Elwood Blues
Member
Just imagine if were a Jewish oil person. So many connections you wouldn't know what to do with them.
Kanye said what?
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His message is that the President of the United States, a man ~80% of the Jewish vote helped into office, is having problems executing his current agenda because he doesn't have the same sort of "connections" as a Jewish person (there have been no Jewish American Presidents).
That's a completely nonsensical message demonstrating a total lack of comprehension regarding contemporary politics and political events over the last few years, and should be ignored. Ignoring that message is doing him a fucking blessing.
The House did that. A Jewish president couldn't stop that. Bush couldn't stop that. The president does not have absolute power, so why would having "Jewish connections" help him? He's got a whole lot of "Jews with connections" working for him. So if you're a member of Obama's administration, you think they're not going to use connections, or that their connections aren't going to come through because the boss is black?
You're casually dismissing his actual points because you dismiss Kanye as "dopey". Yeah, it's a general address to anyone that might consider your responses to this thread as rational. You'd rather strawman him than actually afford the principle of charity to his points and address them fairly, it seems.
I don't think your point is what kanye is trying to say. Just look at look at the israel lobby and how they are able to get republicans go so hard for the defense of everything israel does whether it's right or wrong. You can't get a republican to say a single negative thing about them. And oil people, thinking about it. He can just mean the oil industry. Just look at what influence they have over politics. Kanye probably means if black people had that kind of wealth obama's job would of been a lot easier as they can influence law makers to vote for their issues. He just didn't say it very eloquently.
Chie Satonaka
Member
The way he phrased it was stupid, but the essence of what he said is not incorrect.
Count Dookkake
Member
No, I haven't done that. Feel free to quote me, if you believe otherwise.
I have addressed nebulous claims made by other posters and cracked wise about Kanye's self-determined "genius" rating.
That his verbal shit contains kernels of truth is an unfortunate problem. There are better messengers who don't seem to have the difficulty he does. Perhaps he should defer to them.
EDIT: Perhaps you need to brush up on this thing called the Principle of Charity.
The Living Tribunal
Member
Fucking clown.
It's literally exactly what he said. It might not have been what he "meant" but he does not have a firm grasp on politics.
Yes, it's well-known that Jews disproportionately support Republicans.
I was going to avoid posting in this thread because it's too much like the last thread but you have a real question and it deserves a real answer.
First, the offending Kanye quote.
Kanye equates President Obama inability to 'make moves' or 'execute' essentially because he is black and all that it implies. This is a falsehood. Obama being a lame duck in his second term has nothing to do with him being black. Obama has seen a loss of prestige because he has isolated himself, because the veterans in his political team have moved on to be replaced by more inexperienced staff, and because he is not reaching out to others when he needs to. He's become too much of a loner for his own good.
If you are more interested, this article sums it up nicely.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2013/11/barack-obama-loner-self-reliant-closed-off
Obama is the President. He is the most well-connected man on the planet. All the jews, all the oil men, pick up that phone when he calls. Banks and corporations from every industry have given him untold millions so that he may lead. That Obama isn't 'making moves' can be summed up in one sentence: It's the choices President Obama has made that has brought him to the place he is.
Kanye misses this because it is obvious he has not looked into this issue deeply enough. Instead he takes a racial short-cut. This is ironic because Kanye has done the exact same thing with himself and his situation. He feels that he also cannot make moves and he feels it's because he is black. This is not the case. Kanye is where he is because of the choices he's made, who he's reached out to, and what he has pronounced in public for all to see and hear.
He cannot see this for what it is. Is he blinded by arrogance or even greed? I don't know. What I do know is his rich people problem has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the man himself.
He's an artist. Multiple interpretations and what not. He's a genius!
C'mon, man. This is Kanye West. Any message he has about politics should be ignored until he can articulate a better message that isn't confusing. Anyone well-versed in politics would reduce him to a mockery.
Martin Luther King is an empowering black activist that deserves to be celebrated. I guarantee Kanye West sees himself in that light. What is worrying is the apologists giving him a free pass for his poor messaging. Kanye is not an activist you want on your team for bringing change.
I didn't say that he was some sort of activist, I'm just trying to explain what he meant.
He is right bout some stuff but he honestly needs a break from the spotlight and mainstream. He's not built for it.
I don't know if you could make his argument in terms of Jews on the national political scene outside of the pro-Israeli lobby (to which you could even counter that Obama's connections and influence in the black community were fairly equivalent), but you could make one for the big business connections, which is arguably more important in terms of getting things done as a president in modern America. It probably has as much to do with the stances and philosophy behind being a democrat as much as it is about being black though. The connections you get growing up and in the early stages of your career are only useful if you can use them, and I don't think it would matter if the Koch brothers were Obama's joint-godfather and he spent every day at the Walton's house growing up if he was trying to raise corporate taxes.
