Boyce Watkins - and the Idiocy of Black Conservatism

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Boyce Watkins - and the Idiocy of Black Conservatism

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As a rule of thumb, I try not to ever generalize, or make broad unmitigated statements that don’t provide me some wiggle room to accommodate the inevitable exceptions to my assertions. I only allow myself one exception to that rule, and that’s when it comes to Black conservatives. Because the truth is truth, and the fact is, I have never met a Black conservative who wasn’t either an idiot, or of severely flawed character, i.e., Allen West: Religious coexistence "would give away our country": Herman Cain: "I’m a brother from another mother"; and now Boyce Watkins: "A lot of mothers don't know their kids are being abused by their [Black] boyfriends while they're at work."
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But it’s not just statements like the ones above that betray the ignorance of those who profess to be Black conservatives, they’re betrayed by their very mind-set. Since the definition of the word "Conservative" is "A person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes," for me, any Black person who embraces a philosophy that promotes holding on to "traditional values and attitudes in America," is an idiot by definition. Now, let us take a look at that idiocy at work.
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Boyce Watkins:
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"Dr. Umar Johnson engages in the bold task of trying to raise $5 million dollars for an all-boy's school and a black feminist writer at Madamenoire tries to destroy him for his conservative position on homosexuality. I just wonder if anyone thinks that, perhaps, you can disagree with a person without trying to discredit everything they've worked for. So, thousands of boys shouldn't get a school because people want to nitpick at the founder? If they'd done that to their liberal hero Bill Clinton, he never would have gotten anything done."
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We want our children EDUCATED, not indoctrinated, and we want them to learn HOW to think, not WHAT to think. But for some reason that’s seems to be a foreign and unacceptable concept to many conservatives. For some reason many conservatives tend to feel honor-bound to propagate their conservative views, and shove their regressive view of reality down the throat of the rest of America. If they don’t like gays, it’s not enough for them to simply stay out of the company of gay people, they tend to have an authoritarian obsession with preventing gay people from even "liking" one another.
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But of course, many conservatives would take the position that liberals also try to shove their views down the throat of America. They’ll often bring up the fact that the teaching of evolution over creationism in our schools constitute the propagation of liberal views. No it is not. That’s a grossly invalid argument. Evolution is science, while creationism is religion - period.
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Then,Watkins goes on to say - and this is where the narrow-minded delusions of conservatism is really revealed:
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"Dr. Johnson has made the note worthy point that a large percentage of homosexuality in the black community has come out of mass incarceration as well as child abuse occurring in primarily single parent households (a police officer friend of mine worked in the crimes against children unit and explained that a lot of mothers don't know their kids are being abused by their boyfriends while they're at work). So, the black relationship with homosexuality is not the same as that of whites. It doesn't mean that there isn't room for constructive dialogue about gay rights, but I'm concerned about this idea that any black person who isn't in lockstep with the Obama Administration's aggressive push on the gay agenda is somehow an ignorant bigot.
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"There are those who have different opinions, and they should not be terrorized for having them. Constructive debate is fine, but it shouldn't devolve into some kind of modern day McCarthyism."
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That is the most backward-thinking and bigoted comment that I have ever heard coming out of ANYONE’S mouth, and to hear it coming from the mouth of one Black man, and then signed off on by another, is absolutely disgusting. It not only conflates being gay with pedophilia, but it also suggests that Black men are more prone to be pedophiles than the rest of the population. In addition, in spite of the fact that both men profess to be learned Black scholars, neither offers even one shred of credible evidence to substantiate their outrageously bigoted assertions.
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There are several disturbing assumptions here that betray why Boyce Watkins tend to lean conservative - covertly, of course: 1). Gays tend to be perverts and child molesters. 2). Black men can't be trusted.  3). Black men tend to lay around the house molesting children while their women are out in the world working to support them, and 4). White men are different and more trustworthy than Black men. It's this kind of thinking that causes the vast majority of the Black community to look upon Black conservatives with such disdain - Black conservative "bligots" tend to look down upon their own people. And unfortunately, much of this delusional thinking comes directly out of some of our own churches.
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"Researchers concluded that the risk of child sexual abuse by an identifiably gay or lesbian person was between zero and 3.1%, and that the risk of such abuse by the heterosexual partner of a relative was over 100 times greater."  Thus, being either Black are gay does NOT predispose a person to being a child molester. In fact, the chances are 100 times greater that a child molester will be "straight."
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Both of these gentlemen are an embarrassment to Black scholarship. And since they both possess PhDs, the very fact that they can represent themselves as scholars is an indictment against this nation’s educational system.
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Even though I’m not gay, I learned as early as the sixth grade that being gay is not some sort of psychological disorder that you can "come down with"; it’s merely a sexual predisposition. I also learned that the only difference between myself and a person who is gay is that gay people are attracted to the same sex. That's it - and maybe the fact that gays tend to be a little neater than myself. But even in the first grade, and before I even knew what homosexuality was, I recognized that I had a classmate who acted more like a little girl than he did a boy - and it wasn’t because he was corrupted - he was BORN that way. Even as a child that was obvious to me.  A child that age doesn't become effeminate because he was molested. That was his NATURE, or for the religious among us, God made him that way. So who are we to second-guess God?

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Research on Homosexual Versus Heterosexual Pedophilia

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"In 1988, renowned sex researcher Kurt Freund at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto studied two groups of paid volunteers and found that gay men responded no more to male child stimuli than heterosexual men responded to female child stimuli.[6] He later described as a "myth" the notion that gay men are more likely than straight men to be child molesters.[7]
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"In 1992, alarmed over claims made during a campaign for an anti-gay state constitutional amendment in Colorado, two physicians reviewed every case of suspected child molestation evaluated at Children's Hospital in Denver over a one-year period. Of the 269 cases determined to involve molestation by an adult, only two of the perpetrators could be identified as gay or lesbian. The researchers concluded that the risk of child sexual abuse by an identifiably gay or lesbian person was between zero and 3.1%, and that the risk of such abuse by the heterosexual partner of a relative was over 100 times greater."[8]
http://www.robincmiller.com/gayles4.htm
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It took about five minutes of eighth grade scholarship to get the above information, so did it escape Dr. Boyce Watkins - "the people's scholar"?
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Finally, Watkins says:
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"If Dr. Johnson were a rapper or athlete spitting out ridiculous nonsense, he would be everybody's favorite negro. But when he tells black men to empower themselves, he's suddenly a threat. Get out of my face with that crap. You can disagree with the man without undermining his right to educate black boys. Ironically, if he were a gay man, he'd have his five million dollars already."
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Boyce Watkins, you’ve clearly demonstrated that neither of you are qualified to educate either Black boys, or anyone else, for that matter. In fact, what you’ve actually demonstrated, conclusively, in this incredibly regressive and uninformed exercise in backward thinking, is that you and Dr. Umar Johnson are both, in dire NEED of an education, in both, efficient thinking, and scholarly research.

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Now, THIS is a Psychological Disorder - Black Conservatism

"George Zimmerman's Father Isn't White - He's Baptist!!!?"

