JOHN COLTRANE

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

JOHN COLTRANE

Angela, if you like Alice, you should listen to her husband, John Coltrane. He was the Malcolm X of jazz during the 60s. He and Miles Davis had it sewed up. I heard him for the first time when I was 12 years old, and by the time the tune was over I was a grown man, and I never looked back. No more sandboxes for me.

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By the time I was 16 years old I was exactly the person I am today. While I've watched my associates change as they grew older, I never changed a bit, because people like Miles and Trane helped me to see exactly who I was, and I became locked in to that identity.  That’s why I’m such a loner, because when I was growing up I had absolutely nothing in common with the Motown crowd. I always saw it as frivolous skinin' and grinin' and tryin' to be cool while their lives were being torn apart - essentially, fiddling while Rome burned.
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But just listening to Miles and Trane made me dead serious about life and who we are as Black people. There were no words to their music, so I had to add my own lyrics - and I have, which I routinely try to sing to my people today. Their essence taught me what it meant to be Black, and their melodies still sing in my heart. So, I taught the knowledge of their melodies to my children, and the knowledge within those melodies inspire everything I write to my people today. And yes, I take myself VERY seriously, and I don’t apologize for it . I'm not a tribalist, I don't follow anybody, and I'm my own hero  – I learned that from them as well.

THE MAN

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Young and curious, crusin' the street, my partner and I, with life at our feet. Beautiful days of summer's ilk, and beautiful ladies with legs of silk. Miles on the box with Thelonious in tow, playin’ "Round Midnite", with nothin' but soul. Miles was moanin', Thelonious was Monk, our senses were spinnin' - our top in the trunk.

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Down Century Boulevard, past Sportsman Park, North on Crenshaw, Can't wait til it's dark. Crenshaw was jammin', not like today, with cognitive people, who went their own way. Cadillacs gleamin', prosperity galore, Ladies a struttin', that gait I adore. The hood left behind, no denial or shame, among my kind of people, who'd mastered the game.
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Dreamin' and crusin', yet, chained to the hood, but into an element we both understood. Jazz was the thing that had lured our route, and no chain of poverty was keepin' us out! Cause THE MAN was in town, with his mighty ax, and he was jammin' that night at Dynamite Jack's.
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So anxious to worship THE MAN in the flesh, the first thing that mornin' we started to dress. In our youthful exuberance we saw nothin' wrong, with the hours to kill before HE would go on. Hence, there we were with nothin' to do, THE MAN'S first note at nine, and it was now only two.
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So we went to a park on Rodeo Road and proceeded to get in our Mack-daddy mode. We needed two women with presence and class, who were progressive, and sexy, and dug modern jazz.
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We lucked-out, no doubt, with Debra and Gwen, two sisters on cruse in their step-father's Benz. These women were ladies we soon recognized, not only quite lovely but exceedingly wise. We spoke of Dizzy, Dexter, Thelonious and Bird, and all of the monsters of jazz that we'd heard. Then just as our session was starting to end, Gwen mentioned Dolphy, and we were at it again.
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We partook of the bush, and we had a few beers. By eight it was like we'd been partyin' for years. But now it was time to hit Dynamite Jack's, to hear THE MAN blow, sip Scotch and relax.
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So we followed the ladies up into the hills, to a fabulous pad, must've cost a few bills. We dropped off my car, then got in the wind. We split to see HIM, in their stepfather’s Benz.
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Dynamite Jack's was the place to be, there seemed to be thousands of new things to see. Doctors, lawyers, pimps and whoes, dope fiends with their nostrils froze; Perverts, politicians (one and the same), everyone seemed to have some kind of game.
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At 16 years old I was really impressed, with this flash, this glitz, this flamboyant success. I knew before long, that my turn would come, I'd shoot for the stars - at least, out of the slum.
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Then HE came on stage to a mighty roar, as bustling humanity hung all out the door. A quiet MAN, of knowledge and taste, yet HIS presence sent a chill through the place!
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Then flash became silence, and glitz bled to awe. Pure greatness just glistened from THIS MAN we saw. No posturing, no swagger, no hipster-like Mack, Just unfettered greatness, the essence, in fact....
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On that one precious moment, as I gaped at the stand, my young reckless mind would take hold as a man. That moment estranged from the kid that I'd been. Life’s door was flung wide, and a new man would step in.
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Now, many years later, assessing my life, after raising two kids and a dog with a wife. THE MAN is long gone from this earthly plain, but HIS unflaunting manhood stays etched in my brain.
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A kid on that night gave birth to a plan, that night when he looked up in awe at THE MAN. Revealed was a path that would color his life, that shunned the flamboyance and glitz of the night. To shoot for the stars! That was his plan - for the stardom that's found in just being A MAN!
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He's taken two souls, and molded their lives, away from the flash, and the glitz of the night. Two college age kids now view him with awe. He now see in their eyes what that night HE saw.
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Greatness is relative, he learned from THE MAN, through HIS confident eyes and demeanor on stand. You don’t have to be famous to be someone grand, just pull up your trousers and stand tall like a man.
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It was KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM that night the kid saw; the EXCELLENCE of DISCIPLINE that put in awe, of one humble spirit, so sweet and sublime, but a spirit that'll speak to all man for all time!
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So a droplet of beauty, from this "kid" to mankind; a pearl of wisdom, a wistful rhyme; some insight he gained as he bat away tears; might his essence endure through the unfolding years?
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A journey began, on that faithful night, that moment a young set of eyes saw "First Light." When HE tapped out the rhythm to Africa Brass . . .
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and my dream to see COLTRANE had come true at last.

