The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Dyson Tackles Obama

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

LCrawfty — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:03:46 -0000

It might be garbage or it might be a joke on how "uncomfortable" with being black Obama has been perceived as. I`m really sorry you didnt get this was a joke, and I`m really sorry you had to use caps instead of language with impact.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Kitibo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:04:19 -0000

Give an example? If you can't I would say that this is GARBAGE

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

TKOEd — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:22:11 -0000

"get your weight up, not your hate up"

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

nawimean — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:35:45 -0000

Agreed. It was a rhetorical flourish. Everyone knew it was the anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech. The media had been focusing on it for weeks. He didn't have to say King's name, it was maybe more impactful because he didn't say it.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Gramsci — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:14:44 -0000

Why is it when I listen to Dyson now I hear "Two Words" in the back of my head? Enough with Costco Cornel West, let's hear some substantive economic and cultural criticism please. He won't mention MLK's name? Don't play.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

LCrawfty — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:30:08 -0000

Obama is so awkward about being black he's actually gone full circle and is now an awkward white person who tries to prove how cool they are by having black friends.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

cheezncrakrs — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:48:51 -0000

MED implies Obama is scared of black folks. If that were true, would he choose a black woman as his life partner and mother of his children?

Would he have appointed Eric Holder, Lisa Jackson, Susan Rice, and Ron Kirk to his cabinet?

I'm all for insightful criticism, but MED's argument is intellectually dishonest.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Eduardo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:57:47 -0000

I know what you mean, and I agree. But Al Sharpton and "post-racial" in the same sentence... LOL

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Stacy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:24:42 -0000

Wow. Couldn't agree with this more. That was incredibly hard to watch. Breitbart was a bit of a clown, and I kept waiting for MED to really drop some knowledge on him. But he really just made a fool of himself. It seemed like maybe the crowd was enjoying it, but it was like nails on a chalkboard to me. It made Breitbart seem way more sensible than he really was.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Twice Once — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:08:19 -0000

Mr. Dyson has played the pro Obama guy in a "is Obama good for blacks" debate before and is still actually very supportive. He should be critical of Obama, he's trying to address the overall pro Obama sentiment that has engulfed the nation, saying we need to make sure we are still critical of him. It's true that Obama's rhetoric going back to the campaign has been questionable, but we can't accept that, we should still fight to change his views that we disagree with. I agree it would be nice for him to offer solutions, but maybe you're expecting too much from a 10 minute clip. And I think Mr. Dyson's thoughts are that Obama hasn't exactly offered a ton of solutions himself. Many of the comments here are in my eyes the same sort of false criticism that they are accusing Mr. Dyson of.

Sorry for my incoherent ramblings.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

RL — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:45:22 -0000

Excellent riff on Obama catering solely to blacks. Conservatives said that because that's what they've done, for their constituency of white males, for generations.

The President is so much wiser. This is what it is like when he have an intelligent person in office. It's been a loooooong wait. And it's really fun to see the Elmers so befuddled by his excellence. It's not even a contest.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Sweet Jones — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:48:54 -0000

I actually thought the content of Dyson's statement was on point in alot of ways.

I have NO problem with Black folk, like every other constituency, demanding and expecting the people that they vote for to address issues for them SPECIFICALLY. This is the very nature of politics.

I also don't think unreasonable for Black folk to demand and expect that the politicans whose careers they gave birth to will continue to PUBLICALLY embrace them (Black folk) and their icons (MLK), even as they enter 'the mainstream'.

After all, Dubya didn't have any problems wrapping himself in being the 'Pride of Texas', did he?

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

rikyrah — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:14:21 -0000

Love the Boondocks most episodes.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

rudimudi — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:04:44 -0000

Whenever I watch completely crazy conservatives on tv (Buchanan, etc) I always say to myself, "well at least people on the left don't give similarly "perspectiveless" liberals a platform. If he starts taking this show on the road, I may have to amend that. Dude: if you have to start quoting sources (Ebony, REALLY) that say how important you are, it's a sign that you've lost this battle. Also, I only have a BA in Communication, but I am 100% sure that the "the young preacher from Atlanta" thing was a rhetorical flourish.

