Kanye West says he’s running for president.
This is not a drill.
On Sunday, at the end of a long, rambling speech at the MTV Video Music Awards, the iconic rapper added a throwaway line. “I have decided in 2020 to run for president,” he said.
Now, it’s easy to dismiss this as Kanye being Kanye. Plus, we’ve already seen faux candidates such as Deez Nuts and Waka Flocka Flame dominate the news this campaign cycle.
But if Donald Trump can run for president and be treated seriously, why not Kanye?
Politics itself is no longer being taken seriously in America. It’s no longer a profession — it has become a gimmick, a punch line and a farce.
In 2008, John McCain’s campaign ran a commercial comparing Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The insinuation was that Obama’s campaign was more style than substance and that his campaign was centered on his celebrity status rather than real ideas. I wonder what kind of attack ads we’ll see leveled against Donald Trump this time around.
Part of this trend is that Americans are fed up with politicians. With their canned statements, fake public personae and corrupt dealings, politicians are being transformed from the public’s leaders to public enemy number one. A recent poll showed that the two leading candidates for president in the first Republican nomination contest are nonpoliticians.
At least Dr. Ben Carson is a retired, world-renowned neurosurgeon. All Trump seems to do is put his name on buildings.
The darker side of this trend is that we are becoming a society bent on instant gratification, crippled by short attention spans and willing to be reduced to the lowest common denominator. How else can you explain the Trump phenomenon?
Politics doesn’t have to be boring. Some of the best moments our leaders have are when they can entertain as well as inform. But we should take this stuff somewhat seriously — after all, we are electing people to make critical decisions for us.
America has a long history of entertainers, clowns, carnival barkers and nutjobs being elected to political office. But one would think that trend would taper off as our society evolved, not increase as shine increasingly distracts the populace.
So go ahead, Kanye. Run for president. But speak some truth, like you did when you addressed institutional racism after Katrina. Or you could just be Trump's vice presidential nominee this time around.