When they bring Cornell West on to discuss VP Biden.. the tv went off

[Peacetrain]

I will let you look it up yourselves.. but he had also said President Obama should not be sworn in on Dr. Kings bible, etc etc.. just awful stuff

[skylucy]

1. I saw him on CNN this morning and immediately turned the channel.

[Peacetrain]

2. The worst..

He is so far left, he is has completed the circle and holding hands with Trump.. in attacking the former President.. so I can only guess where he went on Biden

[UniteFightBack]

4. I like to say 'you've gone so far left you've done end up on the right' nt

[brush]

65. He's turned out to be a weird, bitter guy. Still resentful of Obama for an alleged slight.

Michelle filled in for him during the 2012 campaign on Tavis Smiley's panel show and West and Smiley have had a vendetta against O since.

He also is resentful of Ta-Nehisi Coates for displacing him as the go-to AA intellectual.

[UniteFightBack]

3. What is his story? I don't know much about him but have seen him before and wasn't crazy about

him. Today from what I heard.....HE WAS AWFUL. That is it...I'm done with him, and I don't say that often.

He does seem to like "Brother Bernie Sanders" though.

[Peacetrain]

6. Yep he is a Sanders person.. Go to UTube and

type in Cornell West attacks President Obama. and you will see what I mean.. I had one in the original op, but had to take it out.. I did not want that drivel sitting in something that I had written..

[UniteFightBack]

9. I heard his "righteous self" ranting on CNN. I proceeded to do chores around the house and tuned

most of it OUT. I've seen enough of him and he has zero credibility as far as I'm concerned regarding the primaries and the democratic nominee.

He needs to shut the fuck up.
He needs to keep Obama's name out of his mouth.
He wants to promote Bernie ...then have at it and do it.

[bluewater]

5. Dr. Cornel Ronald West

The son of a Baptist minister, West focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society and the means by which people act and react to their "radical conditionedness". A radical democrat and democratic socialist,[11][12] West draws intellectual contributions from multiple traditions, including Christianity, the black church, Marxism, neopragmatism, and transcendentalism.[13][14][15][16] Among his most influential books are Race Matters (1994) and Democracy Matters (2004).

West is an outspoken voice in left-wing politics in the United States, and as such has been critical of members of the Democratic Party, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.[17][18][19] He has held professorships at Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Pepperdine University, Union Theological Seminary, and the University of Paris during his career. He is also a frequent commentator on politics and social issues in many media outlets.[20]

As a young man, West marched in civil rights demonstrations and organized protests demanding black studies courses at his high school, where he was class president. He later wrote that, in his youth, he admired "the sincere black militancy of Malcolm X, the defiant rage of the Black Panther Party, and the livid black theology of James H. Cone."[28]

In 1970, after graduating from high school, he enrolled at Harvard College and took classes from the philosophers Robert Nozick and Stanley Cavell. In 1973, West graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in Near Eastern languages and civilization.[29] He credits Harvard with exposing him to a broader range of ideas, influenced by his professors as well as the Black Panther Party. West says his Christianity prevented him from joining the BPP, instead choosing to work in local breakfast, prison, and church programs.[30]

After completing his undergraduate work at Harvard, West enrolled at Princeton University where he received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1980, becoming the first African American to graduate from Princeton with a PhD degree in philosophy.[31

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

[UniteFightBack]

10. Well if Obama was so shitty then why doesn't he run for something instead of just running his mouth?

[Chitown Kev]

11. I remain an admirer of Dr. West's early work

from ~the mid-80's up until the Million Man March....and after he appeared in the Matrix, his work is pretty much shit...and his politics are even worse

[tishaLA]

13. That's the sweet spor

He used to write very good, serious books about pragmatism and liberation and then? He became too enamored of being a celebrity (around the time of Race Matters), appearing on rap CDs, etc.

[Chitown Kev]

21. I always thought that while Larry Summers probably said as much in an ass-holish way

when he met with West, I kinda agreed with Summers.