Not that being black a black president doesnt come with a whole slew of negatives all on its own, and growing up black and middle class certainly doesn't come with the sort of connections and benefits that come with the white and often extremely wealthy upbringing of most presidents. It's just that (as you might expect) Kanye's comment seems like a conclusion drawn from a narrow scope of superficial observations.
Not that being black a black president doesnt come with a whole slew of negatives all on its own, and growing up black and middle class certainly doesn't come with the sort of connections and benefits that come with the white and often extremely wealthy upbringing of most presidents. It's just that (as you might expect) Kanye's comment seems like a conclusion drawn from a narrow scope of superficial observations.
Bomber Bob
Banned
Voice of a generation indeed
O shit
#illuminati
AllIsOneIsNone
Banned
Just a tip for kanye and some of you. The phrase "the jews" is like saying "the blacks". It's slightly offensive.
Well nvm, kanye said it right.
Well nvm, kanye said it right.
Yeezy and his stans are out here playing themselves. Dude is working hard to convince people that his failures over the years were because of racial shit. yeah bro we know the deck is stacked against black people. He wasn't saying shit when his friends in the high fashion industry pulled strings for him to show his line at Paris Fashion Week.
Major buyers and renowned fashion critics threw that shit in the trash. Now he's out here looking like a fool begging for a second chance but with the use of their money and designers and nobody gives a shit. Why should they invest in kanye?
Major buyers and renowned fashion critics threw that shit in the trash. Now he's out here looking like a fool begging for a second chance but with the use of their money and designers and nobody gives a shit. Why should they invest in kanye?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It's a stereotype.
gothamghost
Member
What specifically has President Obama not been able to do because of "Jews" and "oil people"?
I don't know why - but that made laugh for a good 2 minutes.
Aren't "oil people" essentially considered Arab's? I find that dichotomy funny if he thinks the connections are split between them and the Jews. That said, examining things from his bias will show that Jews are mostly in control of the music and movie industry.
I actually never found the term "Jew" offensive. Though, I do know that anti-semitism is still very much prevalent.
Imma say this too.
Byakuya769
Member
When Jewish lawyers had problems breaking into large law firms, they started their own. Maybe kanye should take note of that.
But I don't get where people are getting that he's blaming Jewish people for anything. Also, oil people = American oil families.
But I don't get where people are getting that he's blaming Jewish people for anything. Also, oil people = American oil families.
We were discussing this (and other) jew comments he made in his two interviews in the GAF-Hop thread, but figured they wouldn't make any traction because he was being interviewed on a hip hop station.
Anyway for those looking for context for the quote and/or missed the previous Kanye thread, here's the full Power 105/Breakfast club interview (divided in three parts):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoK9gfOlnuI
And here's the full interview he did with Sway as a bonus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S78tT_YxF_c
Anyway for those looking for context for the quote and/or missed the previous Kanye thread, here's the full Power 105/Breakfast club interview (divided in three parts):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoK9gfOlnuI
And here's the full interview he did with Sway as a bonus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S78tT_YxF_c
DoctorPayne
Banned
lol
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB122441294251948009
If only he had those connections though...
Art college.
Psychotext
Member
Isn't Obama a Harvard graduate? How well connected exactly does Kanye want him to be?
GremlinFool
Member
Obama is literally the leader of the free world. Pray tell what connections he's lacking?
I'm a big supporter of Kanye, but you're literally contorting what he's saying to fit your (rather troubling) worldview. I agree that his message was clearcut. Whether or not he's portraying Jewish people in a negative light, he's still describing a diverse group of people in a totalizing, problematic fashion. That sort of rhetoric is both lazy and dangerous.
(For what its worth, I would very much argue that he was attempting to disparage Jewish people, which would put his comment very much in the league of racist claims people make about other minority groups because they are "stating a reality - which is actually borne out by the numbers," as you put it.)
Devolution
Member
And this has what to do with the presidency then. Keep reaching for some kind of defense of this moron.
I bet it's the Jewish sphere of influence in the fashion industry keeping him down there too.
Goodacre0081
Member
who is this Kanye guy i keep hearing about?
Devolution
Member
Meh. People, depending on their POV will interpret anything he says to crush or support him out of contex or not. In his quote he says "black people" not the president.
I'm not a blind defender of his, he's clearly a contradictory personality who's message is overly broad, and to some, too abrasive.
But there is some truth to what he's saying. Feel free to call him a moron or a dumbass, but to ignore the kernels of truth he drops is to ignore a chance to change shit.
Kanye is a part of the problem. Any cause he champions will automatically be discredited because of his nonsense.
That's really dumb then, considering he's one of a small subset of black men with a platform to reach a broad audience, power, and money. Thats on the discreditors, not Kanye.
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