The Political Awakening of Kanye West

On the Left, one sees absolute lockstep in the movement
of its adherents; everyone obediently accepts and adopts
the ideological line on whatever the burning issue of the
moment is, as well as maintains position on various
"bedrock" issues, i.e. legalized marriage for gay people,
abortion, open borders, etc. Woe to they would deviate
from the decreed liberal orthodoxy, for there shall be severe
opprobrium and some stiff ostracization for they that dare
to think outside of the leftist box, be they everyday sorts
or celebrities. Recently, a celebrity ran afoul of this rule,
and has caught the aforementioned hell --- but also some
praise from quarters which heretofore never had any
admiration for him.

Kanye West, a rather famous rapper, was the darling of the
Left for his pointed remarks aimed at then-President George
W. Bush in 2005 in which he claimed that Bush didn't care
about black people re: the government's response to the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states.
But lo and behold, West has had a rethink about the left-
wing orthodoxies and pieties in recent years, and has spoken
out on his new doubts and resultant questions in regards
to them. "Do you know how bad I would want to go to
George Bush and say 'I'm sorry for hurting you, I was an
artist and I was hurting when I went up to the telethon
(that raised money to help the survivors of Katrina).'
And did the fur fly! Oh, did the Left pitch a collective
royal one over this remark by the rap star! But that's not
all: West made some other statements that drove the
lefties even further 'round the twist, such as praising
conservative black female activist Candace Owens
("I love the way Candace Owens thinks!");
comments on slavery ("When you hear about slavery
for 400 years ... 400 years? That sounds like a choice,");
praise for President Donald Trump (he wrote a song in
praise of the American political figure most hated by
the Left); and retorts aimed at his former admirers
on the Left who have castigated and excoriated West,
and one rapper even putting a bounty on his head (!)
to shut him up. Such behavior from the crowd that claims
to be tolerant, accepting, and inclusive.

This serves to detail and relate Kanye West's fall from grace
in the Left's so-called polite society. The leftists cannot
handle encountering anyone from outside their ranks with
a different point of view, but they cannot countenance
anyone from within their hive daring to question their
dogma, and actually thinking for themselves ---
oh, horrors! What's are good totalitarians to do?
Why, shame and shut down the wayward rebel!
The Left, you see, only pays lip service to tolerance for
other opinions and the freedom to express them; they
don't actually practice these civilities. And now Kanye
West sees who are his true friends, and who are not,
and the reasons why.

But the Left should heed this truth: more and more black
people are questioning their political orthodoxy, but many
of them voted for Donald Trump in 2016 or are moving
politically closer to him especially as his economic
policies are reversing the sorry condition that his
predecessor, Barack Obama, had left them in, and
actually listens to their concerns rather than simply
take them and their votes for granted. Kanye West
now sees this, and many more black folks are coming
over to have a closer look at what conservatism has to
offer, including that of the Trumpian variety. If the
Left thinks that they have serious dissention in their
ranks, they ain't seen nothing yet; a showdown, followed
by a mass exodus is brewing, and it won't be pretty.

But it will be beautiful for the rest of us.


MEM