Is Cornel West Right? Is the Obama Administration a “Drone Presidency”?

Nationwide — Dr. Cornel West, professor, public intellectual, and the controversial author of Black Prophetic Fire, says that he thinks President Obama lacks backbone. “I think he’s settled for the middle ground rather than the higher ground,” West says.

West, who was once a supporter of Obama (even appearing with him during his first presidential campaign, says that in 2012, he didn’t even vote because he just couldn’t vote for a “war criminal”. He says Obama’s administration is a “drone presidency.”

In a recent interview with Time magazine, West criticized how President Obama addresses young Black men. He comments, “When you say your major program for black young boys is going to be one of charity and philanthropy but no public policy, no justice, then criticism must be put forward just to be true to the black prophetic tradition.”

West even compared Obama to Malcolm X, saying that X encouraged Black people not to “be intimidated, afraid, and so scared of speaking [their] mind and allowing [their] soul to be manifest that [they] defer to the powers that be, especially the white supremacist powers.”

West, who has a radio show with well-known journalist Tavis Smiley, is also a professor at Union Theological Seminary. In 1980, he was the first African American to graduate from Princeton with a Ph.D in philosophy. He often appears on networks such as CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, Fox News and PBS.