DONALD TRUMP - A RUSSIAN ASSET MASQUERADING AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY

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DONALD TRUMP - A RUSSIAN ASSET MASQUERADING AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The facts are coming out before our eyes, and by Trump's own staff no less. It has become increasingly clear that Trump is at best a Russian stooge, and at worst a full blown Russian agent, and due to the conservative penchant for bigotry, self-service and greed, the Republican Party is turning a blind eye to his blatant assault on American democracy.
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Clear evidence of Trump’s willingness to subordinate what's in the best

interest of the American people in order to promote his own personal interests is clearly demonstrated in his decision to abandon our Kurdish allies to the whim of Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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Trump turned his back on the Kurds after they lost over 11,000 men helping the United States fight terrorism. Following a mere phone conversation with Turkish president, Erdogan - in the middle of the night, and without consulting either our NATO allies or the American military - Trump agreed to withdraw American troops from northern Syria that were in place for the specific purpose of protecting our Kurdish allies.

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As a direct result of Trump's self-serving treachery towards the Kurds, over 300,000 people have been displaced - and beyond that, now there's a Russian flag flying over a base in Syria that was built with American taxpayer dollars. But Trump couldn't allow himself to be bothered with such minor issues as loyalty to our Kurdish allies or America's image around the world, he had the personal interest of two Trump Towers in Turkey he had to protect.

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Trump also held up money and arms delivery to Ukraine that was desperately needed in order to fight off a Russian invasion. Trump claimed he held up $391 million in an attempt to insure that the Ukrainians launched an investigation into corruption, but later evidence provided by his own staff demonstrated that he held up the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars approved and certified to go to the Ukrainians in order to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into making concessions that contributed to Trump's personal gain in the 2020 election. 
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Trump used the American taxpayer dollars in an attempt to pressure President Zelensky into publicly announcing that the Ukrainians were investigating former Vice President Joe Biden, his most formidable opponent in the coming 2020 election, and his son, Hunter. The facts also revealed that Trump didn't really care whether the investigation itself was actually carried out, he simply wanted the Ukrainians to announce that they were investigating the Bidens in order to smear their name and lend credence to the debunked conspiracy theory hatched by the Russian intelligence service that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 American elections.

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While the primary purpose of the episode was to help Trump domestically in the 2020 elections, like most things Trump, it also just happened to bring aid and comfort to the Russians. While one might contend that the Russian connection was just a coincident, is it also just a coincident that Trump diluted the American sanctions that the Obama administration placed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea in the Ukraine, or that Trump has repeatedly taken sides with Russia over our own intelligence community? In addition, was it also just a coincident that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, sought to secure a secret "back channel" method of communicating with the Russians that would allude being monitored by our own intelligence services? And finally, Trump’s now discussing pulling out of NATO, a western alliance organization created to prevent Russia from invading Europe after WWII, yet another "coincident" that just happens to bring comfort to Vladimir Putin and the Russians.

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SO WHY WOULD TRUMP DO THESE THINGS

The answer as to why Trump would collude with Russia is quite simple –

after going into bankruptcy 6 times, the Russians came to Trump's rescue when American banks wouldn't touch him, and chances are, even now he's only keeping his head above water because Russian oligarchs are using his name and businesses to launder stolen money. That explains why he's so desperate to keep his taxes hidden.
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Foreign Policy Magazine (fp.com) reported, “Rep. Adam Schiff indicated that ‘We’re going to be looking at the issue of possible money laundering by the Trump Organization, and Deutsche Bank is one obvious place to start,’ he said. A 2017 report by Reuters, citing public documents, interviews and corporate records, also found that at least 63 Russians or people with Russian addresses bought nearly $100 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded Florida luxury buildings.”

In addition, Trump repeatedly lied to the American people all through the 2016 election campaign. He repeatedly claimed that, "I have no business dealings in Russia." But we now know that all while he was making that claim to the American people, he was in deep negotiations with the Russians to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. He even offered Vladimir Putin a $50 million penthouse apartment in the tower. But there was a problem - the Russian bank, VTB, that was lined up to finance the deal was under U.S. sanctions, which blocked them from taking part in the deal. Could that be why Trump has gone out of his way to remove Russian sanctions? 

