the private insurance industry, will continue to be meager.
20
Trump and Kanye. Both damaged men, damaged by other men, spreading more and more damage to everyone.
The importance of having caring fathers present in the lives of their sons cannot be overstated.
21
@Tomas O’Connor
Mental illness strikes those with all kinds of (or no) fathers.
2
Trump will truly care about criminal justice reform when it, quite literally, hits him and his family.
Remember, he still thinks the Central Park Five are guilty, and he wanted to give them the death penalty.
32
This was a meeting of total exploitation of troubled Mr. West .
Where was his wife of no talent Kim kardashian to come for the rescue ?
I am no fan of Kanye West but know of his talent in music while Donald trump has none.
Trump is a cruel man who was the accidental President and it was a moment to make fun of Mr. West.
It was a horror to listen, but is a story of exploitation by trump and family of draining us dry to make themselves rich,
Their day will come and it will not be a pleasant outcome !
9
I continue to be amazed that, amid all the attention on Kanye West's bizarre West Wing performance - ostensibly to consult on matters of racial urban crime, injustice and incarceration another invitee has been completely overlooked, That would be the comparatively silent presence of controversial NFL "great," Jim Brown. That West was there may have been bizarre. That many times accused female abuser and at least once convicted and quite deservedly, once imprisoned Brown was there was crashingly and most insultingly tone deaf. Especially in the wake of the Kavanaugh debacle. Trump's utter lack of judgement in bringing Kanye to the table is a mere bad taste joke compared to his overlooked, in your face insensitivity in including Brown.
26
To suggest that this man would not use any tool, device, trick or method to get his way, is to suggest that he is not an "enfant terrible" or a man at war. In this case a man at war with his own nation.
13
Current support for Trump and republicans runs at roughly 11-12% of blacks who do vote (which is a fraction of all eligible black voters). I.e., Trump's popularity has doubled among blacks (only 6% voted for him in 2016).
Kanye is an outlier, but what about others? Can you explain that?
8
Not only these indignities, but the Times lead review yesterday in the book section concerned the use of private prisons, a practice that under Obama was discouraged. No surprise here: under the malevolent, elfin Sessions, private prisons companies are reengaged and praised.
24
Seems to me the using was by both, and was mutual. West is no victim, and making excuses for him seems a little cynical. What matters far more is the substance of the article in showing Trump's abominable behavior, to which the nation has now become acclimated and passively (or actively) accepting.
Meanwhile, for the good it did do for the woman, the only reason Trump did anything for her is because Kim Kardashian is pretty; for that, he always makes an exception. Kanye then needed a "me-too" balancer for his own ego; he and his wife seem a little competitive with each other.
13
If Trump has any feelings for reforming our nation's prisons it is only because he might be in one.
41
While watching Kanye and trump in the oval office the image of JFK working at that desk with John Jr playing underneath him came to mind and the words "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for you country." It inspired me and millions of others. And now?
Two nacissists getting attention. How far we have fallen...a very sad situation we find ourselves in indeed.
94
Don't make Kanye a victim of Trump. Kanye is an adult and normaly adults are responsible for their actions. Isn't this fact also true for African Americans?
17
Trump's reasons for a Kanye photo op are not mysterious to any of us, nor are his antediluvian views on law and order and prison reform.
However, I refuse to lay any blame at the feet of Trump for Kanye's "Palinesque", incoherent, unintentionally comedic word salad ramblings.
He may be a "genius" to some, but when he isn't creating art he seems to have some trouble expressing himself in ways that the average person can comprehend.
Trump truly seems to admire Kanye, which isn't surprising, because genius recognizes genius.
It may seem like the weirdest mutual admiration society of all time, but these two are more alike than not.
They've fooled everybody.
3
"Where's my black guy!?" Remember that Trump rally cry? Trump couldn't care less about black people. He is an overt racist. And he surely played Kanye West. Understanding these things is not a problem.
