Comedian Steve Harvey has words with Tavis Smiley and Cornel West:
The Original King of Comedy, Family Feud host and suit designer didn't stop there. After reading Smiley's request that Obama join him for "a roundtable for two or three days on poverty," Harvey joked, "Who in the hell got 2-3 days for your ass? I ain't got time to sit down with your monkey behind for two, three days, let alone the President of the United States. We got three wars going on, the economy crashing and we going to sit down with Tavis ass for three days?"
Harvey ended the rant insisting that somebody is paying Smiley and West to produce the Poverty Tour, asking "where are you getting the money for these buses?" But not before performing a skit where he said he was the president of UTLO.org (which stands out for "Uncle Tom Look Out") and that he spotted an "uncle tom" driving a bus.
I didn't have any patience for this sort of argument when West was making it, and I don't have any for it now. Being black and criticizing Obama is not inherently "tomming," any more than it is to support the president despite his failures. Tomming involves deliberately advancing the arguments of the community's dectractors in a bid for approval, it doesn't apply to people who, whatever you think of the merits of their argument, ultimately have the best interests of the community in mind. This kind of thing weakens the merits of one's argument, it doesn't make it stronger.
