This is my first diary, please be kind. Following is a transcript of an interview on CNN with Bob Parks, an African-American Republican who ran
for Congress in California's 24th District, and now a columnist on americandaily.com. Carol Costello interviewed him yesterday
morning on Daybreak, and he came out with this gem:
"Kanye West said that George Bush didn't care about black people. You know, for public
policy experts like Kanye West to say things like that, ummm, I would venture to say the people who
were being, the women who were being raped in the Superdome were probably more influenced by people
like Kanye West and his peers than by George W. Bush."
More after the jump...
Here's a more complete transcript (I TiVo'd it; transcription is mine):
Carol Costello: Why is the sentiment out there that the reason the response was so slow
was because the people were poor and black?
Don Parks: Because that is the story a lot of pundits are putting out; I think there's a lot of
damage control going on as far as the people who were on the ground... and any time people attempt
to make money on race, whether they be civil rights activists or other people they are always
looking to play the race card and say that Republicans and conservatives just want to kill all black
people and here was a perfect opportunity.
Costello: Who are you specifically talking about?
Parks: Oh, let's see...Jesse Jackson was in town; making incendiary statements, uhh... let's see,
Kanye West said that George Bush didn't care about black people. You know, for public policy experts
like Kanye West to say things like that, ummm, I would venture to say the people who were being, the
women who were being raped in the Superdome were probably more influenced by people like Kanye West
and his peers than by George W. Bush.
But you know at the same time he [West] is now concerned about all the media perceptions of blacks
when you look at the kind of music he puts out. But anyway I'm sorry to get off the subject a little
bit.
Costello: [chuckles] Yeah, we have to button this up unfortunately...
So, I suppose if the rape victims in the Superdome had been fans of Kenny G and Michael Bolton they
would have came away unscathed??
I know, I know, this guy's a total wing-nut, but I wanted to preserve this for the record. And shame
on Costello for letting this comment go by without challenging him.