Earlier today, we brought you President George W. Bush’s pop culture moment of Zen, his complaint that Kanye West’s “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” moment during a 2005 Katrina telethon was his (Bush’s) “all time low”. Bush’s reasoning is that Kanye was calling him a racist, but it was certainly interesting to hear Bush describe THAT moment as “one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.
So I’ve been waiting all day to see Kanye West’s response to Bush. In emails to CB, I’ve been CHANNELING KANYE IN PREPARATION. I’ve been checking in on Kanye’s Twitter. Nothing! Well, there was “Never put me in a box” but I thought Kanye was talking about vagina, not B/bush. As it turns out, though, Kanye has responded – he called into a Texas radio station for a pre-scheduled interview, and he got the question about Bush. Kanye’s response was… shockingly gracious. Sorry, SHOCKINGLY GRACIOUS.
Kanye West has responded to former president George W. Bush’s recent statement regarding his controversial post-Hurricane Katrina remarks. West’s surprising reply: Now that five years have gone by, he can sympathize more with the man he once said “doesn’t care about black people.”
Bush recently told Matt Lauer that hearing West say those words during a Hurricane Katrina benefit telethon was “a disgusting moment.” He recalled telling his wife at the time that West’s comments were in fact the single worst moment of his presidency. Today, an interviewer from a Houston radio station asked West for his thoughts on the matter.
“I definitely can understand the way he feels, to be accused of being a racist in any way, because the same thing happened to me, where I got accused of being a racist,” West replied, referring to the aftermath of his run-in with Taylor Swift last fall. “For both situations, it was basically a lack of compassion that America felt in that situation. With him, it was a lack of compassion of him not rushing, him not taking the time to rush down to New Orleans. For me, it was a lack of compassion of cutting someone off in their moment. But nonetheless, I think we’re all quick to pull a race card in America. And now I’m more open, and the poetic justice that I feel, to have went through the same thing that he went [through] — and now I really more connect with him on just a humanitarian level.”
[From Entertainment Weekly]
The interview clip is online, so you can hear Kanye too – he sounds… nice. Thoughtful. Isn’t it weird that in this mini-battle of a former president and an egotistical pop/hip-hop star, Kanye is the one who has grown up and changed for the better? That Kanye is the one who seems to put in some (not all, but SOME) of the work of becoming a better and a bigger man? Am I saying that Kanye will never do anything douchey and stupid every again? Of course not. Just that he made a smart move this one time. TEAM KANYE.
it’s all about kanye. they are both d-bags; although unlike idiot son, west isn’t a war criminal
Now I’m waiting for Kanye to offer to write a song for Bush to sing.
That’s nice of Kanye. Very thoughtful.
However, I still think he was spot-on with what he said back then. I think that if Katrina had happened in Manhattan, there would have been a different response altogether: it would have been timely and competent, as opposed to untimely, drawn-out, and incompetent.
Point is, George Bush and America’s power elite do not care about POOR PEOPLE!
***the single worst moment of his presidency***
jeez, you’d think that presidenting during the most audacious attack on the country, costing the lives of 3000 americans, would have been a low point. esp considering you ignored repeated warnings.
or, perhaps, failure to find the weapons of mass destruction in iraq that you justified your attack and invasion on. a war that continues on and on and on; costing tens of thousands of lives and bankrupting the country.
Regardless of who has been President, in control of Congress, etc. when has our government EVER been timely and competent???
Yeah, it’s not that he doesn’t give a shit about black people, he doesn’t give a shit about poor white people either. Bush should realize that failing to respond to those people in need was the worst moment, not a comment by a celebrity. Still a moron!
That was rather coherent and thoughtful of kanye.
*head explodes*
And how many of you donated your time, items,anything else besides just throwing money at Katrina? It’s easy to throw money instead of getting involved in the work. My city was used for refugees; and, for months and months there was hands on help for all colors and all ages. I never met Bush or West – only saw them as mouthpieces instead of workmules- and, honestly, neither one of them was more important than the person in need. They can both kiss my a**, IMHO. Katrina is NOT about either one of them! And they are BOTH arrogant a**holes for distracting from honest need of the victims both then & now.
Kanye is a D-bag…I wish this scum would disappear.
sure, KW thinks he’s just like the former pres… ug.
Wow. That was indeed pretty gracious. Weirdness!
i think your mom would be proud, kanye. god bless to all
People still pushing that tired trope about Bush and not responding quickly enough to Katrina? Congrats, media. You managed to get that lie listed as fact. Bash Bush all you want, but he wasn’t the one to blame for this clusterfark.
…i was so happy hating kanye and then he comes up with this? Kanye is still not “the voice of this generation” but for once-he didn’t sound like the complete and total D-bag we all know he is.
one small teeny tiny inconsequentel point for kanye.
