Tavis Smiley Seeks Relief from Crazed Obamites
by BAR executive editor
Glen Ford
"Smiley violated the Obama mob's supreme commandment:
Thou shalt not question Barack."
It is a measure of the irrationality of Obamamania that
such a non-threatening personality as Tavis Smiley would become an early,
high-profile victim of this strange, mass psychosis. Smiley was driven to quit
his spot on radio's syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show by Obama zealots who
have constituted themselves as a mob, sworn to eradicate from the Black public
sphere all whose loyalties to the Great One are deemed questionable. The
virtual stoning and exile from Black radio of Tavis Smiley is even more
grotesque when it is remembered that, just a few years ago, only a handful
among Obama's current legions of Black zealots had even heard of the Chicago
politician. It seems like only yesterday that Tavis Smiley, the hyper-energetic
Black information entrepreneur, appeared destined for permanent Black icon
status, through his many radio, television and print media products. But Smiley
violated the Obama mob's supreme commandment: Thou shalt not question Barack,
period.
Specifically, Tavis challenged Obama's rationale for
refusing to appear, for the second year in a row, at Smiley's "State of the
Black Union" (SOBU) gathering in February. Obama claimed his time would be
better spent campaigning in Texas and Ohio, where Hillary Clinton was the
primary favorite. Clinton, on the other hand, accepted the invitation to speak
to Smiley's celebrity guests and thousands-strong audience, in New Orleans. The
previous year, Obama had chosen to announce his candidacy for president in
Springfield, Illinois, on the same day as the SOBU event, in Hampton, Virginia.
On both occasions, many suspected that Obama's race-neutral campaign's
intention was to avoid association with Black-specific affairs, or to expose
the candidate to questioning by Cornel West or other's among Smiley's
loquacious stable of "leaders" and "thinkers."
"Smiley would never
purposely alienate any public Black personality with a sizeable following -
that's bad for business."
Obama's decision to withhold his presence was a huge blow
to SOBU's prestige value, which is the same as cash in Smiley's line of
business. Smiley's genius is his knack for turning money-making events and
projects into established Black institutions - he is a superb self-marketer who
has made important political contributions to Black America through his heavy
production schedule of radio and TV programs, books and mass events over the
years. Politically eclectic, sometimes to the point of seeming to be
apolitical, Smiley would never purposely alienate any public Black personality
with a sizeable following - that's bad for business - and certainly was not
fool enough to deliberately provoke Barack Obama's worshipful fans. Smiley,
however, failed to realize that, among Obama's core followers there exists zero
tolerance for criticism of The Leader - real or perceived. In the more cultish
corners of Obamaland, Tavis Smiley became The Enemy when he said of Obama, "I think it is a miscalculation on his part not to appear
[at SOBU] and a missed opportunity."
Poor Tavis, who had labored so long and hard to become a
Black media darling, suddenly found himself condemned as "a
hater, sellout and traitor," he told inquiring bloggers. "They are harassing
my momma, harassing my brother. It's getting to be crazy."
Of course Obama fans are crazy. Fan
is short for fanatic. Smiley failed to realize until it was too late that this
was not politics as usual; that his past good deeds counted for nothing among
the cultified; and that he was about to encounter the stinger ends of a mass of
agitated scorpions.
The media entrepreneur only made things worse for himself
by attempting to mount a defense on Tom Joyner's hugely popular syndicated
radio program, of which Smiley had been a fixture for 12 years. "My job is to ask the critical question, to raise these
issues and keep these guys focused," said Smiley, pleading the First Amendment.
"There are some people who are disappointed that I'm not jumping up and down
saying, 'Vote for Barack Obama.' That's not my role as a journalist. That's not
what I do."
"Among Obama's core
followers there exists zero tolerance for criticism of The Leader."
