Cornell West...did you shed a tear?

If you see my new tag above it comes from the new book by Dr. Cornell West (Hope on a Tight Rope).  Here's an excerpt from his interview with CNN's Ralitsa Vassileva.

Ralitsa Vassileva: Did you shed a tear? All my black american friends cried. (is something wrong with that question)

Dr. Cornell West: Oh indeed, the tears were real.  I think the tears signify memories of great suffering and hope for a better future.

Ralitsa Vassileva:  Speaking of hope.  Your book is called "Hope on a Tight Rope". What do you mean by that?

Dr. Cornell West:  I mean that Barack Obama's brilliance, charisma, organizational genious signifies the end of Reagan, the end of the epic of conservatism and the end of the rule of the Republican party in the last 8 years.  And that means then the economics of greed, the culture of indifference to the poor and the politics of fear now come to an end.

And the question now is we are on a tight rope. We are in a transitional moment. What will the age of Obama look like? Can we get beyond the trivializing of the poor peoples suffering? Can we get beyond the Dogma of unregulated markets? Can we get beyond the Washington concensus when it comes to the attitudes towards the third world?"

Preach! Watch the rest of the video