I was so, so sure this was going to turn out to be a sarcastic headline, but it’s not!
Good response by Kanye. Definitely a cut above overly simplistic.
Finally…something mature comes out of KW’s mouth.
Dang, I was enjoying hating Kanye. Now, I have to say, “that was awesome, you are growing as a person”, I like you again.
Deffo agree with anyone posting that Bush’s biggest mess-up was Iraq/lack of WMDs. I remember sitting in journalism school during Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” photo-opp playing on a loop on CNN.. him in a bomber jacket. Remember that cock-up, Bush?
I’m sick and tired of famous white people making Kayne look bad.
Seriously though, good for him. Maybe he’s maturing and in a year we’ll all be saying he’s a pretty good guy. I hope so.
Amazing. Kanye has a more mature attitude than many of the posters on this thread. You know- there are a lot of us who found the current administration’s response to the floods in TN. and the tornado’s in the midwest, less than adequate. Does anyone remember the stunningly slow response to the oil spill? Is it possible to applaud Kanye without being hypocritical about our respective political views?
@ Willow, excellent point.
no one was prepared for katrina no matter where it would have happened. Rita is just being devisive just like old kanye. Good on him for being introspective
Comparing the backlash to the unnecessary suffering and death due to the lack of response in New Orleans to the backlash to some dumb@ss comment shows how quickly people forget. Bush is …there really are no words. Same goes for Kayne…STFU while you’re ahead idiot.
@salina 22
Your comment about me being devisive took me by surprise. I thought my comment about “white people” embarrassing Kayne was an obvious joke because he embarrasses himself. I do hope Kayne is maturing and becoming a better person.
di butler:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
People still pushing that tired trope about Bush and not responding quickly enough to Katrina? Congrats, media. You managed to get that lie listed as fact. Bash Bush all you want, but he wasn’t the one to blame for this clusterfark.
_________
Really? The Media lied? Wow I guess it was all filmed on a hollywood movie set. He was the PRESIDENT and couldn’t even arrange to get f#cking bottled water air dropped to the people. Kayne was right the first time Bush doesn’t care about black people or any other color either…Don’t get me started, damn it I’m here for “celebrity” gossip not ripping scabs off old wounds.
Reading Kanye West’s thoughtful response was not as satisfying as I thought it would be. The world just feels weird if he isn’t out there being a total d bag.
Wow, good job, Kanye.
Nice to see him think through something first. I always want to like him, he just makes it so doggone hard! 🙂
His handler/writer deserves a bonus.
What is up with the way Kanye talks/writes?
“…and now I really more connect with him on just a humanitarian level.”
The hell?
I wish Kanye would stop apologizing. It’s time to move on because no matter what he does, some people will never let it go. You’d think he murdered someone.
I too thought this was a sarcastic headline! Well, gotta hand it to Kanye. I know he is such an idiot most of the time, but I did admire his candor at the time of Katrina. And now I have to admire how he handled this, especially how frankly he talked about his own recent terrible behavior.
Re: “No-one would have been ready for Katrina” is a bunch of crap. New Orleans is below sea level and its inadequate levee system was no secret. Those in the geological loop knew this would happen in “just a matter of time.” The storm didn’t hit NO as badly as further east, it was the overload of water from the surge in Lake Ponchatrain. I expected this from the late 80’s when I read John McPhee’s long essay about subsidence in NO. This was an essay published in the New Yorker and also available in a book collected with other essays, copyright 1986 — almost 20 years before the disaster. New Orleans’ disaster was a clusterfark in response but even more so in the amount of care in governance in Louisiana over generations, both locally and nationally (Army Corp of Engineers). See “When the Levees Broke” by Spike Lee and you’ll see. Priceless moment: director’s commentary when showing the flood control in Holland, “Look what they got!!!” By compare, our levees looked like office cubicle partitions.
I’m still blown away that Bush said THAT was the lowest moment of his eight years in office!
What????
People are ridiculous. Everyone’s so high and mighty. Like you’re any better than Kanye. Kanye is a true artist and takes his money to help others. Nobody is perfect. He’s growing and the people dissing him are still stagnant in their growth. What other statement does Kanye have to give about Bush. Anyone with sense knows he’s the devil incarnate. Also Kanye corrected himself and said Bush doesn’t care about anybody, a few months after what he said on the telethon.
I’m sorry, but Kanye’s original point about racial divide in the US is still spot on. If anything, the fact that Kanye West–who is guilty of being a mic-stealing narcissist at best–can relate to the magnitude of backlash at George W. Bush’s woeful presidency shows the public’s inability to get their priorities in line.
