An Open Letter to America’s Black Journalists

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

An Open Letter to America’s Black Journalists

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Subsequent to the August 12^th runoff election for District 1 of the Los Angeles Unified School District where Dr. George McKenna defeated Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas aide, Alex Johnson, Journalist, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, commented that it was "Scary" how close the election was (53 to 47%), and attributed it to "low informed negroes."
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Even though McKenna did prevail, I'm feeling the very same kind of frustration as Hutchinson. Dr. McKenna should have won by a landslide, not only because of his depth of experience and national renown as an educator compared to the profound inexperience of Alex Johnson, but just as importantly, due to the political threat that Johnson/Ridley-Thomas’ supporters pose to the Black and minority community.
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So watching the community’s response to this election and their complete state of clueless ignorance regarding what was at stake was not only frustrating, but horrifying to watch. It reminded me of the fear and frustration that I felt when my kids were teens and I couldn't get them to see the potential threats and stumbling blocks to their well being in their path that was so crystal clear to me as an adult. So I'm in complete agreement with Ofari Hutchinson on the ramifications of how close this election turned out to be. It is absolutely horrifying that these demagogues got so many votes - and what’s just as horrifying is their respectable showing may encourage them to try to run again next year.
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That’s why it’s so important for Black journalists to begin to recognize the fact that, as Black journalists, we can’t allow ourselves the luxury of pretending to be detached when confronted with the blatant nonsense that has become so common in the mainstream media today. We have a unique and special mission. We are also educators, so in addition to reporting objective facts, we also have a responsibility to the Black community to help connect the dots - and to report the possible ramifications of what the facts reveal - for a community that is so distracted by the simple struggle to survive that many don’t have the time to sit around and analyze the motivations and ever-changing machinations of political predators for themselves.
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As Black journalists our job is every bit as important as Dr. McKenna’s. It’s George McKenna’s job to educate our children; it’s our job to educate their parents. Dr. McKenna is an educator, not a politician, so his sole focus is on educating our young people. Thus, he has neither the time nor inclination to have to contend with the constant maneuverings of power-hungry political predators as well. That job falls to us. That’s why the press is referred to as the fourth estate. Government cannot function effectively unless we keep the people informed.
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So between now and next year's general election, we’ve got to give the people a crash course in power politics, demographics, and political manipulation, because that’s what the charter school movement is all about. National demographics now threaten the power of those who control this country. The minority community is growing at a rate that will soon make us the majority, so the powers that be can no longer depend on racism alone to maintain their power base. That’s why all of a sudden they are so interested in the education of our children. Their very survival depends on their obstructing minority voters, corrupting our politicians, clergy, and community leaders, and gaining control over the minds of our children.
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As a case in point, Tavis Smiley is a graphic example of how our community leaders are being used to manipulate the Black community. What happen to the "Poverty Tours" now that President Obama has been reelected? And why did Tavis Smiley and Cornel West come up missing during the Black Friday demonstrations against Wal-Mart, never even issuing a statement of support? And speaking of Cornel West, why has he seemingly severed ties with Tavis Smiley? Previously he and Smiley were connected at the hip, but when was the last time you’ve seen them together in the past year? West didn’t even show up or issue a statement of congratulations when Smiley purchased his $30,000 star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame (and then claimed he didn’t know how he was chosen for the honor). The Black press should be all over these issues, because they speak directly to how social manipulators are using the greed and egos of many Black leaders to manipulate an under-informed Black community.
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Now, charter schools are being presented to a desperate and frustrated community as an opportunity for the minority community to obtain a better education for their children - and just like Tavis Smiley was used to rope in victims of the Wells Fargo "Ghetto Scam," and is currently fronting for Wal-Mart - Alex Johnson and Mark Ridley-Thomas are being used to front for these groups. Their pitch sounds good on the surface, but demagoguery always does. But as journalists, we’ve got to get the people to understand that the bottom line behind charter schools is to eliminate the public’s control over the education of our children - or essentially, to hand the minds of our children over to conservative mind-twisters. Charter schools will also reinstate segregation into our educational system in a routine and legally justifiable way as a matter of course.
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In addition, charter schools are also a slippery slope. Once the charter school industry gets a lock on our educational system, down the line they will start to charge fees, and that will lead to a society where education will only be available to those who can afford it. They've all but completed that mission at the college and university level.

