BLACK LIVES MATTER

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree 

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY 

 

BLACK LIVES MATTER

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"DADDY, MOMMIE SAID YOU BEAT UP THE BOGEYMAN.

DID YOU REALLY BEAT HIM UP?"
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"YEAH, TWICE. THAT'S WHY HE'S SCARED TO COME

INTO YOUR ROOM."

HOWLING WINDS
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As I watched my son, dapper as they come, 

walk down our walkway and into manhood,

what I remember most was the howling winds. 

I'd seen such winds before, but never like this, 

my old foe was pulling up trees by the roots.

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So I watched, but I watched alone.

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As the winds raged on and the mighty palms bowed, 

a single leaf from our Winter-bare Ficus tree

held tough against the ferocious storm. 

It fought valiantly against the angry gale, 

as though hanging tough just to witness the changing of the guard.

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So I stood, but I stood alone.

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Like that solitary leaf, all my life I've fought the ferocious winds, 

and now they’ve returned, this mighty foe, 

poised to seize the hopes and dreams of my only son.

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So I cringed, but I cringed alone.

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Then, posterity glanced back, squared its shoulders, 

and beat back hopelessness as it

trudged through fields of ivy. 

Then it spread its wings and rode those howling winds

over yonder mountaintop,

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So I wept, but I wept with a crowd.
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MEMORANDUM FOR OFFICER TRAINING SCHOOL SELECTION COMMITTEE

FROM: 92 SFS/SFO
2 E. ARNOLD STREET
FAIRCHILD AFB, WA 99011

SUBJECT: Recommendation for Staff Sergeant Eric L. Wattree

1. I wholeheartedly concur with Staff Sergeant Wattree’s request to attend Officer Training School. He represents the enlisted ranks with the highest standard and will bring that dedication and professionalism to the officer corps.

2. Eric continues to lead a stellar military career; his enlisted performance reports speak for themselves. His leadership and experience, especially in contingency environments, remains a vital asset to our unit and wing. As one of my primary Phoenix Raven team leaders, he’s propelled to the forefront of all major deployments throughout the world. He’s repeatedly secured aircraft and crews, supporting a wide variety of missions, in the most austere and terrorist-ridden environments where security is severely inadequate. The diversity of these missions never limited SSgt Wattree’s capacity to adapt to each situation. For this reason, Eric was selected as our 2000 Outstanding Phoenix Raven Member of the Year and the 2001 Air Force Reserve Component Airman of the Year for the 92d Security Forces Squadron.

3. Whether operating under peacetime or contingency operations, Eric easily assumes control and tackles every situation with meticulous tenacity, a quality highly desired in our Air Force officers. Requested by name, Sergeant Wattree, provided security for presidential Banner missions throughout Greece, Peru and Viet Nam. While deployed to Afghanistan, he flew numerous combat missions in our nation’s pursuit to eradicate terrorism through Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Additionally, he provided round-the-clock force protection for aircraft in other high-threat environments including Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Oman.

4. Sergeant Wattree motivated his personnel during the worst conditions and raised the level of esprit de corps to integrate personnel from other Air Force specialties into a cohesive team. His leadership, integrity and devotion to our Air Force play an integral part in our future leadership. Eric has what it takes to become a commissioned officer and earns my full support to attend Officer Training School.

FRANK HELLSTERN, JR., Captain, USAF
Operations Officer

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THE APU HALL OF FAME
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 "In a tense, high stakes, pressure situation, where only two options exist and just one that is favorable, there is no man better the moment and no one better to protect your interests than Eric  Wattree.  And that's not just in sports but in real life too.

"Wattree, the burly 6-foot-6 former college basketball standout, is cool, calm, and collected.  He always has been and probably always will be.  It's just the way he is.

"Thus, when he takes the stage Oct. 26 for induction into Azusa Pacific's Athletics Hall of Fame, the former DEA agent and Air Force officer will do so with little fanfare or personal reaction.  It's the Wattree way … cool at all times.

"Protecting teammates in 1996 was just the beginning of a career of security.  Following graduation from Azusa Pacific in May of that year, Wattree entered the Air Force where he served for ten years, most notably as a certified Phoenix Raven Anti-Terrorism Specialist.  He was tasked with ensuring the safety of government officials and high-ranking military personnel while providing support on highly classified special operation missions in Afghanistan and other places throughout the world.

"While still with the Air Force, he joined the Drug Enforcement Administration out of the Seattle area, working on complex conspiracy and international investigations.  He stayed with the DEA for 15 years until last year, when he accepted a new position as senior investigator and security specialist with the Arizona Department of Economic Security."

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AND THE BEAT GOES ON

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ERIC L. WATTREE III

TAYLOR WATTREE-JACKSON

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ERIC L. WATTREE III

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"I recently graduated from Oklahoma City University with a BBA - Economics (Minor in Marketing).