On the other hand, according to an August poll of black voters by Rasmussen, Trump's approval rating is at 36%. An NAACP poll taken at the same time found that 21% of black voters approve of Trump. The Pew Research Center in June found the number to be 14%.
"Although a vast majority of African-Americans still disapprove of Trump's job as president, those numbers represent an improvement from his share of the vote in 2016. No Republican presidential candidate has done better than 12 percent among blacks since Bob Dole in 1996, according to Cornell University's Roper Center." ("USA Today"; August 17, 2018)
Trump knows full well how to play the cameras.
Now that's a problem.
14
Kayne West and Donald Trump are both attention-seeking showmen with very little interest in affecting any change other than driving clicks and followers.
This leaves the media to be the adults in room, a job that they absolutely failed at. If Trump didn't know that this would be a standing room only crowd breathless publishing this story to push off other items (such as a climate-warming fueled hurricane and a stock market crash), he wouldn't do it. If Kayne hadn't made himself a spectacle last week, would Mr. Blow perhaps be arguing against a Trump trade or economic policy or would he perhaps be advocating for people getting to the poll in three short weeks?
Yes, Kayne was used, but the New York Times and other media needs to look in the mirror as to whether they have become complicit in this dynamic.
61
@JSD
Even worse, people tune in in droves--even columnists and usually astute commenters. For me, it is bad enough to read about it--why watch it, which only helps the 1% get richer?
1
Kanye and Donald are identical in one important way - they will both do ANYTHING to have the focus on their own petty, little lives.
46
Well, yes, Trump used him. But maybe a little of the (dis)credit belongs to Mr. West himself. He is, to be sure, Trump's tool, but he is a willing and enthusiastic one. His ignorance of Trump's motives, and his apparent joy in making a spectacle of himself, must play some part here.
25
This PR event with Kanye West was deplorable. How did Ye get in the Oval Office with his cell phone? Why is he pounding his fist on the hallowed, nineteenth century Resolute Desk? And let's not even recall the vulgar language spoken. Trump may have loved every minute, but I'm desperate for a return to civility in the White House.
23
Mr blow, Trump is a disaster. But you are mistaken to blame Trump for Kanye's delusional performance. simple self respect and role modeling are important responsibilities each of us should demonstrate. This is especially true for people in the public eye. Today there is no legitimate place or excuse for the ignorant, self important, step-and-fetchit routine West too often subjects us to. I am embarrassed by him and for him. But I am also embarrassed by the quiet tiptoeing around his unacceptable behavior by you and other primarily entertainment writers. West's alleged music talent does not entitle him to a pass for not knowing or disrespecting the legacy of Poitier, belafonte, Anderson, Robeson, Baldwin and hansberry, among other black artists and civil rights activists. Do your job and call him out. or as the young people say: represent!
32
Kanye must be over the right target to be getting so much flak.
3
Poor little Kayne.
What a joke. The media is at fault for giving ANY attention to this childish grab for attention from two of the most greedy, morally and ethically challenged, socially unconscious human beings to walk the planet.
Black on Kanye is not beautiful. Stop treating him like some god. He's just a person.
34
Well, if you elect a "reality" TV personality to be president of your country, you're going to get nonstop theatrics. America's twisted obsession with celebrity has culminated in the Trump presidency. A man who even a casual review of readily available evidence is clearly a liar, a cheat and a bully on a massive scale parlayed his fame into the big chair in the Oval Office. In America, fame dwarfs any other qualification. A professional wrestler became a governor. A comedian became a senator. A "B" movie actor became president. And now a man sadly at the mercy of his consuming narcissism, who achieved fame for pretending to fire people from fake jobs, has been elevated to the most awesomely powerful role in the country. Hoping for more than empty spectacle and chaos is completely irrational.
446
@Rob, I basically agree with you, but I do have to say that Al Franken was an excellent senator in spite of #metoo charges.
1
@Rob And being an actor or artist shouldn't preculde psrticipation in politics. It's just that more should go into the evaluation of an artist's preparedness and usefulness as a politician needs to be evaluated.