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Boyce Watkins: You're Making A Complete Damn Fool of Yourself

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2014/04/boyce-watkins-youre-making-complete.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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The "Brilliance" Game, and How it Works

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

The "Brilliance" Game, and How it Works

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Joya, Gregory, I just read your comments, and it's very apparent that both of you have benefited greatly from your old-school education. You were educated in a much different way than people are today. You were taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
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I remember a time during the 60s and 70s when virtually everyone could see what was going on around them. But today, we have PhDs who don't understand as much about what's going on around them as many of us did in junior high school. "Dr." Boyce Watkins is a case in point. Sometimes I have to scratch my head when I listen to that guy. If they're passing out PhDs to people who are that clueless, we're in serious trouble. The dude is, literally, clueless - and Cornel West, with his long, convoluted sentences notwithstanding - is not far behind. But I’m going to focus on Cornel here, because he has the higher profile.
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Even the way Cornel West speaks is designed to camouflage the fact that he's not saying a damn thing. His speeches are designed in such a way that by the time he ends a paragraph, you've forgotten what the subject was. Thereafter, the people delude themselves into thinking that they don't understand what he said because he's so brilliant that they can't keep up. No folks. You don't understand him because he hasn’t said a damn thing.
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Cornel West came into prominence during a time when there was a raging debate going on over the racist claim that due to the "artificial boost" that Black professionals were getting from affirmative action, they weren’t as competent as their White counterparts. And during that same time there was also a debate going on over the claim by some White scholars that Black people were innately intellectually inferior to White people and the rest of the population.
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As a result of those debates, and the fact that West had an association with White Ivy League universities, the Black community embraced him as the poster child for Black intellectual competence without taking the time to vet him like we should have. It was that mistake that has led to the flawed intellectual monster - and the total embarrassment to many in the Black community - that we have today.
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But I have to admit, he has it going on in one respect - he gets $30,000 a speech not to say a damn thing. So if it weren't for the fact that his stupidity is disrupting our political process, I wouldn’t be mad at him. But whenever you listen to him, always keep two things in mind. First, that this is a brother who takes a very long time to say very little, and secondly, if you don’t understand him, it has nothing to do with your lack of intellect - it’s because, again, he hasn’t said anything.
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A good working definition of a pseudo-intellectual is one who relates common knowledge as though he’s telling you something new. That’s what Cornel West specializes in. I’ve never heard him give a speech that couldn’t be fully understood and summed up in one sentence. But West will take that sentence and dress it up in long, convoluted, and endless parentheticals, sprinkle in the names and thoughts of a few long dead White men, and embellish it with over-the-top and super-cool (by his standards) gesticulations, and have you thinking he’s the second coming of Socrates, even though he hasn’t said a damn thing of value. 
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The reason that I’m pointing this out is because this is the way that the Black community allows itself to be bamboozled. The powers that be can control millions, by simply controlling the mind of one man. That isn’t to say that Cornel West is purposely conspiring with the enemies of the Black community to undermine us, but social manipulators can simply take the character of a man into account to know he’ll be useful for their purpose. And I think this is the case with Cornel West.
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Think about it. The only reason that we even listen to Cornel West is because he’s been promoted by the White power structure. They’ve proclaim him to be "brilliant" (but of course, any Black man who can read without moving his lips is brilliant by the standard they hold us to), they've given him unabridged access to the media, and they’ve conferred the aura of Harvard and Princeton upon him. In other words, they’ve bestowed all of the symbols and accoutrements of stature, significance, and intellectual gravity upon him, and let there be no doubt about it, the system is expert in controlling our minds with symbolism. That’s why judges sit on a podium looking down upon the people and wear long Black robs. How much respect would you have for a judge if he was sitting at a table with you in a jogging suit? So symbolism plays a huge role in helping those who control the system to control our minds.
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But why would the system want to bestow this favored stature upon Cornel West?
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The answer is very simple. Due to West’s flamboyance, tendency to be self-serving, and lack of true depth, in spite of his highfalutin rhetoric, he doesn’t pose a real threat to the status quo. In addition, his flamboyance distracts the people’s attention away from more serious and sober-minded thinkers with a serious agenda. And I don't mean to imply that this is some kind of covert conspiracy, to the extent that everybody's involved with the expressed purpose of trying to undermining the Black community. The conspiracy is on a much deeper level, on the level of those who manipulate the mores of our society as a whole.
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For example, the television producers who schedule Cornel West for appearances are not engaged in a conspiracy. They're simply doing their jobs. It's just the way that our system is set up - to promote the most entertaining personalities to the public. As a result, people like Cornel West tend to be the ones who bubble to the surface, not the people with the more sober-minded agendas. So the conspiracy resides on the level of those who are purposely conspiring to dumb-down America - those who conspired to abolish the Freedom of Information Act, and those who are coordinating the brutal assault on the nation's public educational system. That's where the conspiracy resides, and it's definitely real.
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The people who control that conspiracy are the social manipulators, and they would have loved to have had someone like Cornel West during the days of Martin Luther King, because with West’s demonstrated zeal to protect "his" turf, and his tendency to attack anyone who might obscure his position in the spotlight, he would have been doing the exact same thing to Martin that he’s doing to Barack Obama, Melissa Harris-Perry, Al Sharpton, Michael Eric Dyson, and Jay Z today.
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Just like with everyone else he's envious of, West would have proclaimed that there was a flaw in Martin’s character, and he undoubtedly would have claimed that Martin wasn’t the "down for the cause" kind of brother that West proclaims himself to be. And it’s more likely than not that he would have also attacked Martin for not being militant enough, and for being too accommodating to the White man - in other words, just like he said about Obama, he'd have said that Martin was not quite Black enough - but, of course, in order to cover all bases, he would have wrapped his criticism in the false claim of "love for his brother." By now everybody knows that when Cornel starts talking about how much he "loves" a brother, it's time for that brother to put on his body armor, because Cornel West's brand of love is vicious.
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He probably would have tried to align himself with Malcolm, much like he did with Tavis Smiley. Because he would have been afraid to bad-mouth Malcolm, because as most of us know who grew up in the hood, most people like Cornel try to be super-cool to cover-up the fact that they don't have much heart. Think about it.
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So there’s a very good reason why the White power structure has embraced Cornel West - because he’s a flamboyant clown, the Liberace of faux intellectualism, and they know his antics are more likely to keep the Black community laughing and giving one another high-fives, than seriously thinking about the gravity of our situation, and the dire conditions within our community. And West has demonstrated repeatedly, in spite of his rhetoric, that he's not nearly as wedded to the Black community as he is to Cornel West. Clear evidence of that is the fact that he's never taught at a predominately Black institution in his entire career.  He's spent his entire career teaching the children of those that he claims is the enemy - the very "oligarchs and plutocrats" that he claims Barack Obama is beholding to.
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So a good rule of thumb to prevent ourselves from being manipulated, is to never allow ourselves to become so enamored of anyone that we give their ability to think priority over our own. While Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are great in preparing their students for specialized professions, when it comes to pure thought, and the innate ability to assess reality, their water is no wetter than your own. So when the manipulators trot people like Cornel West, or Ben Carson out before you, it's game. Essentially, they're telling you not to believe your lying eyes. For that reason, we should never, ever, take anyone else's word for who's brilliant. Always assess the value of every man for yourself,  and if you listen to them carefully, you're more than capable of making that assessment.
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But don’t just take my word for it, check out Cornel West "in concert below" - and while you're doing so, take special note of how all of the supposedly "learned" people in the audience have also bought into his total nonsense as brilliance. Just like you, they're looking up to who they're being TOLD  to look up to. It's a weakness in human nature, and requires a pointed effort to educate one's self out of.  It has to do with our tendency to go along with the crowd, and our failure to be independent thinkers.  Independent thought is frowned upon in most societies, because independent thinkers can't be controlled. That's why they lynched Jesus.
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So in order to see how pronounced this tendency is, when you’re done watching the clip, just ask yourself one question - What did I get out of this that I didn’t already know, or that was of any value whatsoever? The answer to that question should bring you to the very same conclusion that I came to six years ago - not a damn thing.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W1mpWjGQkQ&feature=player_embedded#t=518

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Dr. Cornel West and Intellectual Rice Cake

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2011/07/dr-cornel-west-and-intellectual-rice.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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Why is Jeremiah Wright Still in the Dog House?

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Why is Jeremiah Wright Still in the Dog House?

