Chris Hedges writes in TruthDig about the cruel disillusionment of Cornel West, Princeton professor of African American Studies and Religion and a star in  The Matrix sequels:

The moral philosopher Cornel West, if Barack Obama's ascent to power was a morality play, would be the voice of conscience. Rahm Emanuel, a cynical product of the Chicago political machine, would be Satan. ...

No one grasps this tragic descent better than West, who did 65 campaign events for Obama, believed in the potential for change and was encouraged by the populist rhetoric of the Obama campaign. He now nurses, like many others who placed their faith in Obama, the anguish of the deceived, manipulated and betrayed. He bitterly describes Obama as "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."...

"I have to take some responsibility," he admits of his support for Obama as we sit in his book-lined office. "I could have been reading into it more than was there.

"There is the personal level," he says. "I used to call my dear brother [Obama] every two weeks. I said a prayer on the phone for him, especially before a debate. And I never got a call back. And when I ran into him in the state Capitol in South Carolina when I was down there campaigning for him he was very kind. The first thing he told me was, ”Brother West, I feel so bad. I haven't called you back. You been calling me so much. You been giving me so much love, so much support and what have you.' And I said, ”I know you're busy.' But then a month and half later I would run into other people on the campaign and he's calling them all the time. I said, wow, this is kind of strange. He doesn't have time, even two seconds, to say thank you or I'm glad you're pulling for me and praying for me, but he's calling these other people. I said, this is very interesting. And then as it turns out with the inauguration I couldn't get a ticket with my mother and my brother. I said this is very strange. We drive into the hotel and the guy who picks up my bags from the hotel has a ticket to the inauguration. My mom says, ”That's something that this dear brother can get a ticket and you can't get one, honey, all the work you did for him from Iowa.' Beginning in Iowa to Ohio. We had to watch the thing in the hotel."

Hopefully, the Wests got a good glimpse on their hotel TV of the newly sworn-in President exchanging a celebratory fist bump with their bellhop.