West's Disgust with Obama Should Not Make Him a Pariah

[NorthCarolina]

OpEdNews.com:Kevin Gosztola

Melissa Harris-Perry, a contributor to The Nation, chose to critique the words of Cornel West. Her critique was one of the top articles published yesterday.

<snip>

In her critique, she glosses over the appointment of his "neoliberal economic team," which included Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner. She doesn't address the appointment of neo-imperial elites like Dennis Ross. She ignores one of his most damning charges, which is that President Obama, like former President Bill Clinton, has helped to renew Americans' faith in the American project--presumably the same project the Bush Administration was expanding--through the use and exploitative manipulation of progressive populist language.

The urgency to West's words is disregarded entirely. That West appears to be genuinely distressed by the fact the greed of "Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats" persists and a "serious discussion about public interest and common good that sustains any democratic experiment" hasn't happened seems to be of little concern to Harris-Perry.

There would be little reason to mention these details, which are overlooked, if it weren't for the fact that it is articles like this, especially ones coming from respectable and well-educated individuals like Harris-Perry, that have the power to turn people like West into a pariah. And, turning outspoken critics on the left into pariahs when they become too critical of power is something the liberal class in this country has managed to do for the past decades.

<snip>

Link to full article: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Cornel-West-s-Disgust-with-by-Kevin-Gosztola-110518-626.html

[pnwmom]

1. Not this again. West is a self-important blowhard, sitting in an ivory tower.

As a tenured Princeton professor, he can spout off as he wishes, but no one needs to take him seriously.

[NorthCarolina]

3. Maybe you don't, but I personally believe he raised some very valid points

that continually fail to be addressed in the process of attempting to bring him down. Obviously because the comments are valid and indefensible.

[pnwmom]

5. People were addressing his points the first, second, and tenth time

someone posted an OP about his statement. Eventually, it gets old.

[Donnachaidh]

8. addressing them by making snide comments about ivory towers?

That kind of *addressing* must have been learned on the other site that cannot be named.

Congrats! Sink a bit lower next time, shall we? :sarcasm:

[pnwmom]

10. No, that was just me, now. Other people have been more patient

through all the postings of the same article.

But if there has ever been an ivory tower, it's Princeton.

[emilyg]

16. Yes he did.

[That Guy 888]

22. "Not this again" is exactly how I felt about all the anti-West posts in GD: P n/t

[Doctor Hurt]

2. it shouldn't make him at all relevant either

.

[scarletwoman]

4. Thank you for posting this. The liberal fatwa against West makes me sick.

Oh yeah, I rec'd this, but it stayed at zero.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Donnachaidh]

7. I'll second that thanks

Makes one wonder, if both men objecting to lack of access thought about the fact that while they felt they were being shut out - someone in the administration was paying enough attention to them to catch the negative comments.

THAT is more bothersome than the actual charges. And does not reflect well on the administration. It's a slimyness that should be pointed out whenever possible.

[OwnedByFerrets]

13. I'm with you on this.

[DirkGently]

18. Don't think it's liberals, per se, going after West.

[Number23]

20. For God's sake

"Liberal fatwa?" :eyes:

West made some truly disgusting, bigoted, idiotic comments. He has been getting his ass handed to him right and left from black academics and journalists and even a boatload of white academics and journalists too who are nothing short of disgusted by his petty, ridiculous, pseudo-telepathic ("he fears free black men") comments. And I am damn glad he is.

If anyone has a problem with this president, focus on his policies. When we delve into "the president never called me back because he fears free black men" bullshit, prepare to be skewered which is EXACTLY what is happening. This whole "we can disparage every single element of this president (including his skin color/biology/upbringing) but God forbid anyone criticize the criticizers" is simply stupid. If anyone has "fatwa'd" West to use your language, he "fatwa'd" his own ass.

[bhikkhu]

9. If he didn't make race such an issue...

I'd be more receptive.

[snagglepuss]

12. That is where West shot himself in the foot. Utterly dumb to mention

color or race. That said I agree with the statements about Obama and plutocrats.

[applegrove]

11. I wonder if the feud with West will hurt or help Obama in 2012?

[hay rick]

14. K&R

[VeryConfused]

15. Agreed, the rank stupidity and racism of his comments should make him a pariah

[DirkGently]

17. Salon got this one right. West's invective was too personal. His points cannot easily be dismissed.

Edit: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/index.html

[Number23]

21. An interesting read. Thanks for that

"The only good thing about the fracas is that maybe, finally, America will learn that there's no monolithic "black community" and no one set of black leaders: The diversity of African-American opinions about the West-Obama tangle has been fascinating. And the ways that race comes into play when debating the achievements of our first black president shouldn't be surprising. But it's starting to obscure more than it reveals."

Walsh is right, we are no monolith and never have been. But on this particular issue, West's comments have drawn almost universal condemnation from respected black writers/academics. For a multitude of different reasons, of course.

This part is divine:

"The saddest thing is, West thinks of himself as a great left-wing universalist. "This discussion is in no way about me, it has to do with poor and working people having low priority in US governmental policy," he Tweeted Tuesday, as his words ignited a firestorm. Yet he critiqued the president in deeply personal and racial terms -- and now he himself is critiqued the same way. Maybe it's justice."

[MasonJar]

19. I repsect both of them, West and Harris-Perry. In fact I respect them

more than Obama.

[guruoo]

23. Obama's paying the price for not allowing West the level of attention West felt he deserved....

Thursday, May 19, 2011 09:01 ET
Cornel West's tragic meltdown
A few fair complaints about Obama drown in a sea of personal racial attacks. Is this how identity politics ends?

Much has been made of the personal pique that animated West's attack on the president: How dare the bellhop at
West's hotel Inaugural Weekend wind up with tickets to the event itself when West didn't? How could Obama stop
returning his calls? West's animus was impossible to miss, and it clearly drove the awful, ad hominem anger of
West's invective.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/index.html