Asked by MSNBC's Ed Schultz  last night to explain this, West doubled down by saying, "Obama has a predilection much more toward upper-middle-class white brothers and Jewish brothers."

What West said is no less offensive, harmful and wrong than what Dinesh D'Souza said - with an assist from Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee - about a presumable anti-colonial and un-American mind-set possessed by Obama. Whereas these folks tried to deny the president his citizenship, West is trying to deny him his inherent blackness. By indulging in the "Obama-as-other" narrative, West is no better than a birther.