HARRY BELAFONTE

ty·rant ( P ) 1. An absolute ruler who governs without restrictions.
2. A ruler who exercises power in a harsh, cruel manner.
3. An oppressive, harsh, arbitrary person.

Harry Belafonte is an American icon.

Anyone who has followed his career knows that he was a sensitive, intelligent performer, immensely talented with enormous stage presence.

What the hell are they doing to him?

It all reminds me of the declining stage of another American icon’s life. That was Judy Garland. She had hangers on all around her, but they let her appear in public with lipstick smeared all over her face and her clothing in disarray. She deserved better than that.

Harry Belafonte deserves better than what his hangers on are letting him do now.

Now, in his decline, his entourage is allowing him to be shown in the worst possible light. It totally depresses me. It is Judy Garland all over again.

No matter what your politics, you have to give credit to the people handling Ronald Reagan and Charlton Heston for getting them out of the spotlight when reduced capacity came on.

But Harry, our beloved Harry, they allow to go in front of a microphone when his diminishing intellect is obvious to all.

That is reprehensible.

I believe it is worse than simple carelessness. I believe some people are using a man who is not in control of his own thoughts.

Belafonte obviously has mental problems. Here is some, not all, the evidence (my comments in parenthesis). No educated person in their right minds would say these things.

1. He compared the current American administration to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

2. He referred to prominent African-American officials in the Bush administration as “black tyrants.” (Definition of “tyrant” above.)

3. He said, "Hitler had a lot of Jews high up in the hierarchy of the Third Reich. Color does not necessarily denote quality, content or value,” (In this three step analogy I suppose then the blacks in America today are analogous to the Jews in Hitler’s Germany. Of course there were no Jew higher-ups in Hitler’s Germany. The well educated Belafonte of old knew that. Someone put that thought in his head as if he were retarded.)

4. When a white reporter asked him specifically who was a "black tyrant" in the Bush administration, Belafonte became confused and replied, “You.” (As I said, the Harry Belafonte of old had enormous stage presence. In some of his concerts there was give and take with the audience. To read that he was nonplussed by a single question from a reporter saddens me. At this stage of his life, he probably couldn’t spell “tyrant” let alone define it.)

5. And then he said this: "There's an old saying In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and there were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master ... exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him." (Of course he was referring to Colin Powell, one of the most respected men in the world. Black writers quickly explained that Belafonte was calling Powell a “house n****r.” They spelled it out.)

I could go on, but that’s enough. All of this totally demeans Belafonte.

That is the equivalent of lipstick all over his face.

Come on you people!

He deserves better.

He’s obviously not in full control of his faculties. Walk him off the stage with dignity.

We love you, Harry.