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Eric L. Wattree

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Eric L. Wattree
http://wattree.blogspot.com/

Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

ATTENTION BLACK AMERICA: OUR GREATNESS LIES BEFORE US

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

ATTENTION BLACK AMERICA:

OUR GREATNESS LIES BEFORE US
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It's perfectly normal for Black people to want to take pride in our history, but we've gone way overboard with it. We must treat moving from one point to the next in history in the same way as we do driving our cars from one point to the next in the physical world. History is for glancing at to get our bearings, not dwelling upon as a way of life.
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When I pull out of my driveway to drive to any destination, I simply glance over my shoulder to avoid any obstacles that may be behind me. But after I take that fleeting glance, if I want to reach my destination, once I'm out of my driveway I have to look forward, not back. That's what Black people must do as a whole if we hope to ever move forward in this society, because we can't move forward while looking backward. 
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But students of Black history will often tell us, "You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been." While that's a witty little axiom, it's not strictly true. A more accurate version of that axiom is, "You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you are."  If you're lost, it doesn't matter where you've been, what's important is determining where you currently are relative to where you want to go.
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In that regard, if we spent half as much time focusing on who we currently are as we do talking about how great we once were, our problems would have long since been left behind. While Black people have proven that we have brilliant and creative minds, far too many of us waste our intellect frivolously.  Instead of striving to achieve a goal and moving forward, we waste all of our creativity partyin', flo-showin', and trying to style, as though our history has already proven our value as human beings. Well, it hasn't. So if we want respect, and if we want the world to recognize our value as human beings, we're going to have to recognize that our greatness lies before us, not behind us. Just walking around in a dashiki and braids, with an exotic-sounding name is not enough to define who we are, because most non-Black people are simply too polite to point out one unavoidable aspect of our history - as illustrious as we claim we once were, we still ended up as slaves, and that's a fact that cannot be explained away.  So we need to just keep our mouths shut about our history and focus on who we are today, and where we intend to go. Our African-American history lies before us, because African-Americans are a part of a new culture. We are the people of the future, not the past. Our past - both good and bad - has simply contributed to our evolution.

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Many will say, "But it is essential for everyone to know and take pride in their history."  That may be, but it's not half as important as knowing who you currently are and exactly where you want to go in life. So it's much more essential that we focus on who we are NOW, than always trying to convince people of who we once were, because Shaka Zulu is not going to help us to become a doctor, or teach us how to avoid being brainwashed by the media, or help us to resolve any of the myriad of other problems we have in the Black community.  If we were once a great people, we should still be a great people, so instead of always bragging about how great we once were, let us focus on rediscovering that greatness as we move into the future; and instead of depending on dead men to give us a sense of pride, let us develop the kind of skill, knowledge, and character to become our own heroes. That's what makes a people great.
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And now is the perfect time to do just that. While Donald Trump and the GOP are dumbing down America in order to promote their short-term political agenda, Black people should be gorging themselves on knowledge. Trump and the GOP are greedy and shortsighted, and all they're thinking about is the short-term benefits of dumbing down the American people. They're not even considering the fact that in this rapidly advancing world of technology and complexed thinking we're going to need someone capable of running this country.  So this is the perfect time for Black people to level the playing field.  We need to make the pursuit of knowledge the new "soul". Black people should make themselves known for wisdom, intellect and knowledge. That way, when any Black person goes in to apply for a job, the employer will think, "Yes, I want him, because Black people are known for their brilliance." But that's not what we're known for today. We're currently known for our ability to twerk, rhyme, and sag, so it's no wonder we're struggling.

