Harris-Perry is married to James Perry. Mr. Perry is a foot soldier in the fight for Af-Ams, particularly here in New Orleans. She is his mate and advisor therefore her efforts to aid the Af-Am community are measurable. She is not just a talking head intellectual.

Regarding Dr. West, he may want to refrain from the name calling of President Obama (puppet, mascot, etc.). Although I respect his vast intellectual accomplishments, he comes off like a minstrel. He bows and grins like he’s about to do a cake walk in circa 1860. Stand up straight, for God’s sake. I know that was ugly. I’ll just have to ask my higher power to forgive me.

Thanks for the opportunity to share.

That said, I don’t agree with everything the President’s done and hasn’t done, nor have I been happy with the final policies and pace of change that he’s delivered. But the record is clear that he’s been able to achieve a number of accomplishments! He’s made a positive difference in this country and in the way this country is viewed and treated globally. The list is long, and many have been mentioned above.

For any that are unhappy with the President’s lack of accomplishments, especially in the AA community, or his “backbone,” then support and vote for someone else. Either run yourself, or find and support another candidate. But don’t whine and complain because you need to feed your ego and sell your books on the back of the first Black President!

Bottom lime, Smiley and West both have books to sell. I could care less that they “held other President’s accountable” in the past – that’s BS! Of course they did! That’s how they sell their books and get and stay rich! To be fair, there is no doubt in my mind that these two men and others like them love Black people and would love to see us all do well, be treated fairly in and out of the courts, have a level playing field to achieve. They make a living focusing on this and TALKING about these issues. They love to TALK. They get paid to TALK. They could care less about the actual state of Black America or the President’s performance – but they do care about the dialogue. You want to TALK about it? Then they’re your go-to Black resources/”intellectuals!” I’m not mad at them for this. They’re “in” where they want to be and making a very good living.

But don’t pretend that your REAL concern goes beyond that! Again, you can sign all the “contracts with America” that you want and have all the CSPAN specials that you can schedule – but in the end, this is about selling books and TV appearances for Tavis and West for sure!

Finally, personal attacks on the POTUS – not policy directed assessments and comments are straight weak! And these are our so called “intellectuals?!!” C’mon Black People – we’re better than this, aren’t we!?

Going forward lets do better,

Apparently, Professor Cornel West has a love-hate relationship with President Obama. Scalding criticism of the President coming from the mouth of Dr. West stands in stark contrast to the visual imagery of a fawning Dr. West that immerges whenever he is in the actual presence of Mr. Obama. The incongruity of these two versions of Dr. West merits a close reading of the article “The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic” by Chris Hedges of Truthdig.com.

According to that article, the major premise of Dr. West’s argument is that Mr. Obama has made a Faustian bargain with the Wall Street oligarchs and the corporate plutocrats for the sole purpose of holding on to the reigns of presidential power, and Mr. Obama lacks the requisite vertebrae to stand up to these powerful predatory economic forces that are inflicting pain on the vulnerable masses. While Dr. West’s scathing critique of Mr. Obama bears some verisimilitude, the timing and the tone of his critique is indiscreet, and judging from the internecine nature of his critique, it causes one to question whether Dr. West is motivated by his professed concern for the dismal plight of the suffering masses or by hubris and a desire to get even for what he perceives as a personal presidential slight.

The inherent weakness in Dr. West’s critique of Mr. Obama rests not in any defect in his argument; its weakness lies in the presentation of that argument; its validity has been challenged primarily because it is an argument couched in vitriolic personal rhetoric. As a case in point, Dr. West’s references to Mr. Obama as a “puppet” and a “black mascot” are not criticisms of Mr. Obama’s policies; they are criticisms of Mr. Obama’s character. This approach is no way to gain Mr. Obama’s trust and confidence in the wisdom of Dr. West’s counsel. Although, it is certainly true Mr. Obama has veered away from many of the popular stances that propelled then candidate Obama into the White House, and furthermore, he has also resorted to consolidating his grip on the presidency by courting the very same Wall Street oligarchy he once vilified.

