Since Barack Obama became President, there has been much liberal blathering from him and his supporters about “teachable moments.”
The problem with those teachable moments is that they occur when Barack Obama screws something up, and then condescendingly shows us how we can learn from his mistakes.
Whether it be falsely accusing a white cop of racism or firing a black subordinate and then backtracking, Barack Obama sometimes shoots first and asks questions later.
As an academic, Mr. Obama loves to lecture people, but most of his teachable moments are where he needs to learn something, not us. He is teaching us not to overreact without having all the facts, but we already know that.
A real teachable moment occurs when an individual points out how they can improve themselves.
The words “teachable moment” are those types of situations where a parent can turn to their child and say, “this is what character is all about. This is what I want you to emulate in terms of behavior.” It is called leading by example.
Recent comments by rapper Kanye West involving former President George W. Bush provide a real teachable moment.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. President Bush was roundly criticized for the failure of the government to act in an expeditious manner. While I personally felt the criticism was unfair, political disputes are legitimate. The Katrina situation wrecked the core perception of the Bush administration as one of competency.
Yet Kanye West took it a step further. Mr. West is black, and he accused President Bush of racism. He even had a line in one of his songs that said, “George W Bush doesn’t care about black people.” It was a disgusting accusation, especially for a president who took great pride in being the first president to have a black Secretary of State, black National Security Council Head, and Black Deputy Attorney General.
President Bush refused to hit back, and his staff was under orders to follow his rules, which meant acting with dignity, class, and grace (For one thing, it drove his critics bonkers that he refused to sink to their level) in the face of malevolence.
The perception of President George Bush as a racist was a horrible act of character assassination, and Kanye West started it.
Then the tables were turned on Kanye West.
At a music awards show, Taylor Swift, who is white, was on stage accepting an award. Kanye West rushed the stage and jokingly announced that the award should have gone to Beyonce, who is black.
While Mr. West did not mention race, was barely coherent, and most likely just clowning around, he was branded a racist by people for upstaging Swift. While his defenders saw it as an attempt at being funny that backfired, virtually everybody in the entertainment industry took Swift’s side.
Fast forward to this week. President Bush is about to release his memoirs, entitled “Decision Points.” While the left is already sneering and feeding their Bush Derangement Syndrome (Get ready for leftist jokes about whether it is a coloring book, since anger at him is all they have.), excerpts have leaked out.
One excerpt that has gone public is President Bush stating how bothered he was by Kanye’s remarks. Those remarks still bother him. Of course they do. The left cannot figure this out, but President Bush is a human being made of blood and plasma. Accusations of racism, especially false ones, should hurt.
Kanye West was on a radio show this week, and when told of President Bush’s remarks, he did something that most people have trouble doing.
He admitted he was wrong.
He took responsibility for his comments and said he wished he had not said them. He said that when he faced his own accusation of racism, it made him realize how President Bush must have felt.
I am not saying we should nominate Kanye West for Sainthood, but this does matter.
The whole adage of not knowing a man until you walk a mile in his shoes is still true today.
Kanye West and George W Bush have had very different upbringings and life experiences.
Kanye West unfairly and inaccurately judged George W. Bush.
Yet despite all of the initial comments, Kanye West took a wrong and sincerely attempted to make it right.
He did not equivocate or make excuses. He took responsibility for his words and rescinded them.
It takes a big man to do this.
It also takes a big man to forgive. I suspect President Bush will forgive Kanye West because Mr. Bush deeply believes in the Christianity that his secular detractors despise. Christianity is not just about social political issues. It is a set of values, and President Bush honestly adheres to those values. So forgiving Kanye West is consistent with his character.
Character…that is what matters in the long run.
That is what we want to teach our children and future generations.
I would like to thank Kanye West for being a big enough man to admit that he was wrong about President Bush. We can disagree about politics without being enemies, and Kanye’s own experiences have showed him this.
This is what life, and life experiences, are about.
So if Kanye West can grow from this, and President Bush can forgive him, can’t we all give each other a little more slack before we rush to impugn the motives of people and their hearts just because we disagree?
If the answer is yes, then Kanye West and President Bush have given us a valuable lesson for the ages.
That is what a teachable moment is all about.
eric
Its one of those days where words fail.
If you’re in a drive thru, catch the vets tab behind you. Buy em a brewsky, American brewsky unless requested. Vist a cemetary with flowers for no one vet in particular
Shake all their hands if you have walk across the parking lot to do so.