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I read a snippet in an old article in Essence Magazine indicating that researchers have uncovered new information suggesting that Cleopatra may not have been Black. The article brought back to mind a piece I read by Bro. Earl Ofari Hutchinson many years ago entitled, Whose Black History To Believe? In that very insightful article Bro. Hutchinson points out that black history tends to be given either short shrift by traditional historians, or is exaggerated beyond all recognition by historians of a more Afrocentric persuasion. His premise is that both approaches do a disservice to African American history. His analysis shows that African Americans would be better served by a more balanced interweaving of African American history into the fabric of American history as a whole.

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While I'm in total agreement with both his premise and analysis, I think it's important to take this issue one step farther. We need to explore why so many of us feel the need to exaggerate our history in the first place. We also need to understand how this game we find ourselves involved in distracts us from the bigger picture.
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The importance of cultural history is that it contributes to the collective self-esteem of a people. It brings cohesion by giving the members of a given group something in common to rally around as their own. A culture, much like an individual, is so much in need of a feeling of self-esteem that it invariably manufactures its own history, which often bears little or no resemblance to reality. For those very reasons, therefore, much of history is a lie. In fact, history itself has been defined as "A lie agreed upon."
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A concrete example of that process at work can be seen by looking back at the Vietnam War. Having never lost a war at that time, upon entering the Vietnam War the United States had already geared up for manufacturing a history to justify its presence in Vietnam, much like we're struggling with the history of our more recent excursions  into Iraq and the Middle East. The U.S. Finally came up with what was called "The Domino Theory". According to this theory, the North Vietnamese were merely fronting for Communist China, and if the United States allowed South Vietnam to fall to the North Vietnamese, people in that part of the world would be slaughtered, and all the rest of the countries in the area would fall like "dominoes" to Chinese communism.
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If the United States had won the Vietnam war that lie would have become an official part of world history. Young children all over the world would have read it as gospel for eons. But since the United States didn't win, this would-be "historical fact" has been left without a home, and now, over 50 years later, the lie stands as a glaring example of how nations manufacture lies to justify their conduct.  Thus, ALL of history must be consumed with a box of salt, and looked upon as the dubious accounts, glorification, and whitewash, of ordinary men engaged in routine atrocities.
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The United States is not unique in fabricating history, however. All nations and all cultures do it. If Germany had won WWII the history of that war would have been written from an entirely different perspective; if Great Britain had won The Revolutionary War, the esteemed forefathers of the United States would have been remembered as a group similar to the way the United States currently view The Black Panther Party, or Cinque and the Symbionese Liberation Army.
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An example of this principle at work on a cultural level can be found in the White culture's touting of Benny Goodman as "The King of Swing", or Elvis Presley as "The King of Rock n Roll." We know that's not true today, but as time passes, and there's no one left to attest to the inaccuracy of such claims, eventually it'll become a "historical fact" - or factoid (something repeated so often that it is seen as a fact).
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So it is clear that the history game is just that - a game. But it's a game that Black Americans should only play quite sparingly, if at all, since due to the unique position of the African American in legitimate modern history, we come to this game with a decided disadvantage.
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The African American culture is a relatively new culture, thus, our history is verifiable. Therefore, African Americans don't have the machinery in place to effectively promote the hype necessary to fully participate in the history game. But since, in any event, the game only serves to divert our attention from what is really important - getting on with the business of building true viability as a people - black participation in the game is nothing more than an exercise in me-too-ism.
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But it seems that whenever I hear a discussion on Black pride, someone always brings up the issue of Egypt, and whether or not Cleopatra was Black. Black people have got to understand that the issue is not important – in fact, it's academic. While it is always good to stay in touch with one's roots, the fact is, the African-American culture has long since ceased being purely African - even though the continent of Africa will always define the core of our being - and any connection that we may, or may not have had with Egypt and/or Cleopatra is remote at best, at least, in a strictly cultural sense. It's as though we're going around, hat in hand, desperately searching for a piece of history to call our own. We shouldn't place ourselves in that position – it's undignified, pathetic, and wholly unnecessary.
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We must begin to understand that we are a new culture. We ceased being Africans when it became necessary to adapt to the fields and ghettos of America.  Neither are we simply Americans - we became something more than simply Americans when it became necessary to become more than simple Americans for our very survival. We are a brand new culture - a culture conceived in pain, delivered into turmoil, baptized in deprivation, and weaned on injustice. And since adversity is experience, and experience translates into knowledge, we don't have a thing to be ashamed of. The uniquely pointed adversity that we have experienced makes us more, rather than less. Thus, we are a culture that is only now in the infancy of its development. For that reason, we cannot hope to compete, lie-for-lie, with ancient cultures relative to history, since our history is only now being written. The African American culture is a culture of the future, not the past, and for that very reason, we don't have to try to compete for historic greatness, because we're writing our history today.
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And the fact that we are a new culture doesn't mean that we are anything less than the older cultures; it simply means that our greatest contribution to man lies before us. We don't have to look back to antiquity to find a source of pride, all we have to do is study the life and times of our parents, our grandparents, and that generation of Black people born between the turn of the century and WWII.
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In less than 50 years, the Black people of that generation went from housekeepers and flunkies to the boardrooms of multinational corporations. In less than 50 years, they

