What’s That? Pres. Obama Called Kanye West a Jackass? Update: Kanye’s Tour Cancelled
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on September 15, 2009
UPDATE, October 2, 2009, from Reuters, Kanye West and Lady Gaga’s North American tour cancelled:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A U.S. and Canada tour by Kanye West and Lady Gaga has been canceled with no reason given just weeks after the rap star came under public fire for humiliating country star Taylor Swift at an awards ceremony.
Concert promoter Live Nation said in a statement on Thursday that the “Fame Kills” tour, that was due to kick off in Phoenix, Arizona on November 10 and run through January, had been canceled with refunds available at the point of sale.
Pres. Obama has called Kanye West a 'jackass' for his rude weekend dissing of Taylor Swift at the MTV VMA's
Not very presidential for Pres. Obama to get involved in this, and equally not at all presidential for him to publicly call Kanye West a “jackass,” but I admit… this whole thing has been strange from the start.
From Prime Buzz:
You wouldn’t expect President Obama to weigh in on the Kanye West-Taylor Swift drama, but apparently he did.
Only he thought he was doing it “off-the-record,” which means it’s not for publication.
But ABC News reporter Terry Moran reportedly Tweeted the comment that Obama let slip during an off-the-record portion of an interview with CNBC on Monday.
Here’s what Moran Tweeted: “Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a ‘jackass’ for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential.”
It was the Tweet heard ’round the Twitter-verse, though it mysteriously disappeared from Twitter.
ABC has apologized to both CNBC and the White House for Moran’s repeating a comment that was not meant to be repeated.
“In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview.
“This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.”
No comment, apparently, from the White House.
From NY Daily News: President Obama calls Kanye West a ‘jackass’ for VMA stunt, rapper begs forgiveness on Jay Leno show:
When it comes to Kanye West, it seems that President Obama is thinking what the rest of the country is thinking.
The President called the rapper “a jackass” in an off-the-record comment during a CNBC interview yesterday, but the comment became public when it was tweeted by ABC’s Terry Moran on Twitter, Politico.com reported Monday night.
An ABC statement explains: “ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview.”
Meanwhile, West himself admitted to Jay Leno what Americans -and Obama – had already figured out: Kanye screwed up big-time.
And maybe he needs to figure out why.
Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards, the rapper jumped on stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech and declared her award should have gone to Beyoncé Knowles.
After fielding a 24-hour firestorm of criticism and apologizing on his blog, West told Leno last night, “It was rude, period….I’m just ashamed that my hurt caused someone else’s hurt.”
West, who has had similar outbursts at previous awards shows, said, “I need to, after this, take some time off and just analyze how I’m going to make it through the rest of this life, how I’m going to improve.
“If there’s anything I could do to help Taylor in the future or help anyone, I’d like [to],” he said.
Swift, who was invited onstage later at the VMAs by Beyoncé to finish her interrupted comments, gets a chance to respond this morning, when she appears on ABC’s “The View.”
West’s discomfort was a gift from ratings heaven to Leno, who was kicking off his new 10 p.m. show last night.
He wound up with the country’s hottest celebrity story landing in his grateful lap…
If you missed it the first time, here’s a video encore:
Kanye West disrespects Taylor Swift live on stage at MTV VMA awards | September 2009
Obligatory Kanye dissing remix… kinda amusing.
MTV VMAs Remix: Kanye West Interrupts Pres. Obama’s Speech (HD)
Related Kanye reading:
The Powers That Be: Kanye, I Thought George W. Bush Was the President Who Dissed Black People
Politico: Obama Calls Kanye ‘Jackass’
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Russell Brand’s Liberal Logic: “No One Died,” So We Gotta Forgive Kanye West… Should Extend to Rep. Joe Wilson, Too and
Kanye West… “Rudest Left-winger of the Week” Award for Disrespectful Treatment of Winner Taylor Swift at MTV VMA’s (video)
Mail Online: Cognac-swigging Kanye West storms MTV stage and grabs microphone during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech
Hot Air: Video: Kanye West’s place in jackass hall of fame now secure
Dallas Jenkins, Big Hollywood: Kanye West Doesn’t Care About White People
GayPatriot: Classy & Classless
Reuters: West apologizes to Swift, Obama weighs in on furor
Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Forget Kanye, It’s All Russell
E! Online: From Madonna to Kanye: VMA Stands for Very Much Arranged?!
