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PBS Star Tavis Smiley Slams Obama For Having No 'Genuine Love' for Black Journalists
NewsBuster.org ^ | July 3, 2012 | Tim Graham

Posted on 07/03/2012 3:33:25 PM PDT by Kaslin

Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer found that on his Sunday public-radio show with socialist professor Cornel West, PBS host Tavis Smiley thumped Obama chief of staff Valerie Jarrett for an apparently rude speech at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in New Orleans on  June 23. She came to describe Obama's "genuine love for black people," which Smiley thought was ridiculous since Obama did not show up.

Several NABJ vets did complain to blogger Richard Prince about Jarrett reading a list of Obama accomplishments: "Why not just send a [campaign] video?" one said. "That was out of line," said another afterward.

Kevin Merida at The Washington Post found it interesting that one journalist asked Jarrett if Obama didn't want to be more authentically black:

One journalist asked if there weren’t times when Obama just wanted to be “unabashedly black,” and not so careful in calibrating his racial identity.

“You know what? He is black,” Jarrett said. “He’s the black president. He doesn’t hide it. How can you hide being black?”

For his part, Smiley just wanted to bang away at his regular theme that the president should be shoveling more government cash toward blacks, because that's how you "show the love" -- you hand out the checks:

Tavis Smiley, Cornel West Slam Valerie Jarrett, Obama For Insincerity Toward African-Americans

TAVIS SMILEY: Valerie Jarrett you know of course the President’s top African-American staffer inside the White House was one of the keynote speakers at the NABJ Convention. This is the annual gathering of the nations National Association of Black Journalists, all the black journalists who belong to this organization were in New Orleans for their annual convention. This is an election year and so the president didn’t make it but he sent Valerie Jarrett and she was there.

And she did in fact say to a room packed full of African-American journalists that the president has genuine love for black people. What’s fascinating about that to me, a few things: number one, that I’ve never heard the president say that. So, to send a surrogate out to tell people that he really loves you is fascinating for me if the president himself doesn’t tell you that I love you. You know that’s like me sending you to tell my momma that I love her.

Secondly, she offered that love report at the same time that these new census numbers show that the wealth inequality gap between white and black folk has doubled during the president's term in office, so black wealth continues to evaporate.  That goes to your list of things that make you wonder and question how deep the love really is.  Put another way, where is the love?

...Some folk in the audience really wanted to hear her [Jarrett] just talk about issues and talk about the campaign and talk about things that really matter. But she got up and just read down this laundry list of accomplishments and there were folk in the audience who like okay, we got it.

But the presentation didn’t work because it was just a resuscitation [sic] of talking points as if she felt she needed to convince this audience with these talking points that he really had done something that she had to convince them and so here comes the phrase of genuine love. It just struck some in the audience I’m told that she was really really you know working hard to try to sell this story to an audience of black journalists? What do you make of that?

CORNEL WEST: You know I think anytime you have genuine love though, brother, you usually you don’t even have to say it because your record already shows it. I tell my mother I love her, but she already knows it because I’d take a bullet for her. She knows that if the bullet coming I’m jumping in the way. So the love is the kind of thing already manifests so strongly that to even talk about it is just to put icing on the cake. And I think she has to say it cause she knows that there’s deep questions in the minds of so many people including black people as to where his commitments really are.

Not only did Jarrett speak to the NABJ convention, the White House also sent Vice President Biden. No Republicans appeared.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: brianmaloney; cornelwest; correctsource; pbs; radioequalizer; tavissmiley; valeriejarrett
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1 posted on 07/03/2012 3:33:35 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

He has no genuine love for anyone or anything. When will these idiots understand that his motive is to destroy and nothing more.


2 posted on 07/03/2012 3:38:24 PM PDT by formosa (Formosa)
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To: Kaslin

Smiley shouldn’t feel badly. Other than their votes, obama couldn’t care less what happens to blacks. Most of them sre just too supid/ignorant/uneducated/whatever/ to figure this out.


3 posted on 07/03/2012 3:42:31 PM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: Kaslin

Smiley shouldn’t feel badly. Other than their votes, obama couldn’t care less what happens to blacks. Most of them sre just too supid/ignorant/uneducated/whatever/ to figure this out.


