Saturday, January 02, 2021

DEMOCRACY AND THE FEAR OF DECLINING WHITE PRIVILEGE

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree 

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY 


DEMOCRACY AND THE FEAR OF DECLINING WHITE PRIVILEGE 



Chris Cillizza points out in his CNN Politics piece, The Republican Party, that “The standard being set here by Trump is clear: If you don't support his fact-free attempts to overturn the election, he will cast you as not a "real" Republican -- and work to find someone more loyal to him to take you on.”  

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Cillizza’s assessment is right on the money. As the most powerful force in the Republican Party, Donald Trump is demanding that the Party dedicate its loyalty to him over the United States Constitution. And the very fact that those within the Party are so self-serving and weak-kneed that they’re willing to cave-in to him, clearly demonstrates that they are completely worthless to the American people. 

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The American people need representatives in government who are dedicated to representing them, not people who are so weak and self-serving that they’re drawn to self-obsessed narcissists. So these people have to be made to understand that as politicians, they're not our leaders, they’re our employees. Thus, they are responsible to us, not to some dictator wannabeBut the Republican Party has clearly demonstrated that they don’t recognize that fact. 

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Robert Reich pointed out in a tweet that, “Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations will cost $2.3 trillion over ten years. For the same cost, we could afford to give every American $1875 checks for the next 8 months. It's a question of priorities.” And he’s right, but conservatives have convinced their base that providing for the welfare of the rich is the American way, while helping themselves in a time of crisis constitutes socialism.  

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Yes, Trump did ask to raise the assistance for pandemic relief for the people to $2000, but that was just a scam to make the people think that he was concerned about their wellbeing. But if he truly cared about the wellbeing of the people he wouldn't have turned his back on the fact that two Americans a minute are dying from the Covid-19 pandemic. So, it's abundantly clear that his only true concern is trying to corrupt our democracy in a desperate scheme to hold on to power. Trump doesn't give a damn about the American people. His one and only concern is the title and power attendant to being President of the United States. He doesn't even like the job. Clear evidence of that fact is that ever since he lost the election to Joe Biden, he's completely ignored all of his responsibilities as president and he's focused exclusively on disseminating false claims of election fraud and inciting national insurrection against the American people.
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So Trump's pretense of caring about the American people is nonsense. The fact is, if he actually cared about the American people getting more assistance, he had 6 months to intervene in the process while his administration was negotiating the legislation. But he waited until the eleventh hour when it was all but too late to get anything through before he came up with his $2000 demand. That way, he could get credit for fighting for the people, while cutting their throats at the same time. Trump thinks he's slick, but he's much too awkward and transparently clumsy in his execution.
 He's so cynical that he doesn't even know how to pretend to care about the American people.

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Conservatives have never cared about the average American. That's why virtually all of our national emergencies - from the Great Depression, to the 2008 Great Recession - took place on their watch. They brought their cavalier attitude towards the average American to the "New World" with them from Europe during the very founding of this nation. They’ve always felt that the aristocracy represents what constitutes the nation, and the average citizen was merely their support, and the only reason for their being was to wait on the "wellborn" hand and foot. 

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When conservatives first arrived on these shores, they brought with them the European notion of class distinction, and they have always suffered from the distinctly undemocratic attitude that the only inherent value of the average American is as servants to cater to the whims of the upper class. 

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Alexander Hamilton, one of this nation’s conservative founding fathers, believed that the rich and "wellborn" should be given a permanent share in government. He said: 
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“All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and wellborn, the other the mass of the people…. The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government.” 
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Hamilton supported a lifetime appointment of the President after being selected by congress, instead of the people (that's essentially what Trump is trying to do now). Can you just imagine that - Donald Trump FOR LIFE!!!?  But America dodged that bullet during the Federalist Convention that took place between May 14 and September 17, 1787. 
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Since most of the founding fathers came to America to escape the aristocratic class system in Europe, Hamilton’s desire to preserve the class system was resoundingly defeated in favor of an unfettered democracy, but that didn’t mean that people of Hamilton’s point of view would go quietly into the night. Instead, they lowered their profile of soulless aristocrats, became the conservative coalition, and continued to pursue their agenda by using their wealth, power, and various other strategies to divide the people to achieve their agenda, and that’s what we see today. That accounts for why conservatives tend to be specialists in obstructionism and division, and why the American people ALWAYS suffer under conservative governance. 