went from playing washboards and tin cans on the side of the road, to becoming some of the greatest musicians the world has ever known. In less than 50 years these people have gone from the defenseless and nameless victims of public lynchings, to laying a foundation that led directly to Barack Obama becoming the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth - and that is a chapter in history that is verifiable.
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The most cursory glance demonstrates that there is something unusually unique about this new culture. While social scientists have indicated that all minority cultures must assimilate, dilute, and subordinate themselves to the dominant cultural soup, there is clear evidence that the African American culture has had a much greater impact on the dominant culture than is the reverse.
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Members of the dominant cultural group under fifty years of age have more in common with the African-American culture in terms of attitudes, style, and personal taste, than they have with their own grandparents. Black music - Jazz, Blues, Rap, Gospel, and, yes, Rock n Roll - is the predominate music, not only in the United States, but in the entire world. Every time a Rock group goes on stage, they sing a tribute to nameless slaves moanin' in the fields - and just to turn on a radio or television set anywhere in the Western world, is to pay a tribute to Duke, Bird, Miles, and Diz.
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In addition, the United States of America has honored only four men in history by declaring the day of their birth a national day of celebration - Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

widely accepted by many as the father of all mankind; President George Washington, the father of this nation; Christopher Columbus, the man credited with discovering the Americas (along with the native Americans who were already a part thereof); and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose forebears were brought to these shores in chains.
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That says a lot about that humble black man - and it says just as much about his people. In spite of the fact that Dr. King began his life burdened by the inherent disadvantages of being blessed with black skin in a Jim Crow environment, his words, his intellect, and his deeds so inspired the heart and soul of humanity that America saw fit to set aside a day for this nation - this world - to thank God that he was allowed to walk among us. His was a soul with such strength that it served to lift the rest of mankind to a higher level of humanity. That's not only a testament to one black man's ability to pull himself from the dust of his humble beginnings, it's also a testament to the capacity of his people to meet the test of greatness - and that's a history that is verifiable.
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And we must also take pride in our own personal journeys, and realize that in our own journey through life, history is also being made. You don't have to be a world conqueror to have an impact on the history of mankind; you simply have to make decisions in your personal life that helps to enhance and move your people forward towards their appointment with destiny - and every time you face life's obstacles with courage and perseverance, you meet that challenge. After all, you don't make decisions in a vacuum - every decision that you make in life becomes a public decision. People are watching, your children are watching, and if you nurture your children properly, they will make the character of your decisions an indelible part of the public record.
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Thus, the character that you reflect in your daily conduct carries the seed that your children will carry with them for generations. For that reason, I don't regret one moment of my youth that I spent stumblin' through Watts on whatever drug happened to be convenient. Those years were part of a personal journey that stands as a monument to who I am today. Of course, I related those struggles to my children as stumbling blocks to be avoided at all costs, but they were also related as examples of perseverance, and the determination to overcome the obstacles in my life, and by overcoming those setbacks, it allowed me to relate those experiences with just as much pride as the White culture relates the experiences of General Patton to their children. George fought his battles, and I fought mine, and as far as my children are concerned - as far as I'm concern - one was no less heroic than the other. Thus:
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Neither scholar nor the head of state,
The most common of men seems to be my fate;
A life blistered with struggle and constant need,
As my legacy to man I bequeath my seed.
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More fertile, more sturdy these ones than I,
This withered old vine left fallow and dry;
The nectar of their roots lie dormant still,
But through their fruit I'll be revealed.
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And that, is verifiable.
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Eric L. Wattree