This is an aside, but it totally bothers me how he's become this academic spokesman for the hip hop generation. I'm in my 20s, and was recently in college, and I would say that the values and political attitudes of that generation are not as binary as Dyson's are.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Juba — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:02:44 -0000

Ouch! Below the belt! ha ha ha

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Sean B. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:00:01 -0000

I thought Dyson was a pretty intriguing figure until his most recent appearance on Real Time w/ Bill Maher this past March. He was part of a two-man panel with Andrew Beirtbart, who was huffing and puffing that old freeper meme about liberals being so elitist, and Dyson played right into the guy's hand. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. MED was so intent on establishing some sort of wannabe Cornell West rhythm to his speeches/riffs (the kind of thing Sorn mentions in his post above), that he failed to notice he was fulfilling the very charicature that Beirtbart was referencing. As someone who also teaches at the college level and works very hard to dispell the gross stereotypes that have emerged on the right, I was dumbfounded and disappointed.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

dmf — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:59:41 -0000

This clown has never had anything original of value to say, for too long he has cashed in on his willingness to quote rap lyrics which is just a part of his weak-as* theft of Cornel West's tv persona, but unlike West who is a profound reader and writer MED is just a made for tv talking head and I vote for this being the last time he gets any 'air' time here.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

WickedWitch — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:30:44 -0000

I'm with just about everyone else on this board -- MED's simply jealous.

And am I wrong to think that it's ONLY these so-called "men of God" who get indignant when other important people fail to kiss their ring (Tavis not being a "man of God")? Discuss.

As for who endorsed whom: my best friend called me after BHO's speech at the 2004 Dem Convo in Boston and said this guy WOULD be the next president -- and he didn't need MED to tell him that.

And did we really need that music underneath the discussion? In my world, music is edited in when YA GOT NOTHING ELSE TO SAY.

To quote Colbert I. King of WaPo today: Give me strength.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

TW — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:08:58 -0000

I'm sorry, I couldn't make it through the whole "interview" so disregard the rest of my comments if you wish. That was flippin' ridiculous. I can't believe that this man has taught at universities and wrote books. Maybe it's just me. The older I get, the less tolerance I have for him and his colleagues. His criticisms of Obama in terms of policy related to Black people are stale. This is yet another instance of where Obama said one thing during the campaign, his "supporters" believed he was just saying it for the benefit of White people so didn't take it seriously, and now that he is in office act shock and offended because he meant what he said. I mean were these dudes listening to him? Did they bother reading his books, listen to his speeches? I don't really think they did, because if they did, they wouldn't be spouting this foolishness.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

moozungu — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:59:38 -0000

I really liked Dyson as a pundit and I also like his moving bio on Black Voices, but my man seems to be doing a "throwback". I mean Dyson was the main person champing the new racial civil rights movement that had less to do with the in .. "your face I'm black and proud or Kum ba ya circle" and more about how kids from the 80's perceive there ethnicity and there desire for a better life as something that is not constricted by the color of their skin, but by the circumstances of their lives. We don't necessarily need to hear black is beautiful cause we're already filling that, we want the same thing other americans want... we want a good job that helps us pay the bills. ... and to me I think Obama is working hard to accomplish this... So Dyson needs to take his side show to some people who trying to hear all that... And if Davey D who claims to be the voice of the Kids from 80's wants to retain his street cred, he needs to step it up and call Dyson on his B.S....

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

JMoney — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:28:32 -0000

total co-sign.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

michaelTO61 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:08:59 -0000

President Obama embraces black people everyday. His wife, his children, and on occasion, i'm sure, his Mother in Law. I don't want or need a hug from him I want a President.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Kitibo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:06:36 -0000

Come on Mike! This smells like a fake controversy to sell books, because no one really cares about Cosby anymore. This is weak and you sound like the typical black intellectual who really is not in the trenches doing the work out here, but instead throwing verbal bombs at Barack. I have no problem with criticizing the President, he is not immune to that. But these comments makes you sound cartoonish. You might as well wear the black scarf like your boy Cornel, and go around on the bash Barack Tour, sponsored by Wal-mart with Tavis. Also, do some work at my alma-mater and get a real Black Studies program together instead of sounding like a race-hustler.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

dwhite10701 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:58:28 -0000

For all the complaining that people do about Al Sharpton, I think it's worth noting that he's out there working constructively with Obama in a "post-racial" fashion, while people like Tavis and Dyson are impotently demanding he pay attention to their racial agenda.

Re: Dyson Tackles Obama

Jamilah — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:51:01 -0000

Exactly.