His original words re:Katrina? About how America is set up to respond as slowly as possible to the people at the bottom? It’s also set up to distract people away from things like war crimes and humanitarian crises with public crucifixions of pop stars.
Both men have conducted themselves badly in public and have things to be ashamed about. Period.
@ Trish–the point was that the lack of response was largely a result of the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of LA. They both impeded the effort greatly. But that wasn’t covered nearly as much as blaming Bush. I believe that was di’s point.
@ Marjalane–excellent points. The floods in the Midwest during the Bush administration were also devastating and yet that didn’t get nearly the coverage because the local government responded reasonably.
@ texasmom–Excellent points as well. New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen. Katrina was actually not nearly as severe by the time it hit NO and in fact, far worse hurricanes have hit Florida several times without nearly as much damage because they are better prepared. I only worry that we are rebuilding NO and creating the same problem again. I certainly hope that isn’t the case. But no one wanted to hear the argument “move to higher ground”. I lived in a coastal town for years that flooded yearly. It was below sea level and it wasn’t until the Federal Government stepped in and required home owners and the city to make changes before they could be covered by flood insurance again did things change. Now there isn’t severe flooding every year. Funny how that works.
Now I am getting annoyed because I feel complelled to defend Bush. I am not a fan of his, but the whole “He didn’t go to New Orleans soon enough” doesn’t seem fair to me. Does anyone have ANY idea how many people would have had to be pulled from doing things like rescuing people in order to clear roads and assist in security? No matter what the situation, there are strict policies regarding security detail for the Prez. If I were in New Orleans during that time, I am sure I would have been glad that Bush wasn’t there and all those people were trying to save me instead of working security to save the President from the big, bad highway.
I would think lying in order to start two unwinnable wars that led to the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis might top his list of worst moments…but no it was what a rapper had to say about his deplorable response to a horrific disaster.
who knew? West has become a grown up and Bush is still a douche.
I never stopped loving Kanye. I do think Bush more so doesn’t care for poorer people. However I can see why Kanye said what he said, the response time to rescue the residents was to long and a majority of the residents are black. I would have said and I did think that at the time Bush didn’t care about black people. I am just glad that Bush isn’t in office and more thing anything, I want harmony amongst everyone.
Bush is an ass and so is Kanye, they should both go have lunch together and contemplate their next move. Maybe Bush can make up some more lies and Kanye can put it to music.
False equivalency. I don’t even know what else to say.
@ReallyRosie I do have an idea, because I dated someone who planned many of those trips for the White House as part of their advance team. Plans change all of the time on very short notice. Which is exactly what happened. I take no issue with his personal schedule–he was in the Gulf within less than a week after the hurricane hit, touring New Orleans, Biloxi, etc. That’s not really the point.
It’s the response of the federal government in terms of rescue and aid that was a disaster. Presidential visits aside, Bush was the commander-in-chief and as such FEMA reported to him, as did the national guard. The buck stopped with him, and instead of putting pressure on federal, state, and local agencies to get it together, he chose to be self-congratulatory (“Heck of a job, Brownie”, anyone?) and complacent.
So it was worse than almost getting hit in the head by a shoe???
Go Kanye-take the high road!
I’m sick and tired of famous white people making Kayne look bad.
Famous white people don’t do it. He does just fine all on his own.
That is not Kanye West.
That is NOT Kanye West.
THAT is NOT Kanye West!
I don’t know who the hell that is, BUT THAT IS NOT KANYE WEST SAYING THOSE THINGS ALL THOUGHTFUL AND EMPATHETIC-LIKE!
Um, so is there anyone out there in TX who can maybe verify that this was, in fact, NOT Kanye West, but maybe a pod-person or body-snatcher or android?
Because otherwise? I am pretty f*cking sure that Kanye West being mellow and introspective is one of the 7 seals, and Armeggedon is upon us.
I need to go stock up on canned goods.
Maybe I misunderstand former President Bush’s quote, but was he saying Kanye’s comment overshadowed 9-11? If so, then ANOTHER major gaffe for GW Bush?
As a native tennessean,I (and many others) were pretty freaking angry that Obama never even mentioned the TN floods, nor did he visit here. At least Bush got in front of a mic and said something about Katrina, as sorry a response as that might be. (Yes, you can say local TN govt handled the response, we’re richer, etc., and No, that doesnt make me any less angry at Obama)
And yet I would never say Obama hates white people. Sorry Kanye, that was and still is disgusting. It irritates me when people speak in extremes like that. It’s sooo ignorant!
PS I can see how beaucracy disabled aid to N.O.- I’m more angry at the way the system works than Bush as a person.
