"Progressive" Cornel West Takes A Victory Lap After Helping Elect Donald Trump

[DonViejo]

He's so gleeful that Hillary lost he's actually downplaying Trump's planned white nationalist government as "just another ugly moment."

JUSTIN ROSARIO 2 HOURS AGO

There are three groups of people that are pushing the laughably false narrative that Trump was elected by white people suffering from "economic anxiety":

1. Republicans because it allows them to pretend they have not become the party of authoritarian white nationalism.

2. The "liberal" media because it allows them to avoid discussing the fact that the GOP has become the party of authoritarian white nationalism.

3. The anti-Hillary far left because, frankly, they're fucking assholes.

For an example of this third group, look no further than Cornel West, avowed foe of all things big "D" Democratic and enabler of Donald Trump:

The neoliberal era in the United States ended with a neofascist bang. The political triumph of Donald Trump shattered the establishments in the Democratic and Republican parties – both wedded to the rule of Big Money and to the reign of meretricious politicians.

West is one of those insipid "Both parties are the same" types that just happily cut off their nose to spite their face. If that sounds mean and condescending, let West explain his myopia to you himself:

more
http://thedailybanter.com/2016/11/cornel-west-donald-trump/

[LenaBaby61]

1. We won't be ...

Hearing much of anything from this myopic clown from here on out because his agenda is DEAD for the most part for the very near future.

He's as irrelevant as that other myopic clown Susan Sarandon is now.

[TrekLuver]

2. I don't even want to read what he has to say...some alt left nut...OK so don't be a Democrat...

you do you baby and be what you want to be...geesh.

[WhiteTara]

3. Here's what most of the far left that I know, also believes

Conveniently disappeared is Obamacare, marriage equality, a stable and robust economy, the highly successful auto industry bailout, a trillion dollar reduction in the deficit, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Dodd-Frank and the crippling of shadow banking, drawing down the wars in the Middle East, the Iran Deal, the appointment of two reliably liberal Justices to the Supreme Court, and dozens of other concrete and important progressive successes. Why? Because Obama didn't address the issues West cares about the most. Therefore, Obama is no different than a Republican.

You remember Republicans, right? The guys that want to make abortion illegal, end Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and Social Security, and repeal every single regulation that keeps corporations from poisoning our food, water and air while setting the entire Middle East on fire? Yeah, Obama and the Democrats are just like them according to West and entirely too many on the far left.

Unsurprisingly, West endorsed the pro-Trump Jill Stein over lifelong liberal Hillary Clinton because the evils of Hillary's brand of pragmatic liberalism were somehow worse than the evils of Trump's promised authoriatrian white nationalism. He, of course, believes the dual fairy tales that Bernie would have beat Trump:

[DemonGoddess]

47. This!!!

thank you!

[question everything]

4. If everyone will ignore him will he finally crawl back into his own swamp? (nt)

[Paladin]

5. Fuck Cornel West. I hope to never see or hear him again. (nt)

[nevergiveup]

6. Cornel West

is all about Cornel West.

[BainsBane]

7. It's the culmination of money and politics

It hardly shattered it. We now have a pres elect brazenly using the office to further enrich himself.

[ericson00]

8. thanks a lot Bernie for giving this guy a national stage.

Cornel West is a communist who is a disgrace to academia. He is why it looks like a joke these days.

[world wide wally]

9. I never much liked him anyway.

He puts the pseudo in pseudo-intellectual and never says anything useful to anyone about anything

[ancianita]

12. Just not true. He's been a fine advocate for black people & the role of the church in their survival

His books have been highly informative to interested allies over decades.

[grantcart]

39. People in his field widely share the opinion that he has done little original work in the last

15 years.

He is widely seen as a "flash in the pan" academically. who has basically been regurgitating his 1993 classic work Race Matters. He describes himself as a much better speaker than writer which I found astonishing because I find him a terrible public speaker:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/23/cornel-west-s-disappointing-decline.html

At some point, West shed the skin of a public intellectual, and slithered into the second skin of a public personality. It is a transformation that is undetectable to anyone not paying close attention. The author and professor teaches at Union Theological Seminary and regularly lectures at colleges and churches around the country, but he stopped writing
, , ,

Redundancy and repetition are problems for West. Pull up videos of his lectures and television interviews on YouTube, and after the charm of his rhetorical mastery and charismatic articulation expires, you will notice that he recycles the same catch phrases, slogans, and talking points in appearance after appearance.

Michael Dyson, once a close associate and close personal friend details the long and torturous decline of Cornel West here:

https://newrepublic.com/article/121550/cornel-wests-rise-fall-our-most-exciting-black-scholar-ghost

In his callous disregard for plural visions of truth, West, like the prophet Elijah, retreats into a deluded and self-important belief in his singular and exclusive rightness. . . Now he lumbers into his future, punch-drunk from too many fights unwisely undertaken, facing a cruel reality: His greatest opponent isn’t Obama, Sharpton, Harris-Perry, or me. It is the ghost of a self that spits at him from his own mirror.

It is no secret that both Harvard and Princeton were disappointed with his academic production (in terms of developing doctoral candidates and original post doctoral writing).

[phleshdef]

10. Cornel West is a walking word salad, the words just happen to have many syllables.

He is always off in his own little world. Fuck him.

[ancianita]

11. Oh God, he's turned accelerationist. I can't even stand up for him anymore.

But it's not good to put down a fellow Democrat, when many public Democratic Party figures have been engaged in the "see, told you so" kind of rhetoric, Michael Moore being one, albeit for better reasons.