http://wattree.blogspot.com/

Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

REPUBLICAN IRRESPONSIBILITY

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

REPUBLICAN IRRESPONSIBILITY

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According to New York Magazine, Trump’s own lawyer, John Dowd, called his client an idiot. “Somewhat more audaciously, he has argued that Trump should not have to testify to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, because the transcript would leak, and foreign leaders would see that Trump is an idiot:
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Dowd then explained to Mueller and Quarles why he was trying to keep the president from testifying: 'I’m not going to sit there and let him look like an idiot. And you publish that transcript, because everything leaks in Washington, and the guys overseas are going to say, ‘I told you he was an idiot. I told you he was a goddamn dumbbell. What are we dealing with this idiot for?’”
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Trump has just declared that he is not going to cooperate with congresses constitutional right of oversight. Trump has taken it upon himself to overrule the United States Constitution and has declared that any further investigations into his personal conduct is unnecessary, completely dismissing congresses constitutional right to oversight. Thus, he’s so uninformed regarding the underpinnings of America’s democratic laws and traditions, and so self-serving, greedy, and in fear of the revelations in the Robert Mueller Report, that he’s completely untethered to the democratic principles that most of us take for granted. As a result, as we speak, he’s currently testing the limits of America’s willingness to defend our Constitution - and yes, it can happen here. If Trump and Mitch McConnell's stacked Supreme Court goes along with him, at that very moment, we no longer have a democracy, but a kleptocracy like in Russia, which, I think, is Trump's ultimate goal.
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Privately, many Republicans hate Trump's guts, that's why his White House leaks like a sieve – and personally, I don’t think Melania even likes him - but Trump is a perfect reflection of the GOP itself.  Like Trump, the leaders of the Republican Party are a group of self-serving, manipulative, and unpatriotic liars who are more than willing to drag America under a bus to promote their own political interests. Clear evidence of that is, virtually every time this nation faces a crisis, Republican fingerprints are all over it, and that's exactly what's happening in this case. They know that Donald Trump is a mindless international disaster, yet, they continue to support him for their own selfish reasons - once again, putting party and the further enrichment of the rich, before country.

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That clearly demonstrates why the GOP is far too recklessly selfish and

irresponsible to govern. The entire Trump image is a farce, and they know it, but they care much more about promoting their political agenda than they do the welfare of the nation. The GOP is propping up a man with the intelligence and maturity level of an 8-year-old to the very apex of political power in this country and the world. If we had a legitimate national emergency, they'd have to scramble to circumvent him in order to get someone competent enough to handle it. According to the Mueller Report, his staff has to routinely save him from himself even during normal times. So, if the GOP was even the least bit patriotic - or in the case of Evangelicals, God-fearing - considering the damage they're doing to this nation, they'd be ashamed to call themselves Americans.

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DONALDTRUMP - A SHAMELESS HYPOCRITE

https://wattree.blogspot.com/2019/04/donald-trump-shameless-hypocrite.html

Eric L. Wattree 

Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA) 
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

DONALD TRUMP - A SHAMELESS HYPOCRITE

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

DONALD TRUMP - A SHAMELESS HYPOCRITE 

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Conservatives specialize in hypocrisy, and they always have. Look at the people who are supporting Trump. They call themselves patriots, yet, they're nothing short of un-American fascists. They claim to love freedom, yet, they wanted to lynch Colin Kaepernick for exercising his right to it. They claim to love the flag, yet, they hate everything the flag represents. They take pride in publishing photos of Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh playing golf at Mar-a-Lago, yet, both of their heroes are cowardly draft dodgers who punked-out when the country needed them most. It’s easy to take photos hugging the flag now that they don’t have to lay their lives on the line, but when they were asked to actually risk death to fight for the country, they both ran like hell.
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In spite of the fact that Trump played sports all through high school and college, when it came time to fight for this country, he went limping into the draft board with a note from a doctor (who was one of his father’s tenants) talking about his feet hurt, and Rush Limbaugh complained of having a boil on his fat ass.
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I had a boil on my ass too, but the Marine Corps simply lanced it - and they also yanked out my tonsils while they were at it – and all while I was wide awake. They simply gave me a shot, asked me to open my mouth, and snatched those suckers out. Thereafter, they gave me a few aspirin and sent my ass right back out in the field, bleeding boil, sore throat and all.
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So while Trump and Limbaugh like to strut around like John Wayne now, when they were faced with the prospect of putting it all on the line, they were too self-serving to show the country what they were really made of . . . Well, on second thought, maybe they did – two big, cowardly, gas bags of patriotic hot air. Yet, now, Trump claims to be such a significant symbol of the nation that it was treason when the Democrats didn't applaud his State of the Union speech before congress. Can you believe that kind of delusional arrogance, that failing to honor him is TREASON!!!? That alone is enough to prove him unstable.

