Regarding shields, political lightning rods and Cornel West

[Uncle Joe]

Last edited Fri Sep 18, 2015, 05:00 AM - Edit history (1)

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/17983/when-is-a-person-called-a-lightning-rod

A lightning rod is someone who attracts a lot of criticism, in particular in order to shield other people (like a literal lightning rod diverts lightning harmlessly into the ground). It is thus related in meaning with scapegoat, i.e. someone who is blamed for the mistakes of others.

Despite West’s disapproval of Obama, he eventually embraced the political phenom, crossing the country as a surrogate and touting his Oval Office bona fides. The two publicly embraced at a 2007 Apollo Theater fundraiser in Harlem during which West christened Obama “my brother... companion and comrade.” Obama praised West as “a genius, a public intellectual, a preacher, an oracle,” and “a loving person.”

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121550/cornel-wests-rise-fall-our-most-exciting-black-scholar-ghost

So the corporate media waged a relentless overt and in many cases subliminal racist propaganda campaign against President Obama from before he took office to this day.

The Republican Party was supported by a large constituency that could never view President Obama as their President simply because of the color of his skin.

This was in many ways a one direction propaganda offensive and as it's impossible to prove a negative what was the best strategy to counter that prevailing view, condemnation of racism, yes but that only works primarily on open ears and minds, those willing to be enlightened.

Cornell West presented a polar opposite point of view, I believe his scathing and race based condemnations may have served a useful purpose to President Obama, for white racists and FOX "News" could understand the language of West and thus Cornell served as both shield and lightning rod.

Certainly not that West could stop the tide of racism but West presented an extreme counterbalanced point of view which I believe may have moderated to some degree the numbers of people in the middle that may have otherwise been swayed by racist Republican and corporate media propaganda.

In this regard, West may have been useful to President Obama.

[leftofcool]

1. Oh brother!

[Uncle Joe]

2. I liked that movie too.