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So our job is cut-n-dried, and it shouldn’t be that difficult achieve. We’ve simply got to get the people to ask themselves one question - when was the last time that rich, out-of-state billionaires showed any interest whatsoever in the education of Black and minority children? Thereafter, we’ve got to help the community to understand that those Black politicians who are in league with the charter school agenda represent a 400-year tradition of Black Judas goats who are out to feather their own nests at the expense of Black people as a whole.
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Alex Johnson’s undergraduate degree wasn’t in education, it was in political science, and he’s been all over the board in an attempt to promote his political ambitions every since. And Mark Ridley-Thomas is clearly on a fierce mission to increase his political power within the state. When Thomas was a city councilman and I was a union rep for the National Association of Letter Carriers, he came to one of our meetings trying to form an alliance with our branch - and not during an election period; he was just doing a drive-by, trying to gather and consolidate his political power. That's what caused me to begin to watch him initially. As I sat there listening to his inarticulations, I asked myself, what mutual interest could a city councilman and a national union possibly have other than Ridley-Thomas’ attempt to gather and consolidate political power?
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Thus, the Johnson/Thomas alliance has absolutely nothing to do with education, or, what’s in the best interest of our children. It’s about the consolidation of power, and feathering their own nests. Their passion isn’t limited to a seat on the LAUSD. They want ANY office, and we have to explain that to the people. We also have to get the people to understand that politicians of Thomas’ ilk will do anything in their power - including forging an alliance with the Devil - to obtain ANY office.
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So if we ever intend to become a healthy, viable, and prosperous community, it is incumbent upon us to immediately recognize such people and do everything we can to insure that they’re never allowed to obtain - or if already elected - maintain, political office. Because it was undoubtedly self-serving Black people just like these who sold us into slavery in the first place.

 

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Hi Eric,

 

As kids across the country head back to school, Walmart’s owners are trying to make those classrooms run more like Walmart. Can you tell the Walton family to stop using their money to attack our public schools?

Walmart vs. Teachers  Tell Walmart's owners to end their attacks on public education.

The Waltons have spent more than $1 billion to push corporate-style education reform that has resulted in school closures and shifting much-needed resources from public schools to for-profit corporate schools. Meanwhile, the Waltons have pumped big money into fighting common-sense proposals like ensuring that all kids get access to free public pre-K education.

Teachers and parents are fighting back.

Teachers like Paul Kennedy are telling the Waltons to stop meddling with the future of our children. Kennedy, a Philadelphia teacher, knows all too well how the Waltons do business. When his brother worked as a Walmart manager, he watched how the company hurt its employees. Then after eight years with one school and set of students, he was forced to transfer when he and all of his peers were fired after the Walton family helped push for his school to be replaced by a private charter school.
Click here to stand with parents and teachers like Paul in telling the Walton heirs to keep their hands off our schools.

We know that poverty is one of the largest single factors influencing whether a kid succeeds in school. As owners of the largest private employer in America, the Waltons have the opportunity to single-handedly help countless students by raising hundreds of thousands of moms and dads out of poverty. Instead, they’re lobbying to close the schools that serve those families, while continuing to pay most of their workers poverty wages.