[bluewater]

15. Thank you for respecting his academic accomplishments

And addressing him as Dr. West.

People's opinions of his politics are one thing, but he is a respected academic and that deserves recognition.

[pnwmom]

31. He is a very smart, very well educated academic -- that doesn't mean he deserves our respect.

He didn't respect Barack Obama.

[Cha]

32. West ruined his own legacy..

Chitown Kev also posted..

"....and after he appeared in the Matrix, his work is pretty much shit...and his politics are even worse"

[sheshe2]

33. It's not just about his politics but his ego and pettiness.

Dyson and other black leaders have taken a healthy position of comfortably and even vehemently disagreeing with Obama on policy issues, but respecting the man for the position he has earned and what it has done for the black community.

West clearly did not take this change well and instead opted to sternly rebuff this paradigm shift that undermined his influence.

Dyson details West’s anger when Obama did not give him tickets to the inauguration, and he mentions how West “lambasted” Obama when the then-junior senator from Illinois decided to announce his candidacy for the presidency in Illinois instead of at Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union meeting in Virginia.

snip

When West did not receive inauguration tickets his fury was that of someone who did not understand that the party could go on without him.

He wanted everyone to love him for his brilliance, and forgot to use his intellect for the benefit of others. He stopped being a teacher, refused to be a student, and wanted to be a prophet.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-sad-but-self-inflicted-fall-of-cornel-west

Once he was a leader. No more. He voted third party in one of the most critical elections of our lifetime. I will not forgive anyone for that.

[bluewater]

34. There was just something about that piling on a prominent black public figure

that seemed a little too disrespectful to me. It was a cumulative tone thing. Seemed mocking, to me at least.

Maybe I am overly sensitive about that.

Thank you for your thoughtful but civil discussion of Dr. West's political record.

I posted not to defend his political history, in fact I posted things about him I knew most people would consider too left wing. I just wanted to post to defend his dignity as a history making African American academic, which I thought was being slighted by some of the earlier comments in the thread.

Thank you for the discussion.

[Cha]

36. Too bad.. West brought it on himself. He deals in

pettiness.

[sheshe2]

62. Sorry.

bluewater

34. There was just something about that piling on a prominent black public figure

that seemed a little too disrespectful to me. It was a cumulative tone thing. Seemed mocking, to me at least.

Well let's turn that around. If you want respect then you yourself need to be respectful. He did none of that to Obama ( a prominent black public figure) as a candidate or as President. He called him a field negro, not black enough. Dissed him for taking his oath of office on MLK's bible. He mocked him and his wife. Just not good enough.

He was jealous and petty when he did not receive tickets to Obama's Inauguration.

Dyson details West’s anger when Obama did not give him tickets to the inauguration, and he mentions how West “lambasted” Obama when the then-junior senator from Illinois decided to announce his candidacy for the presidency in Illinois instead of at Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union meeting in Virginia.

snip

When West did not receive inauguration tickets his fury was that of someone who did not understand that the party could go on without him.

He wanted everyone to love him for his brilliance, and forgot to use his intellect for the benefit of others. He stopped being a teacher, refused to be a student, and wanted to be a prophet. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-sad-but-self-inflicted-fall-of-cornel-west

Some of this is past history, yet just tonight goes on TV again to take pot shots of our first African American President, who is in my opinion the best President of my lifetime.

[BannonsLiver]

67. Cornell West can go fuck himself sideways

He is a Stein voter, Obama basher and all around POS.

[Cha]

37. Thanks, she.. Yes, West deals in Pettiness.. he trashed his own legacy.

Cornel West and Tavis Smiley do a disservice to African Americans

I used to revere these two prominent black intellectuals. But lately, their critical voices have turned to crude Obama-bashing

. Smiley threw a tantrum in 2008 when President Obama couldn't make his State of the Black Union event (also saying "no thanks" to a proposal to have Michelle Obama come in his place).