1
@Rob "Hoping for more than empty spectacle and chaos is completely irrational."
Indeed -- a humbling and chilling realization that we are, as feared, an Idiocracy.
2
Kanye West has to take some responsibility as well for being a fool and a tool for Trump. I think the media should have ignored both of them, but I guess ratings are more important to news networks than meaningful discussions on criminal justice reform. Anyway, you know the old saying birds of a feather flock together. It certainly fits here.
9
This is the same man who callously condemned the Central Park 5 to death despite DNA evidence overturning their convictions. I don't recall a retraction or apology.
This is the same man who from day one brazenly proclaimed he could shoot someone on fifth avenue and get away with it. Sadly, he is right. His cheerleaders whooped and applauded like mindless sheep. Nothing's changed i.e. see his most recent "rally" mocking Dr. Ford.
And now the White House has without compassion let someone with very apparent mental health issues ramble on and suffer indignities that he is blissfully unaware of.
Every day is a new low with this presidency. I am most shocked that absolutely nothing rattles this guy's base.
22
Excellent point, Mr. Blow. This president drives the bus and then throws anyone under it he can. As long as someone "likes" him they are aces in his book. One can imagine him hugging people like, Ted Bundy, or hand-shaking with Jeffrey Daumer, and doing I don't know what with Charles Manson, as long as they showed fealty to him. Of course, the person has to be famous as well to feed his celebrity fixation.
He doesn't care about prison reform unless he gets to fill them up with children, opponents, and journalists.
CONGRESS WAKE UP! Kick him out.
24
@TrumpLiesMatter
Trump, Pence & the entire GOP all need to be kicked! Not one of them care about the real Working Americans!
4
Both used each other. Kanye is clearly as unhinged as Trump and both showed it. The SNL skit said it all.
14
Trump uses everyone. If you enrich him in some way, you’re good; if not, you’re gone.
13
Don't polls show that 94% of Blacks disapprove of Trump? This Kanye in the Oval Office televised meeting was an attempt to create an alternate truth on this issue. Smoke and mirrors. Aso a diversion from the dismembered journalist in the Consulate issue.
315
@Luchino no, it’s why panic is setting in.
Even as cable news networks debate reports of the existence of a recording of President Donald Trump using a racial slur, a new poll from Rasmussen Reports says that the president's approval rating among African-Americans is at 36 percent, nearly double his support at this time last year.
"Today's @realDonaldTrump approval ratings among black voters: 36%," Rasmussen said in a tweet. "This day last year: 19%."
That is a staggeringly high number for a man who only won 8 percent of the African-American vote in 2016.
2
@Luchino no. The black elitists wouldn’t be afraid if it were.
An August 7 NAACP poll found that 21 percent of black registered voters approve of Trump’s job performance. Even more impressive, in Wednesday’s Rasmussen tracking survey, 36 percent of black voters gave the president thumbs-up, compared with 19 percent a year ago.
1
0% of blacks and Hispanics should approve of Trump. He uses Influential people such as ministers to persuade. Before calling Mexican rapist and murders, he was constantly on TV and radio calling Blacks rapists and murders. The DNA taken from the 5 central park teens cleared them before they went to court and before they served anytime in jail. Trump wanted and seceded in creating hatred and fears toward blacks as he is now trying to do toward Hispanics. He is the chief architect of Stop and frisk which prevailed through the country administer by black and white cops. When order for stop & frisk. It often Get on the ground, hand forward and the risk of getting shot if cop believe you aren't moving fast enough or not following his order
2
Of course Trump used Kanye West. But Kanye didn’t exactly meet with Trump out of altruism. He saw another chance to draw attention by lavishy praising a deeply unpopular president among the black community. (Given the message he was trying to deliver, the fact that his comments made very little sense, well, kinda makes sense.)
