President-Elect Barack Obama: Opening a New Era and Ending the Age of Reagan, Obama Must Now Act, Cornel West Writes
Reader Comments
re - finance of obama election campaign
I have been wondering where barack Obama was able to obtain that large amont of money for his campaign.has any one else wondered where the finance came from??
Cornel West on Obama
What many people failed to realize about this election is that it turned out to be based purely on race. The young hip black dude beat out the grouchy old white man despite the old white man being better qualified. The media and Hollywood did everything in their power to create this image and millions of people took the bait.
What really bothered me was that many people who voted for Obama were ignorant of day to day issues and voted for him because he was one of them. Many of these people couldn't tell you how many Supreme Court Justices there are or name the curent Vice-President.
Another example of reverse racism was the complete abandonment of Hillary by Blacks the minute Obama entered the race. Back in the 90's Bill Clinton was often referred to as the first Black President and had undying loyalty in the Black community. He was vehemently defended by Blacks everytime he was accused of wrong doing by someone.
As for Mr. West singing the end of the Reagan era, I don't agree. Reagan was the most important President of the 20th century and his influence is still felt in many parts of the world where tyranny still prevails. He was constantly portrayed as an old geezer who was going to lead us to Armageddon. The end result of course was the fall of Communism without one nuclear bomb ever being used.
These are dangerous times and we need a leader not a celebrity.
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Intellectual Dishonesty
I appreciate the commentaries by Professors Cornell West and Robin D.G. Kelley in the most recent issue. They are generally well thought out and provide genuine insight into the upcoming presidency of Barack Obama.
I have a point of disagreement with one piece of the commentary, however. Professor West suggests that the "Reagan era" ushered in, amongst other things, "the politics of fear". I suppose the 'malaise' of the Carter years cannot be contrasted with the vision Ronalde Reagan held up to the americal public of a 'shining city on a hill'. Professor West's myopic view fails to recognize the significant differences between Ronald Reagan and our current President. George W. Bush is no Ronald Reagan, Professor West and to suggest that the approach of the current administration reflects that of the Reagan adminstration is intellectually dishonest.
A New Era-End of Reagan Influence
This is a new president who has made a big change in the presidential paradigm.
It is ridiculous to place Reagan policies as causes of all the problems of the ( I'm not so sure of the period he speaks of). Bill clinton signed the deregulation bill the gave the financial institutions free run which brought about a good portion of the crises.Jim Carter changed the make up of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac so that they became important political contributers earning high salaries which had not been there before his changes were implemented.
There have been many hands on the wheel of power some have made positive contributions as Kennedy's & Reagan's lowering of taxes helped the economy recover in each instance. do we mention the opening of China with Nixon, do we mention the end of the Berlin Wall & a free western Europe, do we mention the end of the "cold War"??? Clinton was often letting his wife govern while he...well he did.
All the apples are not in one basket.
This man has to get on a new white charger with his own warriors not the Clinton few who are to many laughable. CHANGE is change not more of years past.
Historic? Perhaps... but so was Hitler's Election in 1932.
Obama's election would have more merit if he was actually qualified for the position and didn't parrot National Socialist dogma; national socialized health care (I had it in the military and it sucked), a civilian force 'with as much power as the military' (can you say 'Brownshirt' or his own 'Homeland Security Services 1st Division Bodyguard Regiment Barack Obama' ?) and 'mandatory service' for youth. (AKA the 'Obama Youth Corps')
This guy criticizes me and my own and says we 'cling to religion and guns' and has made it very clear he wants to take away American Citizens' right to own, possess, or carry a firearm in any possible way. Hitler took away the rights of 'undesireable' people to own firearms and we seem to be headed in the same direction with this election. The parallels are too close to be simply ignored.
I don't fear his color, I fear his politics and policies. We don't need a Hitler, Mugabe, or Idi Amin in the White House.
RE dv and Mr Vigh
dv, you sound too bitter with your ad-hominem attacks to take seriously. You'd be better served to come up with a logical argument.
Mr. Vigh,
First, to insult Dr. West's intelligence would be a mistake. I'm not sure you are interpreting FDR reference correctly. To be a "pragmatic experimentalist" is not necessarily a good thing. It actually sounds paradoxical and not meant to be a positive comparison.
Ridiculous!
West all but says that Reaganism and convservatism is evil and cares none for the poor at all. Sure...
This guy is ridiculous. Even more so considering he's a "professor" of a pseudo-study and is well-paid to do nothing but trash those in opposition to his own leftist views.
If he wants to help poor people (read: poor black people) he and NAACP ought to get off their backsides, quit the grievance politics, and do something about it. But changing the underlying culture is much harder than just taking other people's money and throwing it at the problem. That's what this clown is really advocating.
Reverting to handouts while demanding nothing in the way of personal responsibility doesn't help anyone.
OBAMA
I KNOW MANY IS SHOCKED BUT oBAMA WILL BE GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY, A CHANGE IS NEEDED
