I said this in a comment, but it bears repeating: Like many academics, and despite his frequent eloquence and usefulness as a gadfly, Dr. West is subject to the my way or the highway attitude. Its true that President Obama has not done as much during his six years in office as we progressives would like - hes an imperfect human like the rest of us, and furthermore works in an environment where the laws dont permit him to do everything he might otherwise do. Its also true that the failure of a state grand jury to indict a slimy cop is enormously painful, whatever the rationale. Although we might wish that the President could do something about it, such actions in state lie outside his bailiwick. And despite what the Republican Party seems to think, he knows that perfectly well. (I might add that although I would prefer a less violent reaction from the citizens of Ferguson, it seems odd to call for non-violence from the citizens while failing to call for it from the police, so I wont do so.) Having said all that, its astonishing to hear from Dr. West, whose public forum is in no danger of being taken from him, refer to the Presidents empty neutrality, moral bankruptcy and political cowardice a week after that same President endangered his political future by ordering deferrals of deportation proceedings for millions of people, and at a time when his opponents are busily crucifying him for it. Dr. West may call that cowardice, but you couldnt prove it by me. I wish that Officer Wilson were on the cross instead, but failing that, someone should remind Dr. West that there are a great many ethnic groups in this country, and that judging President Obama based entirely on his behavior toward the one they both happen to belong to is the act of a fool. (Trying to associate this ignorant, ethnocentric belch with a great piece of music that has nothing at all to do with it, is also the act of a fool.)
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 00:36:40 +0000
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