President Obama’s harshest critics, Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, are on a 15-city poverty tour.
During an appearance on CNN, Smiley said the debt ceiling deal “was really a declaration of war on the poor. The Congress, the President, respectfully, declared war on the poor.”
In Detroit, Obama supporters declared war on the, um, dynamic duo.
David Stephen told the local ABC TV affiliate:
We will not stand silent as Smiley and West criticize the man who brought us health care reform, one of the greatest accomplishments for the poor in our nation’s history. This event has nothing to do with the poor and everything to do with enriching Tavis Smiley. Detroit must send a strong message to Washington that although some elected officials may support this anti-Obama rally on government property, the people do not.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports:
More than a year ago Smiley and West went rogue on Obama, fomenting bitter, public fights with allies of the president that have resulted in name-calling and shouting matches. The two men, who are best friends and have long been concerned with the state of blacks in America, described the tour — which is not solely focused on blacks — as an attempt to force the White House and Congress to pay more attention the poor.
For more info, visit The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience.
