Bishop Jakes gives Bush "street cred?"

So after Kanye and Nagin got down on the Presidents delay and symbolic visits and fly over.

From the Washington post. And I quote….

“Bush's day-long visit to the Gulf Coast came as his administration has been struggling to fend off a torrent of criticism from local and state officials in Louisiana, members of Congress and others for what they called a lethargic federal response to the deadly hurricane. Some critics say that impression was only deepened by Bush's visit to the region last week, during which Bush seemed tentative in his comments and was kept away from some of the most dire misery spawned by the storm.

Some civil rights leaders have questioned whether the response to the storm was hindered by the fact that many of those most severely impacted are poor and black -- a charge dismissed as preposterous by federal officials. In the face of the growing denunciations, top administration officials have fired back by blaming local officials for the inadequate response to the hurricane.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090500710.html

So now the most voluminous voice of black preachers in America has been called on by the president to give him street credibility. Street cred in hip hop means that you have been certified to have kept it real and that makes what you have to say more authentic. Either you went to jail, or sold drugs, lived in the ghetto, involved your self in some sort of crime etc. It translates into acceptance and higher sales. So in the president’s case he had to get the Bishop T.D. Jakes to hang out with him as he got a couple of more steps closer to New Orleans (Bush went to a small town outside of Baton Rouge today.) He had to come back again on Monday because after his visit on Friday he endured a firestorm of criticism over the weekend, the loudest coming from Kanye West. So he had to go back.

I can imagine the president saying. “Gonna say I don’t care about black people? Wait; let me get my boy T.D. Ask T.D. if I don’t care about black people. T.D. know.”

But the thing is he couldn’t actually respond to Kanye West that would be too much like acknowledging him. That would almost be like speaking to that lady camped out on his front lawn. (Is she still there?) Or sort of like actually going down to the NAACP convention and addressing them. And we all know that would be insane for this president. So I’ll get my friend the preacher to drop in with me. Can you say photo opp part 2?

Alright, I’m going to leave your president and your preacher alone.

I just can’t understand why these busses and care packages are being sent back to their states of origin without any evacuees on them?

I briefly mentioned Jesse Jackson yesterday, he was on MSNBC, he looked like he had lost a lot of weight and just didn’t look good physically. I barely paid any attention to what he said. But there was one thing that I agreed with Jesse on. Our people in these states are not refugees. Or are they Refugees? Refugees are people who have been forced out of their homes for political and economic reasons. You know there are still some people there who refuse to leave, that are determined to stick it out in their homes. One ‘rescue’ official told a New Orleans resident that has decided to stay in his home, “You’re going to have to leave, you can’t live in this city.”

I can’t help but wonder if that was the point.