From Kerry to Kanye

In his song Jesus Walk, rapper Kanye West sings, "God show me the way because the devil's trying to bring me down/ I only pray that my feet don't fail me now." I always liked that song because it talks honestly about the struggle many go through to be Christian in this world. And I suppose I admired Kanye for that honesty.

When he said President Bush hated black people, I thought that he was speaking (perhaps in a misguided manner) from a position of frustration and anger about the situation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. An uncomfortable moment, to be sure, but one that I let go and pretty much forgot about until Natalie Maines, who I really don't like, said the other day that Kanye West was so much more brave than she was (referring to her statement at being ashamed to being a Texas native-- Natalie, I think Texans might be ashamed of you too) and that she would never have the courage he has.

Now we see that perhaps Kanye West is not so much brave as he is a jerk. At the European MTV Video Awards, he burst onto the stage while another performer was accepting their award. According to one internet site, "In a tirade riddled with expletives, West said he should have won the prize for his video 'Touch The Sky,' because it 'cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons.'" My goodness, the man has lost all senses. Celebrities are so stupid sometimes and just don't know when to be quiet. I bet the judges are slapping their foreheads and thinking, "Pamela Anderson! How could we have been so wrong!"

I honestly don't understand how celebritiess function on a daily basis. Don't they understand their career is based on more than the music they make? They work in an industry that has rules-- you have to play the game the way you're supposed to if you want to succeed in this world. But celebrities have this misguided belief that popularity and notoriety are the same and that just because they're famous they're not required, like the rest of society, to act in a respectful manner towards each other. He may think he was robbed of the award, but he shouldn't have interruptedd another artist's acceptance speech. Celebrities seem to think that they can act in outlandish ways and that the public or their fans will always forgive them, but the time's coming when people will get so fed up with the foolishness that they'll want nothing to do with the person and their career will be over. And for some celebrities, that day can't come too soon.