By Deron Dalton

12:24 PM on 08/10/2011

During his syndicated radio show, comedian Steve Harvey called out Cornel West and Tavis Smiley for their poverty bus tour, while defending President Barack Obama.

After a listener sent an email about the duo's tour being a hustle, Harvey didn't shy away for offering his own opinion -- accusing West and Smiley for using personal vendettas to damage the Obama's name.

"I was a huge fan of Cornel West," he said. "[But] Tavis, I seen him coming a mile away. His anger started when he had a town hall meeting, President Obama couldn't come because of the campaign trail and he sent Mrs. Obama. He has held that grudge every since."

The writer and comedian also mocked West for not getting extra tickets to Obama's inauguration. Harvey said, "Have you ever been invited to the damn inauguration? Did Bush send for you? Did Clinton send for you? Did Reagan send for you?"

Harvey continued his rant by referring to Smiley and West as being affiliated with UTLO.org (which stands out for "Uncle Tom Look Out").

Harvey mocked the tour by saying, "Make sure you don't get on the poverty bus... because if you ain't po', when you ride the bus, you become po'."

http://www.thegrio.com/politics/steve-harvey-cornel-west-tavis-smiley-are-uncle-toms.php

I am the LAST person you'd see reading ANY of Steve Harvey's BOOKS and RARELY would you hear me agree with him on much of anything, but this right here was right on point!  I don't know about anybody else, but it wouldn't matter if I was an 'uppity negro' or a 'po' one', I'd be HIGHLY offended by the title of this so-called tour.  Why in the world would I want to attend anything like this, ESPECIALLY if I was poor?  It sounds so freaking depressing.  You're supposed to be uplifting me in some kind of way, but this is the best you can do?  Really???  No offense to those who are less-fortunate than others in any way, because the way this world is spinning, we'll all be in the same boat in a minute.  But I agree that Tavis Smiley is still harboring ill feelings against President Obama because he did not attend the State of the Black Union address that he USED TO hold annually.  He stopped having it after then- presidential nominee Barack Obama could not attend (BECAUSE HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!) and sent Mrs. Obama instead.  If you're so about the black race, why stop hosting the State of the Black Union???  See, this is the same ole stuff that led to Al Sharpton chewing Tavis a new asshole last year.

And I never understood WHY (SOME black) people feel that once another black person gets into a high-profile position, he's supposed to be Captain Save-a-Race???  This man is the President of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, NOT THE PRESIDENT OF BLACK AMERICA!!!  If people want to make a difference in their communities, trust me, they will when they are ready and enough is enough.

And the last time I checked, President Obama had a family.  When exactly is he supposed to go into these communities and 'save somebody'?  What magic wand does he have that's going to automatically end poverty because he stepped into a particular neighborhood?  And is he required to walk into EVERY neighborhood in the US of A???  I'm saying though, which neighborhood(s) have Tavis Smiley stepped into and ended poverty???  Has he tracked any progress of these neighborhoods after speaking to the people???  I'ma play devil's advocate for a second.  Let's say President Obama DOES go into the communities and speak to the people (which I believe he's already doing myself; it's called State of the Union addresses).  What end result is Tavis Smiley looking for?  What does he see in his crystal ball????

I laughed my ASS off at work today when I first read this article because Steve asked all of the right questions to Dr. Cornell West?  Did Bush invite you to inauguration?  What about Clinton?  Reagan (RIP) perhaps???

Jive niggas.  I swear they ain't never satisfied.