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In an article written for ThyBlackMan.com, Rev. R. Joaquin Willis asked why is Rev. Jeremiah Wright still in the dog house. He asked:
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"Why is Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. still in the media dog house? When is the media going to stop referring to him as "President Obama’s former pastor?" Is there no fairness in the media? Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:32: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you."
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In response to Rev. Willis' question, I can't speak for anyone else, but I refuse to forgive Rev. Jeremiah Wright because he gave his ego priority over America as a whole, and the Black community in particular. So, from my point of view, during the 2008 election Rev. Wright betrayed a severe flaw in his character. He had absolutely no hesitation in jeopardizing the best interest of the Black community for ten minutes of national fame, and you just can't trust a man who shows those tendencies. The same is true of Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and Boyce Watkins.
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While anyone can make an error in judgment, the good reverend refused to acknowledge his error and continued to run his mouth, thereby, jeopardizing the election of Barack Obama, and even worse, promoting the chances of John McCain and Sarah Palin taking over the reins of this government. That was grossly self-serving and irresponsible.
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But many of Wright’s supporters counter with, "But he spoke the truth." Maybe he did, but even the very Bible that he built a career on thumping says something to the effect that there’s a time for all things - and during the midst of a heated campaign where we were trying to elect the nation’s first Black president, was neither the appropriate time, nor the place, to start trying to lecture White folks on how horrible America is. In a word, it was stupid, and if Jeremiah Wright was anything close to as brilliant as some people claim he is, he would have recognized that fact.
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Even today Wright doesn’t seem to have gotten the point. In spite of the Biblical pronouncement cited above regarding the virtues of forgiveness, he’s still obviously smarting over forcing Obama to kick him, and his mouth, to the curb. What was Obama suppose to do, forego his quest to become President of the United States in order to remain loyal to a fool who's running around screaming "God Damn, America!"?  Where was his loyalty to Obama's efforts?
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No, we've seen this before. They turned on the cameras, and this was Wright's chance to show the world what it REALLY meant to be Black, fearless, and "down for the cause."  But what he actually showed was what it meant to be old, Black, and stupid. So Obama was right to kick him to the curb.
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At a recent Chicago Teacher’s Union event to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Rev. Jeremiah Wright said that while the civil rights leader proclaimed "I have a dream," Obama says..."I have a drone." That was a very witty quip coming from the good reverend, but once again, in spite of his love for the Lord and his alleged "forgiving heart," it was extremely mean-spirited and stupid - and once again, it served to lend comfort to the enemies of the Black community.
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President Obama is charged with the responsibility of preventing Al Qaeda, or any other terrorist group, from getting their hands on Pakistan's nuclear weapons - which, by the way, are essentially right around the corner from where they located Osama Bin Laden, living quite openly, and comfortably, with his family. So what would the good reverend have the president do, back-off and pray that the Lord protect us from a nuclear attack?
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In addition, drones actually SAVE many lives during a war, because with drones we have the option of waiting until the target's family is away from the targeted area, as oppose to blindly lobbing missiles into a heavily populated location. If you lived next door to a terrorist, would you rather someone randomly start firing missiles in your direction, or would you prefer that they send drones in, where they could target his house specifically, and not yours?
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So people like Jeremiah Wright, Tavis Smiley, and Cornel West don’t know what they’re talking about. Just like backwards-thinking people of old, they're simply blindly condemning a new technology that they don't understand. In addition, they're blindly condemning President Obama's decisions without knowing the facts.  They’re not getting CIA Condition Reports on their desks every morning like Obama, so they can't possibly know what information Obama is basing his decisions upon. All they’re doing is ranting about the way things LOOK to them, and that kind of mindless behavior clearly demonstrates that not one of them have Obama’s intelligence, and not one of them are qualified to be President of the United States.
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Just try to imagine what it would be like to have Cornel West as President of the United States. We would be the laughingstock of the world, and not one country in the world would take us seriously. Personally, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night, because the brother just doesn’t have the intellectual heft and sobriety to handle a job that requires that level of seriousness. When I try to imagine West in that position it makes it clear to me just how much of an entertainer and a clown he really is. As I pointed out in one of the many articles I’ve done on him, he’s the Liberace of faux intellectualism.
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Rev. Willis, you also said, "Mr. Obama had hardly any grasp of the meaning of being a black person in the United States. By example and exhortation, Reverend Wright cured that deficiency, sending to Washington a President qualified to give America a chance to actually become a democracy!"
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That’s also nonsense. Barack Obama probably knows more about what it means to be Black in America than most of us do. Although those of us who were raised in the Black community have undoubtedly experience racism, we had the comfort of living in Black cocoons within the inner cities with one another to lean on for support. But living with a White family from lily-White Kansas, and spending much of his life being the only African American living among others of other races and ethnicities in other parts of the world, chances are, Barack Obama knows more about racism and being an outsider than we’ll ever know.
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So Jeremiah Wright couldn’t teach Barack a thing about being Black in America - in fact, neither Jeremiah, Tavis Smiley, nor Cornel West could teach Barack Obama much about anything, because he’s clearly demonstrated that he has, at the very least, 15 IQ points on every one of them.
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So we need to get real here. History is going to remember Barack Obama as one of the most brilliant men that this country has EVER produced, and one of our GREATEST Presidents, while Jeremiah, Tavis, and West are garden-variety fat-mouths. Brothers like them come a-dime-dozen, and can be found running their mouths in the parking lots of liquor stores all over the hood.
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The problem with people like Jeremiah, Tavis, and West is they’re so ego driven that in order to pursue their own agendas they're willing to lend comfort and support to those who would destroy the Black community. So by their very actions, they’ve clearly demonstrated that they don’t love the Black community nearly as much as they love themselves.
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So Rev. Willis, that’s why Jeremiah Wright is in my dog house, and he always will be. You have to be careful what you ask for in this world, and Jeremiah Wright wanted national notoriety and fame. Well, he's got it.

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Rev Jeremiah Wright to retire in 'white suburb'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/local-elections/1924323/Rev-Jeremiah-Wright-to-retire-in-white-suburb.html

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Don’t Waste Obama’s Last Two Years, America - We May Not See Another Like Him For Generations

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2014/04/dont-waste-obamas-last-two-years.html

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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.comCitizens 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.

