Michael Moore's "7 words you can't say on television," 2005 Edition

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

December 17th, 2005 2:15 pm
THE MAVERICKS OF '05

By Michael Moore / Rolling Stone

They were the seven words you can't say on television: "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

2005 will be remembered for many things, from a rising body count in an endless war to the first criminal charges against a sitting White House official in 130 years to something as simple as the weather and a storm that revealed, with one levee break, an administration re-elected on the promise of keeping everyone safe had no clue at all what to do.

But it was the bigger levee of apathy and silence which was broken by the utterance of those seven words, live and unexpected, on national TV. Spoken with simple sincerity by Kanye West on the NBC telethon to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina, it shot out of the nation's flat screens like a laser beam of truth. Stunned viewers simply could not believe that someone had said what many had been thinking -- but no one was saying. An obviously nervous director cut away from West as soon as he could, and by the time the telethon aired three hours later on the West Coast, NBC had exorcised those seven dirty words.

In a time of carefully managed information dissemination and a media afraid to veer from the Official Story, it was, perhaps, the pivotal moment of the year, the instant where culture and politics collided and the apple cart of a president who once had a 90% approval rating was turned upside down. NBC's censoring of Kanye West's remarks, I'm sure, made sense to the brass at General Electric. After all, we now live in a time where dissent must be marginalized, ignored, punished and, most importantly, seen as something that gives aid and comfort to America's enemies.

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[stray cat]

1. Bush really gets angry when he is called a racist

I think he protests too much.

[Spinzonner]

2. I'm not convinced

I think he's mostly, if not essentially as classist - along with many of his administration and supporters - and the demographics of urban United States and specific areas and regions end up making them hard to distingush.

[depakid]

5. I doubt he's personally racist

He sort of reminds me of people who more or less didn't like slavery, but fought nonetheless to keep it alive and well as an institution.

And conferedate apologists... don't even start with me on this.

[Skittles]

3. I'll never forget Kanye's words

I screamed YES! YES! It was just too cool. :thumbsup:

[Inspired]

4. One of those where were you when it happened moments

I was in shock - and awe.