Tavis Smiley says that the president must be held accountable for his actions. Apparently, the organizers of a luncheon that champions the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. felt the same way about Mr. Smiley. One of the organizers, Alma Brown,expressed concern that Tavis Smiley's controversial political views would cause too much friction among the guests who were there to honor MLK.
Here's more from Politico:
"Smiley was booted from the 20th annual MLK luncheon on Jan. 16 that is hosted by the Peoria Civic Center. The group announced last week that Smiley had been replaced by Michael Eric Dyson as the guest speaker, citing people who were “upset about comments that Tavis Smiley has made.”
“What’s important to us is putting together a luncheon that celebrates the life and work of Dr. King,” luncheon organizer Alma Brown said last week, according to a local report. “And it became evident over the last few days that people were upset about comments that Tavis Smiley had made, comments that we weren’t aware of unfortunately so we made the decision to cancel his contract.”
Smiley said Monday that some 1,500 guests had bought tickets to attend the luncheon, but the “six people” that complained ended up “trumping the entire event,” calling the situation a “quintessential example of political correctness.”
Last summer, Smiley teamed with social activist and author Cornel West to embark on a 16-city “poverty bus tour” to highlight the economic disparity in the country, especially as it affected the nation’s African-American community. Smiley said in an interview that “it would be nice to hear the president say the word poor — to say the word poverty.”
“But we can’t get this president or any leaders to say the words poor or poverty, much less do anything about it,” he said." Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71225.html#ixzz1j5Gm2gbp
Far too many people show no tolerance for a contrarian point of view. I,on the other hand, thirst for debates. If someone has a different perspective than I on any subject, I love to try to sway them to my way of thinking. Or be swayed to follow their train of thought on any given issue. Many feel that Tavis Smiley's arguments about President Obama's failings is motivated more by personal issues he has with Obama more than anything else.
They felt that his very vocal criticisms stemmed from the fact that he has not been invited to the White House.
Here's more from Mediaite:
"Tavis Smiley and Cornel West continued their media tour on C-Span this morning, and expressed frustration with President Obama over a much more personal issue than merely not talking about poverty. Smiley noticed that Obama invited Bill O’Reilly to the White House, but he himself has yet to receive an invitation from the President, who regularly appeared on his show before being elected President.
Smiley said Monday that some 1,500 guests had bought tickets to attend the luncheon, but the “six people” that complained ended up “trumping the entire event,” calling the situation a “quintessential example of political correctness.”
Last summer, Smiley teamed with social activist and author Cornel West to embark on a 16-city “poverty bus tour” to highlight the economic disparity in the country, especially as it affected the nation’s African-American community. Smiley said in an interview that “it would be nice to hear the president say the word poor — to say the word poverty.”
“But we can’t get this president or any leaders to say the words poor or poverty, much less do anything about it,” he said." Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71225.html#ixzz1j5Gm2gbp
Far too many people show no tolerance for a contrarian point of view. I,on the other hand, thirst for debates. If someone has a different perspective than I on any subject, I love to try to sway them to my way of thinking. Or be swayed to follow their train of thought on any given issue. Many feel that Tavis Smiley's arguments about President Obama's failings is motivated more by personal issues he has with Obama more than anything else.
They felt that his very vocal criticisms stemmed from the fact that he has not been invited to the White House.
Here's more from Mediaite:
"Tavis Smiley and Cornel West continued their media tour on C-Span this morning, and expressed frustration with President Obama over a much more personal issue than merely not talking about poverty. Smiley noticed that Obama invited Bill O’Reilly to the White House, but he himself has yet to receive an invitation from the President, who regularly appeared on his show before being elected President.
Smiley suggested he wasn’t crying about being ignored by Obama......." Read more here.
