Is 50 Cent A Republican?

prodigal sun
November 2 2005, 1:16PM

50 is an opportunist. This comment is just to keep him in the public eye. Just like the comment he said about Kanye being famous because of him. He said that peeps were looking for something less controversial after his stuff came out, and Kanye capitalized on that. So without him, Kanye wouldnt be where his is today...

Yeah... ummm... that makes sense.

Since those statements didnt create the buzz he wanted, maybe he is trying again.

Kenneth Winfrey
November 2 2005, 1:41PM

The White House is as (if not, more) opportunistic as "50."

I don't put it past the White House's spin machine to have paid either "50" or Brittany Spears to speak on their behalf. They are both virtual archetypes of the two largest ethnic groups in America. Both would appear to have great influence among their races. However, like the President they defend, neither are known for intelligence.

Both remarks are a display of the lack of insight they have. As "leaving the President alone" would cause the shutdown of most of the media outlets in the country, no one ever questioned the "cause" of the hurricane as much as the way assistance was provided in its aftermath. Anyway, how can the millions of fans both Kanye and "50" have who live disenfrachised lives and miss their soldier loved ones each day feel good about this President? I certainly don't expect anyone from NO to take even a 50-cent bus ride to let Bush off the hook.

If the White House really did tap "50" as a PR puppet, I'd hate to think that they see him as an effective counter-balance for the much more enlightened Kane. It's hard to believe that all the same people (like I) who identify with West would also identify with "50." Maybe many of us do--but for the millionth time, we're not all exactly alike!

I'm not totally pessimistic though. Maybe this will cause his fans to enter the dialog on Bush. Even if they are defending Bush, it'll be better than the apathy we've seen so far.

alicia banks
November 2 2005, 1:44PM

"50"is his IQ

what a blinded-by-bling, brazen, thuggish, rabid fool...

50 cannot touch Kanye in ANY way!!!

chi town rules always

peace
ab

nellyneld
November 2 2005, 2:06PM

50 cents is all brawn and no brains.

milife
November 2 2005, 3:26PM

Is 50 cent a Republican? So what if he is. Is there anywhere in the constitution that blacks or rappers always have to align themselves with the democratic party. Give me a break people. Who cares. Freedom of choice still exists.

James
November 2 2005, 3:37PM

Ooh. I hope he is a Republican, because I definitely don't want him to be a Democrat. ;-)

Roger
November 2 2005, 4:36PM

Hopefully, after insulting the poor city in such a way, maybe he won't subject them to another one of his crappy concerts.

Mark Norris
November 2 2005, 4:45PM

As usual five dimes has me a bit confused. He said that Kanye shouldn't blame George Bush for the Hurricane. I don't remember Kanye blaming Mr. Bush for the Hurricane, he blamed him for not responding quick enough.

What a ignorant (trying to be a man) gangsta.
Mark

guyinthestuy
November 2 2005, 5:01PM

So what if he is a Republican ... it's not a requirement for black folks ... is it?

Cool
November 2 2005, 5:45PM

Damn, you folks all drink from the same kool-aid canteen, or somethin'?

Kanye West sounded like a shuddering fool when he stood there and said Bush "don't care about black people."

It was a totally unfounded and unprofessional knee-jerk remark.

I ain't no big fan of 50 cents. He's a Tupac wannabe if you ask me. But the man has a point. Which, I surprised he's capable of.

That don't make him a republican. He’s just someone willing to think for his damn self without walk'n lock step to the beat of predictable black bellyaching.

So, what flava was the kool-aid?

Grape cyanide?

Try think'n for your damn self. It wouldn't hurt.

cool
November 2 2005, 5:49PM

Listen to this idiot:

Subject: DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT..FROM A BLACK PREACHER

Moral poverty cost blacks in New Orleans

By Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson

Say a hurricane is about to destroy the city you live in. Two questions:

What would you do?

What would you do if you were black?

Sadly, the two questions don't have the same answer.

To the first: Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.

For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina has told us the answer to the second question. If you're black and a hurricane is about to destroy your city, then you'll probably wait for the government to save you. This was not always the case. Prior to 40 years ago, such a pathetic performance by the black community in a time of crisis would have been inconceivable. The first response would have come from black men. They would take care of their families, bring them to safety, and then help the rest of the community. Then local government would come in.

No longer. When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results.

Enter Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. Jackson and Farrakhan laid blame on "racist" President Bush.

Farrakhan actually proposed the idea that the government blew up a levee so as to kill blacks and save whites.

The two demanded massive governmental spending to rebuild New Orleans, above and beyond the federal government's proposed $60 billion. Not only that, these two were positioning themselves as the gatekeepers to supervise the dispersion of funds. Perfect: Two of the most dishonest elite blacks in America, "overseeing" billions of dollars. I wonder where that money will end up.

Of course, if these two were really serious about laying blame on government, they should blame the local one.

Responsibility to perform legally and practically fell first on the mayor of New Orleans. We are now all familiar with Mayor Ray Nagin the black Democrat who likes to yell at President Bush for failing to do Nagin's job. The facts, unfortunately, do not support Nagin's wailing. As the Washington Times puts it, "recent reports show [Nagin] failed to follow through on his own city's emergency-response plan, which acknowledged that thousands of the city's poorest residents would have no way to evacuate the city."

