Kanye West is a jackass. There’s no disputing this. What he did at the VMAs was just another incident in a long line of boneheaded and douchy incidents involving that megalomaniac. So when Obama was recorded calling Kanye a “jackass” you think his comments would be met with support, but no, the presidential double-standard strikes again. Just like when he killed a fly or made a joke about the Special Olympics–and remember, the joke about the Special Olympics was self-deprecating and not a malicious insult towards the Special Olympics no matter how crudely phrased it may have been.
Nevertheless, the media doing what they do best, which is to sensationalize a petty issue for the sake of ratings and pageviews, has taken a subtle opposition towards the president’s statement by reporting that people are upset over the comment. Well, that’s no surprise. The Glenn Becks of the world look for any opportunity to call for Obama’s assassination, but Obama isn’t the first or last president to be afflicted by the presidential double-standard.
While the president calling Kanye West a jackass in a pre-interview conversation is certainly newsworthy, it’s definitely not worth more time being covered than it takes to Twitter about it, which is how news got out when former ABC White House correspondent, Terry Moran, tweeted: “Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a ‘jackass’ for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential.”
His sarcasm as expressed by his emphasis of “THAT’S” is indicative of the kind of schmucks giving us our news. Moran’s Tweet illustrates his own indignation over a comment that any regular citizen could make at work and not get looked at twice. But when Obama does it it’s suddenly this very unprofessional, unpresidential thing to do. Give me a break. Being presidential is to make sure you’re not selling the country to CEOs or getting into pointless wars or inciting some kind of global conflict. Calling an overrated rapper with a massive ego a jackass is not unpresidential. Shit, having giant orgies in Lincoln’s bedroom isn’t even unpresidential–so long as the orgies aren’t distracting the president from more pressing matters.
Now, if Obama was recorded saying that Kim Jong Il is a jackass I could see why that might be an issue, but if someone is being a jackass I don’t see why the president can’t comment on that fact without it being plastered all over the cable news networks and internet, only to be turned into yet another distraction from the real issues at hand–like Congress trying to pass food regulation bills that will cripple many farms across the country that are producing perfectly safe and edible food.
The media has this very strange habit of reporting on one minority perspective (in this case people–whoever they are–being upset with Obama for saying “jackass”) and then making it seem as though that minority perspective is actually widespread and common. The affect this kind of journalism has on society can’t possibly be good. It essentially leads people to believe an irrational, backwards mentality is actually quite prevalent. And when I think about it, it doesn’t surprise me that Fox News viewers are typically more aggressive in their political views because their news source of choice is a chronic offender, constantly peddling news that does nothing but instill fear in people.
The media’s obsession with turning relatively innocent comments into social debates is something left over from the era of political correctness, which caused more drama than it prevented. Everyone had to watch what they said because almost any innocent, non-malicious statement could get you in trouble.
By randomly declaring one day that we must refer to everything and everyone by their technical name, we as a society created an excess of taboos overnight. Obviously, the more “laws” there are the more “crime” there will be. And this is not the result of humans preferring to do what they technically aren’t allowed to do. No, it’s just common sense. When you have an abundance of social rules, many of which are incredibly petty, people will be more likely to break them simply because they can’t possibly be aware of all the rules. If a person doesn’t feel or know that calling a black person black is offensive then it won’t occur to them to say African-American and a rule will be broken.
Will someone get offended? Potentially, but they probably wouldn’t have if an issue was never made about black being offensive, which it’s not. I mean, sure, black people aren’t actually black just like white people aren’t actually white, but saying peach-colored in reference to whites is just plain dumb. And, if you really have the energy and time to get upset over something as irrelevant as how a person describes the color of your skin then you should just stop interacting with people immediately.
After all, it is the intent of a comment, and in what context it’s used, not necessarily the comment itself that matters. Think about all the passive-aggressive cunts out there, who say things that aren’t actually mean when you look at the words, but based on the timing, placement, and inflection of the comment it is clear their intent is to upset the recipient. That said, Obama calling Kanye a jackass is less an example of political incorrectness and more an example of a president being real, which is somewhat refreshing. The impending backlash from the comment is, however, toxic waste from that failed experiment in morality called political correctness and the result of a media who desperately clings to it.