Tell the Waltons, we say no to Walmart-style classrooms: http://action.changewalmart.org/WalmartEdu
In Solidarity,
Jamie
Jamie Way
Making Change at Walmart

 

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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

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

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How Did Tavis Smiley Get a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

How Did Tavis Smiley Get a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

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In a comment regarding his recent star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Tavis Smiley is quoted as saying, "I don’t know how this happened, but I’ll take it." For the first time in many years I completely agreed with Tavis. Considering the state of near infamy that Tavis has reached in the Black community as a result of his controversial involvement in the Wells Fargo "Ghetto Loan Scam," the curious relationship that he maintains with Wal-Mart, and the end of his "Poverty Tour," which seemed to come to an abrupt end with the end of the 2012 election, like Smiley I didn’t know how it happened either. But unlike Smiley, I wanted to find out how it happened, and why. So I did a little research.
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Initially, I thought that people received stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame because the powers that be in the Hollywood community deemed the recipient to be so loved, so famous, and such a superstar that he or she should be awarded a star in the interest of posterity. Based on that criteria, at least to my mind’s eye, Tavis Smiley seemed to be a very curious choice for such an honor. He seemed to fall way short in every area but one - people know who he is.
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Then upon further digging I found that the award isn’t quite as "honorary" as most of us might think. There’s no committee in the Hollywood community that nominates a recipient and says, in effect, "We deem this person to be so loved, so famous, and such a superstar that we think he deserves a star on the Walk of Fame in the interest of posterity." There’s a promotional - and/or political - element to it as well. In order to receive a star on the Walk of Fame, either the nominee, or someone representing the nominee, must apply - and then pay $30,000 thereafter, if the nominee meets minimum requirements and is then approved. The process is as follows:
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"Anyone, including fans, can nominate anyone active in the field of entertainment as long as the nominee or his or her management approves the nomination (a letter of agreement from the nominated celebrity or representative must accompany the application). Nominees must have a minimum of five years' experience in the category for which they are nominated and a history of ‘charitable contributions’." So Tavis was being disingenuous when he said that he doesn’t know how it happened, because he had to be an active participant in order to make it happen - but the question is, how active?
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Well, Tavis was very active according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Hollywood Walk of Fame. According to the Chamber, Tavis Smiley’s own production company applied for Tavis to receive a star, and paid the $30,000 fee. So in effect, Tavis bought himself a $30,000 star. Yet, he came out and said, "I don’t know how this happened."
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Now, I wasn’t there to watch the transaction take place, but if the information provided by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is correct, and I have no reason to think that it isn’t, the level of self-promotion, self-idolatry, and the shear disingenuousness of Tavis Smiley standing in front of the cameras and casually claiming, "I don’t know how this happened," is mind-boggling - and it should give the community a tremendous amount of insight into this guy’s character, or lack thereof.
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And this is not the first time Tavis has sought to enshrine himself. In 2009 Texas Southern University stripped Tavis Smiley’s name from its School of Communication because Tavis failed to come through with the $2 million that he promised in order to have the school named after him. So a mere $30,000 for a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame is chump change to Tavis.
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What grabs my attention about this situation is the insight it gives into Tavis’ true motivation. I used to tell my son and daughter when they were teenagers to pay no attention to what people say; you should always watch what they do. I’ve found that to be a very good rule of thumb with regard to Tavis Smiley. Tavis is renowned for going all over the country, jumping up and down, and insisting to anyone who will listen how dedicated he is to helping the poor. Yet, what does he do? Instead of trying to feed poor people, or reimbursing the people who lost their homes and life savings as a result of his roping them into the Wells Fargo Ghetto Loan Scam, he throws away millions of dollars trying to aggrandize and enshrine himself by purchasing stars and placing his name on buildings. His behavior speaks volumes. 
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Ordinarily I wouldn’t nitpick about this issue. I would simply congratulate Mr. Smiley on his star and move on. But I see this as a teaching moment. People of Tavis Smiley and Cornel West’s ilk have been preying on and undermining the Black community for over four hundred years, so it’s time to bring it to an abrupt end, just like he abruptly ended his "Poverty Tour" after he failed to get Mitt Romney elected.
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Open your eyes Black people. Tavis Smiley is intimately associated with Wal-Mart, one of the largest and most abusive manipulators of poor and middle-class working people in America. How can a person who is genuinely concerned about the poor and middle-class maintain such an association in good conscience? 
