Steve Jobs' September 7 product announcement concluded with a couple of songs from rapper Kanye West. So what? This isn't the first time Jobs has included musicians to help kick off a new product.

Back in July, I noted that Apple had continued to offer for free--for six months--Bright Eyes' "When The President Talks To God". I pointed out that this is considerably odd, considering that (a) most tracks get "free" status for only a week, which means Apple is encouraging download of this particular song above any other, (b) the song is flamingly politically extreme, and (c) the song contains profanity that wouldn't make it onto network television (come to think of it, Leno did actually bleep it).

After watching Kanye West's performance, I was left scratching my head once again. What is Apple thinking?

Here are the facts about Kanye West:

1. He performed "Gold Digger" and "All Falls Down", both of which contain profanity so foul that I won't repeat it here, even in censored form.

2. Just 5 days before the Apple event, Kanye West said during a televised concert that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" and "They've [presumably government leadership] given them [presumably the National Guard] permission to go down and shoot us [presumably black people]." (The latter comment was not aired.) I'm not surprised to hear a black rapper say that George Bush doesn't care about black people, because people spout that tired line all the time. However, actually stating that the Guard has been instructed to shoot black people sets West aside as truly whacked out.

So, Apple has once again, in a vastly more public way, aligned itself with a politically extreme musician who expresses himself using profanity (and even did so during the Apple event). Either Apple is whacked, or the whole world is going to pot.

Or both.

The only thing that is more surprising to me than Apple's indiscretion is the lack of a conservative backlash.

Oh, by the way, "When The President Talks To God" is still free, after almost 8 months.