MHWilliams
Member
I'm not gonna lie, I laughed long and hard.
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Jill Stein's presumptive running mate announced: Ajamu Baraka
- Thread starter FelixOrion
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I'm not gonna lie, I laughed long and hard.
CaviarMeths
Member
This dude writes like Armond White.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
maybe read some of the things posted?
Saying North Korea is better than Israel, claiming Cop-killers are heroes, that beyonce isn't properly black, calling obama a "pimp" for disagreeing, saying paris wasn't blameless for wanton murder
Did he really?
He brought the same vitriol(often petty) against Bush whenever he was given a platform, but it only seemed to become an issue when went for somebody people liked.
People only seem to like Cornell as an attack dog when he goes after low hanging fruit. I remember his friend Tavis saying the same thing when, after years and years of attacking Bush on the Tom Joyney Morning show, the same people who would laugh and smile at the commentary magically had a problem with it as soon as he did it to Obama.
User Name Here
Member
There we go.
It's almost like Bush and Obama are completely different people!
It's standard non-empirical, heterodox social theory.
Therefore worthless!
Or its almost like the disheveled petty purist leftist is only useful when he throws bullshit at people we don't like.
There were TONS of legitimate reasons to go after Bush, and Cornell hardly ever did it effectively because of his holier than thou stance on almost everything. He starts doing the same with Obama, and now he's a "crazy nigga". Lets get real the same Cornell on display now has been the same Cornell for well over a decade. He has not magically lost any credibility since Obama came into office.
You Are Viewtiful
Member
whyamihere
Banned
That blog is crazy pants insanity!
UnemployedVillain
Member
Pretty sure he never said anything of Bush equivalent to calling Obama a "Niggardized black person", or a "Republican in blackface", or his other numerous implied statements of him being a race traitor and Uncle Tom. I don't have a problem with calling politicians on their bullshit, but his callouts have been petty as fuck
I read an excellent op-ed on how, despite West seeming to be the same as always, he's somewhat lost his way, called "The Ghost of Cornel West". It's pretty long, but it's worth a read.
FelixOrion
Poet Centuriate
That could mean something different for you and me, though. What makes you feel like he went off the deep end? Cause he's so vehemently against Obama and Clinton?
I mean, that Michael Eric Dyson article is pretty good, but I don't necessarily agree that West isn't a credible commentator. He's been a sort of pop-icon of social criticism for a couple decades now, but his core ideas are still pretty solid.
Reading it now
UnemployedVillain
Member
Maybe "off the deep end" is being a bit heavy handed, but I think his more legitimate points are being overshadowed by his petty, ad hominem insults and questioning of Obama's blackness simply because he isn't as liberal as he'd like him to be. I mean, I know he's known for being bombastic and very blunt about his opinions, I'm just saying he actively damages his reputation and credibility when he says particularly crazy, egregious shit attacking the individual and not their actions/policies.
And there isn't always necessarily a distinction between a person and their actions/policies. Trump for instance fully embodies his policies and is a deplorable human being, so you can very much attack one aspect or the other fairly easily. But when you say shit like "Obama isn't tough enough on gun control therefore he's an Uncle Tom stooge"...
This is an apt description of what Israel does in the occupied territories or the open world prison known as Gaza.
That was a fantastic article.
Cornell West does seem bitter at Obama. He has always came across as a purist, but there is definitely something there between him and Obama.
Heavy handed is a good description for Cornel West's image. I don't blame you for using that against him. I mean, the dude really says things about Obama that I wouldn't ever want to think of on my own. I do wonder if it comes from some misdirected ego and/or unreconciled guilt for initially supporting Obama. Like he's projecting or something. I really don't know. But to his credit, I think those attacks on Obama's character are specifically because of his actions and policies. West is quite clear when he challenges Obama for his inaction in inequality, his support of drone warefare, and all his other favorite topics. I think West really believes that there is little difference between Obama and the other neoliberal vanguards that preceded him.
I personally think West lost a bit of credibility when he endorsed Jill Stein. I just don't know what good he thinks that will do. You'd imagine someone of his stature would reject that sort of.. last resort.
But even in that Michael Eric Dyson piece, which is pretty powerful, I think you'll be hardpressed to find any actual refutation of West's complaints against Obama.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
So it the democratic party and the dem nominee in 1988 and the supreme court is on the verge of outlawing it (and any clinton nominee will likely feel the same way)
Well, he's delusional.
LiveFromKyoto
Member
Clicked on the thread for the inevitable Mortal Kombat pictures, stayed for the tearing down of Beyonce with ultra-Marxist rhetoric.
DOWN
Banned
Can't be more of a mess than Jeb.
I got about halfway through (have to get to sleep now), but that does talk about Wests scholarly decline prior to '08.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Note, people, this is what an actual regressive/extremist leftist looks like. Yikes.
This guy is a humans rights activist, huh? :|
Yeahhhhh that was an incredibly shitty thing to say. Fuck this guy.
WOW. Complete batshit insanity right there.
This guy is a humans rights activist, huh? :|
nelsonroyale
Member
Something, unfortunately, that requires a degree of intellectual aptitude. I am not saying I agree with him, but I understand his position in that statement. Beyonce, as a public object, is pretty much a brand and a product.
In regards to his opinions on Israel versus other repressive states...he has been to these other countries apparently, and has formed an opinion based on his experience filtered through his intellectual bias. In what way do you refute what he says based on evidence and preferably experience? From my own understandings, Israeli treatment of Palestinians is absolutely up there with the worst regimes in the world.
I'd venture a guess that Beyonce has done more for the black cause in America with one Super Bowl performance, from a sheer direct impact perspective, than this guy has done in his entire life.
nelsonroyale
Member
I don't really know what this guy has done, so I can't really contest that. Still, how to you back up your assertion? What exactly has she done for the 'black cause'? How can you measure the positive impact of her Super Bowl performance? Personally, I don't think things are quite as simple as you seem to think. There are just as many arguments to be made that someone like Beyonce perpetuates certain stereotypes.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I'm not the one rejecting empirics in favor of personal experiences -- my comment was purposefully flippant to make a point.
It's a gut feeling. As you put it, filtered through my intellectual bias and personal experience.
Well, what sort of personal experience did he have?
I would put good money that he was shown around and taken to staged areas where things looked a whole lot better than the actual reality. This is what repressive regimes do. This is what the soviets did and what North Korea does when Western journalists and thinkers wanted to see their country. They don't allow you to move around the country freely. They guide you to places that they want you to see.
This is how leftists who were enamored with the Soviet Union in the 30s-50s got tricked. They thought it was a wonderful place because that is what they saw. It was only later that these people realized that they were fooled and that the Soviet Union was basically a repressive police-state shit-hole. Apparently this dude didnt get the memo.
And what evidence? I don't see any evidence that he gives. There is plently of evidence to show that North Korea is a repressive police state that jails dissidents, tortures them, murders them, and indoctrinates them into an ideology to praise their leader.
If he thinks Israel is more repressive than that then he is just an ignorant moron or someone who is blinded by ideology. Israel's treatment of Palestine is certainly awful and is basically an apartheid state, but it has not reached the levels of North Korea or the Soviet Union.
Bounceounce
Member
Honestly none of his quotes that I've seen in this thread so far are really that ridiculous except for the one claiming North Korea is in any way better than Israel as far as I can see.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
His latest appearance on Maher was a fucking joke.
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