Harry Belafonte disgraced himself, the United States, and entertainers by his comments in Venezuela to Hugo Chavez, the dictatorial strongman. However, some in the black community are rising to the challenge and calling into question not only Mr. Belafonte's patriotism, but his sanity as well:
Belafonte was quoted as telling Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people...support your revolution."
Belafonte led a group of Americans, including actor Danny Glover and Princeton University Professor Cornel West, to Venezuela over the weekend.
The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, a conservative black leader, is among the Americans questioning Belafonte's sanity.
"Harry Belafonte's hatred of President Bush is causing him to embrace America's enemies," the Rev. Peterson said in a press release. "I also believe that his actions are treasonous as described by Article Three, Section Three o the U.S. Constitution, which says that 'adhering to our enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort' constitutes treason."
Peterson called Chavez a "brutal, paranoid dictator with nuclear ambitions who wants nothing more than to destroy the U.S."
Peterson said it's time to take U.S. laws seriously - by classifying Belafonte and his delegation as "domestic enemies of the United States."
Amen, Rev. Peterson. But check out this bit of idiocy by the supposed intellectual, Prof. Cornell West:
In a Tuesday morning interview with Fox & Friends, Professor Cornel West said that he, Belafonte and the other Americans went to Venezuela so they "could see for themselves "the ways in which poor people are gaining a voice in a democratic process."
Hugo Chavez, elected in 1998, is an authoritarian, populist leader who rejects democratic principles and has allied himself with Cuba.
But West said the American delegation recognizes that President Chavez is "trying to lead a country and a region out of the immense poverty," and he said the delegation is "concerned about the kind of hostility that the Bush administration has manifested" toward the Chavez administration.
OK, so Prof. West, his enslavement of people to work for the government is OK, because he is leading people out of immense poverty? Well, if that is the case, then what is the big deal about America's past of slavery? The Americans were trying to lead themselves out of poverty by enslavement, it could be argued, and were also trying to lift up blacks as well....
Yes, that last line was utter nonsense. So is the lame argument of Cornell West. These people are enemies of America and should be treated as such.
