You'd think Kanye West's
ill-informed remark ("George Bush doesn't care about black people":
Newsbusters
link) would be enough to illustrate how misguided it is to
politicize a serious fundraiser. But MSNBC's blogger for the NBC/Red
Cross event, Mike Miller, could not restrain himself as well. Is it
that hard for some people to set aside political differences for
just one hour in order to raise some money for some people who
are really hurting? From
Mike Miller's blog at MSNBC.com, in which he gave a chronological,
running commentary of the event (emphasis mine):
5:41: ... "George Bush doesn't care about black
people," West said. Myers turns to him and clearly has no idea
what to say ...
5:54: Still can't believe Kanye West ripped
Bush. That was great.
"Great"? What was great
about it? West's view is flat-out wrong. As President, Bush has given
tremendous support to Africans and African-Americans. Here's what Bob
Geldof, the LiveAid and Live8 organizer, told Time magazine in
June (emphasis mine):
GELDOF: [T]oday I had to defend the Bush
Administration in France again. They refuse to accept, because
of their political ideology, that he has actually done
more than any American President for Africa. But it's
empirically so. (Time magazine, June 27, 2005 (link))
This truth is also in
addition to the fact that President Bush has appointed a number of
African-Americans to important cabinet positions in his administration.
Also: "Homeownership among
African Americans is at its highest rate ever" (link).
"Doesn't care"?? I'm
afraid it might be Kanye who should care to look at some facts!
TheMediaReport.com asks ... But we
wouldn't want the facts to get in the way of our ideology now,
would we?