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The actual fact is, Donald Trump is a shameless hypocrite and cowardly fraud - yet, this has become the face of our great nation. He's made America the laughingstock of the world, and we should all be hanging our heads in shame. He's a slap in the face of all of the brave men and women who ever fought and died for this country - and the GOP knows he's a mindless disgrace to the nation but they completely ignore it and allow America to suffer, because it allows them to corrupt our courts with criminals like Brett Kavanaugh, and promote injustice in our justice system with political hacks like William Barr.  Thus, to hell with the dignity of the nation, the U.S. Constitution, and the best interest of the American people, this is about the GOP, and it's political advantage.
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And in addition to everything else, Trump is an idiot, and the U.S. government is being forced to try to hide that fact from the international community. According to New York Magazine, Trump’s own lawyer, John Dowd, called his client an idiot. 
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"Somewhat more audaciously, he has argued that Trump should not have to testify to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, because the transcript would leak, and foreign leaders would see that Trump is an idiot:
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Dowd then explained to Mueller and Quarles why he was trying to keep the president from testifying: 'I’m not going to sit there and let him look like an idiot. And you publish that transcript, because everything leaks in Washington, and the guys overseas are going to say, ‘I told you he was an idiot. I told you he was a goddamn dumbbell. What are we dealing with this idiot for?’” 
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Trump has just declared that he is not going to cooperate with congresses constitutional right of oversight. He's taken it upon himself to overrule the United States Constitution and has determined that any further investigations into his personal conduct is unnecessary, completely dismissing congresses constitutional right to oversight. Thus, he’s so uninformed regarding the underpinnings of America’s democratic laws and traditions, and so self-serving, greedy, and in fear of the revelations in the Robert Mueller Report, that he’s completely untethered to the democratic principles that most of us take for granted. As a result, as we speak, he’s currently testing the limits of America’s willingness to defend our Constitution - and yes, it can happen here. If Trump and Mitch McConnell's stacked Supreme Court goes along with him, at that very moment, we no longer have a democracy, but a kleptocracy like in Russia, which, I think, is Trump's ultimate goal.
.

Privately, many Republicans hate Trump's guts, that's why his White House

leaks like a sieve - and personally, I don't think Melania even likes him - but Trump is a perfect reflection of the GOP itself.  Like Trump, the leaders of the Republican Party are a group of self-serving, manipulative, and unpatriotic liars who are more than willing to drag America under a bus to promote their own political interests. Clear evidence of that is, virtually every time this nation faces a crisis, Republican fingerprints are all over it, and that's exactly what's happening in this case. They know that Donald Trump is a mindless international disaster, yet, they continue to support him for their own selfish reasons - once again, putting party and the further enrichment of the rich, before country.
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That clearly demonstrates why the GOP is far too recklessly selfish and irresponsible to govern. The entire Trump image is a farce. Everything he does is superficial and for show, because he has absolutely no depth or insight. The GOP knows this, but they care much more about promoting their political agenda than they do the welfare of the nation. So, they're propping up a man with the intelligence and maturity level of an 8-year-old to the very apex of political power in this country and the world. If we had a legitimate national emergency, they'd have to scramble to circumvent him in order to get someone competent enough to handle it. According to the Mueller Report, his staff has to routinely save him from himself even during normal times. So, if the GOP was the least bit patriotic - or in the case of Evangelicals, God-fearing - considering the damage they're doing to this nation, they'd be ashamed to call themselves Americans. 

THE EVANGELICAL
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TRUMP NEEDED AN ACCOMPLISHED LIAR

TO AMPLIFY HIS LIES,
SO HE TURNED TO HUCKABEE,
A “BORN-AGAIN” LIAR,
WHO LIES TO JESUS
ALL THE TIME.