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Until just recently, Wal-Mart was a member of "The American Legislative Exchange Council" (ALEC), going back to 1993, an organization whose primary purpose for existence is to abolish laws that protect America’s poor, middle-class, and minorities. Wal-Mart recently discontinued its official membership in ALEC in response to public pressure against the organization’s support of "Stand Your Ground" laws around the country in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin murder - but thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, we don't know what role Wal-Mart is continuing to play in secret. Yet, Wal-Mart is Tavis Smiley’s primary underwriter. They keep him propped up so they can influence the opinion of the Black community through him.
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On her site, Legal Speaks, Attorney and former prosecutor, Debbie Hines says the following regarding Tavis Smiley’s association with Wal-Mart:
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". . . Tavis Smiley and Cornel West are on a poverty tour crusade to speak out against the Obama Administration and in support of poor people’s rights. On the one hand, their actions might seem admirable. Many people seem to have forgotten to advocate for the least among us. There’s a lot of talk about the middle class but the word "poor" is rarely used. But here’s where the issue goes back to Stephanie Miller. The Tavis Smiley show is sponsored by Walmart, of all companies. And while Smiley and West have gone on poverty tours to bring attention to poverty and poor people, Walmart, by its own policies, is helping to cause poverty among its workers. Walmart assists poverty by paying substandard wages to its employees, paying little or no benefits including health benefits, decreasing hours to avoid paying benefits and working long hours on holidays. This past Thanksgiving, as if Black Friday was not early enough to start holiday sales, Walmart started with workers and stores opening at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day—barely giving employees enough time to digest their turkey dinner.
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"Apparently, Tavis Smiley fails to see the hypocrisy in taking money from Walmart as a sponsor of the Tavis Smiley show while allegedly supporting and crusading for poor people. According to the Nation, "Walmart is one of the biggest recipients of government subsidies, receiving tax breaks, free land, cash grants and other forms of public assistance, in addition to paying some of its workers so little that they also turn to the federal government for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)."
http://www.legalspeaks.com/2012/12/can-a-poverty-tour-be-supported-by-walmart/
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So just ask yourself, how many millions of dollars would Tavis’ cronies at Walmart, Exxon/Mobile, and the other members of ALEC be willing to pay to bring down President Obama? Let me give you a little insight into that, right out of the mouth of an irate Black Republican operative. In his article, "My Republican Party has Abandoned Me,"  Black Republican activist, Raynard Jackson, says the following:
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"For many years, I have approached the party and its supporters about underwriting programs to bring together Blacks who are Republican or lean Republican so we can weave them into every facet of the party structure. The answer is always, no! But, twice this year some of these same people have approached me about funding for some election year tricks that they (White Republicans) have conjured up and simply need a Black face to execute the plan. On these two separate occasions, these funders were willing to spend upwards of $20 million to have me organize a national campaign to identify Blacks who would be critical of President Obama."
http://www.freedomsjournal.net/2012/10/31/my-republican-party-has-abandoned-me/
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It's the height of irony that prior to the 2012 election Tavis Smiley and Cornel West claimed to have such compassion for the poor and middle class that they felt compelled to ride all over the country on a bus to tell the poor how badly President Obama has fallen short on their behalf. But after the election, they couldn't bring themselves to come and lend support to the Black Friday demonstrations taking place against Wal-Mart right down the street from Tavis' office.
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So let there be no doubt about it - this star, which Tavis claimed not to have known anything about, serves a very specific purpose. It’s an attempt to elevate Tavis Smiley's severely damaged profile and give him the "star power" to continue to manipulate the Black community for his Wal-Mart and other ALEC-connected corporate cronies. In the past, his cronies propped him up in the community, but his image has now become so badly damaged in the Black community that he needed something to prop himself up so his corporate cronies won't begin to see him as a liability.
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If you need evidence of how badly damaged Tavis' image has become, just ask yourself one question - when was the last time you saw Cornel West? They used to be connected at the hip. Was he even at the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony?  That wouldn't be like Cornel to miss a photo op like that. Hmmmmm . . .
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But on a serious note, we must bring this sort of community manipulation to an end, because there or other Tavis Smiley and Cornel West wannabes - like Boyce Watkins - waiting in the wings. 
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Let’s end this pimp game once and for all.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins: You’re Making A Complete Damn Fool of Yourself