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It is now clear that everything Trump does or says is designed to promote his own private interests and provide comfort to Vladimir Putin and the Russians, and Rudy Giuliani, his own attorney, knows it. That’s why when Trump’s own staff and American foreign service professionals started spilling the beans in the Congressional Impeachment Hearings, Giuliani said, “If I disappear I have an insurance policy. All of the documents on the Bidens are going to be released”. That seems to indicate that Giuliani is not only in fear of legal exposure, but for his very life, and he has good reason to be concerned.
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But as deadly serious as the above is, that’s not the worse of it. When you combine Trump’s mental instability with his blind narcissism, and then add to that the fact that he’s being enabled by a Republican Party that’s in a panic over the loss of power due to a rapidly changing demographic, it becomes clear that the very viability of American democracy is in severe jeopardy.
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In an article reviewing the book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” Psychology Today pointed out the following:
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“John Gartner, Ph.D. is the founder of ‘Duty to Warn’ an organization intent on warning our country that we are in dire trouble due to our president’s mental instability. More than 60,000 mental health professionals have signed John’s petition, which states:
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‘We, the undersigned mental health professionals, believe in our professional judgment that Donald Trump manifests a serious mental illness that renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States. And we respectfully request he be removed from office, according to article 4 of the 25th amendment to the Constitution, which states that the president will be replaced if he is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.’”

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If all of this sounds far-fetched, according to a 1990 Vanity Fair interview,

Ivana Trump once told her lawyer, Michael Kennedy, that Donald Trump kept a book of Hitler's speeches near his bed - and as we all know, Trump doesn’t like to read.  Thus, as has been repeatedly stated, when fascism comes to America it will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross, and considering over 81% of White Evangelical "Christians" support Trump's criminality, that seems to be exactly what is happening.  So yes, it can happen here, and let there be no doubt about it, anyone who supports Donald Trump is the domestic enemy of the United States.

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So in spite of the fact that Donald Trump is undoubtedly unstable, incompetent, and a Russian asset, with all their flag-waving and glowing words of patriotism notwithstanding, and in spite of the fact that they're going to be smothered in evidence of his criminality, the Republican senate is just as undoubtedly going to ignore the facts and refuse to remove Trump from office. That's when our patriotism must swing into action. If the Republican senate can't bring themselves to defend our Constitution, that says it all. It says that all the patriotic talk, posturing, and claims of loving Jesus is a sham. It says that when it comes right down to the bottom line, conservatives love three things, and three things only - power, bigotry, and greed, and therefore, it's past time for them to join the Whigs and be relegated to the ash heap of history.
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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS
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Religion: 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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Barack Hussein Obama Will Be Remembered As One of Our Greatest Presidents - Here Are the Facts

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Barack Hussein Obama Will Be Remembered As One of Our Greatest Presidents -