One wonders how there was "no way" for these people to evacuate the city. We have photographic evidence telling us otherwise. You've probably seen it by now the photo showing 2,000 parked school buses, unused and underwater. How much planning does it require to put people on a bus and leave town, Mayor Nagin?

Instead of doing the obvious, Mayor Nagin (with no positive contribution from Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the other major leader vested with responsibility to address the hurricane disaster) loaded remaining New Orleans residents into the Superdome and the city's convention center. We know how that plan turned out.

About five years ago, in a debate before the National Association of Black Journalists, I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years. The audience, shall we say, disagreed with me strongly. Now I have to disagree with me. I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder.

President Bush is not to blame for the rampant immorality of blacks. Had New Orleans' black community taken action, most would have been out of harm's way. But most were too lazy, immoral and trifling to do anything productive for themselves.

All Americans must tell blacks this truth. It was blacks' moral poverty not their material poverty that cost them dearly in New Orleans. Farrakhan, Jackson, and other race hustlers are to be repudiated they will only perpetuate this problem by stirring up hatred and applauding moral corruption. New Orleans, to the extent it is to be rebuilt, should be remade into a dependency-free, morally strong city where corruption is opposed and success is applauded. Blacks are obligated to help themselves and not depend on the government to care for them. We are all obligated to tell them so.

The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is founder and president of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, and author of "Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America."

cmoney
November 2 2005, 5:59PM

Is this really worth a response? At one time it was preachers and protestors like Rosa Parks who were worth listening to. Now we have to put up with politics from rappers who couldn't make it as drug dealers?! God help us.

J
November 2 2005, 8:04PM

I think 50's comments have less to do with being a Republican or a Democrat and more to do with being a human being. The Hurricane was a big disaster. The response could/should have been better. To suggest the response differed because of the color of skin has everything to do with political extremists on both sides. The reality of the situation is the New Orleans was not prepared and neither was FEMA. The latest look at the levee's show they've been badly designed for decades and that the jurisdiction for them is a mess. That's clearly something that's a long term local issue and has nothing to do with whichever President is in the White House. If a President should have done something about it, then the Democratic ones have been as guilty as the Republican ones over the years. Really, though, if you're the mayor of a city below sea level, I'd say its a major responsibility of your job to ensure those levee's are safe and sufficient - regardless of who's job it is to actually pay for and build them. So local heads should certainly roll on that point. For the approach of the disaster time period there is more blame to go around. Certainly FEMA could/should have had more things in place. Certainly the local government should have done more to get people out. Certainly those empty school buses now look like a huge missed opportunity - but were they even part of any disaster response plan that the city was supposed to have? I clearly remember in the day or so leading up to the hurricane that they were saying anyone going to the Superdome should take enough food and water to last 5 or 6 days. Afterwards thats pretty much how long it took to get those people out. So someone somewhere obviously knew it would take that long to get them out. Of course you can't expect all those people to be able to take that much food and water, or to even hear that they're supposed to in time - unless there had been prior advertising campaigns about what to do in the event of a hurricane. So then we get to afterwards. The normal handling of a hurricane is that the local government is in charge, and FEMA comes in with supplies and does what it is asked to do. In this case, neither side of that formula seems to have worked. The total failure/lack of communications seems to have been a major contributor. Many people blame the President for the National Guard taking so long to get in place - but the Governor is in charge of the National Guard and she refused to cede that power to federal authorities in this worse than usual case. FEMA clearly didn't have enough supplies in the area, or close enough, to get to the worst cases in the time needed. That is their major failing here as I see it. They also clearly weren't communicating well with local officials. I think you have to put blame on both sides for that. How long it took to get things in seems to fall across multiple reasons. There wasn't enough stuff close enough. The communications were a lot worse than usual post hurricane. The local officials didn't have experience dealing with such a major hurricans so weren't ready to ask FEMA the right questions and when FEMA wanted to take control, the Governor refused to cede any power to them. Not that FEMA would have done much better if it had been - they don't normally run these things either so are equally inexperienced at doing the states job.

In any case, overall I think you just have to admit there were lots of bad jobs done all round and blaming one person or saying it was a racial issue is just a cheap political shot and doesn't take into account any of the realities of the situation. If people were more willing to have a serious discussion of the problems that occured instead of all the mudslinging that is being done (including by you Keith) then perhaps a better and more complete solution would be reached before the next hurrican hits.

blacklatina
November 2 2005, 8:43PM

Mark Norris...I agree w/u 150%

Laura
November 2 2005, 8:57PM

lol anyone who parrots some big-house paid off Nazi lover like Jesse Lee Peterson has no business yapping about who drinks cool-aid.

Jesse Lee Peterson is like the Black character in the movie Shock Corridor, who stands on a stool and holds klan rallies in the halls of the insane asylum.

castiron
November 2 2005, 8:57PM

I agree with you,Cmoney. It's a sad day when what 50 cents has to say is the source of our critical debate. Let's take the discourse up a notch or two.

