As it turns out, Joe Wilson isn’t the only inappropriate interrupter of the last week. If you haven’t seen Kanye West’s shocking-only-to-people-who-have-never-seen-or-heard-Kanye-West-perform-or-say-words outburst at the normally classy and restrained MTV Video Music Awards, take 90 seconds and watch the train wreck. I don’t want to say it was awkward, but I haven’t seen a performer arouse that many embarrassed faces since…well, since Kanye West did the exact same thing at the European VMAs in 2007, which at the time was the most awkward TV moment since Kanye West hijacked a Katrina charity TV show to rant that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.“

A lot of people are focusing on what a jackass he was (UPDATE: Apparently President Obama actually used the word “jackass” to describe him, which I just found out, and which gives the President a couple bonus points in my book), but that’s too easy. I’m choosing to focus on the bright side for a few moments before I **SPOILER ALERT** play the race card. The bright side inspired my opening paragraph, which was sincere. Think about what happened in this moment, because it’s not something you’ll see too often in entertainment.

Hip people don’t like country music. They don’t like the performers or the fans unless a performer alienates its fans by saying something hip, like the Dixie Chicks. Hip people don’t like innocence unless it’s portrayed in some sort of ironic way, like a vixen in a school girl uniform, or a young child with a knife behind its back. Hip people do like controversy and people who push the envelope, which is why they liked the “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl. They loved the idea that a bunch of heartland families recoiled in shock as something traditionally innocent  like the Super Bowl was invaded by hipness.

MTV is for hip people.

But hipness took a hit at the VMAs, as normally hip people saw its ugly side. Wide-eyed heartland girl Taylor Swift was expressing her shock at receiving her award, acknowledging that as a country singer she wasn’t a favorite to win on MTV, when Kanye West literally grabbed the mic from her and tried to remind everyone that the hip choice wasn’t made. A few people cheered (as MTV teens are wont to do whenever a person holding a mic emits sound), but most people booed or acted shocked. After Kanye walked off the stage, the crowd started to cheer Taylor even more. Kanye, an MTV icon, was kicked out. Later, Beyonce won a big award and invited Taylor back onstage to finish her speech. Classy move. And the response to the moment has been overwhelmingly negative towards Kanye and positive towards Taylor. This can only help her albums and hurt his, which is cool.

I consider it a nice moment. Period. Good triumphed over bad.

No need to make this about race.

Buuuutttt… since in the last week conservatives have been accused of being racist by Maureen Dowd (referring to Joe Wilson), Bill Maher (referring to Drudge), and Acorn (referring to Fox for showing video of black people talking), I thought I’d take a moment to ask a few hypothetical questions. To be clear–I’m NOT saying that Kanye West is a racist, I just have a few questions.

Consider:

What would the reaction have been if Beyonce had won the award and Toby Keith had rushed the stage, grabbed the mic out of her hands, and yelled to the crowd that Taylor Swift should have won?

If this scene had played out as fiction in a feature film, how would the media elite have reacted to a scene perpetuating the stereotype of a black man aggressively grabbing something from the hands of a southern white girl?

Do you think we’ll be seeing any columns from Maureen Dowd or Entertainment Weekly pointing out racial undertones in the moment, mentioning Kanye’s history of discussing race or pointing out that the times he’s rudely interrupted a televised moment have all involved white people? Such as when he lost the Best New Artist award to, as he called her, “Redneck Woman” Gretchen Wilson, and stormed out of the American Music Awards in protest? 

When do you think we’ll hear from Gloria Steinem or Gloria Allred defending Taylor as a victim of male domination (especially since MTV didn’t let her finish her speech because Kanye had caused her to run out of time), mentioning the history of female treatment in hip hop music?

Will the Southern Defense Coalition or the White Anti-Defamation League be making any statements?

Just curious…

What is wrong with our leaders?  Are they worried that they won’t be invited to those cool Ramadan parties?  The Islamists have been actively at war with us for 30 years and generally at war with western civilization for well over a thousand years, and still we pay lip service to these people in a way we never did with Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan or the Soviet Union.  Is it because the Muslims commit sadism and murder in the name of religion and not country?  If anything, I would think that would make their evil acts all the more contemptible.

Still, I would contend that Hezbollah and al Qaeda are not as dangerous as America’s liberals.  The Islamic terrorists can only kill so many people, but those on the Left are doing everything in their power to eviscerate America.  Cap and Trade can destroy our industrial might; Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus programs combined with his delusional health care plan will not only bankrupt our nation, but lead inevitably to a rate of inflation that will impress even Jimmy Carter; and the budget cuts directed at our military and our missile defense system will make us increasingly vulnerable to our various enemies.

The problem is that liberals are not only nuts, but inconsistent.  They very much want to send our military to Africa to stop the savagery in the Sudan, but didn’t want to see it employed against the equally barbaric Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot or Ho Chi Minh.  Funny how you never hear them insist that we have no business in Darfur because Sudan didn’t attack us on 9/11 or point out that we have no compelling interest in sub-Sahara Africa.  But that’s to be expected when people get their information from Bill Maher and Jon Stewart and their talking points from the likes of Bono and the Dixie Chicks.