Here Are the Facts

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I am sick to death of these so-call Black "intellectuals" spending so much time criticizing President Obama - not because I don’t feel that EVERY politician’s feet should be held to the fire, I do, but because most of the nonsense  they’re spewing is pure, unmitigated, ignorance. And what makes it worse is it’s either purposeful ignorance, or ignorance due to a lazy-mindedness that could be corrected with less than ten minutes of objective research.
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The irony is, people like Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, the entire GOP, and a lot of other uninformed haters are severely criticizing the President, while Obama's is showing himself to be one the most fearsome warriors for the American people that this nation has ever had. That's why the GOP is trying to impeach Eric Holder, because he and Obama are killing their cronies on Wall Street for the abuse of the American people that led to the Great Recession.
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Most American's have all but forgotten about the Wall Street debacle, at least in terms of recouping our losses. They’ve simply written it off as a loss, but not Obama. He's made Wall Street pay all of the bailout money back to the American taxpayer, with interest (Bailout Payment Tracker), reimburse customers, admit guilt (which leaves them open to private lawsuits), made them pay billions of dollars over and above what they stole, and THEN, he’s making them cooperate in their OWN criminal prosecution! These corporations may be "too big to fail," but if President Obama has his way, their managers won’t be too big to jail.
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But at the same time, President Obama realizes that he's walking a tight rope. While he understands the importance of having Wall Street pay a price that they won't soon forget, he also understands the importance to the economy that while he's exacting that price, that it not be perceived as blind retribution or reckless political point gathering. So Obama is going about the business of admonishing Wall Street in his typically thoughtful and pragmatic manner. This is exactly how a president should conduct business, by defending the interests of the American people, but at the same time, thoughtfully enough to take all of the pros and cons into account so as to minimize the chances of unintended consequences.
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But nobody's talking about that, and Obama doesn't believe in tootin' his own horn. The man is in Washington walking on water, while his critics are talking about him like a dog. But even as they criticize, he's quietly performing one miracle after another, and then casually walking away without saying a word. So if he has any shortcoming, that’s it - he obviously finds it prudent to pursue the nation’s interest without fanfare.  He fully recognizes the political realities that come with being the first Black President of the United States. Things have to be done just a little bit differently, by necessity - and bragging about his accomplishments is definitely one of those things.
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A perfect example of that is, if the Republicans had captured or killed Osama Bin Laden, they'd still be bragging about it, and at this point, George W. Bush’s image would be near completion on Mt. Rushmore. Clear evidence of that is how the GOP was bragging about how valiantly they were killing innocent people in Iraq in response to 9-11 - Bush even showed up in a flight suit (presumably the one he ran away from when he was actually SUPPOSE to be in the military).  Every Republican in the country was running on it, but all they actually did was spent a trillion dollars with nothing to show for it - which was actually the plan. They purposely used 9-11 to start a senseless war, give Dick Cheney's old firm a huge no-bid contract, and passed a huge tax cut, to enrich their cronies, and intentionally ravaged America’s coffers so they could use that as a pretext to attack the social programs put in place by the New Deal, the GOP’s primary reason for being for over seventy years. 
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How do we know this?
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We know this because after Bush and Cheney spent seven years, a trillion dollars, and were responsible for the death and/or maiming of thousands of American troops, Barack Obama came into office and casually took out Bin Laden with three helicopters and a handful of America's finest. He then simply announced Bin Laden's demise to the American people and walked away to address other issues just as casually as he accomplished it. Yet, we have Republicans running around claiming that he's the most incompetent president that we've ever had - and that's in spite of the fact that they, literally, had to hide Bush and Cheney for two election cycles.
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So to his severe detriment, President Obama just doesn't like to toot his own horn, but he should - if for no other reason than to bench the demagogues. The American people should be lovin' this guy, and they could be of great assistance in helping him move the country forward. So by emphasizing his accomplishments he could not only shut down the Republicans, but he could also shut the mouths of these so-called Black intellectuals who are so busy bashing the most powerful symbol of Black competence in the world, that they’re providing cover for Republicans who are, literally, cutting America’s throat. How could these people not recognize that, and how can President Obama not recognize the value of shutting these people down? But I suppose he has his reasons, and in light of his track record, I'm not prone to second-guess him.
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And again, take what he’s doing in response to the Wall Street scandal. While Obama is walking around smiling and being Mr. Nice Guy in public, Wall Street and the Republicans know who he REALLY is under that nice guy façade - Attila the Hun. While he's being criticized by uninformed idiots as being a tool of Wall Street, Obama has some of the biggest names on Wall Street in the woodshed bent over with their pants around their ankles. He's taking no prisoners - if you screwed the American people, you're going down - and some of the people going down were his biggest supporters, James "Jamie" Dimon, for example, the head of JPMorgan. I bet Cornel West couldn’t tell Jamie that Obama is "a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats." President Obama is, laterally, shaking that man’s world.
Forbes Magazine: Economically, Could Obama Be America’s Best President?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2013/05/16/economically-could-obama-be-americas-best-president/

