Liberals’ Attacks on Cornel West Expose Their Political Bankruptcy

[snagglepuss]

snip


Cornel West is a hero—absolutely, unequivocally a hero. And he is one of the few heroes the Left has today. Unfortunately, that has never stopped liberals from throwing them under the bus.


snip


Liberals should be much more concerned about the innumerable ghosts of the victims of their leader’s (Obama's) policies ...


snip


The fact of the matter is West’s heated criticisms of Obama are the logical result of a morally consistent human being seeing the horrors for which the Obama administration has been responsible.


snip


For starters, the idea that West loathes Obama is incredibly misguided. West is the polar opposite of a hate-filled person; he constantly speaks of love, and firmly opposes Obama’s reactionary policies, not his being. In a 2014 interview on Democracy Now, West in fact remarked of Obama, “when I say when I love the brother, it means we have to tell the truth about him.”


snip


The evidence overwhelmingly shows that Cornel West is absolutely correct in his insistence that Obama “posed as a progressive and turned out to be counterfeit. We ended up with a Wall Street presidency, a drone presidency.” This presidency is also built upon the expansion of murderous imperialism in the Middle East, upon the adoption of neoliberal trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) (often described as “NAFTA on steroids”), upon the mass deportation and inhumane and illegal internment of millions of Latino immigrants and refugees, upon the privatization of prisons, upon the McCarthyist crackdown on whistleblowers, and more.





http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/21/liberals-attacks-on-cornel-west-expose-their-political-bankruptcy/

[JoePhilly]

1. Yawn.

[snagglepuss]

4. Yawn? Really? Yawn in the face of the fact prison privatisation is related to increased black

incarceration?

[JoePhilly]

7. Yea ... the instance you refer to the "ghosts of (Obama's) victims" ...

... you've lost any credibility on whatever point you think you are trying to make ... and its clear the rest will be unhinged ranting.

And I tend to lose interest in that nonsense pretty quickly.

[snagglepuss]

14. That is a quote from the article which if you read it you would

know it relates to an MSNBC piece entitled “The Ghost of Cornel West” which Nortons refers to:

The MSNBC analyst’s essay “The Ghost of Cornel West” exemplifies what is precisely the problem with liberals. They will side (and gleefully, at that) with neoliberal leaders who consider the lives of people in the Global South less valuable than those of Westerners, who wage genocidal wars, and who destroy economies with structural adjustment programs and odious debt, over radical justice-seekers because, in their myopic, ahistorical, and frankly ignorant view, it is “arguably more beneficial” to do so.

Liberals should be much more concerned about the innumerable ghosts of the victims of their leader’s policies than they are about the ghost of one of his most strident critics.

[bravenak]

27. Me too. Nap time.

[stevenleser]

42. This seems to be another thinly veiled attempt to tell the African American community what to think

The folks most upset at West and Smiley are the politically active folks here in Harlem.

They see through the B.S. and don't forget why West and Smiley got mad at Obama in the first place (inauguration seats) and they do not appreciate it.

[OKNancy]

2. yawn - counterpunch

[snagglepuss]

6. Yawn in face of the fact that Obama appointee Larry Summers recommended toxic waste

be shipped to the Global south.

[JoePhilly]

8. I almost want to ...

... show him this ...



... and then ask for him to point out where Obama touched him.

But I won't.

But it will be interesting to see how his list of Obama's evil deeds expands in this thread.

[sabrina 1]

40. Sorry not all AAs are going to allow the White Political Class to silence them

West never was someone who held back on speaking the truth. Not convenient to hear AAs speaking for themselves when it goes against the 'message' conjured up in the minds of those who are concerned ONLY about 'winning' whatever that is. Doesn't look like much has been won for AAs and West and other prominent AAs know this.

[mythology]

45. What is Obama's approval rating among blacks?

Last I saw it was in the mid80s. Based on that, can you claim that West is actually representing blacks better than Obama?

West is a hack with a vastly over inflated self worth.

[sabrina 1]

46. How many young, AAs are polled at all in this 'dem base' polls? Do you know?

Anyone young, not registered to vote, without a landline, not on the 'list' of registered Dems which is now down to just 32% of registered voters, and what % of those voters are AA and what % of that % of all AAs in the country is that?

Most young people I know have never been polled eg. However my MIL was polled on a regular basis, due to the fact that she fit the description I outlined above of those who are even on the pollsters radar, longtime registered Dem, landline.

Do you know how many AAs are NOT registered, how many are Repubs, how many are Independents?? A whole lot more than the small number who ARE registered Dems and who have landlines.

[JaneyVee]

3. Oddly enough....

Most of the liberals I see that loathe West are black liberals.

[stevenleser]

43. Yep, see my #42 above. nt

[Renew Deal]

5. What makes West a hero?

[snagglepuss]

9. Talking truth to power, and doing so knowing full well that

his condemnation of Obama's policies would make him an object of contempt of many of his brothers and sisters in the AA community.

[Renew Deal]

10. That doesn't make him a hero

That makes him no different than anyone on DU. He's not putting out fires, landing planes in he river, or saving lives by giving healthcare to millions. That's heroic.