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Eric L. Wattree

http://wattree.blogspot.com/

Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

A MESSAGE TO CRAIG ACOSTA – THE BLACK CONSERVATIVE

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

A MESSAGE TO CRAIG ACOSTA – THE BLACK CONSERVATIVE
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I don’t really expect Craig Acosta to read this because it has far too many words in it for the typical Black conservative. But I thought I’d write it anyway, for the benefit of those of you who do read.
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I’ve written several articles on the idiocy of Black conservatism. Now I have a prime example of why I call it idiocy, and exactly the kind of brainwashed ignorance that it entails. I was discussing this issue online with a guy by the name of Craig Acosta, of Glassboro, New Jersey, and he said the following:

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Craig Acosta: “There is a concept in psychology called the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Most black people have a fixed mindset and when they encounter brothers and sisters with a growth mindset they say they're thinking/talking like white people...lol BTW...just cuz a person has conservative values does not make

CRAIG ACOSTA

them a Republican. I personally don't care about either party but I know the Democrats are pandering to their idiotic base with inane tactics trying to overthrow a sitting US president and using reasons that are about as realistic as unicorn farts and fairy dust. My brain cells hurt from that type shit.
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“It pains me to say it...but I'm starting to realize most of y'all aren't intelligent enough to understand politics and when you are being manipulated by the media. Emotions has[sic] nothing to do with choosing a political representative. Understanding of economics does. If you don't understand that somebody has to pay for all the free shit the democrats promise...whether it's the middle class business and home owners, whether its from stupid taxes on straws and plastic bags, or your children and grandchildren...then you need to have your voting rights revoked because you're not responsible/informed enough.”
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Right off the bat we can see why Craig is a conservative.  He immediately

began to indulge in inefficient thinking and false logic.  He said, “Most black people have a fixed mindset . . .” In other words, “All dogs have teeth, and my cat has teeth, therefore, my cat is a dog.”
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What he’s doing here is profiling all Black people based on the way that Black people are portrayed in the media, or based on the profile of the most dysfunctional 10% of Black people in America - and notice how he separates himself from the rest of the Black population by referring to Black people as "y'all".  And further, he never once stops to consider that if White people were portrayed by the media in the same way, we’d think that all White people were barefoot Hillbillies. So it is clear that Craig has completely embraced the negative stereotype of Black people.

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That, in turn, makes another thing quite clear - that Craig is a bligot (a Black bigot). That accounts for his mindset – “I’s not like the rest of dem fools, boss. I's got sense. I loves you.”
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The few Black people with Craig’s mindset will eat turtle shit just for a pat on the head by a White man. They’re disgusting and weak, and bigots just love to trot them out to embarrass the rest of the Black community.  While they're before the crowd dripping with sweat trying to espouse the White man's point of view, the man is standing behind them giggling with a look on his face that says, “You see how weak and idiotic you people are? Just listen to that idiot.” Yet, people like Craig think they're proving to the White man how enlightened they are. So, what Craig disparagingly refers to as Black people’s “fixed mindset”, is what most people call common sense, intelligence, and a backbone.

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The fact is, the White establishment discovered when Black people were in slavery that we have some of the most creatively brilliant minds in the world. That’s one of the major reasons they passed laws making it illegal to teach Black people to read. It was also a major reason why they instituted Jim Crow laws after slavery, to keep the Black intellect in check. During Reconstruction Black people walked right out of the cotton fields into the halls of congress. And Frederick Douglass became one of the most brilliant writers and orators of his time.
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In fact, Craig could benefit from one of the things that Douglass pointed out at the time. He said, "Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave."  So instead of going around espousing White supremacist propaganda, Craig would be much better served if he turned off Fox News and spent more time in pursuit of knowledge. Because while he may no longer be in shackles, his mind is still trapped on a Georgia cotton field.
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If he took the time to educate himself instead of just regurgitating conservative talking points, he'd find that what we call “soul” is nothing less than Black intellectual creativity letting off steam, and there are many examples of our intellectual prowess throughout history.  He'd also learn that we wouldn’t even be able to communicate over these computers, or cell phones, if it were not for Black intellect. But most importantly, he'd learn not to make a damn fool of himself by trying to help the White man in his attempt to denigrate Black people's ability to think. 
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It may be a simplistic example, but it's no accident that we have Eskimos trying to rap; and over 60 years after his death some of the greatest musicians in the world are still trying to figure out what Charlie Parker was doing on his saxophone - and he was high as kite while he was doing it. Even when he couldn't standup, Bird could play the most complexed chord progressions in music at break-neck speed on his horn, and jazz is nothing short of an intricate form of mathematics with Max Roach on drums. Mathematics only has 10 numbers, but a chromatic scale has 12 notes - and through the creative manipulation of those notes, jazz musicians inspired American soldiers to defeat Hitler during WWII.  And while Black people are a minority in the United States, our creative intellect has influence the entire world through Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Rock, Rap, Soul, and even Country and Western music (White boy Blues).
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But music is simply an example of our minds at play. It was also a Black mind that helped to send man to the Moon, but the White man will never tell Craig that – and they don’t have to worry about him opening up a book to find out on his own, because he's been indoctrinated to be allergic to knowledge. People like Craig have so much faith in the White man that they feel they can get any information worth having from Fox News.
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So, Black conservatives need to recognize that as a direct result of having to face adversity, racism and bigotry from the time we open our eyes in the morning until the time we close them at night, Black people have become MORE rather than less. It’s a simple matter of evolution. Nature has provided us with the intellectual wherewithal to overcome adversity (look at the difference between Barack Obama and Donald Trump).  But when we fail to educate ourselves we tend to assume that "educated people" (meaning White people, for the most part) have a superior intellect, so we tend to discount our own. But there's a big difference between mere education and intellect, one is a sign on the door, and the other is the ability to think. People of true intellect are in a constant state of intellectual development, whether they're enrolled in a university or not. So, if Black people have a major shortcoming, it's learning to trust our own intellect. We must never assume that everybody can see what we see so clearly.