JPMORGAN AGREED TO PAY $13 BILLION, AND IN A FIRST, ADMIT GUILT
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According to a CBS News report:
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In the past, "The banks in all the SEC cases were allowed to neither admit nor deny wrongdoing - a practice that brought criticism of the agency from judges and investor advocates.
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"But in a first for a major company, JPMorgan admitted in the agreement with the SEC over the $6 billion trading loss in its London operation that it failed in its oversight. The admission could leave the bank vulnerable to millions of dollars in lawsuits. JPMorgan also reached settlements over the trading loss with the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Britain's Financial Conduct Authority."
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In response, the government in January 2012 set up a task force of federal and state law enforcement officials to pursue wrongdoing with regard to mortgage securities.
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In September, JPMorgan agreed to pay $920 million and admit that it failed to oversee trading that led to a $6 billion loss last year in its London operation. That combined amount, in settlements with three U.S. and one British regulator, is one of the largest fines ever levied against a financial institution. In another case, the company agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and admitted that its traders acted "recklessly" with the London trades.
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To sum up the pound of flesh that Obama is extracted from this one corporation (and one of his biggest supporters) for the abuses that it perpetrated against the American people, Obama has demanded the following:
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1). Of the $13 billion, $9 billion is fines or penalties and $4 billion will go to consumer relief for struggling homeowners.
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2). JPMorgan also agreed to provide cooperation in investigations against individuals within the company.
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3). JPMorgan settled SEC charges in June 2011 by agreeing to pay $153.6 million and reached another such agreement for $296.9 million last November.
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4). As part of the tentative agreement, JPMorgan dropped its demand for the Justice Department to take a "non-prosecution agreement" off the table, which means a criminal investigation of the bank's conduct being handled by federal prosecutors in Sacramento, Calif., continues.
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"Mounting legal costs from government proceedings pushed JPMorgan to a rare loss in the third quarter, the first under Dimon's leadership. The bank reported Oct. 11 that it set aside $9.2 billion in the July-September quarter to cover a string of litigation stemming from the financial crisis and its "London Whale" trading debacle. JPMorgan said it has placed a total of $23 billion in reserve to cover potential legal costs."
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And they’re not through paying yet, because in spite of this "settlement" the administration is STILL coming after them with MORE charges, including criminal. And again, in another first - the head of JPMorgan, James Dimon, was one of Obama's biggest supporters. So Obama has taken a "take no prisoners" approach - if you screwed the American people, you're going down, no matter who you are. That’s a new wrinkle in American politics (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57608321/jpmorgan-chase-justice-department-reach-tentative-$13-billion-deal-over-mortgage-backed-securities/).
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And Obama’s accomplishments go far beyond simply punishing Wall Street. In addition to getting Osama Bin Laden - again, something that Bush spent a trillion dollars allegedly trying to do - Obama, literally, saved the world from slipping into another Great Depression. While the Republicans, and many Black Obama haters, have the audacity to ask "Where’s the jobs?," these people are conveniently failing to recall that under George W. Bush the nation was hemorrhaging 850,000 jobs PER MONTH. So compared to that, we’re experiencing a robust economy. Obama also saved the American auto industry, cut the deficit in half, and he’s providing health insurance to millions of Americans who couldn't previously obtain it.
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In addition, he’s gotten Syria to give up their chemical weapons, and persuaded Iran to allow nuclear weapons inspectors inside the country. If George W. Bush had been as effective in Iraq as Obama has been in both Syria and Iran, he could have saved the nation a trillion dollars, and saved the lives of more than a million people.
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With that said, I'm going to repeat myself here, because I feel obliged to ram the following point home. Compare President Obama's accomplishments above with the fact that Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, two of his most persistent and severe critics, traveled all across the country on a bus under the pretext of being so passionately concerned about poverty in America that they felt honor-bound to take a stand - but of course, that was BEFORE the election, and when they had books to sell. But now that the election is over, and they don't have any books to sell, they couldn't bring themselves to walk down the street from Tavis' office to support the Black Friday demonstrations taking place all across the country against Wal-Mart - Tavis' major sponsor, a member of ALEC, and the biggest abuser of the working class in America today.
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And not only did they fail to attend ANY of the demonstrations taking place across the country against Wal-Mart, they didn't even issue a statement of support. All we've heard coming from the Smiley/West camp are crickets - and as everyone knows, that's extremely uncharacteristic of Cornel West, who's renowned for being willing to trade a kidney for a sound byte. 
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So I'd say that just about says it all about those two - Tavis Smiley and Cornel West are two of the biggest hypocrites that the Black community has ever suffered, and their constant denigration of the most powerful symbol of Black competence in the world is a slap in the face of the Black community, and nothing short of a distraction that allows cover for the GOP to more easily pursue their agenda of cutting America's throat.  
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Thus, contrary to the criticisms of the GOP, and the attempted character assassination of the president by a handful of self-serving, and/or clueless, Black "intellectuals," Barack Hussein Obama has already accomplished enough to be remembered by history as one of our greatest presidents.  So, he, the Black community, and his supporters, would be well served to begin to trumpet that fact, and tell the idiots, demagogues, and poverty pimps to go take a nap - and that has nothing to do with becoming an Obama cheerleader or lending blind support for everything that he does. It's about reflecting the facts, supporting our own best interests, and countering the brutal assault on Obama being staged by self-serving demagogues whose activities are lending comfort to those who have morphed into the domestic enemy of the United States.  