"While at OCU I obtained many certifications. An example being the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) Certification. I've also been a member of the Investment Club where we managed a portfolio of actual securities initially worth $100,000 - profits going towards OCU scholarships. Throughout my 4 years, my ability to establish and maintain relationships has been my biggest asset. Being able to think critically, analyze data and relay information effectively have been critical to my success.

"I also had the pleasure of being a 4-year student-athlete, spending two years as Team Captain. As a captain, the importance of taking necessary sacrifices for overall team success as well as effective time management as it relates to workload efficiencies are vital. I served 4 years as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in which we created a vehicle for student-athlete representation, organized community service efforts and promoted a positive student-athlete image on campus. I was selected on numerous occasions to speak publicly at various high schools, as well as at OCU's Sports Spectacular, the end-of-year sports banquet.

"I love to learn, build relationships and WIN!"

Eric L. Wattree III

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ELIJAH WATTREE

 

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

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“Sailor of the Quarter” is an honor voted on by the personnel at the station and recognizes the contributions of individual service members for outstanding performance and support of the Coast Guard and its missions at the station level. The first “Sailor of the Quarter” for fiscal year 2019 is Fireman Elijah L. Wattree — high praise for a newly arrived station member with just over a year in the Coast Guard. A native of Bremerton, Washington, Fireman Wattree is the first in his family to join the Coast Guard and he’s finding it a good fit.
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"The “Sailor of the Quarter” citation reads in summation, “Your compassion, hard work, and extreme commitment to the U. S. Coast Guard and Station Boothbay Harbor is evident and exemplifies the Coast Guard’s Core Values of Honor, Respect, Devotion to Duty. I greatly appreciate your dedication to duty and continued fine performance.” Signed: Adam P. Smart, Officer in Charge, Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor."
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ELI IS NOW INVOLVED IN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE

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I NOW STAND FIRM

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I now stand firm. My conviction of the power of knowledge is the platform upon which my podium rests. I stand firm, strong, and now free. Free of anger. Free of self-delusion. Free of the folly of empty vanity, and free of the pernicious bane of meaningless pride without substance.

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I stand free to look upon the eyes of other men, reflecting dignity over sorrow, and accomplishment over pain. I stand with a burning passion, fueled by the very flame that forged ancestral shackles, with a deep sense of pride and a pride that flows deep.

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I now stand erect. The steel that once degraded my father, that chained him in bondage to this bitter Earth, now reinforce my character, making me more, rather than less; and the blood and sweat that once drenched his brow, now rage with resolve and a sense of purpose within my burning breast.

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I now stand as a new being - neither simply African, nor simply American, but a hybrid forced to transcend the sum of my parts; no longer simply African, since being torn away from the African motherland to suffer and toil in the fields of America, and more than simply American, after being forced to be more than simply American just to survive within the bowels of this bitter land.

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Thus, I stand now armed - armed with the wisdom of deprivation, the courage of my conviction, and a deep conviction of my courage; and fortified - with the confidence of a survivor, the empowerment of knowledge, and a ravishing hunger for greatness.

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I now stand the product of love, struggle, and sacrifice; a witness to man's inhumanity to man, and a monument to the hopes and dreams of a million slaves.

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I now stand embraced by my creator, as God now smiles upon my people.

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Yes, I Now Stand Firm.

FIRM, BLACK, AND FREE!

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Rita, 

My very dear friend.

Val would have loved you, and I'm sure she's smiling 

down upon you now.
Thank you for all the beauty and happiness 

you've brought into my life.

And I thank you with all my heart for this song.
The struggle to survive in this bitter land 

has made us more rather than less.

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Black Lives Matter!

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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A MESSAGE TO THE POLITICAL DEMAGOGUES. . .OF EVERY STRIPE

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree 

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY 

A MESSAGE TO POLITICAL DEMAGOGUES. . .  

OF EVERY STRIPE 

 

PLEASE SPARE US YOUR 

CLICKBAIT BULLSHIT! 

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The Donald Trump era was like binging on poorly made rotgut. It's left America with a splitting headache and no desire to ever indulge again. That's bad news for the political class, because Trump has used up whatever leeway for missteps you might have enjoyed in the past. So this is a message for all politicians of every stripe. Consider yourselves on notice. It's time to start changing your ways, because having to deal with the idiocy of Donald Trump's self-serving incompetence has left a bad taste in America's mouth regarding all manner of political chicanery.

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The time has past for trying to use deception, political maneuvering, and transparent clickbait schemes to try to gain political advantage. You’re no longer fooling anybody. Regardless of whatever kind of machinations you try to contrive, we've been there, done that. So you have two options, you can either carry out your responsibilities in a responsible and forthright manner, or you can get the hell out of office and find yourself a real job. 
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It is now clear to us that you don't give a damn about the nation's welfare. We now know it was all about you, and a game you were playing to keep yourselves comfortably employed. If that weren't the case, you would never have tolerated Donald Trump for a minute. We also know your so-called clickbait “surveys" and other deceptions are all designed to get our attention so you can beg for money - again, just to keep yourself comfortably ensconced in office. So it's all been a farce, and all about you, not the people, or the country.
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I have yet to fill-out one political survey from any politician that didn’t have a pitch for money at the end. The entire point of your so-call surveys are to incite emotion to make it easier for you to beg. If you were half as creative in legislating as you are at begging, America really would be a shining city on a hill. But instead, due to the political ineptness in Washington for the past four years, America has become the laughingstock of the entire world. Just think about that - in a mere four years America has gone from the most admired nation in the world, to a laughingstock. It took a very special kind of self-service and incompetence to accomplishment that feat.

