Harvey rips West, Smiley

COMEDIAN STEVE HARVEY HAMMERS DR. CORNEL WEST AND TAVIS SMILEY. By Wayne Hodges

NEW YORK – Like Marvin Gaye once sang: “What’s Going On?” In what has dissolved into a malicious war of dissenting words, comedian Steve Harvey has decided to join the political fisticuffs in defense of President Barack Obama. This week, during his nationally-syndicated radio show, Harvey blasted radical Democrats Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley before calling each an ‘Uncle Tom.’

Harvey was especially peeved at Dr. West’s disappointment for not receiving an invitation to Obama’s inauguration. “I was a huge fan of Cornel West,” said Harvey to his fans over the air. “Have you ever been invited to the damn inauguration?  Did Bush send for you? Did Clinton send for you? Did Reagan send for you?”

Harvey continued, “Tavis, I seen him coming a mile away. His anger started when he had a town hall meeting, President Obama couldn’t come because of the campaign trail and he sent Mrs. Obama. He has held that grudge every since.”

Harvey also questioned the intent behind Dr. West and Smiley’s poverty bus tour aimed at bringing awareness to rising black unemployment. “You don’t have any real basis behind your dislike for this man…you keep masking it saying it’s not about hate. Then what is it about? Poverty existed before January 20, 2008. Where was your damn bus then?”
Oh, Harvey’s not finished.

In expressing his displeasure for Smiley’s request for a three day, sit-down meeting with Obama, Harvey said: “Who in the hell got 2-3 days for your ass? I ain’t got time to sit down with your monkey behind for two, three days, let alone the President of the United States. We got three wars going on, the economy crashing and we going to sit down with Tavis ass for three days?”
Harvey also labeled the duo “poverty pimps” as an insinuation that funding for the poverty bus tour was taken out the pockets of impoverished African-Americans. “Where are you getting the money for these buses?”
I like Harvey.
He’s obviously a successful businessman as well as an established comedian and (gasp) author. Dr. Boyce Watkins of YourBlackWorld.com reported Harvey was recently invited to Obama’s 50th birthday party – a function Republicans referred to as the “Hip Hop BBQ (that) Didn’t Create Jobs.”
So it’s probably safe to assume Obama has Harvey tucked away inside his back pocket.

There’s no question Harvey is a jack of all trades. However, I’d just prefer he leave politics to politicians and stick to cracking jokes.

Love of em, or hate em, Dr. West and Smiley have been advocates of African-American rights since Eve betrayed Adam. And there’s no sugarcoating the fact black unemployment has eclipsed 16 percent. Hell, somebody has to speak out in defense of the meager. My goodness. At least Dr. West and Smiley have accepted the job.

Celebrities came out to kick it with President Barack Obama on his 50th birthday
While Harvey is capable of wiping his fanny with twenty dollar bills, legions of blacks are simmering in poverty. See, as African-Americans, we must remain cognizant of the fact Obama is a rich, biracial, Harvard grad surrounded by a wealthy fraternity of Ivy-Leaguers in Congress.
He’s not Tyrone on 5th Street.

Obama doesn’t share the typical experiences that have become synonymous with urban despair. So it’s probably not fair to expect him to react in that manner. I mentioned “biracial” because Whites have as much claim to Obama’s ethnicity as Black folks.

During his radio rant, Harvey stated something very interesting in regards to African-American unemployment. He said Obama is not the black people’s president, he’s America’s president; which is true.
Obama is indeed America’s president.

However, when one race is disproportionately screwed with an unemployment rate nearly double the national number, it’s certainly the president’s job to investigate.  The race of people, quite frankly, doesn’t matter. If Whites or Hispanics were demonized with a 16 percent jobless rate, the same argument would apply.
Keep in mind, Obama was the first Democratic President since Harry S. Truman to refrain from mentioning the poor during his State of the Union Address. The assumption that Obama considers the black unemployment problem impertinent shouldn’t excuse him from the duty of rendering a reasonable explanation as to why a large segment of his country remains inflicted with double suffering.
98% of Negro voters helped put the man in office.

That same 98 percent, and the USA in mass, deserves an immediate answer.
Wayne Hodges, an MBA from St. Mary University, is the Editor-in-Chief of “Mass Appeal News.” He also serves as a contributing writer to YourBlackWorld.com, he’s a Democrat reporter for the Examiner, and he’s a movie critic and journalist with ILoveBlackMovies.com. Wayne welcomes your comments 24/7 at whodges@massappealnews.com