Clearly, the Left wants America to be a toothless tiger, rather like the U.N.  What they fail to grasp is that as America goes, so goes freedom everywhere.  Or perhaps they think the French will do a better job of policing the world.  The French, alas, can’t even police Paris.

Speaking of liberals, the irony is that so many of them who never believed God even existed are now convinced that He is alive and well and going out on date nights with Michelle.

Getting back to Muslims, there are people who would insist that we should distinguish between those who cut off the heads of their innocent victims and those who just want to live and let live.  Well, I keep trying, heaven knows, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.

For instance, recently I read about a stomach-turning incident that took place in Phoenix, Arizona.  It seems that four boys between the ages of nine and 14 lured an eight-year-old girl into a shed and took turns raping her.  While that was pretty damn loathsome, what was even more disgusting is what took place afterward.  In the little girl’s presence, her father, a Muslim refugee from Liberia, told the police, “Take her.  I don’t want her.”

It seems that in what passes for their culture, the child had brought shame on the family.

Now I understand that any country that keeps electing people like Bill Clinton, Barney Frank, Barbara Boxer and Barack Obama, the killer B’s as it were, doesn’t have terribly high standards, but assuming we have any at all, will someone please explain how degenerates like these get into the country?

Back in 2003, actor Tim Robbins gave a famous (infamous?) speech in front of the National Press Club in Washington DC regarding his right to express his negative views about the Iraq War:

“A chill wind is blowing in this nation. A message is being sent through the White House and its allies in talk radio and Clear Channel and Cooperstown. If you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications.”

Cry me a river. The irony that he gave his speech at the National Press Club and wasn’t tossed into a gulag afterward obviously didn’t dawn on him. That stage direction must not have been written into the script.

Many of the anecdotes Robbins shared in the speech had to do with his being criticized for his views by private citizens and – heartbreaking to someone whose life depends upon public appearances – having appearances canceled at privately sponsored events. He also had a bone to pick with George W. Bush’s “you’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror” line uttered shortly after 9/11. I guess his feelings were hurt or something.

Disagreements happen all the time between reasonable (and not so reasonable) people and sometimes (to put it nicely) heated discussions ensue. But if an event is privately sponsored and your views don’t jibe with those of the sponsors – or if they decide they just don’t like you and what you represent – they have every right to dis-invite you. Or, if private citizens don’t like you badmouthing the president overseas during a time of war, they can toss your CDs onto a bonfire. (Which in turn earns you a tasteful nude cover shot on Entertainment Weekly to protest the protests. Or something like that.)

The real problems begin when government tries to shut you down and shut you up because it doesn’t like what you have to say. That’s in direct violation of the First Amendment.

I wonder what Tim thinks of the recently released DHS report that claims “white supremacist and violent anti-government groups” and other “right wing extremists” MIGHT be gaining new recruits based on the current political and economic climate, including the economic downturn and the election of America’s first black president. The report stresses that it has no proof whatsoever of any such violent dissent, but you know, “rumor has it…”

This report was sent to law enforcement agencies around the nation – conveniently just before grassroots “tea parties” around the nation were set to commence. Is the government trying to intimidate citizens who dare to criticize the government? Any thoughts, Tim?

Back in 2003, Robbins also talked about a nation “bitterly divided.” What does he think of the fact that despite all of President Obama’s talk about bipartisanship, the partisan gap in his job approval ratings is the largest in the modern era?

Feeling chilly yet?

Fortunately for Tim, he no longer needs to worry about being “silenced” during the golden age of Obama. He can now start worrying about more pressing matters, like quashing pesky rumors about his appearing in Iron Man 2.

Thank goodness. Now I won’t mind plunking down $10.50 to see it.

Now imagine Obama’s schedule when he finally becomes president: He’s gotta talk to Hamas, he’s gotta talk to that dude in Iran, he’s got the bench press challenge with Putin…Don’t you love saying that guy’s name? They should hire Ed McMahon to announce him whenever he enters the parliament building: “HEEEEEEERE’S PUTIN!” (And Ed could use the rubles too – it’s a win-win).

Anywhoozer, before any of that happens, Barack Obama MUST have a sit down with Anne Hathaway and, as she said in Palm Springs recently; “Explain that choice of Rick Warren!” That is bold, Ms. Hathaway – but it doesn’t surprise me because this is the same person who dared to fill the pumps of the great Barbara Feldon. Wow! Now there’s a woman! Do I love Barbara Feldon, or what?

I pick up a paper once in a while and I’m reading all the time about the trouble in the Middle East -  and I have the solution: Barbara Feldon. That’s right, if we send 99 over there and get her in between everybody those hostilities will stop faster than payment on a Raffaello Follieri personal check.

Remember when Clive Owen was carrying the baby with the Fuji woman down the steps and out of the building in the middle of all the fighting between the British and the uprising? All the soldiers and immigrants and Fish rebels trying to kill each other, stop dead in their tracks to get a look at the baby? It would be just like that.

Now imagine Barbara Feldon with the legs and the little haircut, struttin’ up and down the Gaza Strip. I’m telling you the warfare would grind to a halt watching that… Man – O – Manischewitz, that is one hot Control Agent… Barbara Feldon… mmm. So… um, what was I talking about?