I remember Cornel West getting bashed for campaigning for Bradley, way back when. Nathan and I defended him if I remember correctly, even though I acknowledged Adolph Reed's and Katha Pollitt's critiques of West and I remember wondering why a radical would waste his time campaigning for Bradley. (Also, I made some asinine comment about one's view of West seems to depend on your age.) I think Mr. Sawicky made a good point about him when discussing his performance at the DC Nader superrally. He's at his best when speaking in front of a large crowd.
I thought West was really good when he first hit, but maybe my opinion is such because I was a little more naive and ignorant in those days when I was fresh out of college. As the years wore on, I think he spoke more and more in lecture mode.
Still for some reason I cut him slack. [like he gives a shit!] He was the first guy I came across who made the seemingly obvious point that it's not a waste of time to work with the courts and with political parties but you really need a mass social movement to accomplish anything substantial. Obviously other people have said this.
Ellen Willis makes the same point in this piece on why she was voting for Nader: http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/11/06/willis/index.html
Anyone know who Charles Taylor is? Did he once write for the Boston Globe? In my opinion he's a bigger dickhead than Alterman. See the following: http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/11/15/nader/index.html
Again I wonder how far to the right the Democratic party has to drift before folks like Taylor finally spot the writing on the wall. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I kinda doubt they'll ever lose the faith, since the Republicans provide the perfect alibi.
Peter