Joyner, the legendary disc jockey,
knows all about fans and fanatics - folks who will assassinate you for hinting
that their favorite performer is no longer a hot commodity. Obama-maniacs are
more vicious, having convinced themselves that the hopes and dreams of The Race
are perfectly embodied in The Candidate. In an April
letter, Joyner blamed Smiley's sudden resignation from the radio show on "the
hate he's been getting" from Joyner's audience. Joyner wasn't about to get on
the wrong side of such an intensity of hatred. He assured the fanatics where he
stood: "I'll also admit that I wanted Tavis to show
a little more love to Barack Obama, and I was frustrated over his failure to do
so."
Amazing, isn't it, that appearing to cross Barack Obama
gets a highly respected Black demi-icon run out of Black radio on a rail, yet
all parties involved continue to speak endlessly of "love." Joyner struggled to
convince his fans to fulfill their Tavis Smiley love quota. "I want you to call
him, e-mail him, text him, hug him, kiss him, get him in a corner and wrestle
him and tell him how much you love him and appreciate his love for black
people."
This is the kind of nonsense that
passes for political speech and analysis in the Age of Obama, an historical
period populated by lovers and haters - but very few thinkers. "We're so
emotional about this Barack Obama candidacy," said Joyner, in an understatement
to his audience. "If you don't say anything for Barack Obama, you're considered
to be a hater."
"Joyner wasn't about to
get on the wrong side of such an intensity of hatred."
Don't worry about Tavis Smiley. Nationwide insurance
has agreed to provide "exclusive sponsorship of Smiley's PBS television program
as a provider of property & casualty insurance products." That's because
"Nationwide and Tavis Smiley share common values and a common purpose" - as
does Smiley and Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobil and McDonald's. Smiley embarks on a
five-city tour with Nationwide in mid-May. In other words, Smiley will be
alright on the money front, despite his close brush with social death at the
hands of mad Obamites. However, concerning the condition of Black politics in
general - well, that's a much more dire situation.
Recall that just a handful among Obama's current legions
of Black zealots even knew his name a few years ago - and yet they have become
so psychologically bonded to some idea of Obama - that is, to the man
they imagine Obama to be - that they were prepared to cast out a previously
anointed Major Black Personage, Tavis Smiley, as an example of what happens to
infidels.
Consider that the vast majority of Black Obama supporters,
based on indicators such as polls, statements at public meetings and traffic on
the blog-stream, are unaware of Obama's actual positions on military spending,
economic justice, and public policy to reverse the effects of centuries of
racism. Instead, they apparently rely on their imaginations to provide them
with Obama's positions on any given issue. For example, most Black Obama
supporters appear to believe that the candidate favors a smaller, rather than
larger, U.S. military establishment and budget, is an active opponent of
corporate power, and favors race-based remedies to historical and current
race-based problems. None of it is true, as Obama has publicly stated on many
occasions.
"Just a handful among
Obama's current legions of Black zealots even knew his name a few years ago."
I have purposely focused on African American supporters of
Barack Obama, in the firm belief that most have arrived at Obama obsessions and
delusions through a very different route than their non-Black counterparts. As
political scientist Michael Dawson
has noted, there is a strong current of "middle-class black nationalism"
circulating among African American Obamites - a phenomenon that obviously has
no counterpart among non-Blacks. And
although both Black and non-Black Obama supporters have twisted logic and
history to maintain that massive Black and "progressive" support for Obama's
campaign equals a renewed Black-progressive "movement," the assault on Tavis
Smiley is a purely "Black thing" that has nothing to do with progressive
politics or any specific issues whatsoever.
There is no doubt this visceral, nationalist Obamism is
the dominant strain in Black America - as should have been expected ever since
Obama emerged fully packaged on the national scene, in 2004.
Black nationalism is a logical response to intractable,
racist white American nationalism, and the inevitable product of centuries of
Black internal nation-building. Black nationalism comes in progressive,
internationalist manifestations, and in backward, rightist flavors.
Apparently, there's also a purely crazy kind that only
comes out when an African American has a serious chance of capturing the White
House. It is this strange brand of Black nationalism that threatened Tavis
Smiley's momma and ran him off of Black radio.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
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