The New York Daily News reports:
Princeton professor Cornel West says President Obama is a "war criminal."
West, the prominent black academic and activist who has consistently been a harsh Obama critic, took issue with the White House's covert drone program, saying that "the chickens are coming home to roost."
"We've been talking about this for a good while, the immorality of drones, dropping bombs on innocent people," West said on his "Smiley & West" radio show with Tavis Smiley."It's been over 200 children so far," West said. "These are war crimes."
West, who has previously said that "brother Barack was just completely mesmerized by the acceptance of the establishment," compared Obama to former Presidents George W. Bush and Richard Nixon.
"Let us not be deceived: Nixon, Bush, Obama, they're war criminals," West said. "They have killed innocent people in the name of the struggle for freedom, but they're suspending the law, very much like Wall Street criminals. The law is suspended for them, but the law applies for the rest of us."
(ht J M Schmidt)
Bravo!
ReplyDeletei always appreciate a good leftie sticking to the antiwar principles despite there being a brotha in the house
ReplyDeleteGood for him! BTW, he left out mass murderer Lyndon Johnson. I guess one murderous Democrat President is all that he can handle at a time.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, good for West. I suppose he is one of those leftists who actually believes in the efficacy and moral soundness of socialist-type policies.
ReplyDeleteI can't agree with him on any of that stuff; but, maybe he is sincere, and not a typical dishonest intellectual. He is aware of the FED: I watched a caller on C-SPAN bring it to his attention.
West responds by recommending William Greider's book on the Fed, but EPJ readers know better what books to read. The caller graciously mentions Ron Paul's attempts to bring public attention to the Fed.
Here is the video of West. Skip to about 18:25 to hear the caller and West's response. It leaves much to be desired from West, but he doesn't dismiss the caller as a crackpot.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/300927-4
Amen
ReplyDeletePardon my cynicism but I'm not impressed. West knows that Obama can't serve a third term and impeachment is unlikely so he's pretty safe for calling Obama out now. If you want a consistent liberal who calls everyone out when it comes to war and the national security state than I would suggest Glenn Greenwald.
ReplyDeleteYou still don't have to dismiss West for that reason; after all, virtually all other lefties STILL continue to throw rose peddles in Obama's path even though it is his second term.
DeleteMy point is that West's comments ring hollow. His fellow liberal Glenn Greenwald has been calling out Obama since day one. West's statement just screams "hey look at me, Im a liberal slamming Obama" and are too convenient.
DeleteLet me guess: West only discovered this sometime AFTER November 6, 2012.
ReplyDeleteGreat point!
ReplyDelete99% of the MSNBC/NPR/HuffPo left have become cheerleaders for far worse stuff than what they screamed bloody murder about Bush doing. Glenn Greenwald is an exception, and maybe now Cornell West is too.
ReplyDelete