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2014/04/boyce-watkins-youre-making-complete.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.

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Tavis Smiley and Cornel West Need to Shut Up

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Tavis Smiley and Cornel West Celebrates MLK's March on Washington With More Division

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If Tavis Smiley and Cornel West don't have anything constructive to add to the national debate, they really need to shut up. They've lost all respect from over 90% of the Black community, yet, they continue to run their mouths in what seems to be a vain attempt to salvage any vestige of relevance that they might have left. But in the process they're only succeeding in coming off like the snake that bites himself after having his head cut off.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6p_wRCTh1w

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Cornel West is quoted as saying the following with respect to the 50th commemoration of the March on Washington:

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"We had very low quality leadership today on the stage. We saw bona fide apologists for the Obama administration. There was no serious talk about Wall Street. There was no serious talk about the new Jim Crow, no serious talk about drones, no serious talk about the U.S. security state, no serious talk about the massive surveillance state. It was about just voters' rights and maybe some vague reference to jobs. Martin Luther King Jr. turns over in his grave. He turns over in his grave."
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"It was JUST about voters' rights and maybe some vague reference to jobs!!!!?" Is the man insane? Voters' rights is the very foundation of this democracy! And when he and Tavis Smiley were out hawking their books during their so-called poverty tour - which seemed to disappear as soon as the election was over - "jobs" seemed to be the most important word in their vocabulary. So why is the subject of jobs lest than important today?

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The fact is, the United States is currently knee-deep in a CLASS WAR. The corpo-Republican coalition doesn't care any more about poor and middle-class White people than they do Blacks, women, gays, or Hispanics. So they have a vested interest in keeping the American people miserable, angry, and divided in order to prevent us from coming together to mount an effective response to their agenda of 1). punishing America for electing President Barack Obama, and 2). lowering the American middle-class standard of living to conform to the new global economy. Therefore, anyone whose primary animus is to promote division in America without ever putting forward any constructive solutions to address our problems should be looked upon with deep suspicion, and that includes Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. 

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We should also take into account their history and associations. Tavis Smiley is closely associated with numerous ALEC-associated corporations such as Walmart, Exxon/Mobile, Nationwide Insurance, and Wells Fargo Bank, and the ALEC Consortium is leaving no stone unturned to promote national policies that are directly focused toward undermining the interests of the poor and minority, including obstructing our right to vote.

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Smiley was also involved in the Wells Fargo "Ghetto Loan" scam, where Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay $175 million to settle the discrimination suit which, according to the Department of Justice, targeted over 30,000 Black and Hispanic borrowers for subprime loans with a higher interest rate than for similarly situated White borrowers between 2004 and 2009. According to the Department of Justice, it was the second largest housing discrimination case in United States history (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-question-for-both-tavis-smiley-and.html).

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As for Cornel West, he joined forces with Ralph Nader in the 2000 Presidential Election to help get George W. Bush elected. Bush became President of the United States by winning the state of Florida by 537 votes. In that same state, the Nader/West coalition tore away 97,488 votes from Vice President Al Gore. So when we consider the fact that our current economic condition is a direct result of the economic policies of the Bush administration, Cornel West is more than just a little responsible for the very conditions that he’s now complaining about (http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2000&fips=12).

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In addition, people like Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and Boyce Watkins are going out of their way NOT to tell the Black community that the United States Constitution gives sole control of spending to the United States House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans. So the only way that President Obama can spend any money to assist the Black community is to get the Republican House to go along with him.

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That’s why it’s so important for the president to hold together a coalition of Blacks, women, gays, Hispanics, and every other segment of the American population. He needs ALL of us to place pressure on the Republicans to loosen the purse strings in order for him to get anything done. So anytime you hear Tavis, West, or Watkins pointing their finger at what President Obama is doing for any other segment of the population, they’re doing you a disservice.

