Never let it be said that people who have grievances against Barack Obama because he won’t talk their talk and walk their walk are white progressives.

There’s eminent black scholar Cornel West, who calls the president a “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats. And now he has become head of the American killing machine and is proud of it.”

Strong stuff, and off target.

But if you read between the lines, as Ta-Nehisi Coates did, you come away with the impression that West is less exercised over Obama’s relationship with oligarchs and plutocrats than not getting his ring kissed with returned phone calls and inauguration tickets.

And “the head of the American killing machine” is beyond strange. After all, the guy is commander and chief.