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/26/cornel-west-tavis-smiley-disservice-african-americans

Oh, and Dr West doesn't leave First Lady Michelle out of his obnoxious rants, either..

A lesson for Cornel West

IT WAS not enough for Cornel West to ridicule the first African-American president as a “black mascot .’’ The loquacious professor also fired his blunderbuss at Michelle Obama. In the process, he splattered a generation of black people freeing itself from narrow identities and stereotypes.

The Princeton African-American studies professor belittled the First Lady’s causes of child obesity and assisting military families, by scornfully asking on the website Truthdig: “Why doesn’t she visit a prison? Why doesn’t she spend some time in the hood?’’

The down-with-the-people professor clearly has spent too much time in the ivory tower to see the many ways to be “in the hood.’’ It escapes him that 42 percent of African-American women are now obese, putting them on the leading edge of a crisis that is shortening the lifespan of US citizens.

West’s dismissal of Ms. Obama’s work with military families is even more peculiar. In a nation 13 percent black, African-Americans comprise 20 percent of the active-duty Army. More than a third of Army women are black. Retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught, president of the national foundation that recognizes women’s military service, said Michelle Obama “is following in the footsteps of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s World War II fame.’’

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/05/28/a_lesson_for_cornel_west/

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10025445751#top

[sheshe2]

42. Cornel and Tavis are their own worst enemies.

I was listening to NPR the day they were discussing Obama as not black enough and calling him a field negro.

Thanks for your links, Cha!

[Cha]

52. That's a good way to put it, she..

"Their Own Worst Enemies"..
'
Nobody asked them to be like that.

Yeah, Cornel wasn't content with relentlessly slamming President Obama.. sucker had to come for Michelle when she didn't send for him.

[sheshe2]

54. Yep.

Michelle did not send for him, Cha!

[Cha]

58. Haha.. you double posted.. worth

saying a few times. lol

I posted that to the other one and I got the notice you had self deleted!

[sheshe2]

63. I figured out the double posts.

Never happened to me before I got my new mouse. It seems to stutter ( best description I can offer) and double posts. I keep trying to remember to use the touch screen to post. I'm always tired these days and sometimes forget.

[tishaLA]

43. Fun fact about those State of the Black Union confabs

....their biggest corporate sponsors were always McDonald's, which us bad enough, and....

WELLS FARGO!

The folks whose predatory lending practices screwed over untold thousands of black families during the great recession. But Tavis, so pure butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, happily took that money and enriched himself with it.

[sheshe2]

44. Oh, snap!

Thanks for the info on the sponsors of The State of the Black Union, tisha.

[hlthe2b]

14. He never had a positive thing to say for our first black President. Not once. Enough said.

I once respected him. No more.

[Vegas Roller]

22. Cornell West is a classic example of how a perfectly good education is wasted

His support of Jill Stein proved it.

[still_one]

28. He proudly voted for Jill Stein, and referred to President Obama with every racial slur in the book

Nothing more needs to be said

[Cha]

30. That's right, still_one.. West isn't so damn smart..

Cornel West and Tavis Smiley do a disservice to African Americans

I used to revere these two prominent black intellectuals. But lately, their critical voices have turned to crude Obama-bashing

. Smiley threw a tantrum in 2008 when President Obama couldn't make his State of the Black Union event (also saying "no thanks" to a proposal to have Michelle Obama come in his place).

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/26/cornel-west-tavis-smiley-disservice-african-americans

Oh, and Dr West doesn't leave First Lady Michelle out of his obnoxious rants, either..

A lesson for Cornel West

IT WAS not enough for Cornel West to ridicule the first African-American president as a “black mascot .’’ The loquacious professor also fired his blunderbuss at Michelle Obama. In the process, he splattered a generation of black people freeing itself from narrow identities and stereotypes.

The Princeton African-American studies professor belittled the First Lady’s causes of child obesity and assisting military families, by scornfully asking on the website Truthdig: “Why doesn’t she visit a prison? Why doesn’t she spend some time in the hood?’’

