Last week I blogged about a debate between Michael Eric Dyson and Glen Ford.
I want to return to that subject briefly, because I recalled this video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0mEzQMQd5s[/youtube]
This is what I said about it before:
We don't really see the Dyson above in the interview with Glen Ford.
That’s because Dyson has to get his butt in gear and support Obama’s bid for reelection. He has to do like Cornel West–sacrifice truth on an altar of rationalizations. Dr. West plans to vote for Obama in November and protest his policies in February. And his protest in February will be as effective as they have so far, which is not effective at all.
The bigger concern to me with Dr. West is this statement: “American politics are not a matter of voting your moral conscience—if I voted my moral conscience it would probably be for Jill Stein. But it’s strategic in terms of the actual possibilities and real options available for poor and working people.”
I understand those who have been seduced by “spiritual wickedness in high places,” but Cornel West is a
self-proclaimed “revolutionary Christian” yet for him political strategy trumps moral conscience. I don’t know how we will ever build a world based on truth, justice, and righteousness, as long as people who clearly know better allow themselves to be mentally incarcerated by the limited parameters of a corrupt system. The scripture says, “Righteousness exalts a nation,” not a lesser evil. Surely Dr. West, if anyone, knows this.
I believe that Dr. West is serious about heightening the contradictions in American society. Barack Obama makes those contradictions more nebulous than any previous American president. How can anyone support that
which is clearly his greatest obstacle? I gotta keep working on the good doctor to raise the level of his consciousness.
“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that
your vote is never lost.” – John Quincy Adams.