[SunSeeker]

26. Cornel West is not a Democrat. nt

[ancianita]

28. So? Make your point.

[SunSeeker]

30. You said "it's not good to put down a Democrat." Cornel West is not a Democrat.

"Putting down" Cornel West is not Dem bashing. I think it is a good thing to call Cornel West.

[ancianita]

31. He's described himself as a "radical democrat, suspicious of all forms of authority," so that's how

I regard him in spirit if not in actual long form registration fact.

Got a problem with that?

[SunSeeker]

33. Cornel West endorsed the Green Party candidate, Jill Stein.

I definitely have a problem with that.

Also, the full Wikipedia passage you quote from is as follows:

West has described himself as a "non-Marxist socialist" (partly because he does not view Marxism and Christianity as reconcilable)[60] and serves as honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, which he has described as "the first multiracial, socialist organization close enough to my politics that I could join".[7] He also described himself as a "radical democrat, suspicious of all forms of authority" on the Matrix-themed documentary The Burly Man Chronicles.[61]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornel_West

Since the only party position he holds is with the Democratic Socialists of America, I think it is fair to say he is a member of that party, not the Democratic Party.

[grantcart]

41. Not with that but with this

"I hate Barack Obama's policies. I hate his deeds. I hate his cowardice. I hate his acts.

Cornel West

[leftofcool]

34. Not only is he not a Democrat. He is hated by Blacks.

I can't repeat what the Blacks in our little church here call him.

[SunSeeker]

36. Yup. What he said about Obama is unforgivable. nt

[ancianita]

13. This OP isn't helping the Democratic Underground cause. It's distractive scapegoating. Bernie

knows and appreciates his role in getting black people to understand their working class interests.

We all know this. It's not fair to start a whole thread of Cornel West bashing.

This is capitulation to divide and conquer media scapegoating and, tell the truth, black allies stirring our racial fears by singling out a black public figure and hatefully slinging the some double standard at a heretofore famous black brother in the public eye.

[leftofcool]

35. He is not a famous Black brother. Most Blacks this he is an idiot.

[ancianita]

37. Prove it. If he's good enough for Princeton and Bernie, he's good enough for me.

Plenty of my black friends say he is. Plenty in the black communities I've worked in say he is.

Please proceed. Get a black public consensus and some linked proof around here to show how wrong I am.

[JI7]

42. how is princeton and bernie proof of his popularity with most black people ?

[ancianita]

44. That's a question, not proof. You made the claim. I know from 35 years of teaching in black

communities what I'm talking about. Look it up for yourself.

[ucrdem]

14. The sad fact is that Cornel and his ilk will now see their dance cards fill.

Michael Moore is another. He's been languishing for years but now he can make funny little movies about Donald and Ivanka and be cute as a button sharing quips on the talk show circuit while Cornie yammers about how he was right all along ...

[La Lioness Priyanka]

15. Yup. Fame is a drug.

[JI7]

43. yup. glad i never paid for their crap before and will not do it now

[YOHABLO]

17. Well like yourself, West makes some valid points.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

19. "Brother West" is mad as a hatter. He may wind up working in the Don's organization.

[stevenleser]

20. He lost any credibility after his tantrum of not getting good enough seats

at Obamas inauguration, a tantrum that lasted for years.

Perks like that are his #1 priority

[elleng]

21. I dislike cornel west.

There is nothing laughable about people suffering from economic anxiety.

What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Class

https://hbr.org/2016/11/what-so-many-people-dont-get-about-the-u-s-working-class

The Coal Industry Isn’t Coming Back.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/opinion/the-coal-industry-isnt-coming-back.html?

[hibbing]

22. Not a fan n/t

[TeamPooka]

23. Fuck Cornel West, Fuck Nina Turner, Fuck Susan Sarandon and the rest who helped Trump win.

[flamingdem]

24. What an a****** nt

[mfcorey1]

25. He couldn't destroy Obama so Hillary will do. I learned some time ago

that he is a big self centered phony!

[ramapo]

27. Donald Trump isn't wedded to Big Money?

Trump is the definition of Big Money.

Cornell West makes my skin crawl plus he is an idiot.

[Plucketeer]

29. You're all correct!

We had our ass handed to us so we need to DOUBLE DOWN on more of what got us here. What's that line about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Damn that West and Sanders and Warren and the like! Can we get DWS back in the driver's seat???

[Snotcicles]

40. 1.nt

[Politicub]

32. He seems to have flipped his wig a while ago

Or lives in a different reality than the rest of us.

[DemocraticWing]

38. I think West's actual piece is reasonable; he says the future is "terrifying" and is right.

And if we don't admit that the economic and political trends of the last 40 years led to this terrifying moment, we'll be useless in stopping it. We kept our heads buried in the sand too long, and too many people want to keep them buried.

For those of us on the margins of this terrifying society, this is not an option. Only the comfortable and the privileged can avoid self-reflection.

The time for change is at hand. We have to fight like hell to make sure it's positive change, and pray that it's not too late.

[Plucketeer]

45. Exactly!

Taking the successively higher and higher perch on the Titanic's superstructure is not a strategy for an ultimate turnaround!

[Nevernose]

46. This guy's summary is wrong

Try reading that fifth link, for instance. Binary thinking is one of the reasons we lost this election to begin with.