The down-with-the-people professor clearly has spent too much time in the ivory tower to see the many ways to be “in the hood.’’ It escapes him that 42 percent of African-American women are now obese, putting them on the leading edge of a crisis that is shortening the lifespan of US citizens.

West’s dismissal of Ms. Obama’s work with military families is even more peculiar. In a nation 13 percent black, African-Americans comprise 20 percent of the active-duty Army. More than a third of Army women are black. Retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught, president of the national foundation that recognizes women’s military service, said Michelle Obama “is following in the footsteps of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s World War II fame.’’

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/05/28/a_lesson_for_cornel_west/

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10025445751#top

[Cha]

29. West isn't so damn smart.. he voted for and pushed Jill

Stein's Fucking Lies..

And, he's trashed his own legacy..

Cornel West and Tavis Smiley do a disservice to African Americans

I used to revere these two prominent black intellectuals. But lately, their critical voices have turned to crude Obama-bashing

. Smiley threw a tantrum in 2008 when President Obama couldn't make his State of the Black Union event (also saying "no thanks" to a proposal to have Michelle Obama come in his place).

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/26/cornel-west-tavis-smiley-disservice-african-americans

Oh, and Dr West doesn't leave First Lady Michelle out of his obnoxious rants, either..

A lesson for Cornel West

IT WAS not enough for Cornel West to ridicule the first African-American president as a “black mascot .’’ The loquacious professor also fired his blunderbuss at Michelle Obama. In the process, he splattered a generation of black people freeing itself from narrow identities and stereotypes.

The Princeton African-American studies professor belittled the First Lady’s causes of child obesity and assisting military families, by scornfully asking on the website Truthdig: “Why doesn’t she visit a prison? Why doesn’t she spend some time in the hood?’’

The down-with-the-people professor clearly has spent too much time in the ivory tower to see the many ways to be “in the hood.’’ It escapes him that 42 percent of African-American women are now obese, putting them on the leading edge of a crisis that is shortening the lifespan of US citizens.

West’s dismissal of Ms. Obama’s work with military families is even more peculiar. In a nation 13 percent black, African-Americans comprise 20 percent of the active-duty Army. More than a third of Army women are black. Retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught, president of the national foundation that recognizes women’s military service, said Michelle Obama “is following in the footsteps of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s World War II fame.’’

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/05/28/a_lesson_for_cornel_west/

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10025445751#top

[EffieBlack]

39. Yes. He's all that. He's also a jackass.

Whom nobody in academia takes seriously anymore.

Yeah, I said it.

[Chitown Kev]

64. That's very true

leaving aside all of the pettiness against Barack and Michelle Obama, his academic work has decayed greatly (and I 've read a lot of the later stuff

[tishaLA]

7. It's worth keeping it on for at least a minute

Just so you can figure out how quickly the word "neoliberal " will appear.

When he reviewed Ta-Nehisi Coates's last book by calling him neoliberal, I was sure the apocalypse was upon us.

[Peacetrain]

8. I can believe that..He is as far out there as you can get

[Chitown Kev]

12. That's "Cornel" and not "Cornell"

[Cha]

16. A little history on Cornel West..

Cornel West and Tavis Smiley do a disservice to African Americans

I used to revere these two prominent black intellectuals. But lately, their critical voices have turned to crude Obama-bashing

. Smiley threw a tantrum in 2008 when President Obama couldn't make his State of the Black Union event (also saying "no thanks" to a proposal to have Michelle Obama come in his place).

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/26/cornel-west-tavis-smiley-disservice-african-americans

Oh, and Dr West doesn't leave First Lady Michelle out of his obnoxious rants, either..

A lesson for Cornel West

IT WAS not enough for Cornel West to ridicule the first African-American president as a “black mascot .’’ The loquacious professor also fired his blunderbuss at Michelle Obama. In the process, he splattered a generation of black people freeing itself from narrow identities and stereotypes.

