With so many celebrities using Hurricane Katrina to get their own names back into the news, you didn't really expect a talented self-promoter like Kanye West to sit this one out, did you?

In case you missed last night's Red Cross telethon on NBC, West deviated from his scripted comments to lash out at as many people as he could for anything and everything that's gone wrong in the wake of the devastating storm:

"I hate the way they portray us in the media, if you see a black family it says they're looting, if you see a white family it says they're looking for food. And, you know, it's been five days. Because most of the people are black. And, even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite. Because, I've tried to turn away from the TV because it’s too hard too watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation. So, now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what's, what is the biggest amount I can give. And, and just to imagine if I was, if I was down there and those are, those are my people down there so anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help. With the set up, the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well off, as slow as possible. I mean, this is, Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war right now fighting another way and they, they've given them permission to go down and shoot us."

At that point, an understandably confused Mike Myers, who was paired with West for the on-camera segment, went back on script. As soon as Myers paused, however, West added one more thought:

"George Bush doesn't care about black people."

And with that NBC cut away to an obviously unprepared Chris Tucker (standing backstage in front of a refrigerator, no less) to kill time until the next musical act was ready to go.

It probably goes without saying that West's behavior was wholly inappropriate. That he would use a fundraiser aimed at providing relief for victims of the worst national disaster in our nation's history to pick a fight with politicians is just sad. A telethon needs to have the broadest appeal possible, and when one of the celebrity fundraisers turns a simple financial plea into a debate on racial politics, there is a huge risk that many people in the audience (i.e., potential DONORS) will be alienated. (Besides, as Anderson Cooper so compellingly illustrated on Thursday, CNN is the proper place for picking fights with politicians these days.)

In the end, regardless of his message or its impact, all Kanye West did was make sure that everyone would be talking about HIM today. And if they're talking about him, maybe they'll buy his new CD, which just hit stores Tuesday.

But as much as I want to condemn West completely, I can't. Why? Because his self-promotion was no worse than that conducted by the Red Cross throughout the NBC broadcast.

From start to finish, last night's telethon was less a fundraiser than an excuse for the Red Cross to pat itself on the back over and over again. Every single celebrity on the broadcast (except West) went on at length about how the Red Cross had rescued and fed virtually every single person in the American South. The videotaped stories "reported" by various celebrities ostensibly told of the storm's destruction, but each concluded with footage of Red Cross volunteers somehow saving the day (again!) while Faith Hill or Jimmy Smits tried to make us cry. And every single person on the broadcast had a gigantic Red Cross logo pinned as close to their faces as possible, thus insuring that the logo would be featured prominently in every single camera shot.

At one point, they even brought out the chairperson of the Red Cross so she could use words like "best" and "greatest" to describe her own organization while accepting a golf-tournament sized check from New York governor George Pataki.

Given just how badly things have gone in New Orleans and other areas since the storm hit, no one involved in this relief effort has any business congratulating itself just yet. To do so now is not just in poor taste, it's downright dishonest.

West was the only person to deviate from the Red Cross's tightly scripted message of sunshine, and NBC promptly cut him off. And then edited the broadcast for west coast audiences.

I don't doubt that the Red Cross does wonderful work. The world is truly a better place because of them. But when their organization resorts to self-congratulations and other cheap marketing ploys to raise money, it makes me a little sick to my stomach. After all, the goal of such tactics, at least when used by for-profit companies, is typically to instill brand name recognition so that consumers will buy their product -- and not those of their competitors. Translate that to the Red Cross efforts, and I get the distinct impression that they want to make sure that anyone who donates to the relief effort only does so through the Red Cross, and not through other relief organizations. That's hardly the humanitarian outlook I'd expect from the Red Cross.

So at a time when even our nation's leading non-profit groups are using a natural disaster as an opportunity for self-promotion, maybe I should cut Kanye West some slack.

Today's AP Entertainment wire provides evidence that a certain rapper's perception of his influence in the world may be a bit overblown...

Or maybe this guy is that powerful.

Maybe gay rights activists will slowly realize that they've wasted two decades on protests and community initiatives when they could have achieved all their goals years ago simply by asking Kanye West.

And perhaps Bush protester Cindy Sheehan is not visiting her sick mother, but is actually meeting with Mr. West to request that he end the war in Iraq.

My petition for an audience with Kanye is currently pending. I plan to ask him to make Australian TV viewers stop relegating Suzie McNeil to the bottom three every week on "Rock Star: INXS."

And for world peace. Of course.

[Yahoo! News] Kanye West Calls for End to Gay Bashing