Keep making excuses for Bush neglecting NO on purpose. The next time when something goes down with your family , I hope your pockets are fat enough to take care of it. They’ve spoken plenty of times about the levees being built poorly. There are recordings of Bush talking about the storm and how bad it was going to be, days before it even happened. They knew it was going to be bad and they sat on their behinds, cause they didn’t care. Who didn’t watch Spike Lee’s documentary on this? It’s obvious who.
Politics are depressing. Under Bush the government stunk and now Obama is paying the price for promising to deliver what he knew he couldn’t deliver and the power is gonna slide right on back to the Republicans who, once again, will stink. Even the conservatives I argue with concede that under capitalism things can be bad even if they’re worse under Socialism. What to do, what to do? I think as a society we need to be clear about where we actually want to go before we start arguing about how to get there.
I’m surprised I havent seen this yet…but the apple doesnt fall far from the tree. His MOTHER Barbara Bush when touring the super-dome filled with evacuees said that they were making out pretty well by getting (I dont remember exactly but around) $1200. to cover their expenses…lost homes, family photos, keepsakes, etc…Bush just doesnt care about poor people, and I think he cares about blacks even less. I double dog dare Bush to name even ONE poor person he knows personally.
Kanye’s idea that Bush’s personal presence at the time would have saved people is as ridiculous as he is.
I’ve never been a Bush fan, and I’m not American to be ‘republican’, but West’s quest for media attention is what everyone deserves because the media steps in and satisfies him.
I knew it! Bush was laying the ground work for a hip hop album, he wants Kanye to produce it. Its gonna happen, just watch
ITA with Lucinda.
Poor George doesn’t know any better…just what his mama taught him. Remember this quote?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/barbara2.asp
I am not a rocket scientist but what some folks say into a mic or to a reporter never ceases to amaze me. And that comes from the Right and the Left. Makes for good debate and blog discussion, however.
Too little, too late, Kanye. It was a nice try though!
Good job, Kanye, maybe it was a teachable moment.
hey you uneducated piece of douche: it’s NOT ” to have WENT through”, it’s ” GONE THROUGH”…Get back to grammar school now
I have never taken issue with Kanye. I absolutely love him. He’s such a character! He’s intelligent and creative and, overall, an extremely talented man. He’s also out there. And it’s great. I just don’t see him as the villan that so many people seem to see him as.
Regarding Katrina…I don’t understand the need to take the anger of a natural disaster out on a public figure. Kanye didn’t say he was Katrina. Kanye did, however, go on TV to raise awareness and money to help those in need. Public figures can lend their image to help in times of crisis…so why the hell would anyone have a beef with it?? What a waste of anger and energy. His involvement in the cause brought a lot of attention to the issue, albeit in a controversial way.
Bush, himself, is a bumbling ass. It’s really just a fact, regardless of your political affiliation. The guy is just an idiot. How he can get on television and say that the lowest point of his presidency was some stuff that Kanye said, when THE SINGLE WORST TERRORIST ATTACK ON U.S. SOIL happened during his presidency is mind blowing. MIND BLOWING!
If you think the federal government was impeded in any way by the governor of Louisiana in post-Katrina response, YOU are the one believing the media spin. More specifically, the Rove media manipulation. But what do I know? I was only HERE THROUGH IT ALL.
Life would be so boring without Kanye
@reallyrosie
I don’t think you can compare the flooding in TN to the flooding in NO. 20 people lost their lives in TN, and that is a tragedy, but almost 2000 people died in NO. The city still hasn’t come back.
The problem with Kanye’s statements is that the white people and people of color in this country live completely different experiences. We can’t really talk to each other about what’s happening in America, b/c we don’t really live in the same America.
I love you Yeezy!
MJ FOR HGF!
Kanye has become very gracious. I think his mother’s death has truly affected him to see more positive in the world.
Bush’s “worse day of his presidency” was what Kanye West said? Really? I remember a day, 9/11/2000. 9-11. I’m speechless, I wish Bush was.
@Willow….FYI
Definition of REFUGEE
:a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution
— ref·u·gee·ism\-ˌi-zəm\ noun
The people of New Orleans were tax paying citizens of the city…they were EVACUEES NOT REFUGEES…..please stop referring to them as such. 🙁
TO BE AKNOWLEDGED AS A DOUCHE BY THE PRESIDENT… WOW! THIS GUY IS A D-BAG!!
I didn’t say anything about the TN floods. That was someone else. I thought that the beef was that he (Bush) didn’t go himself to New Orleans. And that is what my response was about. Nothing else.
Taylor Swift having her feelings hurt is not comparable to people losing their homes, lives, and livehoods. Let’s get real here.
My question is why should the former president of the United States care what KW says or think? Why would President Bush give KW that much power? Who in the heck is Kw? Go figure.