Sphere: Related Content

The Very Silent Black Majority

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

The Very Silent Black Majority

Chris Stanco:
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"Question. Why aren't the blacks all up in arms over the way Obama is treated. I work with mostly minorities, a black woman is my boss and they never say a word in his defense IN MY PRESENCE. and I'm always hearing fascist shot from the whites. Is the divide so wide that there's no dialogue possible."
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Chris,
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The reason the Black community is not out in mass in defense of President Obama is because he doesn't need our defense. He's doing quite nicely on his own, and we're confident that he's quite capable of handling anything that they can throw at him. We expected what's currently going on from the day that he was elected, and so did he - we would have been fools not to expect it. In addition, the silent Black majority in this country don't suffer fools. We don't have to.
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We WANT the GOP and other social bigots to remain fools, because we have our own agenda that's kept pretty close to the vest, but it's gradually beginning to reveal itself. So we don't intend to say a word in defense of who we are. We WANT bigots to think all Black people are undereducated, saggin', and swaggering. Thus, we have no intention of getting all excited and trying to prove our value. The days of trying to prove ourselves to White folks are over. We intend to SHOW the bigots of this nation what they've created, just like Barack Obama is currently doing - and the fact is, they've created their worse nightmare, because adversity has made us MORE, rather than less.
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Living our entire lives having to out-think and out-maneuver racist bigots and institutional racism hasn’t been without its intellectual rewards, and neither has being involved in a marathon where White people are spotted 100 yards and we’re forced to compete in lead boots. Spending our lives having to deal with that kind of adversity, and still managing to remain competitive, has contributed greatly to our intellect, character, and perseverance. It is that very experience that’s allowed President Obama to stand head-n-shoulders above the GOP, and contrary to popular belief, he’s far from an aberration in the Black community.
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While the GOP has been on a single-minded mission to dumb-down America, and has been lodging a brutal assault against the nation's educational system in order to conceal their atrocious history and malevolent agenda, many in the Black community are using that as an opportunity to level the playing field by doubling-down on the education of their children so they'll have the upper hand in the future.
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Many of us have come to understand that "knowledge is power" in a real and personal way. Those words are just an adage to many Americans, but not to a huge part of the Black community, because we've had to live the bitter consequences of failing to recognize their significance. A pointed example of just how significant those three simple words are is the fact that we were enslaved in the first place because we lacked a knowledge of gunpowder and other munitions.
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Another example that I often cite is the fact that when man arrived here on Earth he was completely vulnerable. He was a naked ape, but without the strength and agility of a true ape. He wasn't as big and powerful as the elephant, as ferocious as the lion, nor could he fly above danger like the eagle. The only thing that nature armed him with was the human mind, but as a result of developing his mind, he can now build machines that can crush the most powerful elephant, victimize the most ferocious lion, and fly far beyond the domain of the most dedicated eagle - in fact, he's not only gained dominion over this world, but he's gone on to visit others.
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The above facts haven't been lost on a sizeable segment of the Black community. So as we quietly watch the many virulent racists continue to delight in their stupidity, we smile, because we recognize that ignorance is only bliss until reality sets in.

 

A NOTE TO A "LEARNED" BIGOT

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To Professor Claude Henschel and All Other Social Bigots - You’re Only Fooling Yourselves

Claude, you said,

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"He [President Obama] has actually caused me not just to totally dislike him and disrespect his leadership abilities, but now, because of him, I have the same feelings about Muslims."

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First, you and your GOP counterparts aren’t fooling anybody. You don’t disrespect President Obama’s leadership. In fact, just the reverse is true - you are shocked, awed, and severely dismayed over how much more competent and intelligent this Black president is over any White man you’ve ever known. It’s causing you to struggle through a severe case of cognitive dissonance, because it forces a reality down your throat that you’d rather die than accept - that there’s nothing special about being born White. Now, that isn’t to say that there aren’t many very special, and brilliant, White men and women, but they didn't get that way by virtue of being born White. They got that way through a personal investment that they made in themselves.

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Secondly, President Obama is not responsible for you’re distaste for Muslims. You were probably a bigot long before Barack Obama was born. So don’t try to lay your backward-thinking, bigoted attitudes at Barack Obama’s feet. You’re a bigot because you’re ignorant, the poster child for profound mediocrity, and your self-esteem requires you to desperately hang on to your delusional belief system in order to maintain any sense of significance whatsoever.

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So again, what you - and the entire wing-nut fringe of the GOP - actually dislike about Obama's leadership is that he causes you to experience cognitive dissonance. All your life you’ve been able to delude yourself into believing that regardless to how drenched in mediocrity you might be, you could always take comfort in the fact that you are superior to Black people. But now, these ‘uppity’ Black people like Barack Obama - and myself, by the way - have come along and thrown a pie in the face of your delusions of grandeur. Don't you realize that there are literally millions of us out here who KNOW how miserable that makes people of your ilk feel? And we're getting a very special kind of joy out of watching it.

.

And Claude, now that we’re having this discussion, I want to take this opportunity to express my personal gratitude to you and all the people like you. Because you people literally created me, and many more Black people just like me, who are quietly investing in themselves and growing in cocoons all across this nation. Due to your constant need to validate and reinforce your delusion of superiority, you've indulged in a studied propensity to constantly focus on the most dysfunctional 10 to 15% of the people in the Black community, and you’ve totally ignored the very people that you should have been watching - the highly functional 85% of Black people - and that, has been a grievous error on your part, an error that Barack Obama’s appearance on the scene - seemingly from out of nowhere - clearly demonstrates.

.

Oh, wait a minute! You didn’t think Barack Obama was an aberration, did you? Not hardly, buddy. There are tens of thousands of Black people across this country who are capable of wearing your ass out - intellectually, professionally, or in any other way you choose to compete. In fact, every Black person that's considered your professional peer is actually, more often than not, your superior, because they've been forced to spot you 100 yards and run against you in lead boots, yet, they've still managed to remain competitive. Yes, I've said it before, but I can't say it too often, because many of us who are a part of this silent Black majority have prepared our entire lives for this marathon. Personally, I can assure you that I have invested in myself with a fierce and dedicated determination for my entire adult life to make you feel just like you're feeling right now, and believe me, it feels wonderful - it's right up there with sex.

.

So let there be no doubt about it, Barack Obama is getting a very special kind of joy out of watching all you bigots struggle with your self-esteem. He's taking your unfounded delusions of superiority and beating you about the head with them, just like I do with you routinely, professor.

.

So don't you think for a moment that your jumping up-and-down about what you allege is   Obama's incompetence is fooling anybody in America but yourself, as evidenced by the last election. We all know what's really going on - including many White people. You're in absolute misery, and we're taking great pleasure in watching your agony, because we know why you're ACTUALLY screaming. You're not screaming over Obama's alleged corruption or incompetence; you're screaming in agony over having the hell beat out of you with your own bat, and it's an absolutely exhilarating thing to watch.
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FACTS THE GOP DOESN'T WANT AMERICA TO KNOW ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE -
WE'RE NO DIFFERENT THAN YOU

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The vast majority of Black people in this country are middle class or above. African Americans are the second largest consumer group in America with a combined buying power of over $892 billion currently and likely over $1.1 trillion by 2012. In 2002 African American owned businesses accounted for 1.2 million of the US's 23 million businesses, and 47% of Africans Americans own their own homes. - U.S. Census Bureau.

HOWLING WINDS
 

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,

.

So I watched, but I watched alone.

.

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,

.

So I stood, but I stood alone.

.

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,

.

So I cringed, but I cringed alone.

.

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,

.

So I wept, but I wept with a crowd . . .

ERIC L. WATTREE, JR.

*

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 

*

KAI AND ERIC WATTREE, JR.
*
I NOW STAND FIRM

.

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.

.

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.

.

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.

.

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 prosperous land.

.

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.

.

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.

.

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

.

Yes, I Now Stand Firm.

Firm, Black, and Free.

*

So I'd like all of you "racially superior" bigots out there to consider this a teaching moment and take special note of the bludgeoning below.  You're severely out-classed - not because you're White, but because you're White and failed to prepare yourself for reality.

.

In closing, I'd just like to take this opportunity to inform all the Professor Henschels out there that, no, as much as you might want to believe it, we're not all out here kickin' back saggin' and gettin' our heads bad - not by a long shot. And if you think President Obama is formidable - of course, you're not going to admit it, but we know you do; that's why you hate him so much - but just wait until you have to deal with group that's currently coming up. Obama became formidable through having to deal with the adversity of the Black experience, but the group that's coming up now were raised to deal with people like you - and as they're doing so, enjoy the challenge. So the days of simply claiming that you're superior are rapidly coming to an end.  In the very near future, you're going to have to prove it . . .  and frankly, I don't think you can. 

.

Now go on and vent. Call we a crazy coon. I love it, because it assures me that you're choosing to remain delusional.  I also love it because I know it's not gonna change a thing.
.
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.  

 

Sphere: Related Content

What!!!? Will Smith to Produce the George Zimmerman Story?

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

What!!!? Will Smith to Produce the George Zimmerman Story?

.