Any a$$holes diminishing them for any reason will suffer the most humiliation I can impose on them.
These heroes are the true perpetuation of a better humanity.
Pray to God that Obama says as little as possible today. Its gotta come from the heart, not the prompter
“A real teachable moment occurs when an individual points out how they can improve themselves.”
No, a “real teachable moment” is any situation we can learn from, not just one in which an antagonist or protagonist or some third party “can improve themselves.”
“Mr. West is black, and he accused President Bush of racism. He even had a line in one of his songs that said, “George W Bush doesn’t care about black people.” It was a disgusting accusation, especially for a president who took great pride in being the first president to have a black Secretary of State, black National Security Council Head, and Black Deputy Attorney General.”
Oh please. That’s like when people say, “Oh, now don’t get me wrong here… I have three black friends!”
I think Kanye, like myself, realizes that Bush, given what we all know about him from over the years, is probably not a particularly racist or bigotted person. He always seemed uncomfortable when assuaging the the social conservatives, for example. He moved way over top the Right when he became president, and it seemed like he was never comfortable with that either. For whatever his better or lesser angels, I personally never thought of Bush as being motivated by racial prejudice. Sure, I don’t think he’s the brightest bulb in the box, but often is the case that simple people are pretty reasonable when it comes to such matters. I think Kayne realizes, at least now, that Bush was never motived by racial prejudice – any failings on Bush’s part when it comes to minorities were the product of a rather dumb person taking advice from some rather scummy people.
The lesson here should be that we shouldn’t assume much about George W. Bush. He never really ran the country anyway.
JMJ
“He never really ran the country anyway.”
Then stop blaming him for every damn thing under the sun ya hypocrite
Micky,
As a grown man, you should realize that when people say things like “Bush did this” or “Bush did that” they mean the Bush administration, the GOP, the elements of the corporatocracy with them, the GOP congress, etc. It’s a condensation, Micky, a digest. Not a literal referral.
Go ahead, ask most most people if they really believe Bush was really on top of things as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief. No sane, literate, educated person would say ‘yes.’ He obviously wasn’t capable of feeling the weight of the office. The man was barely qualified to run a gas station.
JMJ
“As a grown man, you should realize that when people say things like “Bush did this” or “Bush did that” they mean the Bush administration, the GOP, the elements of the corporatocracy with them, the GOP congress, etc. It’s a condensation, Micky, a digest. Not a literal referral.”
Dont give me that “grown man”: bull.
You’re on record countless times blaming him explicitly for everything.
“He obviously wasn’t capable of feeling the weight of the office. The man was barely qualified to run a gas station.’
Which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for the present CIC whos never even operated a lemonade stand. Hell, he even wants the kids running them to pay income tax.
Really, grow the F up man and start giving people their due credit aside from acting like three monkeys Obama tested crack on.
The man saved millions of lives in Africa, responded with aid after tsunamis to our sworn enemies, took a decades old threat and became the first one to actually do somethinhg about them. Unlike Bambam has admitted his mistakes and cast blame on no one but himself.
Warned Frank and the 111th about the impending housing burst. Came up with TARP, under his administration was mostly paid back, which Obama embraced and then only continued to abuse to the point of tripling exisating debt and deficit.
Took out a notorious thug who for decades slaughtered people like chickens and performed countleess acts of war against us towhich both parties agreed required retaliation.
Your bigotry is astoundingly childish and ignorant
Brought us back from a post 911 recession in record time.
The schmuck cant even run his mouth without umpteen speech writers and teleprompters.
Off script, hes a bumbling buffon.
Tell, does a man qualify to run our country when he defines opposing American citizens as “enemies that need to be punished”
I suggest you use that supposed open liberal mind of yours and watch the three interviews, Oprah, Matt Lauer, and Oreilly and then tell me hes not qualified.
Half the country right now wants him back if anything the left flipping on extending his tax cuts.
If he didnt know how to run the country then why after his first security briefing did Obama embrace and expand the Bush predator drone program, expanding the patriot act, and enlarging Homeland securitys reach ?
“No, a “real teachable moment” is any situation we can learn from, not just one in which an antagonist or protagonist or some third party “can improve themselves.”
Obama was the third party being taught.
With no improvement but to act “stupidly”
If this were absolutely true y’all wouldnt of had your butts handed to you.
None of you learned a thing