Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree
Tavis Smiley and Cornel West Celebrates MLK's March on Washington With More Division
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If Tavis Smiley and Cornel West don't have anything constructive to add to the national debate, they really need to shut up. They've lost all respect from over 90% of the Black community, yet, they continue to run their mouths in what seems to be a vain attempt to salvage any vestige of relevance that they might have left. But in the process they're only succeeding in coming off like the snake that bites himself after having his head cut off.
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Cornel West is quoted as saying the following with respect to the 50th commemoration of the March on Washington:
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"We had very low quality leadership today on the stage. We saw bona fide apologists for the Obama administration. There was no serious talk about Wall Street. There was no serious talk about the new Jim Crow, no serious talk about drones, no serious talk about the U.S. security state, no serious talk about the massive surveillance state. It was about just voters' rights and maybe some vague reference to jobs. Martin Luther King Jr. turns over in his grave. He turns over in his grave."
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"It was JUST about voters' rights and maybe some vague reference to jobs!!!!?" Is the man insane? Voters' rights is the very foundation of this democracy! And when he and Tavis Smiley were out hawking their books during their so-called poverty tour - which seemed to disappear as soon as the election was over - "jobs" seemed to be the most important word in their vocabulary. So why is the subject of jobs lest than important today?
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"It was JUST about voters' rights and maybe some vague reference to jobs!!!!?" Is the man insane? Voters' rights is the very foundation of this democracy! And when he and Tavis Smiley were out hawking their books during their so-called poverty tour - which seemed to disappear as soon as the election was over - "jobs" seemed to be the most important word in their vocabulary. So why is the subject of jobs lest than important today?
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The fact is, the United States is currently knee-deep in a CLASS WAR. The corpo-Republican coalition doesn't care any more about poor and middle-class White people than they do Blacks, women, gays, or Hispanics. So they have a vested interest in keeping the American people miserable, angry, and divided in order to prevent us from coming together to mount an effective response to their agenda of 1). punishing America for electing President Barack Obama, and 2). lowering the American middle-class standard of living to conform to the new global economy. Therefore, anyone whose primary animus is to promote division in America without ever putting forward any constructive solutions to address our problems should be looked upon with deep suspicion, and that includes Tavis Smiley and Cornel West.
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We should also take into account their history and associations. Tavis Smiley is closely associated with numerous ALEC-associated corporations such as Walmart, Exxon/Mobile, Nationwide Insurance, and Wells Fargo Bank, and the ALEC Consortium is leaving no stone unturned to promote national policies that are directly focused toward undermining the interests of the poor and minority, including obstructing our right to vote.
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Smiley was also involved in the Wells Fargo "Ghetto Loan" scam, where Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay $175 million to settle the discrimination suit which, according to the Department of Justice, targeted over 30,000 Black and Hispanic borrowers for subprime loans with a higher interest rate than for similarly situated White borrowers between 2004 and 2009. According to the Department of Justice, it was the second largest housing discrimination case in United States history (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-question-for-both-tavis-smiley-and.html).
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As for Cornel West, he joined forces with Ralph Nader in the 2000 Presidential Election to help get George W. Bush elected. Bush became President of the United States by winning the state of Florida by 537 votes. In that same state, the Nader/West coalition tore away 97,488 votes from Vice President Al Gore. So when we consider the fact that our current economic condition is a direct result of the economic policies of the Bush administration, Cornel West is more than just a little responsible for the very conditions that he’s now complaining about (http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2000&fips=12).
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In addition, people like Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and Boyce Watkins are going out of their way NOT to tell the Black community that the United States Constitution gives sole control of spending to the United States House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans. So the only way that President Obama can spend any money to assist the Black community is to get the Republican House to go along with him.
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That’s why it’s so important for the president to hold together a coalition of Blacks, women, gays, Hispanics, and every other segment of the American population. He needs ALL of us to place pressure on the Republicans to loosen the purse strings in order for him to get anything done. So anytime you hear Tavis, West, or Watkins pointing their finger at what President Obama is doing for any other segment of the population, they’re doing you a disservice.
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Here’s how politics works - you support me when I need you, and I’ll support you when you need me. So whenever President Obama does anything for other segments of the population, he’s building up political capital so he can help you. But, he doesn’t discuss what he’s doing for the Black community for a very good reason - as Cornel says himself (when it’s convenient), "Race Matters."
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These gentlemen know full well that if President Obama runs around bragging about what he’s doing for the Black community, the Republicans are going to use that as leverage to tear his coalition apart. They would tell women, gays, Hispanics, and everyone else in America that Obama doesn’t care about them; all he wants to do is help his own people, and that message hurts the Black community. Don’t these so-called intellectuals recognize that? If they don’t, they’re dumb. If they do, that means that they’re purposely trying to mislead you. The question then, is why?
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So the fact is, when people like Tavis, West, and Watkins run around telling you that the proof that President Obama is not working for you is that he refuses to throw his fist in the air, these people are working against you, not for you - and they know it. You see, their primary agenda is NOT about helping the Black community. Their agenda is about tearing down President Obama, and that hurts you.
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President Obama is trying to help ALL of the people - and that includes you. So Tavis Smiley and Cornel West needs to shut up and cleanup their own act. Thus, Cornel West has a lot of nerve talking about Martin turning in his grave. The fact is, if and Martin could see the self-serving and petty demagoguery of these two, he wouldn't just be turning, he'd be spinning in his grave. And if there was any true justice in this world, Just mentioning the names of Martin Luther King or Malcolm X would cause Tavis and West's mouths to foam.
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