A List of Obama Accomplishments

http://pleasecutthecrap.com/obama-accomplishments/

 

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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Radical Republicans Have Gone Delusional

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
 

 Radical Republicans Have Gone Delusional

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A Republican recently told me that President Obama was the worst president in history. It’s ridiculous statements like that, that make people completely ignore most conservatives. Under George W. Bush the nation was hemorrhaging 850,000 jobs a MONTH. And who was the last Republican president who DIDN'T drag America under a bus?
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History is going to record that President Obama saved this nation from going into another Great Depression, brought Osama Bin Laden - this nation's most dangerous foe - to justice, and provided millions of uninsured Americans with affordable healthcare, and all single-handedly, without any help from the Republican Party whatsoever - in fact, with Republicans trying to obstruct him at every turn. In addition, if Bush had pulled off in Iraq what Obama just accomplished in Syria it would have saved the nation over a TRILLION dollars, and saved over a million lives (UN official says chemical weapons inspectors begin destroying Syrian stockpile, machinery).
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If Bush would have brought Osama Bin Laden to justice as did Obama, Republicans would be trying to chisel his face on Mt. Rushmore as we speak. Bush spent 7 years, and all of the resources that the nation had at its disposal, allegedly, trying to capture Osama Bin Laden, while Obama did the job with 3 helicopters and a handful of America’s finest - and all while casually dragging Donald Trump through the mud at a dinner party. Yet, now Republicans are trying to say Obama is the worst president in history?  Maybe I'm mistaken, but didn’t the Republican Party literally have to HIDE George W. Bush during the last two elections? So these people are COMPLETELY out of their deeply delusional conservative minds.
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But what's ironic is that the total irresponsibility of the Republican Party is going to INSURE that President Obama goes down in history as one of our greatest presidents, while they're going to go down in history as the most irresponsible group of Americans that this country has known since the Civil War. They’ve, literally, become the domestic enemy of the United States, as the government shutdown clearly demonstrates.
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Don’t let this blatant assault on the facts go unchallenged. This is not about becoming an Obama cheerleader, it's about re-establishing truth as the standard within our political environment.

Forbes Magazine: Economically, Could Obama Be America’s Best President?
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"Firstly, let’s review just how bad things were in 2009. In 2000 America was completing the longest bull market in history. But by the end of President Bush’s tenure the country had witnessed 2 stock market crashes, and the DJIA had fallen 58%. This was the second worst market decline in history (exceeded only by the Great Depression,) and hence the term "Great Recession" was born.
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"In 2000, at the end of Clinton’s administration, the Consumer Confidence Index was at a record high 140. By January, 2009 this index had fallen to an historic low of 25.3. Comparatively, when Reagan took office at the end of the economically weak Carter years the Confidence Index was still at 74.4! Today this measure of how people feel about the country is still nowhere near 2000 levels, but it is almost 3 times better than 4 years ago.
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"Significantly, in 2000 America had a budget surplus. By 2009 surpluses were long gone and the country was racking up historic deficits as taxes were cut while simultaneously outlays for defense skyrocketed to cover costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, banks were on the edge of failing due to unregulated real estate speculation and massive derivative losses.
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"Today the Congressional Budget Office is reporting a $200B decrease in the deficit almost entirely due to increased revenue from a growing economy and higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans. The deficit is now only 4% of the GDP, down from over 10% at the end of Bush’s administration – and projections are for it to be only 2% by 2015 (before Obama leaves office.) America’s "debt problem" seems largely solved, and almost all due to growth rather than austerity.
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"We can largely thank a fairer tax code, improved regulation and consistent SEC enforcement. Also, major strides in health care reform – something no other President has accomplished – has given American’s more faith in their future, and an increased willingness to invest."
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A List of Obama Accomplishments:
http://pleasecutthecrap.com/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009/

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Eric L. Wattree
Wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
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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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BRAVO, MR. PRESIDENT!!!

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

BRAVO, MR. PRESIDENT!!!

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OKAY, SMILEY, WEST, GOP, DO I HEAR A "WELL, DONE, MR. PRESIDENT?"
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 IF BUSH COULD HAVE PULLED OFF IN IRAQ WHAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS DONE IN SYRIA, IT WOULD HAVE SAVED A MILLION LIVES AND OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS.

