Kanye

I always find it interesting that many progressives and the political party they support have difficulty understanding that lower tax rates, a business friendly administration, and reduced regulation allow an economy to flourish. They can't seem to make the simple connection that a good economy benefits everyone, rich, poor, and in-between. Instead, they tell anyone who will listen that tax breaks benefit only the rich and that "crumbs" are offered to all others. Among the more extreme democratic socialist crowd (a growing minority of all Democrats), capitalism is the villain, to be replaced by overbearing government control of businesses and the economy. Progressives assiduously avoid asking the people of Venezuela how that worked out for them.

I mention all of this because a flourishing economy has caused something interesting to happen in the African American community, a constituency that has been solidly Democratic for the past 60 years. Last month, the unemployment rate among blacks was 6 percent—the second lowest rate in recorded history (the lowest rate in recorded history occurred in May of this year). Looks like the Trump economy is working for African Americans, who have seen bith job growth and wage growth during Trump's tesure.

That simple reality has caused at least a few African Americans to begin asking who their political allies really are. Under the high tax regime championed by Democrats, the economy struggles. Jobs are scarce and black people become ever-more dependent on the government. But when jobs are plentiful, black people (along with just about everyone else) are freed from dependency—and that's a good thing.

One of the most visible African Americans to have the temerity to suggest that maybe, just maybe, Donald Trump has done an excellent job in helping black people gain meaningful employment and break the chains of dependency is Kanye West. In fact, West, along with former NFL great, Jim Brown, visited the White House yesterday and praised Trump for at least some of his economic and legal reform efforts.

Oh my! Progressives keep telling us that trump is a "racist," and yet, Kanye and Jim went for a visit. Cognitive dissonance, anyone?

Progressives were not pleased. In fact, they were pissed. You'd think that they simply won't countenance alternative thinking when it comes to black people. Dems worry, I suspect, that Kanye might influence some African Americans to vote their wallets, and that just might result in 2018 mid-term votes for candidates with R after their names. They worry that people like Kanye might be the catalyst for a major #Walkaway movement.

So, in the long tradition of leftists everywhere, Kanye is now persona non gratia. and fair game for ad hominem attacks. Over the past few days, progressive talking heads have called him "insane," a "house negro," "anti-intellectual," and a “token Negro of the Trump administration.” His predictably pro-Democrat fellow celebrities are less than pleased as well. Patrice Lee Onwuka reports:

Beyonce and Jay-Z reportedly have severed all ties with Kanye and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, over Kanye’s vocal support of President Trump and Kim’s visits to the White House to discuss criminal justice reform. Comedian D.L. Hughley compared this meeting to that of a black slave and his white master.

Okaaay, then.

In another context, the Left's reaction to Kanye might be characterized as "racist." After all, they seem to imply that he has no right to express himself, particularly if he varies from the party line. Once he does that, the name-calling can begin.

UPDATE (10-14-2018):
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Michael Goodwin examines the reaction of the trained hamsters in the media to Kanye and what it might mean:

[The left-wing media's] venomous and personal attacks on West reminded me of the left’s unhinged smears of Brett Kavanaugh and Trump.

Some sunk to citing West’s documented mental-health issues and many invoked his race in pejorative terms, making them especially outrageous.

A black anchor on CNN accused West of putting on a “minstrel show,” a black pundit on the same panel called him an “attention whore” and “the token Negro of the Trump administration.”

Another chipped in with, “Kanye West is what happens when Negroes don’t read.”

A black New York Times columnist said the White House scene was “white supremacy by ventriloquism” and a white MSNBC anchor called it “an assault on our White House.”

Whoa, Nellie. What nerve did he touch?

The first thing to notice are the double standards. If conservatives criticized a black liberal in those words, the liberal media would let loose a chorus of “racism” and ­demand that every Republican ­denounce the commentators.

But this time, it was the liberal ­media itself making the offensive comments, so Democratic politicians were not required to take a stand. Naturally, none did.

Yet it was the sheer volume of the hatred, and the uniformity of it, that really got my attention. What’s this really about?

My conclusion is that the outpouring of wrath suggests the answer. To wit, if Kanye West is important enough to be targeted by so many in the media for character assassination, he must also be dangerous.

And if he’s dangerous, it’s in the same way that conservative speakers are dangerous to college snowflakes. Any dissent from the ruling coercive liberalism might be contagious, and therefore must be silenced. Diversity of thought cannot be permitted.

So we can assume the left fears West could be a leading indicator that Trump’s appeal to the working and middle classes is cutting across racial barriers.

And precisely because Democrats are making a fetish of race, gender and identity politics, a prominent racial and cultural force like Kanye West leaving the fold could be the start of a movement toward conservative values. Which is why he must be silenced by any means necessary.

Yeah ... that explains things rather nicely.