Sister Toldjah: VIDEO: Kanye West interrupts Obama speech
Gateway Pundit, Kanye West Spoils MTV Awards– Takes Mic From Country Star During Acceptance Speech (Video)
NY Daily News: After outburst at MTV’s VMAs, Kanye West should be banned from future award shows
JenneLALA: You know you’re a DIRTBAG when the Prez calls you out
Washington Post: Kanye West taking time off after debacle
MTV: Kanye West Tells Jay Leno He’s ‘Ashamed’ Of VMA Outburst
Some Country for Old Men: But Kanye IS a jackass
JustOneMinute: “Jackass”
LA Times: Obama said to call Kanye West a ‘jackass.’ But not officially
Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner: President Obama Calls Kanye West a Jackass-Wow
Imanhorn: Who is Kanye West???
The Times Online: Kanye West spoils the show at MTV awards
Rolling Stone: Kanye West Storms the VMAs Stage During Taylor Swift’s Speech
Breitbart.tv: Kanye West Crashes VMA Stage During Taylor Swift’s Award Speech
Daily Beast: Leave Kanye Alone – Kanye West doesn’t defend the scene he caused about Taylor Swift at last night’s VMAs. But Choire Sicha may be the only person in America on his side
About the author
Ms. Davidson, appreciate your forthrightness, but do you believe that warrantless wiretapping, without oversight, or indefinite detainee detention without charge, is consistent with the “conservative principles upon which [the Constitution] was developed,” the most conservative of which was the complete distrust of unchecked government power?
[And which conservative principle was the main reason why the government was created in the first place.]
Anon, you pose questions that perplex many of our nation’s trained leaders. I’m not sure why you’ve posted your questions on this post about Kanye West being called a jackass by the president, though. Although you are breaking the stated rules about staying on topic to the specific post, I will permit it this one time to post your questions and attempt to answer them.
I have written a number of times on this topic. To get a more detailed response, I suggest you do a search and see my research on Gitmo detainees and terrorist statistics. I am by no means an expert, but I have read many documents written by experts, and will offer my opinions that have evolved over a few years.
In view of terrorism, and the prevention of future terrorism on American lives, I do believe at this point, what we are doing to keep these heartless, murderous bastards alive and comfortable and away from harming the general public of America and other countries is the best solution in an enigmatic situation where all solutions are complex. Am I comfortable with this? As I have written many times before, not really. But weighing the protection of lives of millions of Americans against the detainment of known terrorists, those who would gladly murder any of us infidels without blinking, I am hard-pressed to offer a better solution for our own safety. Protection of American lives wins, always, hands down, in my opinion. Execution of all these terrorists, these enemy combatants, and not have to pay for their imprisonment with our tax dollars, would be a quick, cheap solution, but not one I’m comfortable with, either.
This is truly a dilemma, one that plagued Bush and now, Obama is plagued, suddenly realizing that it is not the simple, easy problem he assumed it was when he was campaigning. It will be interesting to see how he resolves his proclamation to close Club Gitmo. Where is he going to put these terrorists? Move them to ANOTHER detainment facility just to make it look like he’s doing something about it? We’ll see how this unfolds as the deadline for closing Gitmo approaches.
In a perfect world, there would be no problem, no detainment, no WMDs, no 9/11, no terrorism. But this world is far from perfect. These detained terrorists at Gitmo are NOT regular criminals. They are zealots, enemy combatants and fanatics who would murder any of us without provocation because we are Americans (or Brits, or Germans, etc.), we are infidels in their eyes who deserve to be wiped from the face of the earth. Merely because we EXIST.
I do not believe the wiretapping has been warrantless, and it has never been established (except in the minds of left-wing extremists) to be illegal. The Patriot Act is controversial, but it is not illegal. And regular citizens, those who are not involved with plotting the murders of thousands of people, have not had their privacy compromised with the interception of incoming transmissions from other countries. To the best of my knowledge, this was the protocol for the scrutiny and was intended to uncover terrorist plots, not eavesdrop on regular people. Many people believe otherwise. However, I do not. This wiretapping is a far cry from the Obama administration’s recent rally for regular citizens to supply them with the email addresses of neighbors (ratting out those with “fishy” ideas) who did not agree with the proposed socialized health care plan. That, IMO, reeked far more of McCarthyism and unwarranted government invasion of privacy, much akin to what is happening now in Venezuela and still happens in Cuba. Thankfully, when criticism (deservedly so) became too hot to handle, the White House retreated from its request.
