Smiley Fired from MLK Event for Criticizing Obama

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_state_of_black_america_news/36131

By now, many are growing suspicious that PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley is holding a grudge against President Barack Obama. But he thinks it’s just the opposite.

Monday on the Fox News Channel, he announced that he was ousted as the speaker at a Martin Luther King luncheon because he was trying to hold the president accountable.

“I don’t see my role as one of criticizing the president. I see my role as one of holding the president – this and every other president- accountable,” Smiley said.

“Something is wrong with this country … that so often the political right, and I am no defender of the political right … gets accused of playing the game of political correctness. What this underscores is that those on the left, the Democrats can play that game of political correctness as well,” he added.

Smiley was booted from the 20th annual MLK luncheon on Jan. 16, hosted by the Peoria Civic Center. The group announced last week that Smiley had been replaced by Michael Eric Dyson as the guest speaker of the event, citing people who were “upset about comments that Tavis Smiley has made.”