A couple of opportunists getting together in the Oval Office, with Jim Brown looking like he was in a Southwest “Wanna get away?” commercial. That’s all it was.
129
@NA
The share of Black American supporting this President has double since the booming economy got everyone who anted on a JOB. Then, there's the Walk Away phenomenon of people of color bailing on the losing proposition of Democrat policies.
Just ask Candace Owens!
2
@L'osservatore: Sorry to disappoint, but you're repeating a false claim made by this president. His approval among African Americans' has not doubled, despite what some highly dubious polls suggest. And Candace Owens is repeating another false claim, that that Americans "are slaves on the Democratic Party plantation."
3
@NA
From 15 to 30 is doubling this President' approval numbers among black Americans.
Pres. Johnson told all his white friends tht he bought all the black votes for a hundred years, except he used the word that only black progressives are allowed to use any more.
"This happens specifically because of an overzealous lust for punishment, the kind that Trump himself has long harbored and is now implementing."
This summation of the president's use of Kanye West as some sort of prop for political theater and another installment of "How the White House Turns" is spot on.
I was just watching snippets from the 60 Minutes interview between Donald Trump and Lesley Stahl, marveling (as I usually do) at the rapid double talk in the president's speech. He can whipsaw you with multiple stances all in the space of 2 minutes leaving one totally confused.
It's called gaslighting--a psychological attempt to drive a person, or a nation, mad from the disconnect between words and reality.
Confession: I didn't watch the Kanye spectacle live, only replays. But the image of a normally voluble president suddenly quiet and looking on vacantly while the rapper thought he was given free rein to air his political stances, was painful.
Painful for how West was exploited, elevated, and manipulated all at the same time.
No matter what the issue, you can be sure what the president says in the moment has no bearing to what he has said in the past--and even more importantly, what he's doing now to achieve the opposite result.
The president gaslit Kanye without saying a word.
205
@ChristineMcM, well said.
But did Kanye deserve it? What is it he does to his public?
2
Federal criminal justice reform will not address the incidental drug arrests that happen during stop and frisk. Despite the policy, the number of inmates in prison exclusively on drug charges is very low. Many swept up are actually involved in or on parole for violent crime which doesn't help. State prosecutors that bring maximal felony charges for all who come before them, regardless of offense, are the vital final link in the chain (John Pfaff).
This is a state level sentencing problem and reform needs to happen at the state level. However the electoral advantages that legislators, prosecutors and judges who are hard-on-crime (advocates of stiffer sentences for violent crime) enjoy are hard to overcome and finally a question to the American electorate.
Best to educate the electorate properly and advocate temperance by our state prosecutors instead of using broad-brush slogans to overturn decades of progress against violent crime.
4
@RSantos It seems to be a three-headed beast in our county, a prosecutor willing to max-charge everyone and jack bail way up, a county commission of retired LEOs willing to build ever more jails (our jail is 3x the size per capita of the one in Seattle), and a county sheriff willing to play along and feed people into the system to occupy the jail. Now the prosecutor keeps up his charging and holding rate (not many are coming to trial too frequently, they are just being warehoused because they can't make bail) and the county commission is on board w/ a jail expansion plan to keep making room for the poor suckers fed into the system.
5
@RSantos This isn't only a state and local issue. There are plenty of inmates in prison on federal drug charges. President Obama commuted the sentences of 1715 federal prisoners and pardoned another 212 from 2010 thru 2017 after very thorough review by staff and himself on the records and histories of these inmates. The DOJ announced in August of 2016 that they were discontinuing the use of private prisons entirely.
Prison reform has also enjoyed bipartisan support at both the federal and state levels, even out here in the middle, in a very red state, many drug possession offenses are now considered misdemeanors. The fears that violent offenders will be released under these policies is an inaccuracy continually stoked by the "law and order" brigade with no evidence pointing to this happening.
3
@Molly Addendum to above reply:
The current DOJ of course rescinded the order that the federal government would no longer utilize private prisons.
