Go Man (Up), Young West!

Most of us will say that we considered our parents wrong about everything when we were young, but that our assessment did a one-eighty by the time we reached 25, or thereabouts. I, on the other hand, haven't changed my assessment at all. The things I thought my parents were right about then, I still think they were right today. For those times when I thought they were way out in left field... oh, no, I remain resolute.

There is one exception, however, and one only.

When I was in college, my Dad mused about the advent of what he called "sophisticated slobs." These were people with comfortable, even privileged upbringings, with advanced educations, whose manner in polite society and public discourse did not at all reflect such breeding. My old man, bless his heart, got bent out of shape over many things, but at one solitary moment in his life, he was very prophetic. (There was one other time, actually, and that's another story, but it happened while I was stuck in a car with him. I don't like to think about it.)

So the old man was right about guys like Kanye West, who interrupted the acceptance speech of country-crossover artist 19-year-old Taylor Swift, at the MTV Video Music Awards, to go on a tear because he thought Beyonce's performance was superior. (The actual clip has been pulled due to a copyright claim by Viacom, obviously wanting a piece of the action. The closest we can find at this point can be seen by clicking here.) He had already blamed then-President Bush for not caring about the people of New Orleans, in the face of Hurricane Katrina. After all, what sane person would attribute anything adverse to the proud tradition of political corruption in Louisiana?

Now Kanye takes it to the next level, and brings a nineteen-year-old girl to tears on the most wonderful night of her life. It certainly takes a real man to upstage a girl barely more than half his age. Hopefully she won't be moved to chastise him publicly, because that would be racist.

These are people who make a lot of money, who wear the finest clothes, who eat at the finest restaurants, and who hire people to make damn sure you and I know all about it. If these poncy popinjays could spend just a year in finishing school during a formative part of their rise to fame -- we could settle for a weekend seminar on table manners at this point -- they would be far less likely to incur the wrath of their audiences in a moment of weakness.

They think they're "keeping it real," as in real dumb! In the meantime, someone has made an effort to pose a scenario which suggests that things could be worse. (H/T to "A.J.")
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