HOW SOON WE FORGET

Americannews.com,  Power105.1fm.com, and several other entertainment sites on the web are reporting that Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, which produced I Am Legend, Hancock, and The Karate Kid, is producing the George Zimmerman Story, starring Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, as Trayvon Martin. According to reports, the film is targeted to be released in the Spring of 2015 and George Zimmerman himself will be working on the film as a consultant for, get this - $3.2 million. When I first saw the report I couldn’t believe my eyes.
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We contacted Overbrook Entertainment to get confirmation on this story, but they referred us to their Publicist, Forty-Two West. The publicist indicated that they weren't able to either confirm or deny the story.
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We find that quite astonishing, since this story has been out over 10 days, and it's spreading like wildfire all over the net. Since it's such a potentially toxic story, one would think that Will's publicist would be all over it by now unless they're totally incompetent. That's led this writer to believe that this may be a trial balloon to measure public response, or maybe they're beginning to feel the heat and they're backing off the project.
.

Should We Wait For Confirmation On Zimmerman Story?
.

It has been suggested that Will and Jada are out of the country, so we should wait for confirmation before we get too excited over this story. I disagree.
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They have a multi-million dollar production company, a publicist, and staff. This story has been circulating for over 10 days and is as toxic as they come. How much time would it have taken anyone of those people to say that this story is ridiculous? Why are they being so tentative when contacted? Why haven't they publicly issued an unequivocal denial, effectively killing the story?
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They could have done any, or all of those things to kill this story. But they haven't, so it is important for the community to treat this story as though it is true, because it may have been planted as a trial balloon to measure public reaction. Another reason we should treat the story as true is because we don't want to see George Zimmerman get a dime, and if we don't start going crazy RIGHT NOW at the mere hint that something this ridiculous is in the works, Zimmerman may just get his $3.2 MILLION, and they may move forward with the project.
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Those who advocate waiting for confirmation have failed to consider the possibility that Will and Jada just might be out of the country for good reason - so they won't have to confirm or deny the story. They're just letting the rumor float out there so they can measure public reaction. So let's give it to them.
.

If this story does turn out to be true, however, we have but one question to ask - is there no shame among people when it comes to making a dollar?  Just the hint of any truth to this story should bring the Black community to full attention. If this doesn't wake us up, we’re in a coma, and beyond help.
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If George Zimmerman had stalked, and then brutally murdered an innocent child from any other community, he would have had to leave the country and hide in a cave - and they STILL would have sought him out. But if this story is true, what do we do? We make him a celebrity and a multi-millionaire for brutally murdering one of our children. That's absolutely unbelievable - even for us.
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According to reports, in response to this question, Smith is quoted as saying, "It’s obvious that he’s [Zimmerman] not America’s sweetheart right now but his story is intriguing and it needs to be heard. Hitler wasn’t popular. Does that mean his story is any less interesting? Of course not. Slave masters aren’t popular but 12 Years a Slave was phenomenal. Wait until you see the finished product and judge for yourself."
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That’s got to be one of the biggest cop-outs I’ve ever heard in my life - it’s insulting! First, Hitler $3.2 million reward for killing Jews. So if Will Smith does decide to pursue this project the Black community needs to rise up and tell Mr. Smith the following, and in no uncertain terms:
.

"Will Smith, we've got the finished product - Trayvon Martin is dead because he was born Black in America."

.

"Smith, Trayvon was minding his own business, and Zimmerman stalked him - after being told by the police to remain in his car - and brutally murdered him. That's what's called a prima facie case.
.
"Even if Trayvon DID fight him back, didn't Trayvon also have a right to "stand his ground" after being stalked by a stranger? Being placed in fear of bodily harm is in an assault. So Zimmerman literally assaulted Trayvon: 
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Assault:
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"An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal or civil liability. Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and Tort Law. There is, however, an additional Criminal Law category of assault consisting of an attempted but unsuccessful Battery."
.
"Thus, we know that 1). Zimmerman was told by the police dispatcher to remain in his vehicle; 2). Zimmerman ignored the dispatcher’s instructions, and thereby, set the chain of events into motion that led to the death of Trayvon Martin; 3). Zimmerman assaulted Trayvon; 4). Trayvon had the right to self-defense; 5). Zimmerman killed him for availing himself of that right.
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"So what Zimmerman got away with is the direct equivalent of an ARMED mugger stalking an UNARMED victim who weighed at least 50 lbs, less than himself, and then because the victim fought him back when he was assaulted (being placed in fear of bodily harm is an assault), the mugger claims in court that he had to kill the victim in self-defense.
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"That's a RIDICULOUS defense!!! - and that's what the prosecutors should have brought out, and would have, if Trayvon would have been a White child and the trial wasn't a sham.
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"If Trayvon's name would have been Trayvon Bush, or Cheney, Zimmerman would be on Death Row awaiting execution as we speak. What this trial said was it's a capital offense for a Black person to defend himselve - you know, like under Jim Crow law.
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"Based on the verdict of this case, a paid hit man could brutally murder his victim, call the police, and then claim self-defense. Then, if there was no one to contradict his word, walk away scot-free.
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"So again, Trayvon Martin is dead because he was born Black in America - period. So spare us the bullshit, Smith. The only one who thinks Zimmerman is "intriguing" is you. He's just a bigoted, garden variety murderer, and we don't need to hear anything else about him.  
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"Thus, we don’t give a damn about Hitler, and we don’t give a damn about slave masters; but what we very much give a damn about is that you’re making a disgusting brute who stalked and murdered one of our children a multi-millionaire, and that's unacceptable.
.
"We're certain that if Zimmerman had killed your son, Jaden, you wouldn’t have thought the story was so "intriguing," and "needed to be heard" so badly that you’d have made him a multi-millionaire to tell it. So again, spare us the bullshit.
.
"We know everything about George Zimmerman that we either need, or want to know. The only thing that will interest us about George Zimmerman is if something horrible befalls him, or the day he stops breathing. Now, that’s not to say that we’re wishing these things upon him - at least, not all of us - but we’re just being real here.
.

"So stop trying to insult our intelligence, Smith. While we’re not rich - like WE made you - neither are we stupid. So you can make George Zimmerman a multi-millionaire if you like, but understand this - on the day that you sign that check, essentially PAYING him for murdering Trayvon, from that day forward, Mr. Fresh Prince, you’re no longer one of us. We’re going to ostracize you, spit every time we hear your name, and boycott any and everything your name is associated with. We’re going to make an example of you, Mr. Smith, for all of your rich, and formally Black peers to see, because we’re tired of this sort of thing."

.

There are many reasons why the Black community should take this outrage so seriously. Of course there’s the obvious - it’s inappropriate, insensitive, and a slap in the face of the Black community to pay George Zimmerman $3.2 million for murdering one of our kids. But it goes beyond that. It also places other Black people in danger. What’s to stop some down-and-out bigot in one of those  "Stand Your Ground" states from reasoning, "Maybe if I go kill me a nigger I can make me a few million dollars?" But did Will Smith give that even a moment’s thought? I don’t think so. If this story is true, all he’s thinking about is his own pocket.

.
Another reason the Black community needs to wake up and sniff this funk is because it’s past time for us to get the attention of ALL of these millionaire celebrities who made their fortunes from our dollars. The Black community is in dire need of assistance in the form of jobs, investment in the community, mentors, scholarships, etc.  Yet, most of these people are nowhere to be found. The only time we even see them is on television flaunting their wealth in our face.  It’s time to bring that to an end. We’ve got to see to it that these people understand that if they want our support, it’s going to have to be a symbiotic relationship. They’re going to have to deliver some support back into the community. That’s how other communities prosper, but for far too many Black people, having "arrived" means getting as far away from other Black people as they can possibly get.
.

