Why Is Cornel West So Damn SMART?

[Placebo]

Did anyone else see him on REAL TIME with BILL MAHER tonight? He is a freakin' genius. And on Harball last week. It's like, nothing but gold can come from this man's mind and out his mouth.

[TaleWgnDg]

1. . . . and Harvard was soooooooooo dumb to "let him go . . ." n/t

[oldhat]

2. Cornel West is a pompous, egotistical asshole.

IMHO.

Ever hear that tape where he tries to "rap"? Bwahahahahaha...

[KeepItReal]

9. Calling Dr. West pompous and egotistical and an asshole?

Hmmm... would you do that to his face?

[Swamp Rat]

13. What? And get his oldhat handed to him?

[PeaceProgProsp]

20. Says more about oldhat than about West.

[SemperEadem]

27. Hater

just because he intimidates you with his intelligence is no excuse to launch a personal attack--especially seeing that you don't even know him.

[AlCzervik]

3. He is indeed brilliant. His ability to link things together

in a way that even an idiot like me can understand is wonderful. I haven't read any of his books but i will be heading out tomorrow to pick up his new one.

[Catherine Vincent]

4. I dig him a lot. But didn't he get some negative coverage

a while back for stating something about the war? Or something, I don't remember.

[Leilani]

5. Ask him.

He will be happy to tell you.

[madfloridian]

6. I saw an interview with him recently.

It was excellent. I thought he was good on Bill Maher, as good as anyone could be sitting next to P. J. O'Rourke....having to talk over his stupid remarks.

[MissMarple]

7. It's a gift, but it doesn't always mean he's right.

I'm sure he'll admit to that. :D

[Bungalowgal]

8. He drives me crazy

He was on Al Franken's show today. I actually turned the channel and listened to our local leftie station KBOO. His use of language is just too clever for me.

[Placebo]

10. Heh, I love it.

It's so layered and detailed, mmm

[Tomee450]

25. I also enjoy

listening to West but I think America has been so dumbed down that unless one is using simple words and sentences, a lot of people will fail to comprehend.

[KeepItReal]

11. The Brotha does have alot to say

Just listen very closely. Don't give up on him. You might find yourself agreeing with some of his thoughts.

:-)

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

12. He is a brilliant man. Truly an intellectual giant.

I don't agree with all of his views, but you have to listen to him. He's just that smart.

[Swamp Rat]

14. The Doc is in da house!

Damn! I missed Bill Maher show this evening. When's the replay?

[deutsey]

15. I've been an admirer of West's for years

[Michael Harrington]

16. Nice segment on Al's show Friday.

He's dead on in most anything and everything he says. Anyone who loves John Coltrane, Tennesse Williams and Anton Chekov and also knows more about politics and history than every single "anchor" at CNN put together, is my kind of guy.

[deutsey]

17. He's a Democratic Socialist, too!

http://www.dsausa.org/dl/Winter_2003.pdf

So am I, by the way.

[tinanator]

19. anyone knows more than those brainless telepromptoids

and most reporters in general. They arent being hired these days based on inquisitiveness, just their stenography and ad writing skills.
we need to get over the myth of journalistic integrity. yesterday.

[tblue37]

18. West is often excellent,

but he also very often slips into the sort of pompous indecipherable blather that academics love to spout. Democracy Matters is very good. Even better is a book he wrote with some woman whose name I can't remember, called The War against Parents.

In that book the authors detail the way American tax policy was used after WWII to expand the middle class, and how tax policy in recent decades has been used instead to benefit the rich and corporations, while actively undermining parents' ability to provide decent lives for themselves and their children. If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend that you do so.

I have a hardback copy around the house somewhere. If I find it I will post the publication info for you, but it is in paperback now. In fact, I bet you could order a used paperback from Amazon.com.

West frustrates me. He really is very smart and often perfectly on the mark, and yet at other times he acts like an egotistical, pompous academic of the worst sort. (And, no, I am not bashing academics. I am one.)

Harvard let him leave because he was a prima donna who felt he didn't have to do much of anything other than bless those hallowed halls with his august presence on occasion--as long as it didn't interfere with his ability to promote himself as a media star.

[Karenina]

21. Harvard let him leave

because he seemed to have forgotten that he's BLACK. Beverly Sills is a bona fide DIVA. Just let Kathleen Battle try that shit. Madonna is an ICON. Toni Braxton is a SLUT. And just to highlight what I want to communicate, Steven Spielberg is a GENIUS and Barbara Streisand is a demanding bitch.

[dorktv]

22. Maybe he is really brilliant...He was saying stuff on Real

Time that made no sense to me. Sometimes really bright people do that, say stuff that is very smart but no one gets.

[Tomee450]

23. I have read Cornel West's

book titled RACE MATTERS, seen him speak many times and have had no difficulty whatsoever in understanding him. I think some people are very uncomfortable listening to educated, bright African Americans. I am not saying that this applies to you. However, very bright blacks are often considered uppity or arrogant when they behave just as their white counbterparts do. I remember Bryant Gumble being described as arrogant but Ted Koppell who is also an aggressive interviewer was never described as such.

[atommom]

24. I zoned out during "Real Time" last night, but I agree, he's a fascinating

person. I would have preferred to hear him speak more at length on some of the topics he brought up, and have had the other two shut up for a few minutes. I don't even mind the academic goobledygook. (After all, I AM a member of the liberal elite, since I read! ;-) )

[LTR]

26. West went over too many heads on Real Time last night

He strikes me as very intelligent, but he made the mistake of talking to impress himself. I thought he was very mediocre on RT. He just wasn't making sense, and being smart is one thing, actually being able to communicate your wisdom to Joe Sixpack is another.

P.J. O'Rourke gets slammed here because of his politics, and that's understandable. His act is a bit crude. But he is a pretty funny writer, and one of the rare tolerable wingnuts. He also made the mistake of babbling and hamming it up to the camera. But he seemed to communicate better than West last night, although he was a bit tasteless (the AIDS comment). But I expect that kind of talk out of him - like I said, he's kinda crude. But it makes his act funny, as long as you don't take his act seriously. And I'm convinced it's an act - I don't believe he has an arsenal of assault weapons in his basement, like he claims.

All in all, West would be a bit more effective if he quit trying to impress everyone with his intellect.

[SemperEadem]

28. West was out of his element then..

It's not a reflection on West.. it's a reflection on those who've chosen not to elevate their discourse.

[LTR]

29. Yes, but to communicate ideas, you have to make them presentable

West seemed like he was talking to himself.

This may play well among the Ivy League set, but it won't play in Peoria. Case in point is Bill Clinton. Very intelligent man, but he knows how to broadcast his knowledge to the common man. He's not an elitist.

And I commend John Kerry on this as well. Conventional wisdom would dictate that he would be some kind of elitist snob due to his upbringing and education. But he's a great speaker. Not as chummy as Clinton was, but he's still good. Bush is good at times in doing this (though he hasn't really mastered the English language), but deep down, he does seem somewhat aloof and withdrawn. At times, he starts to resemble Donald Rumsfeld. John Edwards is the best communicator out of all four people at the top of the ticket, Cheney by far the worst. Edwards is another highly intelligent person who knows how to connect.

[Cha]

31. And they All were having such a gratuitious

Kerry Bashing that I turned off the tv in Disgust!

They thought they were so cute ganging up on Kerry like that on national tv ..it made me sick. bill maher was the worst. All this Stale, gallows, humor and then spewing things about Kerry that weren't even true!

[NightTrain]

30. That man is magnificent, isn't he?

Along with Noam Chomksy and Howard Zinn, Cornel West is an informational source in whom I place my complete trust.