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The exact same thing is true with respect to bringing Osama Bin Laden to justice. While Bush spent seven years, a national fortune, and over four thousand American lives chasing Bin Laden, Obama brought him to justice with three helicopters and a handful of America's finest - and, while casually dragging Donald Trump through the mud at a dinner party in the process.
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I hate to come off like an Obama cheerleader, because I assure you, I’m not (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2011/01/obama-supporters-vs-cheerleaders.html), but President Obama is less than aggressive in tooting his own horn, which allows the GOP and his other detractors to distort history. So it is incumbent upon those of us who support him to toot his horn for him, because it's just not Obama's nature to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a flight suit for a photo op.
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In that regard, here's what I had to say the other night during an exchange with an Obama critic regarding his handling of the Syrian Affair:
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"There are a number of very important elements to this situation that critics are failing to take into account, and frankly, I'm shocked to see that so many people who are suppose to be sophisticated and highly intelligent are failing to recognize.
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"First, international diplomacy is a game of chess, so things aren't always as they seem. Secondly, many things are said for public consumption that are contrived for the specific purpose of disseminating disinformation in order to misdirect the opposition to our true thinking. Many things are also said and done in order for the super powers to allow one another to save face before their client allies.
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"So for all we know, the U.S., Russia, and China may be on the exact same page on this issue - after all, who wants to see chemical weapons unleashed on the world?  But in order for Russia and China to save face in backing down, it has been agreed between the three powers that President Obama should purposely overstep some pre-agreed upon bounds that would force him to step back. That way, everybody gets a little something.
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"So, as a good rule of thumb - not only in politics, but in life in general - is one should never start shootin' off their mouth without having all of the facts. That's what first tipped me several years ago about Cornel’s limitations as a serious intellectual. To listen to him run his mouth, you'd think he was getting a CIA condition report across his desk every morning. How in the hell does he presume to second-guess the President of the United States when the ONLY information he has access to is what he reads on the internet?"
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This morning the New York Times reports, "Deal Reached to Destroy Chemical Arms in Syria." The story reports the following:
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"GENEVA — The United States and Russia reached a sweeping agreement on Saturday that called for Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons to be removed or destroyed by the middle of 2014 and indefinitely stalled the prospect of American airstrikes."
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So what Obama critics are failing to recognize is if the president is engaged in diplomatic talks and using the threat of military intervention as leverage to further the United States’ interest, when we have Republican politicians using the issue to jockey for political advantage, and loudmouths like Cornel West running around talking about, "If you do it, we’re gonna impeach you!," for personal advantage, that hurts America’s ability to negotiate. So titles and PhD.s notwithstanding, these people are either so selfish that they don’t care about American interests, something much less than effective thinkers, or both.
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But they're not fooling the American people for a minute. While we've understandably developed an increasing distrust for politicians - ALL politicians, including Obama - our instincts tells us that there's just something about this guy that we can't quite put our finger on that sets him apart. That's why we elected him to a second term. Well, I think I have put my finger on it.
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Americans, by nature, tend to gravitate toward the underdog, and while President Obama is undoubtedly the most powerful man in the world, he's also our first Black president, and as such, Americans can clearly see that he's under siege in Washington, D.C., so they've rallied behind him to protect his flank. Because, while the racists, bigots, and blowhards get a lot of press, they don't reflect the actual character of America. The vast majority of Americans are corny, like myself. They truly believe in the ideals that this nation was created to represent. If they didn't, Obama never would have become president in the first place. That's why, for the most part, while race baiters get a lot of press, for the most part, they're spittin' in the wind.
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Because, when the vast majority of Americans look at President Obama, they don't see "a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs." They see a decent man, who loves his wife and family. They see the guy next door who's been chosen to be a modern-day David, and to everyone's complete shock and surprise, has dredged up the strength and courage to wage a desperate battle against the Goliath of wealth, power, and presumption.
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When America looks at Obama, and as they watch him turning grey before their eyes, they see themselves fighting the good fight for American ideals. They see him as the personification of everything America once was - a feisty little underdog all alone, in a desperate battle against those out to destroy America.
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That's also how I see him, not as some kind of Messiah, but like my neighbor doing battle against a group of thugs who's trying to takeover the neighborhood. That's why I defend this man, because I admire both his character and his courage. So I'm not going to just sit back and peep through my blinds and watch a man of his character be bludgeoned to death while he's defending MY home. That's not how Americans do things.
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And finally, I want to thank him for his service and give him his roses while he can smell 'em. History is certainly going to honor him greatly, but like Martin, he won't be around to see that. As a result, I never got the chance to thank Martin, but I'm not gonna make that mistake this time.
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So, Bravo, Mr. President!
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TO THE