So again, Will Smith, spare us the bullshit about "a story that needs to be heard." Yeah, we made you rich, but in spite of that, we’re not completely stupid. You don’t give a damn about Zimmerman’s story. Since when have you been a connoisseur of history? Your intent is to make THE archenemy of the Black community a multi-millionaire so you can drag yet more dollars out of an already economically depressed community. That’s unconscionable, brother, and we’ll never forgive you for it. 

 

ABOUT CHARACTER

NOW THEY WANT TO PIMP
MY GRAVE!!!?

One of the big problems that we're having in the Black community is we're grouping people in the wrong way. We're putting our trust in people based on skin color, clout, and popularity rather than the qualities that we should be - character and class. Bigotry and injustice is not so much about race or color as it is opportunity. I learned that as a union rep in the post office. I found that you can take the most "down for the cause " brother or sister in a facility, and then give them a raise and a little power, and some of them will become the biggest tyrants you've ever known.
.
I once won an EEO for a young lady who used to be crying on my shoulder every single day. As part of my resolution I got her manager fired, and got the sister elevated into management. Then, a month or two later I went to her office to discuss a problem that another employee was having. The problem was quite similar to the one I had addressed on her behalf. But when I walked through the door of her brand new office, she casually looked up and asked, "What can I do for you MR. WATTREE?" It was as though we were strangers - AND later, she used the new authority, THAT I HAD GOTTEN FOR HER, to have me followed around and spied on in an attempt to find a pretext to build a case against ME! She eventually came to herself, and we're dear friends to this day, but that experience taught me that the tendency to be self-serving and corrupt is in all of us. The only difference between a good person and a bad person is the ability to recognize it in ourselves, and the desire to keep it in check.
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I learned a lot about human nature as a union rep within the postal service, and one of the most important things I learned was, you've got to pick your people based on character, not skin color. I learned that lesson well in the post office - and the Postal Service is simply a microcosm of the world at large.

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LISTEN TO THE LATE DR. AMOS WILSON. HE WAS A PSYCHIATRIST BY PROFESSION:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18A180ECB72DAEE8&v=EXB9mz5Btkc.
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GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY, "YOUR BROTHER" WILL TREAT YOU WORSE THAN THE WHITE MAN.  STOP LETTING IT HAPPEN.
 .

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.

Sphere: Related Content

What is the Greater Evil, Public Breast-Feeding, or Human Persecution?

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

What is the Greater Evil, Public Breast-Feeding, or Human Persecution?

.

When Karlesha Thurman, 25, went to pickup her Accounting degree from Cal State Long Beach, she walked away with much more than a degree, she found herself embroiled in a vicious controversy. When Karlesha attended her graduation ceremony, she decided that she wanted to share the happy event with her three-month-old daughter, Aaliyah, and to commemorate the event for posterity, she had a photo of herself breast-feeding Aaliyah while wearing her cap and gown. Later, she published the photo on the internet, and all hell broke loose.

.

Personally, I really admired Karlesha’s foresight, because I too was an infant when my mother graduated from college, and I wish she would have had the foresight to do exactly what Karlesha did. Such a photo would have been of immeasurable value to both me, and my family, today. Because it would have not only shown me and my now deceased mother during a very tender moment, but it would have also provided me with an opportunity to show my grandchildren the kind of stuff that their great grandmother was made of. It would have demonstrated her dedication to the importance of education by continuing in school in spite of her pregnancy, and her cap and gown would have symbolized her triumph over adversity. So nothing could have been of more value.
.
But that’s not how many in our society view such matters. Instead of looking at those things that are important in life, they’re more interested in convention, conformity, and forcing their often twisted values down the throats of others, and that’s one of the most divisive and destructive problems that we have in America, and the world, today. It is that exact mind-set that is responsible for 99% of all human conflict. So I felt obliged and honor-bound to become engaged in this controversy, and try to use the backward thinking of those who would criticize this young mother as a teaching moment. .
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There is absolutely nothing "inappropriate" about breast-feeding in public - in school, in church, or, in fact, anywhere else. That's what breasts were designed for. Women all over the world, and every form of mammal have been doing it since life on Earth began. So who are Karlesha’s critics to try to second-guess God and/or nature by trying to shove their perverted, bourgeois, social conventions down the throat of either this young lady, or the throat of God.
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It wasn't this young mother who was being "inappropriate," it's the thinking of her critics that's inappropriate. The primary reason that they believe that exposing a woman's breasts in public is inappropriate, is because of the inappropriate and perverted way in which they’ve come to view a woman's breasts - as sex toys, instead of the extremely efficient and natural glands that they’re designed to be. So if they can't look at a woman's breast without thinking of sex and perversion, that's not this young mother’s problem, it’s their own. So her critics need to get over it and do something constructive - like putting more effort into learning to mind their own business.
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But one of Karlesha’s critics, a woman by the name of Linda Jackson, said the following:
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"Women’s breast are used as sex toys, because that is the way women portray them. Are we second guessing God when we go into the privacy of our homes to have sex? It’s God’s way of procreating, right? If breasts are looked at in a perverted way, it’s in no small way because of the way women want them to be viewed. I don’t know who’s the worst attention hog. This one or the idiot that decided to share her wedding ceremony with her newborn by dragging the poor thing down the isle on the train or her dress. If this genius just had to have her pic taken right then, I’m sure the little one would not have starved to death in the five seconds it took to snap the picture. But then, she wouldn’t have had a reason to pop out a tit, and get however many hits on you-tube it takes to become an internet sensation. There are plenty of natural body functions that are necessary to perform on a daily basis. But just because they’re natural doesn’t mean they need to be carried out in the public eye. Creating a life is one, and flopping out a tittie to feed one is another. Name some more. Come on. I know you can do it."
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Linda, you said, "Women’s breasts are used as sex toys, because that is the way women portray them. Are we second guessing God when we go into the privacy of our homes to have sex? It’s God’s way of procreating, right? If breasts are looked at in a perverted way, it’s in no small way because of the way women want them to be viewed."
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Those sound like the words of one of those ignorant, out-of-touch, conservative bigots. You just stereotyped ALL of the women in America – including yourself.   Do you view your breasts as sex toys? If not, how can you sit there and indict every other woman in America? It sounds to me like you’re saying, while you have class and a sense of what is proper, every other woman in America is a exhibitionist slut, and lack your good, common sense. You must be quite a lady to make such a sweeping assumption.
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In addition, with all of your good sense, can’t you see that you’re propagating the very same backward-thinking mind-set and philosophy as those sexist conservative bigots who maintain that women who wear sexy clothes are ASKING to be rapped!!!?
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INQUISITION WHEEL

Take a minute to think, lady! You don’t corner the market on neither wisdom, intellect, nor morality. Breast-feeding a child in public doesn’t do nearly as much damage to society as people who try to shove their beliefs down the throats of others – in fact, public breast-feeding doesn’t do ANY damage to society. On the other hand, there are people with exactly the same mind-set as you, and are just as convinced as you are on this issue, who think that it’s immoral for Black people to even be born and breathe "their" air. And as we so tragically witnessed just recently, there are others who believe that it was so immoral for Travon Martin to wear a hoodie, that it warranted his brutal murdered.
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So let there be no doubt about it, Linda. The young mother who loved, fed, and nurtured her child in public is not the problem; it is people with your closed-minded mind-set who are not only the problem in this country, but around the world. As we speak, President Obama has a military team in Nigeria trying to retrieve and return to their families 200 kidnaped girls who were kidnaped by people who think just like you. In their case, however, they felt that it was immoral for girls to go to school, so they went to their school, kidnaped them, and now threaten to sell them on the open

market.

