Hell, The New Republic‘s John McWorter recently claimed West was bullying the leader of the free world with his post-Katrina comments (reprinted at, Nov.

Bush calling West’s claim the most disgusting moment in his presidency, but few talk about the wild absurdity and lack of self-awareness inherent in that claim, or about Bush’s own petulant tone when he said it. He made millions of Today Show viewers squirm with his awkward and, yes, petulant reaction to Matt Lauer’s baiting.īut is it possible we’re too hard on Kanye West? That this is just a story we’ve convinced ourselves of, that we’re unwilling to change? With the exception of the VMA fiasco - which there’s really no defending, and Kanye knows it - little is said about Lauer’s amateurish prodding, not to mention the clear image of West’s silent contrition that then turned snippy when Lauer pressed for a sound bite to go along with it. He’s the guy that said the President didn’t care about black people.

We know the Kanye West story: He’s the bad guy, the loud-mouth on an ego trip.

Kanye west dark fantasy genius