Tavis Smiley Has The Crabs

[Crabs-In-A-Barrel Syndrome, that is. Image shamelessly jacked from MediaTakeOut.com]
Man, this one really, really hurts. I haven't been this disappointed in another black man since Kobe snitched on Shaq.

I can accept, and to some degree understand how civil rights era relics icons like Julian Bond, Andrew Jackson, and John Lewis blindly follow the Clintons. I can understand how self-servers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson remain opportunistically neutral. I can accept birdbrained rappers like 50 Cent and Nas spouting their usual Negro Nonsense. But for a contemporary like Tavis Smiley to manufacture a petty beef with the Obama campaign is beyond comprehension.

I don't usually believe anything I read on MediaTakeOut, or anything I hear on The Michael Baisden Show, but when there's actual audio to back up the claims, I gotta conclude that this is true.

Apparently Tavis Smiley is upset that Barack Obama didn't come and kiss his booty before announcing that he's running for president. Since then, Tavis has been publicly criticizing the Democratic front-runner.

But things all came to a head a few days ago. You see, Tavis put out the word that he wanted both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to attend his State Of Black America conference in Louisiana this week. Barack reached out to Tavis and explained to him that he's busy campaigning in States with upcoming primaries, so he can't make it over to Tavis' event. And he offered to have his wife Michelle attend the event in his place.

Well that wasn't good enough for Tavis - who put the word out that Michelle Obama is not welcome at the event. According to Tavis - if Barack can't attend, he didn't want Michelle there either.

I mean, c'mon Tavis. We know how important the Annual Soundbyte Olympics™ State Of The Black Union is to you, but I also it's pretty understandable that Obama not attend. I mean, seriously, it's not like he doesn't have something more important to do, with Texas and Ohio on the horizon and whatnot. Give the brotha a pass, dag. And what rule book says the man's wife can't just show up on his behalf? AverageSis saw Mrs. O. speak earlier this week here in the DC urreah and was mesmerized.

I may be missing something in the equation here, but Obama has made every Smiley/Joyner debate during this campaign. John McCain, however, followed the rest of the then-Republican frontrunners and completely stood Tavis up on nationwide TV during that PBS debate at Morgan State a few months back. I wonder if he'll uninvite Cindy McCain while he's at it. I'm not holding my breath though.

I could obviously bash Tavis for only looking out for self here at the expense of the bigger picture (duh, there's a black man in the midst of a serious run for the White House here!), but reality is, I'm so disappointed in him, I'd rather just end this post now.

MLK Is Crying Inside.

Question: Did Tavis drink a gallon of Haterade, or does he have a point?

Bonus: Obama also didn't make last year's State of The Black Union. He just happened to be announcing his candidacy that day. Watch Cornell West and Tavis rip him a new one.



Michelle Obama Discusses Tavis Slight On The Michael Baisden Show [Audio]

CRABS IN A BARREL!! TAVIS SMILEY IS NOW GOING HARD AT BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA [MediaTakeOut]