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So open your mind, Linda! Neither you, I, nor anyone else is qualified to be the arbiter of how other people should live their lives. In order for us to maintain an orderly and hate-free society, people like yourself are simply going to have to learn to mind your own damn business. As I see it, the standard should be, as long as a person is not doing anything to harm anyone else, they should be free to establish their own moral code and live their lives the way they see fit, and without it having to be approved by Linda – period.
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Intrinsic to every zealot's passion for moral propriety lies the seeds of tyranny. So the solution to your moral outrage is quite simple, Linda – if you think it’s morally outrageous for a woman to display her breasts in public, then keep YOUR blouse buttoned up, and don’t take your tittie out.

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Congratulations, Karlesha, on your daughter, your courage, and your degree. Aaliyah's going to be very proud of you someday, and I'd be very honored if you'd place this article with her keepsakes to let her know that many of us are proud of you today.  You go, girl! 
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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.

Sphere: Related Content

Everything You Don’t Know About the GOP Philosophy, Strategy, and True Agenda

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Everything You Don’t Know About the GOP Philosophy, Strategy, and True Agenda
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A gentleman by the name of Wallace Nixon wrote the publisher of Black Star News and said the following:

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"Just read the "Pearls of Wisdom" by Mr. Wattree and it is amazing that a man who speaks with such wisdom and compassion about life can consistently defend and even praise president Obama who is a congenital liar and war criminal! The contradiction is gross. Perhaps there[’s] something here I don`t see. If so let me know."
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In response, Mr. Nixon, first, I’d like to thank you for the "slapliment." It’s gratifying to know that you find a little something of value in what I have to say, and I’m happy to take whatever I can get. I can’t hope to get through to everyone on every issue, but I’m glad to hear that I’m getting through to you on some level. That gives me hope.
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I'D START THE SEARCH IN DICK CHENEY'S
 OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS

But with respect to President Obama, I’d like to suggest that there is indeed a lot here that you obviously don’t see. For example, an accurate portrait of two congenital liars and war criminals is President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who used a brutal attack against the United States as a pretext to attack a country that had absolutely nothing to do with the event, killed over a million Iraqi citizens, and kill or maim thousands of American troops in order to enrich their cronies - including Halliburton, the corporation that Vice President Cheney headed prior to assuming office. In addition, they ravaged the national treasury to the tune of $4 trillion , and then committed an additional $2.8 trillion to a tax cut for the rich in order to promote the GOP’s agenda of over eighty years - undermining the poor and middle-class safety net put into place by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s "New Deal" for the American people.
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On the other hand, While I don't like killing machines either, I've had to take into account the fact that President Obama is charged with the responsibility of seeing to it that neither Al Qaeda, nor any other terrorist group, manages to get their hands on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, an arsenal that's essentially right down the street from where they located Osama Bin Laden. So while some would have us believe that Obama is in Afghanistan just killing people for the hell of it, or for the oil companies, that’s a myth. He’s trying to make sure that YOUR family is not blown up by angry religious fanatics who think that God will bless them if they blow up the United States - or "The Great Satan."
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Further, while war, and killing in general, is an ugly business, it is very much a reality in the world we live in. So as I see it, if we have to lob missiles into an area filled with innocent people - since hiding behind human shields seems to be the terrorists' preferred mode of defense - the drone is a far better alternative than simply firing missiles and such blindly in to a populated area of innocent people. In addition, the drones keep American troops out of harm’s way.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/us/drone-pilots-waiting-for-a-kill-shot-7000-miles-away.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

The True Conservative Philosophy

In order to understand the GOP’s true motivation, you have to understand the true philosophy of the establishment conservative, as oppose to the sanitized philosophy that they present to the American people. Alexander Hamilton was one of the founding father’s of fiscal conservatism. He said the following during the Federalist Convention of 1787:

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"All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and wellborn, the other the mass of the people.... The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government."
Debates of the Federalist Convention (May 14-September 17, 1787).
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In short, Hamilton suggested that if you aren’t "rich and wellborn," he didn’t think you should be able to either vote or hold office, and many people who control the GOP today are still of that mind. So what many rank-and-file Republicans and social conservatives fail to understand is, they’re being used. The corporatist (or fiscal conservatives) don’t care any more about them than they do Blacks, Hispanics, women, or gays, and when they are done with them, they’re going to discard them like a soiled Tampon, because the GOP’s ultimate goal is to turn America into a corporate feudalist society, and lower the American middle-class standard of living to conform to that of the global economy, where workers only make as much a week as the average middle-class American spends on lunch per day - and that goes for whether you’re Black, White, liberal, or conservative. If you’re not "rich and wellborn," you’re the enemy. So contrary to popular opinion, we are currently knee-deep in a class war - and the poor and middle class are losing badly.
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But since the majority of the founding fathers chose to establish a Democratic Republic as oppose to a Plutocracy as Alexander Hamilton advocated, those who were of his plutocratic mind-set had to keep a low profile in order to preserve their political viability, but they continued to work to change the system to their liking through their wealth, political clout, and ultimately, their employment policies. That’s one of the things that led to the horrendous working conditions for the average American worker during the Great Depression.

The Great Depression

 

In 1929 during Republican, Herbert Hoover’s administration, the stock market crashed - much like under the Bush Administration - starting the Great Depression, but back then there was no Barack Obama to come to the rescue or mitigate the damage early on. So in spite of the fact that by 1933 the unemployment rate was at 33.3% with 16 million people out of work, the Republican, Herbert Hoover, just sat, thinking that the economy would eventually rejuvenate itself. Much like Republicans of today, Hoover and his Republican Party had absolutely no compassion for either the plight of the American people, or America’s veterans who had put their lives on the line for this country.

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During Hoover's administration, 15,000 WWI veterans marched on Washington demanding that they be paid what they were owed by the government. Hoover responded by calling in federal troops to throw these ex-servicemen off government property.
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The conditions were horrific. During the Great Depression there was no such thing as Social Security, so when a person became too old or weak to work they had no income, so they had to depend on their children for support. That meant instead of a husband and wife only having to support themselves and their children, which was tough enough during those times, they also had to support their parents. So three generations of a family could be living in one household - and in many cases, the parents of both the husband, and the wife lived with the family.
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In addition, there was no such thing as Medicare or Medicaid, so when one of grandparents became ill the medical costs would devastate the entire family. These conditions kept lower and middle-class families in such dire need of funds that they had to accept whatever crumbs the business community chose to throw at them - and remember, at that time there was no Fair Labor Standards Act or unions to protect a worker’s rights, or a minimum wage, so businesses could treat the worker anyway they wanted, and pay them whatever they wanted.
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They could work you 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no overtime, and no paid vacation. In addition, since there was no child labor laws, if your boss didn’t think you were being productive enough, he could insist that you bring your children in (as young as 9 years old) to assist you if you wanted to keep your job. Then if you protested, he could fire you on the spot, in which case, your entire family - sick grandparents and all - would be thrown out on the street, because there was no such thing as unemployment insurance.
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As a result, in many cases the entire family, including the children, had to work long, hard hours under sweatshop-like conditions in coal minds and the like, which in many cases led to the death and/or maiming of young children. So in a very real sense, Great Depression era workers lived under a form of slavery - the one difference was, they had to go out and find their own housing.
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Think back to the "Little Rascals" we use to watch as kids, and how ragged they were, or the cartoons we use to watch, where a landlord would come to the door (always portrayed in a black suit) and would tell a begging and crying mother that she had one more day to come up with the rent or she and her family would be thrown out in the snow. That was an accurate portrayal of the way people lived in those days, and those are the conditions that the conservative Republican agenda would restore in America today. Those are the conditions that they’re fighting to restore today.
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Think about it - while the GOP comes up with various pretexts to explain their actions, they are oppose to the minimum wage, they would cut unemployment insurance, "modify" Social Security, they’re against Affordable healthcare, they’re leaving no stone unturned to abolish unions, they’re blocking every jobs bill that comes before them, and in spite of record corporate profits, their corporate cronies are sending jobs out of the country and keeping unemployment high until the American middle class caves in and accept a lower standard of living.
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IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO MERELY SALUTE OUR HEROES

Keeping unemployment high also serves another purpose - it provides an endless supply of young American men and women to use as canon fodder for neocon military adventurism. But what else do you expect them to do? We certainly can’t expect them to send their children over there to die for the country. Dying for your country is no longer for the "rich and wellborn," that’s for the "little people." Then, IF your children come back home maimed and broken from their service to the country, the GOP has absolutely no compassion for them. Just like with Herbert Hoover, they call them deadbeats and a burden on the nation for having to beg for food stamps, and them throw them off the premises. And that’s in spite of the fact that most of the GOP ran - like Dick ‘five-deferment’ Cheney - when they were called upon to serve the nation. The GOP only love our troops as long as they can carry a weapon.