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Some of the most powerful minds I've ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I've ever known roamed university campuses in search of credentials over knowledge.  And personally, when I look back over my own educational career, it's clear that I learned more from Sweet Willie on the streets of South Central Los Angeles than I did from any university professor I've ever known. Because Sweet Willie taught me the most important lesson of my life - that knowledge is free.
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And the fact is, Black people have already demonstrated that we have an intellectual capacity that is at the very least, comparable to any group of people on Earth. Again, what we call "soul" is nothing less than intellectual creativity literally overflowing from neglect, and many of the things that White supremacists take credit for in this country are actually the product of Black minds. Again, it was the power of Black intellect that sent man to the Moon, but Fox News would never tell Craig that.
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Ms. Katherine Johnson did the math necessary to send man into outer space, and then when they invented computers - also largely the product of a Black mind - NASA had Ms. Johnson check their calculations before they sent John Glenn in orbit around the Earth - John Glenn insisted upon it. And Ms. Johnson wasn't even a scientist, she was a school teacher.
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But Craig didn’t have to know that or do any extensive research to find out that his conservative beliefs are ridiculous, all he had to do was open a dictionary. Absolute proof that any Black or poor White person who identifies with conservatism is uninformed is the fact that they obviously don’t understand the English language. The word “Liberal” means that the person has a liberated point of view and is dedicated to “Progress” in our national politics – thus, they are called “Progressives”. On the other hand, the very word “Conservative” means the person is dedicated to “Conserving” past traditions, including bigotry – both racial, and economic.
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Obviously, none of the above has even occurred to Craig, yet, in an attempt

to sound learned, Craig tried to base his mindless theories on psychology.  My educational background is in psychology, so let’s take a look at the way psychology views the conservative mindset.  Psychology Today printed an article by Dr. Goali Saedi Bocci entitled, “Do Racism, Conservatism, and Low IQ Go Hand and Hand”, indicating that “Lower cognitive abilities predict greater prejudice through right-wing ideology.” And still another British study indicated that children with lower IQs tended to grow up to embrace conservative ideals:
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“The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, examined data from two large-scale British studies, and found lower intelligence scores in childhood were predictors of greater racism in adulthood, which the researchers controversially explain is brought about by adopting right-wing ideologies.
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“A secondary analysis of data from a U.S. study also showed those with poor abstract-reasoning skills were more likely to have anti-homosexual prejudice, partially linked to authoritarian attitudes.
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“Lead researcher Gordon Hodson told LiveScience that the results of the study indicate a vicious cycle, in which people with low intelligence are drawn to socially conservative ideologies. In turn, those ideologies can contribute to prejudices.”

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So I strongly suggest that Craig Acosta reassess his conservative ideals before he tries to look down his nose at Black people. And if he finds that trying to overcome his conservative predisposition is too steep a hill for him to climb, psychology is the very last place he should look to try to take refuge.  It’s no accident that conservatives are more often than not anti-intellectual and go out of their way to avoid science. The reason for that is simple - their ideological philosophy is based on pure stupidity.

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A BLACK 7-YEAR OLD NEUROSCIENTIST

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Eric L. Wattree

http://wattree.blogspot.com/

Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.