Where, pray tell, would you like these terrorists to be released, Anon? Their own countries do not want them back, will NOT take them back. A huge majority who have been released have joined back up with their terrorist groups and have continued to terrorize other nations. Many who are detained have said they will kill again if released. I do not want them housed with regular American criminals in our prison system, as they have been schooled in propaganda techniques and would more than likely school regular criminals to become terrorists. Mixing them in with regular criminals would more than likely be a lethal mistake.
Would you want these terrorists allowed to roam free in your city, Anon? On your block? Live next door to your home? No, I wouldn’t, either. It’s a multi-layered problem with no easy solution. Trust in that if these same terrorists were captured in other less civilized nations, they’d be executed. Period. They would not be given the same amenities and comforts we have provided for them: freedom in their detainment to practice their religious rites, eat three square meals a day, sleep on comfortable beds, have access to laptop computers (yes, Gitmo prisoners have these), have the ability to order out take-out food over the Internet, have warm showers, and other amenities. Loss of freedom is never pleasant… it isn’t meant to be. THESE ARE TERRORISTS. Club Gitmo is like a country club, much more luxurious than the prison camps in other countries. They are not deprived of basic human needs. Of the detainees at Gitmo, only three of the most vile, most bloodthirsty, most influential in the terrorist groups were ever subjected to waterboarding. They are still alive. Daniel Pearl, an American journalist, was beheaded (it was filmed, which is even more heinous) when captured by terrorists. SEER and other trainees in our military are subjected to far more rigorous training in interrogation techniques than these zealous terrorists have ever been. I do not believe in mollycoddling and babying these vile, evil miscreants. Human rights, yes… within reason.
I have no flip, easy answer. To say they are human is correct. To say they must be treated with respect is debatable. To say they must be treated with kid gloves is ridiculous. They are sociopaths who do not value human life. To protect those who are in our country is the bigger priority than losing sleep over their detainment. How does this adhere to conservatism? In all honesty, I believe it dovetails with God’s provision of our pursuit of happiness. This cannot be achieved if deranged, zealous thuggish terrorists threaten our existence and do not fear any repercussions for their murderous activities. An eye for an eye? Not quite… these detainees were either involved in the terrorist attacks/murders of countless people or the planning of such attacks/murders. They are not protected by the Geneva Convention provisions, as they are TERRORISTS. Does this adhere to conservative principles? Yes, in that I believe that American citizens cannot feel they are not protected from such vile murderers. We adhere to the Equal Protection Under the Law clause. We have laws that demand protection of human life… these terrorists have proven they don’t respect human life and don’t care if they are responsible for the misery and death of innocents. Americans must be protected from attack, and at present, this is about the only solution I know of that totally assures that protection. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is for Americans… to not protect us from the treachery of Al Qaeda would be a serious travesty and would not support those provisions and guarantees of our Constitution for American citizens.
Admin, you are trying to hold your philosophies above the rabble.
I have the opinion that they have found your site, and will attempt to eliminate your influence on your readers.
They are fools.
We know you for what you are, a Patriot.
I can’t remember who said this, it may have been Socrates, ” you have accomplished nothing when besting a fool”.
His argument was to the extent of don’t waste your time arguing with idiots.
Still, I admire your backbone, never say die attitude.
Let Freedom Ring !
Far out.
“Which conservative principle was the government created for in the first place”.
Duh… This Government was established due to the tyranny of British Rule.
Ever heard of the Declaration of Independence ? Have you ever read a book on how this country was founded ? Have you ever read the Constitution ?
Can you comprehend the fact that Obama is making every attempt to enlarge government to the extent that it will take decades to eliminate the wasteful programs that they are trying to instill into our system of government ?
Do you read Saul Alinsky, Obama has, Hillary has, its the progressive’s bible.
How about CZARS that answer to no one but the anointed one.
How about congressional members who go back home and chastise the people that put them in office.
The arrogance on capital hill and the White House will take them down mightily because the American People are FED UP !.
Anon, unchecked government power, health bill, TARP, STIMULUS BILL, oh by the way Obama ran on a platform that he would VETO ANY BILL WITH EARMARKS.
HE LIED !!! He lies all the time, he has been caught in his lies from audio and video tapes since he was campaigning. The archives are everywhere. He can’t escape from what he has said.
The Messiah is going to bring more damage upon the democratic party before he’s done
than one can only imagine.
The present administration is preying on the ignorant, and also praying that the ignorant do not become informed.
Which are you Anon ?