 

A "New Deal" For the American People

But 1933 - after 12 years of Republican governance, and 4 years into the Great Depression - the very aristocratic, but quintessential "bleeding heart liberal" Democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected - and he walk through the door coming to rescue the American People, and setting a Democratic tradition in stone in the process. So you see, the Democratic Party was the party of the people long before that had anything to do with Civil Rights. Its just that when Civil Rights became an issue, the party remained true to its tradition, and embraced the cause of the underdog.
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That tradition was firmly established by FDR during the Great Depression.  As soon as he took office he immediately surrounded himself with a group of the finest minds in the country, including Columbia professors Adolph A. Berle, Jr., Rexford G. Tugwell, and Raymond Moley, known at the time as the "Brain Trust." After assembling these men and others he went about the business of developing a" New Deal" for the working class people of this country, who at that point, were starving in the street. So it says much about the cynical character of the GOP that they could take the American penchant for justice and human compassion, and turn it into something to be frowned upon with disdain. That's who we're supposed to be as a people, so by definition, the GOP attitude toward the common man, is un-American.
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The New Deal had two components - one to help the economy to recover from the effects of the Great Depression, and a second component to bring relief to the American people and insure that they would never be placed in a position of total destitution again. To help heal the economy Roosevelt created programs that regulated business, controlled inflation, and brought about price stabilization; to bring relief to the people, he created job programs (much like the ones the GOP is blocking today), signed The National Labor Relations Act which guaranteed workers the right to collective bargaining, and he created the Social Security Administration to guarantee workers some sort of income once they became too old or sick to work. He also signed the Fair Labor Standards Act which protected workers rights and set a minimum wage for workers. 
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With his New Deal in place, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, this "bleeding heart liberal," not only led this country out of the worst, Republican generated crisis that this country has ever faced, but went on to lead the free world in victory over Hitler in WWII, and then ushered in the most sustained prosperity that the world has ever known.
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The American people loved this "bleeding heart liberal," because they knew his heart bled for them. As a result, the American people elected him four times. And just as significant to this discussion, they had the good sense not to let a Republican anywhere near the White House again - and with the exception of one Republican since, Ike Eisenhower, history has proven conclusively that these people, referred to as "the greatest generation," exercised very sound judgment in that regard. In fact, as his very last act of office, even Ike, a Republican, warned us about the Dick Cheneys of the world.
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"In the 1944 election, during World War II, Roosevelt won a fourth term but suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died in office the following year. Thus, Franklin Roosevelt was the only President to have served more than two terms. Near the end of the 1944 campaign, Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey, the governor of New York, announced support of an amendment that would limit future presidents to two terms. According to Dewey, "Four terms, or sixteen years, is the most dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed." Yeah, and it wasn’t working very well for the Republicans either.

The Republican Agenda And Strategy

But during Civil Rights Movement the Republican Party began to regain some traction as a result of literally millions of racist "Dixiecrats" migrating to the GOP.  So the modern Republican Party is a coalition of three separate constituencies with confluent interests. The first group is made up of traditional conservatives. These are highly patriotic Americans who believe in limited government, the primacy of the people over government, and fiscal responsibility. But the other two groups that have coalesced within the GOP are much more malevolent, however - international business interests (fiscal conservatives), and social conservatives (the social bigots).
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It is the former of these two, international business, that controls the GOP. It's made up of wealthy and highly educated individuals with huge amounts of monetary resources, and thus, political influence - and they use every bit of that leverage to manipulate what has become their citizen army - the social conservatives. These are the people who hate any and everybody who doesn’t look, think, and act like themselves.
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The social conservatives are the people we see armed to the teeth at presidential speeches, disrupting town hall meetings, and fighting against their own interests. In short, these are the "Joe the Plumbers" of the world who are being deluded by corporatist propaganda. Also among their ranks are the diehard racists who are still fighting to promote a segregationist agenda. The GOP has found these people easy to manipulate by simply appealing to their emotions.
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With the huge migration of social conservatives into it’s ranks, the leaders of the GOP formulated a new strategy - divide and conquer. They use their social conservative army to create anger and division among the poor and middle class, and that allows the GOP to attack popular safety-net programs by alleging that it’s being abuse by one group or another. Here’s an example of that tactic at works:
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Ironically, the conservatives have taken the Democratic Party's strength and made it a political liability. First they took the party's penchant for being concern with the plight of the American people and coined phrases such as "bleeding heart liberals" and "tax and spend Democrats." They then played on the frustration of the middle class by tying civil rights legislation, welfare, and crime into one neat bundle as the source of middle class woes; then they attributed all of these problems to what they called the Democrat's tendency to be " bleeding heart liberals." Then once the connection was made between minorities, welfare, crime, and the liberal agenda, it was just a matter of repeatedly hammering the message home.
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In addition, conservatives used such tactics as spitting out the word "liberal" as though they were saying rapist. In this way they not only implanted a negative attitude toward liberalism in the mind of the voter, but it's said in such a way that the implication is made that it went without saying that all the negative stereotyping of liberalism is true. In other words, their attitude seemed to suggest, "I could substantiate what I'm saying about liberals, but I don't think it's necessary since we all know what they're like." And since the GOP has been engaged in a brutal assault our educational system for the past 35 years, very few people know enough about past Republican atrocities, or the illustrious liberal tradition, to know the difference. So many of the electorate simply believe what they’re being told by FOX News, and they have absolutely no idea that they’re dancing with the Devil.
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Through these strategies conservatives accomplished three goals with one ingenious stroke - they defined minorities as slovenly criminals, they define liberal Democrats as "soft on crime," and they allowed themselves the freedom to place these thoughts in the American psyche without having to substantiate their facts. Moreover, they accomplish all this in every sound bite, and without seeming to be blatantly racist with the use of just one word, "liberal." In fact, conservatives have been so thorough in their disparagement of liberalism that at this point the word "liberal" is treated like vulgarity, and simply referred to as "the L word." And that is indeed ironic, considering what liberals have done for this country - and more likely than not, for many liberal-hater’s very own grandparents.
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That’s why we hear remarks by people who think they’re conservative like, "Black people are wedded to the Democratic Party because they’re being bought with welfare checks," or that "Black people see Obama as the Messiah." Such statements betray their ignorance, because they obviously have absolutely no knowledge of the Republican Party’s atrocious history, nor the parallel in history between Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Barack Hussein Obama.
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So yes, Mr. Nixon, there seems to be a lot you don’t see regarding my unfettered support of President Obama. As I’ve said in a previous article, Americans, by nature, tend to gravitate toward the underdog. So 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 by bigots and plutocrats in Washington, D.C., so we’ve rallied around him to protect his flank.
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So, while racists, demagogues, 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. So while these race-baiters may get a lot of press, they're spittin' in the wind.
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So don’t allow yourself to be deluded. 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 as well, 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, his courage, and the tradition he's defending. 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 by thugs while he's defending MY home. That's not how Americans do things.

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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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