We periodically point out the most obvious person in the news who exhibits the sense of self-loathing that we lovingly call "tomming." By definition an Uncle Tom is:  a black who is overeager to win the approval of whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals) - meanspirited? Maybe, but we think of it as our brand of tough love.
This Week’s Moment of Tom-foolery
Earlier this week, on Sunday of all days, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) earned our first ever acknowledgement of “Tom-foolery†when he said US President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign slogan “Forward,†was far more than just a catchy one word attempt to get re-elected.
West, who’s vying for re-election himself, in fact mendaciously told the Republican Jewish Coalition that the slogan was meant to promote a, “Soviet Union, Marxist-Socialist Theme,†somehow championed by the American incumbent.
West, a Tea Party candidate, was the first African-American elected to the heavily conservative 22nd Congressional District in Florida since the Reconstruction. Now running in a newly formed 18th Congressional District, he is best known for impugning the character of the President earlier this year by calling him: “probably the dumbest person walking around in America right now.â€
Also  # 6 on our 2011 list of Better Blacks, West has been a tanned avatar for his party since elected and once bought the prestigious Congressional Black Caucus Chick-fil-A fried chicken for lunch as a joke.
Obviously as played out and misguided as a high-top fade in the 21st Century, Rep. West’s version of black-on-black crime was almost tailor made for our first award. We can only hope he loses in the upcoming November election.
At least then he’ll be able to return to more suitable and fulfilling causes, like shining shoes or something.