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Here’s how politics works - you support me when I need you, and I’ll support you when you need me. So whenever President Obama does anything for other segments of the population, he’s building up political capital so he can help you. But, he doesn’t discuss what he’s doing for the Black community for a very good reason - as Cornel says himself (when it’s convenient), "Race Matters."

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These gentlemen know full well that if President Obama runs around bragging about what he’s doing for the Black community, the Republicans are going to use that as leverage to tear his coalition apart. They would tell women, gays, Hispanics, and everyone else in America that Obama doesn’t care about them; all he wants to do is help his own people, and that message hurts the Black community. Don’t these so-called intellectuals recognize that? If they don’t, they’re dumb. If they do, that means that they’re purposely trying to mislead you. The question then, is why?

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So the fact is, when people like Tavis, West, and Watkins run around telling you that the proof that President Obama is not working for you is that he refuses to throw his fist in the air, these people are working against you, not for you - and they know it. You see, their primary agenda is NOT about helping the Black community. Their agenda is about tearing down President Obama, and that hurts you.

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President Obama is trying to help ALL of the people - and that includes you. So Tavis Smiley and Cornel West needs to shut up and cleanup their own act. Thus, Cornel West has a lot of nerve talking about Martin turning in his grave. The fact is, if and Martin could see the self-serving and petty demagoguery of these two, he wouldn't just be turning, he'd be spinning in his grave. And if there was any true justice in this world, Just mentioning the names of Martin Luther King or Malcolm X would cause Tavis and West's mouths to foam.

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POVERTY PIMP, INC.

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2013/01/poverty-pimp-inc.html

Eric L. Wattree

http://wattree.blogspot.com/

Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

.

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

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Closing the Books on Tavis Smiley and Cornel West

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Closing the Books on Tavis Smiley and Cornel West