[snagglepuss]

15. West does not make his statements anonymously so he is nothing like

99% of DUers. The definition of hero

1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

2.a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal:



West heroism resides in his morally consistency, if you recall West was a vociferous supporter of Obama but changed his position once he saw the Obama admin take shape and set course. His outspoken criticism of Obama has come at a great personal cost, the fact that he continues to speak truth to power in face of immense hostility from his own community is heroic because standing up publicly, not anonymously, through thick and thin, for one's principles is heroic.

[Renew Deal]

21. What great personal cost?

He's not a political prisoner. He still gets his bookings. He's just another Obama critic. If that's the criteria for heroism, Fox News is full of heroes. Being a critic of the president doesn't make one a hero. There are tons of Obama critics.

[JustAnotherGen]

31. Well said! Throw it!

[snagglepuss]

38. He is a public figure, one who once enjoyed high standing

among a wide number. That has changed now many who once revered him now revile him and to be reviled by one's own community is not something anyone of his stature would gladly seek. What public intellectual who is not on the Left has stood up for his or her principles in face of such hostility? I can't name one. Can you?

[uhnope]

11. Cornel West's Attacks on Obama Exposes His Political Bankruptcy

That's what you meant, right?

Or maybe:

Counterpunch's Salivating over Cornel West Exposes Their Political Bankruptcy

Actually, I think Counterpunch is strongly projecting when they talk about "Political Bankruptcy." Speaking of projection:

the "utter hilarity" of West's statements, writing that his comments are a "classic projection of his own comfortably ensconced life at Harvard and Princeton Universities" and that West "offers thin criticism of president Obama and stunning insight into the delicate ego of the self-appointed black leadership class".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornel_West#Views_on_Barack_Obama

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

13. Thanks for this. They are so transparent.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

12. Please! Ya'll didn't know shit about Cornel West until he started to hate on Obama and

embrace Bernie. He became a tool of liberals who hate the president. Prior to that, ya'll didn't know shit about the man.

Many of us, especially POC have studied West's work for many, many years. We know this man and we know his work.

He has become a caricature and he has lost credibility because he has allowed his personal hatred of President Obama to guide his every waking move in the last few years.

He's a charlatan.

[snagglepuss]

16. Bullshit. I read West years ago when I was studying William James.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. None of these liberals embraced West to this great extent UNTIL he started to diss Obama. TRUTH!

[snagglepuss]

20. You have no basis for that statement, however what is true is that

AAs embraced West until he stood by his principles and criticized Obama's policies.

[randys1]

32. Fact, there may be one or two out of THOUSANDS who knew who he was before he

went after Obama, but no more than that.

You are being lectured to again.

[snagglepuss]

35. From what hat do you pull your facts?

Since you state its a fact, please cite your source.

[m-lekktor]

18. what a steaming crock of horseshit, I bought his book Race Matters when it first came out.

I used to watch him on C-SPAN and political chat shows he appeared on in the 90's as did many others on the left. Anybody on the left who has followed politics for awhile has heard about him or seen him speak at events!. Low information people who only participate or follow simplistic binary partisan politics might not have heard of him but activist leftists who have been around most certainly have. Obama supporters only started hating him for the same reason they hate anybody who criticizes Obama.

your post is truly ridiculous!

[whatchamacallit]

23. I half agree with this

I used to love him on the original Crossfire (Braden, Buchanan/Novak). I thought he was an important voice. Still do in some regards. But I think his animus for Obama has gotten the best of him.

[zappaman]

30. I have to agree with that.

It sucks to see it.

[reddread]

37. he was especially well known to whites

if only because the list of non-white national political figures is not coincidentally shorter than it should be.
perhaps another needs removing, and the list shortened?
Have we hit zero?
Are right wing alternatives preferred subjects for respectful discussion?

[zappaman]

22. What a sad, angry little man.

[snagglepuss]

25. Sad and angry that a man he supported didn't support whistleblowers,

Sad and angry

...about the victims of Obama’s drone war, which Chomsky calls “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times”; about Obama’s steadfast support for Israel during its summer 2014 massacre of over 2,300 Gazans, in which itintentionally targeted civilians; or about Obama’s mass deportations of over two million people—to name just a few of his positively reactionary policies

[zappaman]

28. No, a sad and angry little man

Who was so upset that he received one ticket to the 2009 inauguration instead of the requested three that afterward he compared Obama to Machiavelli.

Poor sad little man.

[SidDithers]

24. Ahahahah...

Ow. My sides. Please stop.



Sid

[reddread]

26. and Mumia

Its hard out there for racial justice hypocrites.

[still_one]

29. Cornel West speaks for Cornel West. Other commentators have different perspectives

[Sunlei]

33. What? Who attacks Cornel West? I love his quotes, they blast right through layers of boring media.

I always thought Obama was a moderate

[Zorra]

36. Professor West is an extremely intelligent individual, who

is not afraid to speak his mind no matter how unpopular his observations may make him among conservatives of all stripe.

[Drunken Irishman]

39. Do you agree with West that Obama is first niggerized president?

Do you think Obama is just Kenny G in black face?

[geek tragedy]

41. trash thread. "Brother West" can go Cheney himeslf nt

[sufrommich]

44. Cornel West: every Obama haters "black friend". nt

[DemocraticWing]

47. He's a leader in the Democratic Socialists of America

That's the closest thing we have to a leftist organization in the Democratic Party (well, they're kind of half-in, half-out) so I respect his opinions on a lot of things. I give Obama more credit than he does however.