The Princeton African-American studies professor belittled the First Lady’s causes of child obesity and assisting military families, by scornfully asking on the website Truthdig: “Why doesn’t she visit a prison? Why doesn’t she spend some time in the hood?’’

The down-with-the-people professor clearly has spent too much time in the ivory tower to see the many ways to be “in the hood.’’ It escapes him that 42 percent of African-American women are now obese, putting them on the leading edge of a crisis that is shortening the lifespan of US citizens.

West’s dismissal of Ms. Obama’s work with military families is even more peculiar. In a nation 13 percent black, African-Americans comprise 20 percent of the active-duty Army. More than a third of Army women are black. Retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught, president of the national foundation that recognizes women’s military service, said Michelle Obama “is following in the footsteps of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s World War II fame.’’

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/05/28/a_lesson_for_cornel_west/

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10025445751#top

When the m$m brings on Cornel West to discuss Joe Biden.. we know they've Jumped the Shark.

[Peacetrain]

18. Amen to that..we are in a whole new arena of craziness

[emmaverybo]

20. This is crucial background, Cha. Thanks for educating us. NT

[Cha]

25. You're Welcome, emmaverybo.. Thank You.

I just googled "Cornel West hates President Obama" and a whole bunch of DU OPs came up.

I was grateful to find that post regarding Michelle Obama because I knew West had dissed her but when I was googling for it awhile back.. nothing came up on it.

[Scurrilous]

40. ...

[Cha]

48. Freaking Cornel.. who

proclaimed "brother trump was an authentic human being".

Wrong on two counts.

[Scurrilous]

57. Radical professor!!1!

Takes me back...

[highplainsdem]

49. Thanks, Cha! Very important background on West.

[Cha]

53. You're Welcome, highplainsdem..

Cornel also claimed that "Brother trump was an authentic human being"..

So he know shite about shinola.. but what does the m$m do?.. they have his bigoted ass on tv regarding Authentic Human Being, Joe Biden.

[DURHAM D]

17. Up next - Tavis Smiley? nt

[DURHAM D]

19. After Cornel and Tavis they will bring on Camille Paglia. nt

[mcar]

51. Oh please god, not that!

[NYMinute]

23. David Sirota is going nuclear

When will we see Killer Mike?

[LibFarmer]

24. Every Democrat should say fuck Cornell West

He railed against Barack Obama and voted for Jill Stein.

He should have no place except the one of utter disdain and contempt.

Any Democrat who chooses him as a campaign advisor shows his true colors.

[njhoneybadger]

61. Fuck Cornell West

[Iliyah]

26. He would pounce on anyone who is not

Sanders. VP Biden is in the lead.

[JI7]

35. agree, these jill Stein people are going to spend the GE attacking the democratic nominee

no matter who it is unless it's Sanders and i don't see that happening.

[comradebillyboy]

27. Cornell West, a Jill Stein voter, is no friend of the Democratic Party.

He only has malice for the party and it's candidates, with one individual excepted. I have no use for his opinion.

[pangaia]

38. Cornell West is a nut job.

[Skya Rhen]

45. + 1,000,000

[Politicub]

46. He can be controversial

But I enjoy watching him on TV.

[Cha]

56. I'd say so.. West is

a dealer in mean-spirited pettiness.

Here's some controversy.. West asserted "Brother trump is an authentic human being"

Wrong on two counts.

[Politicub]

59. I didn't say I agree with him. He has a lot of positions and says a lot

of things that sometime infuriate me or leave me scratching my head.

But he is a public intellectual. Dr. West worked hard to get where he is today. And maybe I’m a glutton for punishment.

[Cha]

60. I didn't think you did.

[sheshe2]

47. Thank you, Peacetrain.

[mcar]

50. He is terrible

[oasis]

66. Cornel's on a slow journey into total irrelevance, but he's not

getting there fast enough for my patience.

[Gothmog]

68. Professor West supported Jill Stein

Why should real democrats pay attention to Stein supporters?