The president—our miserable president, our narcissistic president, our incompetent president—seems incapable of feeling or expressing true empathy for anyone. His emotional development appears to have been derailed when he was little more than a toddler. He would probably view people as pawns, if he understood what pawns were.
His publicity events turn out to be bizarre, horribly off-base and cringe-worthy extravaganzas that are more like grotesque settings of absurdist plays rather than photo opportunities. Anything can happen, and if it makes sense, it’s by accident.
Kanye West likes the toddler president, and the president likes him. Both are slightly unhinged, incoherent and immune to ridicule. It’s a match made in heaven.
If the president heard an appeal from every person of color who is rotting in jail forever for some finite offense, he’d never have time to wreck the country. But as a practical matter, it might not have occurred to him that the economic abandonment of neighborhoods that produces the despair and misery that drives the drug trade might be a thing he could do something about.
The most popular sport among Republican lawmakers is to starve and cheat our poorest citizens, and then throw them into privatized prisons when they keel over. It’s a win-win in their book.
Nothing the president has ever done would indicate that he cares one whit about these people. Sing about that, Mr. West.
486
@gemli I disagree, I think blacks are allowed to think what they want and have their own opinions
3
@gemli
Well Said!
Republican lawmakers DO enjoy cheating and starving the poorest and least endowed and therefore ill-equipped to fight back. They are all too happy to drive these persons to drugs which, they expect, to kill them and thus decrease the amount of financial aid that has to be spent for THEM instead of on themselves in some scam or tax cut.
Trump is indeed the sideshow people watch, like a hideous car wreck or reality show instead of keeping their eye on what is REALLY happening behind the scenes. It's precisely for that reason Trump was elected and encouraged, albeit benignly. to continue his act.
Kanye West is just a mentally ill pawn that Trump uses to make it appear that he is not a racist.
Sad.
VOTE Democrat in November!!!!
34
@Larry
You think?
"The spectacle was watching Trump pretend to care about remedying a problem that he is consciously continuing to not only cheer but worsen. Kanye was just being used."
Trump did to Kanye what he's doing to the country.
248
You can't do THAT on TV.
4
Did Kanye and his wife feel used by anybody? Have they ever allowed themselves to be used? I may be wrong, but my opinion is that people like them aren't let themselves used.
2
"Tough on crime" but not on his own
His phony pitch is overblown,
A forked tongue demurrer
In business a shnurrer
Whom suckers like Kanye condone.
The midterm vote’s a turning point
To change a time that’s out of joint
Get neighbors and friends
To see it all ends
A defanged Trump let’s all anoint.
160
@Larry Eisenberg: Do not believe that African Americans reading this newspaper would appreciate having 1 of their own called a "snurrer"--worst insult in Yiddish--and a "sucker!" Your doggerel is too motivated by mean spiritedness to be either humorous or interesting! Alexander Harrison suggests you read verses of Edgar Guest, "people's poet," for inspiration, positive thinking, and to acquire an optimistic view of life! Here is a verse written by my late sister who had only 1 class in creative writing on her resume--her metier was customer service as a stewardess with Capital Airlines, once the largest in America: Writing about the late Princess Margaret when her Majesty's sister was in the news back in the day, she penned: "Hey Meg, hate to beg but have you got a fiver?"?
2
@Alexander Harrison ~
You wrote: "...her metier was customer service as a stewardess with Capital Airlines, once the largest in America..."
"Capital Airlines was an airline serving the eastern United States which was merged into United Airlines in 1961....At its peak it was the fifth largest domestic carrier in the U.S."
http://avstop.com/history/historyofairlines/capitalairlines.html
I worked for Trans World Airlines so facts about aviation history matter to me!
1
@Alexander Harrison
I'm pretty sure that the term shnurrer was used to describe Trump, not West and, although I'm not particularly well versed in Yiddish I'm pretty sure it's not the worst insult Yiddish has to offer. As for referring to West as a sucker, well that's pretty much the point of the article.