Before I get into it, let me begin with a few disclaimers.  Number 1, I usually don’t trust the government myself.  Number 2, it’s not an outlandish thought to feel Osama Bin Laden and similar figures have been somewhat mystified by the media with a “boogieman” status, in order to promote fear.  Number 3, this is not a knock on Mos Def as an artist/entertainer.

That all being said, check out this clip of Mos Def recently on Bill Maher’s HBO show.

Mos Def makes even less sense stoned than I do when I’m stoned.

He asks what al-Queda’s political objective is continuously throughout the segment.  Yet, his question is answered very early, at the :56 second mark.

At 4:26, Mos Def continues on trying to figure out what al-Qaeda’s goals are.  “It’s never been explained to me.”  He contradicts himself here.  He rants about not trusting the government or media, yet apparently he refuses to be proactive in a search for answers, and apparently just waits for them to fall into his lap.

At 5:25, he says he doesn’t believe the translations on Bin Laden videos.  I’m sure nobody in the United States speaks Arabic. If it were inaccurate, the real translation would clearly come out.  I think it’s far-reaching to believe the U.S. edited the original Arabic, in order to make Bin Laden say what we want before we translate his words.  In any event, that wasn’t even an argument Mos Def made.

At 6:50, he boasts about not being afraid to have an “unpopular idea.”  Then Chris Hitchens asks Mos to articulate what that idea is, leaving the hip hop artist bewildered.

The truth is Mos Def doesn’t really know anything about politics.  Throughout this segment he shows off his ignorance, and lack of any research done prior to his appearance on the show.

While I might not know the exact difference/relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, I’m not on TV attempting to intelligently discuss ‘em.