Who can blame him? In the true spirit of American democracy, it is campaign time and there are alliances to be formed and contributions to be had from the corporate plutocracy. During the 2008 presidential campaign, many of us waxed teary-eyed as we fell asleep and dreamed that we were witnessing the second coming of the Messiah, only to emerge from our celestial bliss awakened to the earthly reality that we were once again in the presence of yet another Caesar. The image of the messianic figure, the heroic charismatic champion of the poor and downtrodden has undergone an alchemic transmutation into a kind of clay-footed figurine idol, a consummate political pragmatist. Such is the landscape of American politics, a landscape seeded with unrealistic delusions that inevitably mature into crops of realistic disillusionment. No one should be surprised, least of all such career public intellectuals as Dr. West.

Part of the angst Dr. West must feel certainly derives from his own disillusionment with Mr. Obama; the other part of that angst arises from the sobering realization that his wounds are self-inflicted. After all, it was he who allowed his judgment to become impaired by the seductive allure and the intoxicating prospect of gaining proximity to the power that resides in a newly minted African American president. He saw himself assuming the exalted role of De Facto Counselor to the President, a role which has been usurped by the Reverend Al Sharpton. He saw himself as a twenty-first century version of Frederick Douglass to Mr. Obama—the presumed twenty-first century version of Abraham Lincoln. In spite of all the personal campaigning he did on behalf of Mr. Obama, he couldn’t even score a ticket to the inaugural dance or even a presidential courtesy call. No wonder he is frustrated.

His instinctive reaction was to misinterpret Mr. Obama’s stiff-arming as a personal insult, rather than as part of a broader calculus of political expediency similar to the stratagem employed during the stiff-arming of Reverend Wright. And like a jilted lover who has been inexplicably kicked to the curb, Dr. West, through his questioning of Mr. Obama’s “blackness”, has sought retribution on a very petty level by targeting personal attacks on what may be the soft underbelly of Mr. Obama’s psyche, his sense of racial identity. Such pettiness on the part of Dr. West is not only unbecoming of someone of his stature, it undermines the strength of his argument; while at the same time, it threatens to fracture the political solidarity of the African American community and the prospect of a second term Obama Presidency.

And let’s be clear, the prospect of a second term Obama Presidency, a prospect which admittedly lacks the “audacity of hope” luster of the first, is still a far more attractive alternative to any version that the neo-fascist Tea Party Republicans would offer. Dr. West should hold his fire until the advent of a more appropriate time.

Brother X

This man received a nobel peace prize but his current foreign affairs and war policies and recently celebrated killing of bin laden would suggest the contrary. I cannot believe that black folk are so willing to dismiss those with substantiated analysis and critique of our president reducing them to hatred?

Eric holder has not prosecuted one single player in the banking scandals that led to our current financial crisis? Why? Because in private practice he represents these types..and trust me we all including the likes of west and dyson were equally as critical of the bush doctrine and policies during that administration so to assert that these brothers motivations are” petty” is just not true.

Most of the blind supporters just became involved in the political process during obamas ascension to the presidency while these brothers have been protesting and speaking truth about our governments policies for years. Unbelievable!

West as much as said so in his interview with Truthdig. But maybe West’s motives are something else altogether, like getting attention for his the New Progressive Alliance, an organization that he steers, which has started a campaign to primary President Obama with the stated goal of throwing the next Presidential election to the republicans. http://blog.reidreport.com/2011/05/firebaggers-genius-plan-to-primary-obama/#more-24310

West seems to have positioned himself to serve as “black mascot/puppet” for the still bitter PUMAs at FireDogLake.

What we need to understand is that the President is a politician and that politicians respond to organized efforts. If we need more, we need to organize and position ourselves to influence votes in the Congress and support the President when he proposes solutions to issues that can benefit us. One of the most important issue we need to all organize on is defeating racism which as we’ve seen, the President has to battle every day. Are Dr. West, Tavis Smiley and Dr. Watkins as vocal about the racism the President faces every day from the Republicans and their leadership in Congress who have failed to denounce the Tea Party, the birthers, Rush Limbaugh, the Neo-nazis and other hate groups who are organizing to take their country back? Or do they blame the President for all the racism coming from the right-wing community? It seems that President Obama is not the only African American who needs to be held accountable. West, Smiley and Watkins need to refocus and find some balance in their arguments. If not, we can just ignore them.