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So in the past four years the American people have been baptized by fire. We've obtained a PhD in political chicanery, and we've become much smarter than the people holding office. We've had an objective and bird's-eye view of a national disaster in the making. We now understand that just because you were elected to office doesn't make you intellectual giants. We've been awakened to that reality in no uncertain terms. After all, we've just experienced a man who was elected President of the United States who was a world-class idiot, so we're suffering under no illusions regarding the limitations of those in the political class . We now know without a doubt that the title doesn't make the man, or woman. The man or woman makes the title.
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So, we don't appreciate your assuming we’re so stupid that your political Ponzi schemes are gonna cause us to fall all over ourselves to dance to your music - of course, there are some lingering Trump supporters who might, but they're idiots. After all, they are Trump supporters. But for most of us, you're not only insulting our intelligence, but your behavior is a clear indication that you're all cut from the same clothe. All of you seem to be insincere and less than dedicated egomaniacs. You didn't run for office to serve the people, you ran for office to get on television. 
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So the voters now understand with a brand new clarity that this is not a game. We understand that you were voted into office to REPRESENT us, not to get into office and assume you’re above us, and it's time that you begin to recognize that fact. If you don't, you're going to find yourselves out on your asses.
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In the yellow donation box above, the Trump campaign threatened to "tell Trump that you're a DEFECTOR" if the voter didn't check the box agreeing to give a monthly donation. That clearly shows that their understanding of how the system is supposed to work was turned completely on its head. So it's no wonder that Donald Trump is on his way to the ash heap of history - and probably, by way of the penitentiary. Who gives a damn what they tell Trump? The voter is not beholding to Donald Trump. Trump was SUPPOSED to be beholding to the voter, and that's a big part of the Republican problem. 
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The Republican congress routinely vote down legislation that's supported by the vast majority of the American people, and after the last election, Trump ignited an insurrection in attempt to throw out the votes of millions of Americans who voted against him. So Republican politicians have clearly demonstrated that they have absolutely no respect for the will of the people. A democracy can't function under those conditions. It's un-American on its face, so it's incumbent upon us to weed these authoritarian-prone conservative Republicans out of our government.
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Republican politicians tend to have delusions of grandeur. Donald Trump thought that he could demand that the Presidency be given to him whether he won the election or not; Mitch McConnell thinks he has the exclusive right to control who goes on the Supreme Court and what legislation should become law of the land; Republican legislatures in 47 states have proposed 361 laws to suppress the people's right to vote, and Mo Brooks thought he had the right to disrupt our democracy by telling an angry mob to go to the Capitol and "kick ass, and take names". So it's past time to bring you people down a peg or two and make it clear who's running this country. 

 

You politicians are neither our leaders, nor are you our intellectual superiors; you're our EMPLOYEES, and if you don't understand that fact you need to be working in a carwash. The voters didn’t vote you into office to try to trick us into sending you money to secure your employment; you were voted into office to see to it that the will of the people was given priority over money and influence. That's the way a democracy is suppose work, and if you’re too dimwitted to understand that, you have no business holding public office. So instead of looking down your nose at us and trying to conjure up underhanded ways of getting us to make donations to your campaigns, try doing your job for a change, and focus on finding ways to promote the will of the people.  

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I seriously doubt that you're going to do that, however - in fact, at this point, I seriously doubt you even know how. So I've got a plan. Until you people manage to open your eyes and truly serve the public, the American people should start primarying every incumbent running for re-election, every election. We need to continue to turn you out of office every election until we find people who knows what it means to serve the people. I know, that sounds outrageous, right? But who knows, the idea just might catch on.

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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL'S STATE

We’re tired of seeing politicians strut around trying to be bigshots while the people suffer. So it's time for all Americans, regardless of their political persuasion, to come together and take our country back. We've got to get rid of you self-serving turkeys, because you're only interest in feathering your own nests.
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A democracy can't function while infested with self-serving turncoats, and that's exactly what we have. Our system is overflowing with people who grin in our face before the election, and then start stabbing us in our backs as soon as the vote is counted. So you deadbeats need to start thinking about modifying the way you approach your job - or we're gonna throw you out on your asses, just like we did Trump.

 

IT’S TIME FOR THE PEOPLE TO TAKE OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM BACK FROM THE ARROGANCE OF PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS. 

Eric L. Wattree 

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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