HARD WORKING AND COURAGEOUS

MEN AND WOMEN OF LITTLE CLOUT,

WHOSE COLLECTIVE EFFORTS BUILT

AND DEFINES THE CHARACTER  

OF THIS GREAT NATION

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HERE’S TO THE UNDERDOG

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Here's

to the magnificent underdog,

majestic--just look at that face;

who struggle each mile, yet, manages a smile,

while the powerful spits in his face.

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Yes,

a toast!

To the illustrious underdog,

whose courage holds chaos at bay;

for the unshakable steel, which makes up his will,

to stand-up through yet one more day.

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Let’s hear

a cheer!

For the tireless underdog.

His heart firmly girdered in place;

who finds just enough to survive when life's tough,

while the "powerful" stands in disgrace.
.

Let us

cherish

the heroic underdog,

who walks water routinely each day;

who braves lion Jaws and shuns all applause,

then quietly goes on his way.

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.

*

*

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Reflections on President Obama’s Speech on Syria

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Ewattree@Gmail.com

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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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The Blind Hatred and Ignorance that Obama Must Endure From A Minority of His Own People - It's Pathological

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

The Blind Hatred and Ignorance that Obama Must Endure From A Minority of His Own People - It's Pathological 

From Battchief:
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Wattree,
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I don't think I questioned the wisdom of asking for Congress to pass a resolution and I don't recall mentioning "warmongering". What I said is that there is no moral high ground for Obama to stand on.
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"Assad is a part of the Alawite religion, a very small sect of Islam. They constitute only 12% of Syria, and they’re beliefs are kept so close to the vest that they’re secret from even other branches of Islam. So we don’t know what this guy is capable of. He may launch biological weapons into Israel and start an all-out regional conflict." Really? Are you a religious bigot, too? I think what you've got hold of is the very, very special Kool-Aid.
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If this spills beyond Syria's borders, the Israelis and the Egyptians have plenty of arms that we've given them, to the tune of $1.5 billion a yr., to make it move back. The idea that we have to impose our will there is based, again, on oil.
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If the people in the region don't want to act, why should we do so in their stead? In the past few days Kerry made an offhand comment that, to Obama's benefit, Putin and Assad decided to run with. No one's blinking. The Russians intend to keep assad in power. Whether or not the weapons CAN be removed under the conditions at hand or this is a delaying tactic, remains to be seen.
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Obama invoked international conventions and says that only America is responsible for enforcing them. That makes little sense to me, when there are so many international conventions being broken, killing so many in places we turn our back on. Let's go clean up Darfur. I'm down with that. What? No oil, huh?
************************************************************
Battchief,
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Your analysis of the Syrian crisis is based on seriously flawed thinking.  You're engaging in gross suppositions, unwarranted assumptions, the tendency to give ideology priority over truth, and an atrocious example of syllogistic logic.
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An example of that is you said, "The idea that we have to impose our will there is based, again, on oil."
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What credible evidence do you have of that? While I agree with you that the United States’ history in the region has been all but entirely characterized buy hubris, greed, and unthinking self-interest, to say that EVERY action that we take in the region is an extension of that very same animus without being able to put forth clear evidence for your assertion constitutes a grossly unwarranted assumption. The logic behind your assumption gives ideology priority over fact and is based on the following flawed syllogistic construction: "All dogs have fleas. My cat has fleas. Therefore, my cat is a dog."
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President Obama was clear in his explanation as to why he was considering taking action in this case. Bashar al-Assad is in direct violation of the "Chemical Weapons Convention," designed to control the development, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons, which has been signed and ratified by 189 nations.
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The president said the following:
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"If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them. Over time, our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield, and it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and to use them to attack civilians."
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That’s a serious matter to be considered, and so is the following:
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"If fighting spills beyond Syria’s borders, these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan and Israel. And a failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction and embolden Assad’s ally, Iran, which must decide whether to ignore international law by building a nuclear weapon or to take a more peaceful path."
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And with regard to your question that, "If the people in the region don't want to act, why should we do so in their stead?" There’s a very simple answer to that question. First, The Arab League -a regional organization of 22 Arab countries in and around North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Southwest Asia - not only suspended Assad in 2011, but has called for his resignation. And secondly, the use of chemical weapons is not just a regional issue. Just like nuclear weapons, chemical weapons are a threat to the entire WORLD.
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Comments like yours is a perfect example of what President Obama has to deal with on a daily basis. Regardless to what he does, even when it’s in their best interest, haters will start ranting and raving over the issue without even knowing the facts. But now that you do know the facts, what would you do on this issue if you were in his place?
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I shudder to even think what Cornel West would do, who thinks the president should be impeached if he acts as a responsible adult in the face of an irresponsible congress.
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Eric L. Wattree

Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
.
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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Reflections on President Obama’s Speech on Syria

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Reflections on President Obama’s Speech on Syria

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After listening to the president’s speech on the Syrian affair, my position remains the same. He should throw this issue in the lap of congress, and thereafter, follow their prescription. The primary reason for that is, for the past four years it has been clearly demonstrated that he’s dealing with an irresponsible Republican congress, so regardless to what he does on his own initiative, or how it turns out, they’re going to say it was wrong. They’ll then completely ignore any precedents set by the Clinton or Bush administrations and conjure up articles of impeachment against Obama - as was so helpfully suggested by Cornel West - in order to sabotage and distract from any initiatives that he might have planned for his second term.

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Another reason that the president should place this issue in the lap of congress is to force congress to act responsibly by giving them a vested interest in bringing the country together behind whatever action we take. The United States is between a rock and a hard place on Syria. It’s one of those issues where there is no right thing to do. If we don’t act, we’ll lose face with U.S. allies. That could cause them to lose faith in the United States’ commitment to protect their security, and thereby, cause them to have second thoughts about standing behind the United States when our own security is in jeopardy in the region.

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On the other hand, if we do take action against Syria, we have to deal with the possibility of unintended consequences. One of the big mistakes the United States makes when dealing with people from other countries is that we assume that everyone thinks like we do. That’s a mistake. People from other countries have different religions, and therefore, different motivations. So while President Obama may plan on ordering a limited air strike as an admonishment to Syria to behave, Bashar al-Assad may feel under siege and go for broke.
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Assad is a part of the Alawite religion, a very small sect of Islam. They constitute only 12% of Syria, and they’re beliefs are kept so close to the vest that they’re secret from even other branches of Islam. So we don’t know what this guy is capable of. He may launch biological weapons into Israel and start an all-out regional conflict.
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President Obama has all of this information, so for some to suggest that he’s just anxious to go running off to war against some unknown quantity, is simplistic thinking at best. As he mentioned in his speech, he’s weighing options. The president said the following:
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"If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them. Over time, our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield, and it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and to use them to attack civilians."
.
That’s a serious matter to be considered, and so is the following:
.
"If fighting spills beyond Syria’s borders, these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan and Israel. And a failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction and embolden Assad’s ally, Iran, which must decide whether to ignore international law by building a nuclear weapon or to take a more peaceful path."
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So it’s easy to run around and rant about this "warmongering’ president, but the people who are out searching for cameras to run their mouths in front of are not concerned about any of these issues. All they’re concerned about is getting media exposure, and if you specifically ask them about these issues, they probably wouldn’t even know what you were talking about - if they do, they certainly haven’t come up with any suggestions on how we should handle the situation. That’s the difference between wagging your tongue and governing - when governing you have to come up with solutions.
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The majority of us voted for President Obama, not because we expected him to do everything that we wanted him to do, but because he’s a serious-minded adult whose judgment we trust; and in this big stakes chess match, he’s managed to stand firm, just as we voted for him to do - so firm, in fact, that Russia and China, Assad’s two major allies are beginning to blink. As a result, the president was able to report the following:
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"However, over the last few days, we’ve seen some encouraging signs, in part because of the credible threat of U.S. military action, as well as constructive talks that I had with President Putin. The Russian government has indicated a willingness to join with the international community in pushing Assad to give up his chemical weapons. The Assad regime has now admitting that it has these weapons and even said they’d join the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits their use."
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Now, that’s what it means to be a president.
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Eric L. Wattree 
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
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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.

Sphere: Related Content