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I’ve been researching Tavis Smiley and Cornel West for over five years, and in that time I’ve written nearly thirty articles on those two, because I thought it was important to the Black community. In response, one diehard Smiley and West supporter said, "You haven’t presented any substantive criticism of Cornel West. You’ve just hypothesized about his motives." So I thought that I’d take a moment to accommodate him by giving my final take, and then closing the books on these two - providing they don’t do or say anything else stupid. I know, it’s wishful thinking. But, in any event, here’s my take on these two:  
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Cornel West is one of the primary reasons the country is in the fix that it’s in. The Black community was doing pretty well under Clinton. Then during the 2000 election Ralph Nader and Cornel West teamed up and got Bush elected.
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Clinton’s vice President, Al Gore, lost the 2000 election to Bush in Florida by 537 votes, and the Nader/West coalition peeled off 97,488 votes from Gore in Florida alone. So, again, West is one of the big reasons that the Black community is in the shape that it’s in today. Under Bush, the country was hemorrhaging 850,000 jobs a month. So by criticizing Obama about the condition of the country, Cornel West is like a guy who walks into a restaurant and shits on the floor, and then calls the Health Department because the owner can’t get it up fast enough. (http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2000&fips=12).
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And please keep this in mind – the worse the Black community is doing, the more money that Tavis and West makes talking about it, because Tavis owns a publishing company where he and West write books about it, a production company, where he and West do televisions shows about it, and he owns a speakers bureau, where Cornel West makes $30,000 a speech just to talk about Black misery.
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And isn’t it funny that Tavis and West seems to Talk about everything bad that’s happening to the Black community, EXCEPT, Tavis’ part in the Wells Fargo "Ghetto Loan" scam where Tavis helped to herd over 30,000 Black and Hispanic homeowners into where they lost their homes AND their life savings? The Department of Justice said that it was the second biggest housing discrimination case on record:
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"On July 12, 2012 Charlie Savage reported in the New York Times that Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay $175 million to settle the discrimination suit which, according to the Department of Justice, targeted over 30,000 Black and Hispanic borrowers for subprime loans with a higher interest rate than for similarly situated White borrowers between 2004 and 2009."
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"Smiley was the keynote speaker, and the big draw, according to Boston [host of "Moneywise"] and Keith Corbett, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, who attended two of the seminars. Smiley would charge up the audience — and rattle the Wells Fargo executives in attendance — by launching into a story about how he hated banks, and how they used to refuse to lend him money for his real estate projects in Compton, Calif., and elsewhere… But what appeared on the surface as a way to help black borrowers build wealth was actually just the opposite, according to a little-noticed explanation of the "Wealth Building" seminar strategy, contained in a lawsuit recently filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan" (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-question-for-both-tavis-smiley-and.html).
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In Addition, People like Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and Boyce Watkins are playing on the ignorance of the people. They’re going out of their way NOT to tell the Black community that the United States Constitution gives sole control of spending to the United States House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans. So the only way that President Obama can spend any money to assist the Black community is to get the Republican House to go along with him.
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That’s why it’s so important for the president to hold together a coalition of Blacks, women, gays, Hispanics, and every other segment of the American population. He needs ALL of us to place pressure on the Republicans to loosen the purse strings in order for him to get anything done. So anytime you hear Tavis, West, or Watkins pointing their finger at what President Obama is doing for any other segment of the population, they’re doing you a disservice.
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Here’s how politics works – you support me when I need you, and I’ll support you when you need me. So whenever President Obama does anything for other segments of the population, he’s building up political capital so he can help you. But, he doesn’t discuss what he’s doing for the Black community for a very good reason – as Cornel says himself (when it’s convenient), "Race Matters."
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These gentlemen know full well that if President Obama runs around bragging about what he’s doing for the Black community, the Republicans are going to use that as leverage to tear his coalition apart. They would tell women, gays, Hispanics, and everyone else in America that Obama doesn’t care about them, all he wants to do is help his own people, and that message hurts the Black community. Don’t these so-called intellectuals recognize that? If they don’t, they’re dumb. If they do, that means that they’re purposely trying to mislead you. The question then, is why?
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Take just a minute to ask yourself this one simple question – why aren’t they going after the Republicans?
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While these two are hard at work trying to divide the Obama coalition, the Republicans are actively engaged in trying to obstruct the Black vote, obstruct all legislation that could possibly provide jobs in the Black community and America as a whole, they’re trying to circumvent the United States Constitution and women’s right to privacy by invading a woman’s uterus, they’re trying to obstruct the rights of gays, they’ve disenfranchised Michigan voters by firing duly elected officials and replacing them with handpicked cronies who are completely unaccountable to the people, and they’re applauding the murderer of an innocent and unarmed Black child. I could go on for pages, but I’m sure I’ve made my point. The GOP is, literally, the domestic enemy of the American people, and Tavis and West are fixated on Obama?!!!
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With everything the Republican Party is doing to undermine the Black community, why would these two gentlemen be willing to defy the Black community - and risk destroying their careers in the process - to smear President Obama instead of going after the Republicans? There’s something not only problematic, but very suspicious about that. It just doesn’t make sense - at least, until you add the words of Raynard Jackson, a Black Republican activist, into the mix. Only then, do things begin to make more sense:

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FROM THE MOUTH OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN ACTIVIST

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In his article, "My Republican Party has Abandoned Me," Black Republican activist, Raynard Jackson, says the following:

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"For many years, I have approached the party and its supporters about underwriting programs to bring together Blacks who are Republican or lean Republican so we can weave them into every facet of the party structure. The answer is always, No! But, twice this year some of these same people have approached me about funding for some election year tricks that they (White Republicans) have conjured up and simply need a Black face to execute the plan. On these two separate occasions, these funders were willing to spend upwards of $20 million to have me organize a national campaign to identify Blacks who would be critical of President Obama."  (http://www.freedomsjournal.net/2012/10/31/my-republican-party-has-abandoned-me/).
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Considering Tavis Smiley’s close association with Walmart, Exxon/Mobile, Wells Fargo, Nationwide Ins., and other ALEC-connected corporations, is he and Cornel West doing for free, what the Republican Party is willing to pay $20 million to have done? Hmmmmm . . . What do you think?