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That also explains the conservative animosity toward education, and why their base is primarily made up of the undereducated. The very word "conservative" means to be dedicated to "conserving" the traditions of the past. For that reason, the primary appeal of conservatism is to the emotions of the insecure, and to those who fear losing their privileged place in society. So, wealthy conservatives depend on the insecurity of the underclass to prop themselves up and propagate their philosophy. On the other hand, educated Americans are not as susceptible to conservative influence because they're efficient thinkers, and thus, not as apt to feel the fear attendant to insecurity. That explains why the vast majority of educated Americans are liberal progressives. They've gained the confidence that comes from  intellectual development, and through knowledge they've also gained the insight to recognize social manipulation when they see it. For that reason, the leaders of the Republican Party have a severe distaste for education of the masses. The ability to think efficiently renders the people immune to the conservative's most potent weapon - their tendency to convolute reality in a way that says, taking a knee is un-American, while a direct attack on the very home of American democracy is a glorious act of patriotism. 
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So, it’s not just Trump that’s dangerous - he's a blithering idiot, and we're lucky in that regard. It's the mindless idiocy of  his supporters who are the most serious threat that looms over our democracy. They’re scared, they're mindless, and they’re desperate to hang on to their unearned privilege in society. In short, they represent America's Nazi Party in every way. They're afraid, insecure, and in desperate need of a scapegoat to explain away their discomfort.  
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But the actual reason for their insecurity is the nation’s demographics predict that the White Anglo-Saxon will be a minority in America in the very near future. So, Trump's conserva-tive base feels a dire threat to their place in society, and due to their desperation and need to preserve White privilege, they’ve developed an unwavering allegiance to Donald Trump.    

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Trump’s a mindless bigot and supporter of White supremacy, and that makes him uniquely appealing to these people. In spite of the fact that they may not all be confirmed bigots, due to their desperation, both Trump, and his base, pose a serious threat to American democracy. Democracy is based on the principle of majority rule, and since White people are losing their majority, democracy is no longer appealing to many of these White conservatives. And regardless to whether we're talking about religion or politics, people tend to convince themselves to believe whatever is convenient, so the Trump base has manufactured various conspiracy theories to justify their assault on American democracy.             

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Thus, these people will invent a reason to believe whatever's necessary to justify any action they decide to take in their determination to preserve White privilege, and that’s exactly what’s happening now with respect to the false claim of voter fraud. After all, if the voting process is corrupt, there's nothing wrong with attacking the democratic system that it's a part of, in fact, it's an act of patriotism.  

 
So, in spite of the fact that Donald Trump is not a very bright man, he's an absolute genius when it comes to promoting his own interests, and now he's using that genius to take advantage of the desperation of his base to promote what he's convinced them is in their best interest - "Trumpism". As a result, now, either Donald Trump, or any other Trump-like figure, can shoot democracy down in the middle of 5th Avenue and the Trump base will still support him. In fact, they’ll cheer him on, as we'll soon see on the 6th day of January, 2021. 

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THE UNMATCHED BRILLIANCE OF TRUMP SUPPORTERS 


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OATH OF OFFICE AND SEDITION
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5 U.S.C. § 7311 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 5. Government Organization and Employees § 7311. Loyalty and striking

An individual may not accept or hold a position in the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia if he-- 

(1)  advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government; 

(2)  is a member of an organization that he knows advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government; 

(3)  participates in a strike, or asserts the right to strike, against the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia;  or 

(4)  is a member of an organization of employees of the Government of the United States or of individuals employed by the government of the District of Columbia that he knows asserts the right to strike against the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia. 

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A DESPERATE AND CORRUPT DONALD TRUMP  

PLACES PRESSURE ON GEORGIA SEC. OF STATE




Eric L. Wattree 

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.