4 posted on 07/03/2012 3:42:31 PM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: freeangel

>>Smiley shouldn’t feel badly. Other than their votes, obama couldn’t care less what happens to blacks.<<

And obozo could restart black slavery and still get 90% of the black vote.


5 posted on 07/03/2012 3:45:09 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (Guns Walked -- People Died -- Holder Lied -- Obama Golfed (thanks, Secret Agent Man))
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To: freedumb2003

...excellent observation. Not bad for a black impersonating arab-muslim thug, he dun pull duh woo ovr deh i’s.


6 posted on 07/03/2012 3:50:20 PM PDT by himno hero (hadnuff)
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To: Kaslin

Hey Tavis,,,,he KNOWS you’ll vote for him NO MATTER WAHT!! You are IDIOTS....he ONLY cares for HIMSELF!


7 posted on 07/03/2012 4:10:01 PM PDT by Ann Archy ( ABORTION...the HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Kaslin
Wake up, Smirky.

Choom Boys got no "genuine love" for nobody.

8 posted on 07/03/2012 4:12:16 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Government is the religion of the sociopath.)
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To: Kaslin

Oh, go whine for your hero somewhere else. You’ve just depressed me with your observation, because it points out something that Barack 0bama and I share in common:

Neither of us give a crap about you.


9 posted on 07/03/2012 4:14:41 PM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder (A conservative, a liberal and a moderate walk into a bar. Bartender says "what'll it be, Mitt?")
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To: Kaslin

Someone maybe should tell Tavis Smiley that Obama is, umm, half-white....


10 posted on 07/03/2012 4:17:39 PM PDT by SeminoleCounty (Sad....George Zimmerman is in jail for rightfully defending himself...while Eric Holder walks free)
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To: Kaslin

Oh, well, BooHooo! What’s love got to do with it?


11 posted on 07/03/2012 4:20:15 PM PDT by Chaguito
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To: Kaslin

They’re all going to vote for him anyway so it doesn’t matter if he only phones it in.


12 posted on 07/03/2012 4:23:50 PM PDT by glorgau
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To: formosa

Mindless black collective thinking. I’ve been trying to tell black people since 2008, Obama is NOT a black man. He was never raised as such and has never experienced life as such. Thus he has no sense or instinct about black people. It’s all academic to him.


13 posted on 07/03/2012 4:56:25 PM PDT by Clock King
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To: Kaslin
Welcome to the club, Tavis, except that your motive is insincere. Your motive is "Give us more free stuff!" You're full of it.

News flash, Tavis: Obama cares about Obama. In fact, I keep wagering that he has more contempt for people who bought into his bull *bleep*, than people who saw through his crap from the beginning.

You're nothing but suckers to him.

14 posted on 07/03/2012 5:01:28 PM PDT by FlyVet
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To: Kaslin

Let's get one thing straight, Tavis -- I OWN your a$$! You know it. I know it. Now STFU and start "interviewing" some clown-ass sycophant from the media, hear?!?!"

15 posted on 07/03/2012 5:01:58 PM PDT by workerbee (June 28, 2012 -- 9/11 From Within)
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To: Kaslin
Just created this. Enjoy.


16 posted on 07/03/2012 5:08:55 PM PDT by Lazamataz (People who resort to Godwin's Law are just like Hitler.)
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To: Kaslin
so black wealth continues to evaporate.

Yeah...the whitey wealth is disappearing as well...

But, that's Ok since whitey got their wealth on the backs of the slaves.../ S

17 posted on 07/03/2012 5:26:51 PM PDT by Popman (When you elect a clown: expect a circus...)
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To: Kaslin

How about asking Obama if he wishes that his white mother and white grandmother ( who had to raise him ) were black


18 posted on 07/03/2012 5:30:46 PM PDT by uncbob
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To: Kaslin

Bet Bill Clinton would have showed up since he was a REAL black president not like this pretender


19 posted on 07/03/2012 5:35:27 PM PDT by uncbob
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To: Kaslin

tavis smiley is the ultimate, butt-sucking twirp.


20 posted on 07/03/2012 6:45:33 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (A Dalmation was spotted wagging it's tail.)
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