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Poverty Pimp, Inc.
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2013/01/poverty-pimp-inc.html

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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.

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Is the President of the United States Engaged in a Covert Conspiracy Against Tavis Smiley, or Has Tavis Finally Made it to Never-Never Land?

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Is the President of the United States Engaged in a Covert Conspiracy Against Tavis Smiley, or Has Tavis Finally Made it to Never-Never Land?

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It seems that Tavis Smiley believes that he’s so important that the President of the United States is engaged in a covert conspiracy against him.

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Michael H. Cottman reported in his BlackAmericaWeb.com commentary, "Tom Joyner’s Opinion on Tavis Smiley’s White House Accusations," that "Smiley told the Associated Press that members of the Obama administration, whom he didn’t identify, have successfully convinced sponsors to stop funding Smiley’s ventures, including his anti-poverty initiatives."

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As Cottman alluded to in his commentary, the mere fact that Tavis failed to identify exactly who in the Obama administration "convinced sponsors" to stop funding his ventures, and exactly which sponsors he’s talking about, is particularly telling. That’s not like Smiley. If he had any evidence whatsoever to support his allegation he’d be holding one of his PBS "gibfests," complete with "expert analysis" by the prince of gesticular verbosity, Dr. Cornel West, pointing his finger at the president, and condemning the people in the administration who were involved.

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Because the fact is, even if the corporations involved didn’t want to reveal themselves, he could have at least attributed his allegation to "a source who wants to remain anonymous."

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But why would Tavis’s corporate benefactors even want to hide the fact that they were being pressured by Obama? Trying to put pressure on Walmart, Nationwide Insurance, or Exxon/Mobile would not only be extremely dumb on the part of the administration, but it would be a gift from God to Tavis’s ALEC connected corporate benefactors. Can you just imagine what Darrell Issa could do with something like that in his House Oversight Kangaroo Committee? He’d turn it into Watergate.

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So it seems that yet again Tavis is being deluded by his overblown ego - the same ego that made him assume that Obama had an obligation to come on his "State of the Black Union" show to be anointed by Tavis to run for president; the same ego that made him think that he’s been slighted when Obama failed to do so; the same ego that caused him to go all over the media complaining that "For the very first time in my career I haven’t been invited to the White House;" and the very same ego that made him think that he had enough clout in the Black community to challenge the first Black president of the United States.

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The fact is, President Obama hasn’t given either Tavis Smiley, or Cornel West, a second thought since he’s been in office. He hasn't had to, because he, like just about everyone else in America - at least, with good sense - could see that he didn’t have to. Tavis and West were making themselves look like perfect fools on their own accord, so the president didn’t have to say, or do a thing. All he had to do was sit back and watch them implode - and that’s exactly what he’s done.

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It’s a monument to Tavis’ lack of foresight that he couldn’t see this coming. In October of last year in an open letter to Pacifica Radio I wrote the following:

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"Tavis and West have become the new Amos & Andy of the Black community, and their trajectory is identical. They not only fail to represent Black interests, but they've become a major liability and embarrassment to many in the community. This will become more readily apparent as they begin to lose the major corporate sponsors currently propping them up - corporations that make it their business to know what’s going on in the community. Once these major corporations begin to see that these two have become liabilities rather than assets, they’re going to drop them like hot rivets. They probably already see it, but Tavis and West are still of marginal value - at least, until after the election." http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/10/an-open-letter-to-pacifica-radio.html
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And later on the Smiley and West website I wrote,
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"The only thing that Tavis and West have to sell is the Black community, and once they lose that, which they’re currently hemorrhaging, they become a liability rather than an asset to their corporate benefactors. At that point, they become irrelevant. http://smileyandwest.ning.com/forum/topics/tavis-smiley-and-cornel-west-going-down-like-the-titanic.

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So if I could see this coming over the horizon, why couldn’t Tavis? It’s quite simple - because his all consuming and gargantuan ego blinded him to reality.
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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

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

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