Laura
November 2 2005, 9:04PM

50 cent said, " "The New Orleans disaster was meant to happen. It was an act of God,""

well, i sure hope he meant that in the "insurance company" way and not literally...

christians so often revert back to their greek and roman roots, where gods cause earthquakes and floods and famines because humans displease them in some way.

next, he'll be saying the iraq war was sent by god to get rid of a few humans he was tired of (Illiad reference).

after 6000 years on earth, people are still believe the craziest things.

jazzi
November 2 2005, 9:36PM

Right on, J! I really don't think this is a "race" issue as much as it is an issue of not being prepared. Add to that just plan ol' incompetence. It's just like 9/11. The government had prior warnings that terrorist were planning a major strike in this country, something to do with airplanes, but the warnings went unheeded. Then afterward, my girl Condi said something like "Well, no one really expected them to crash airplanes into buildings".
Well, Condi girl, guess what?

I, like J, feel that there's more than enough blame to go around & a lot of it rest with that impotent, limp wrist, punk ass, dumb as dirt mayor & that ninny of a governer down there. They were the first line of defense & they were terribly unprepared. Because of that, many lives were lost. The government didn't respond quickly enough & didn't really seem to have a solid plan when they did. Our very illustrious president, God love him, was as lost in the sauce as usual. No one was prepared & it really doesn't make sense because they all knew what was coming & how severe this hurricane would be.

As for 50, I don't care whether he's a republican, democrat, or liberal. I have zero respect for him & his kind. They glorify a mindset that is destroying our youth. He can go straight to hell. I know Kanye is considered a socially conscious rapper. Maybe he is but if he uses the n word in his lyrics then fuck him, too.

Forever Barri
November 2 2005, 11:11PM

50 Cent obviously knows the power of the media. What better way to rouse feathers, cause controversy, get like-minded backing and exposure all at once? It’s done through the media of course. I mean, why else would we care about his personal opinion about a comment made by a fellow hip Hop artist, who apparently was using his right of freedom of speech? Why do we care? Besides, 50 Cent does not even see gay men as his equal. Why glorify his stance?

Forever Barri
November 2 2005, 11:12PM

50 Cent obviously knows the power of the media. What better way to rouse feathers, cause controversy, get like-minded backing and exposure all at once? It’s done through the media of course. I mean, why else would we care about his personal opinion about a comment made by a fellow hip Hop artist, who apparently was using his right of freedom of speech? Why do we care? Besides, 50 Cent does not even see gay men as his equal. Why glorify his stance?

Laura
November 3 2005, 2:42AM

50 cent demonstrates the typical uninformed conservative fatalist point of view..."The New Orleans Disaster was meant to happen".

no, it wasn't, dumb conservative piece o'crap.

he should stick with his stupid conservative i got mine, kill anyone else who threatens me lifestyle.

btw that limp wrist punk ass mayor was a conservative-lover republican donor until 3 years ago. and kathleen blanco is just another DLC conservative trying to pose as a republican.

read more at Black Commentator to see how she got elected in redneck central Louisiana.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/65/65_cover_louisiana.html

Laura
November 3 2005, 2:43AM

"and kathleen blanco is just another DLC conservative trying to pose as a republican."

make that trying to pose as a democrat.

chris-leo
November 3 2005, 10:16AM

the problem with sound bites is that people are asked to respond to fragments of thoughts with other fragments of thoughts, and the intent gets lost.

i'm not a big fan of either of these two guys, BUT kanye west was referring to the federal order to shoot looters - that while relief was slow in coming and people were dying, the knee-jerk response of bush was to protect property instead of the people of new orleans - hence the phrase, "george bush doesn't care about black people."

so, then 50 responds not to what kanye said but to the sound bite of just that one sentence. then he doesn't even respond to it properly. he just spouted the pre-packaged karl rovean talking point about how bush didn't cause the hurricane, which was the GOP way of changing the subject and deflecting criticism during that time.

so, 50 wasn't thinking. he was opening his mouth and imitating what he'd heard coming out of a zillion mouths - on cue - during the disaster.

-chris-leo

Bill
November 5 2005, 5:54AM

50 Cent needs to take his rich, ignorant butt somewhere and sit down!!

Andre'
November 5 2005, 1:45PM

Who cares if 50 is a republican or not. He has a right to say what he wants to say. It's amazing how some blinded blacks feel that we all have to vote 1 way and support only 1 party. Even though that party has not even considered us for a leadership post its party.
By the way, when the position of leader of the minority party came up in the Congress do you know who the "ooh so caring for blacks" party chose?
A lillie white female from lillie white San Francisco, Nancy Polosi!!!
Can we at least get a leadership spot since we give you all our votes and we don't question your stupid decisions????

When will we ever learn to be independent and force both parties to give us candidates that will help us and not just play lip service to get our votes!!!!!!

dcdulce
November 5 2005, 4:40PM

50 cent, the britney spears of rap

Laura
November 5 2005, 9:31PM

"He has a right to say what he wants to say."

please point out where anyone said he doesn't.