Kanye's getting into politics.
By interrupting Taylor Swift's VMA acceptance speech last night, the ill-mannered rapper's placed himself, oddly enough, in the company of Joe Wilson.
Wilson, you'll recall, interrupted President Obama's health care speech last week, shouting "You lie!" inside the congressional chamber.
And don't forget Wilson's buddy in right wing arms, Illinois congressman Rep. John Shimkus, who left in anger in the middle of the speech.
What's interesting about both these interruptions is they both play on a childish need for attention -- they obfuscate the facts at hand with self-aggrandizement and emotional horn tooting.
Regardless of your politics, conservative reaction against Obama's healthcare plans have tended toward the sensational. Men carrying assault rifles to rallies. Tea parties. Senior citizen death squads.
Like conservatives, Kanye's M.O. is outrageous spectacle. You can rely on Kanye to make a scene and change the conversation. To him, any attention is good attention.
And so the VMAs last night presented a bizarro-world corollary to our current political climate.
As for Wilson, he apologized. So did Kanye.
We're all still waiting on Shimkus.
Below, a video mashup of Obama's speech and Kanye's antics. Enjoy.
