(NewsNation) — Monday is World Mental Health Day, and because today we focus on mental health concerns, that is the only reason I see Kanye West as relevant to your interests.
Our top story of the day is the mass targeting of innocents by Russians in Ukraine, but we need to discuss why that is not an obvious choice if you survey other shows.
Kanye West is all over social media for making antisemitic remarks — he was suspended by Twitter — and my team was right to flag that he is a cudgel for the right versus the left.
But that is the game of fringe frenzy. Kanye is living proof of how we ignore people who are struggling and play them as kooky or odd, not ill.
Kanye is not to be taken seriously as a political player and certainly not as a political thinker. It is wrong to exploit his ravings and it is really wrong to ignore his bigotry.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita tweeted in support of the rapper, saying the media criticized him for “independent thinking.” Later, Rokita clarified and attempted to dissociate from Kanye’s antisemitic remarks.
See the game, change the game. It’s not independent thought because it’s convenient for you and your political battle. It’s hateful.
People should be saying that Kanye needs help. Period. What he said is ugly and he has a pattern of behavior that screams for help.
Today is World Mental Health Day, so let’s not play him as an article of convenience to keep this contagion of toxic political talk going. Let’s treat this day with respect and treat his situation as something that needs to be addressed.
Here, we’re not going to exploit it. We’re not going to ignore what matters.
And that’s why Kyiv should be top of mind for Americans. Russia just attacked innocents in major populated areas of Ukraine. They are still searching and counting the dead and injured.
Ukraine cannot be expected to take on Russia by itself. Yes, we gave them billions and a modest installment of weapons, but we dumped trillions into Iraq and Afghanistan and had thousands of troops on the ground for many years.
I have been there. Those places were never going to become a real democracy, and Russia is a far more dangerous foe than what we faced there.
I really worry that a significant reason Russia is ignored here is that there is some perverse notion by Republicans that if you see Russia as a threat, you are somehow conceding that the Democrats were right about them helping the former president.
Forget all that. This is about all of us battling back the Russians from rebuilding the Soviet Union, threatening the use of nuclear weapons and killing civilians.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not of NewsNation.
