WATTREEISM: MY BIBLE IS ONLY ONE PAGE LONG, AND IT HAS ONLY THREE COMMANDMENTS

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

THE GOSPEL OF WATTREEISM

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MY BIBLE IS ONLY ONE PAGE LONG, AND IT HAS ONLY THREE COMMANDMENTS
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1). LIVE THE BEST LIFE YOU CAN.
2). HELP OTHERS WHENEVER YOU CAN.
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3). MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS.

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BLACK PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT SLAVERY

IS A THING OF PAST, BUT OUR MINDS ARE FAR FROM FREE

African Americans were taught the Christian,'faith' while they were tied next to the mules and their mentors were actively engaged in the  annihilation of as many as a 100 million Native Americans. So it's obvious that our persecutors didn't believe in their own teachings, and it's easy to understand why.
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The Bible that Christians Worship today was compiled and “blessed” by the Catholic Church, not God. "The Holy" Pope Damasus I, at the Council of Rome in 382, issued a decree appropriately called, "The Decree of Damasus," in which he listed the canonical books of both the Old and New Testaments. He then asked St. Jerome to use this canon and to write a new Bible translation which included an Old Testament of 46 books, which were all in the Septuagint, and a New Testament of 27 books. During that time any book that disagreed with the teachings of the Catholic Church was banned, and anyone who challenged those teachings could be tortured and killed. It's almost as though man created God in man's own narrow-minded image instead of the reverse. And isn't it interesting that God tends to have all of the prejudices and shortcomings of man? For example, according to most religious teachings, God is a virulent sexist, just like man, even though he gave women - not man - the ability to create and nurture life. Man tries to explain all of that away to me, but it just doesn't make sense to the mind that I KNOW God gave me. So who and what am I supposed to believe, what man says, or what God has done?
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So the fact is, what Christians call "The Holy Bible," and what Black preachers run around thumpin’ so passionately, wasn’t even put together until nearly 400 years after the death of Christ. Thus, everything in it is hearsay. In terms of years, when the Bible was compiled, they were nearly twice as far away from the life and times of Jesus Christ as we are away from the life and times of George Washington today. So in reality, they didn’t know fact from fiction, any more than we know whether or not George Washington actually chopped down a cherry tree. It was created as a political document, and it was "blessed" by bigoted White folks to promote their philosophy. And many of the stories in it could have been written by Mother Goose. For instance, if Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth and produced Cain and Abel, where did the people come from that Cain went to live with after he killed his brother?  The Pope obviously didn't think that through very well. Nevertheless, Black people embrace these myths with such a fierce tenacity that it makes the "faith" of Pat Robertson, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump pale in comparison.

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So Black people are in dire need of a thorough re-assessment of their attitudes and those things they take for granted. They also need to educate themselves in all areas of knowledge in order to gain confidence in their own ability to think, because they are worshiping a philosophy that is dedicated to the proposition that they are inferior. Just open your Bible and you won't see nothing but White folks - who were supposed to have been born in the desert. Are we so brain-drenched that, that doesn't tell us anything!!!?
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As a direct result of that brainwashing, as I write, many of us are currently voting for continued White supremacy, because our "Christian" brain-drenching has taught us to believe that "The Lord" wants us too. We're falling all over one another to be the first to vote for a woman whose husband created the most draconian crime bill in the history of the United States and used prisons as an urban housing program for Black people - and, with her full support. So if Black people don’t come to their senses we’re going to end up with a choice between Zig and Zag. Zig is Donald Trump, and Zag is Hillary Clinton. To paraphrase Mort Sahl back in the sixties, the only difference between the two is if Donald ‘Zig’ Trump sees a Black child lying in the street, he’d simply order his chauffeur to run over him. If Hillary ‘Zag’ Clinton saw the kid, she’d also order her chauffeur to roll over him, but she’d weep, and go apologize to the NAACP, after she felt the bump.  So where are our minds? I'll tell you where they are - they're still tied up next to that mule in the 18th Century.
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So yes, I’ve developed  my own Gospel, my own truth, and not a word of it comes from the mouth of another man, because I pay absolutely no attention to man. I determine God's will not by what man says, but by what God has done. And to atheists, yes, I do believe that God exists, because we exist. For me, God is whatever entity, or process, that is responsible for the existence of the universe, or what we call reality. So, since the universe does exist, that's evidence enough for me that God exists. Thus, if I exist, so does God, even if he, she, or it is simply the universe or nature itself.  Now, that said, as we gaze upon this infinite universe, what evidence do you have that God is not nature itself, and that we are not a part of God?
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So again, yes, I've created my own religion, but unlike the religions of the social manipulators, my religion allows you to stay in bed and hug your wife on Sunday mornings and then spend the rest of the day enjoying your children instead of being mandated to get up and suffer through a paid spoken-word concert by some guy who doesn't know any more about God than you do; and we have no rituals, nor 'Born Again' hypocrites to contend with - you know, those people who use religion as a God-approved pretext to hate or look down their noses at everybody who don't look, think, and act like they do. While we don't wish such people any harm, it is our belief that the world would be a lot better off if many of these 'Born Again' hypocrites (Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Ted Cruz, etc.) wouldn't have been born the first time, and we don't believe that the very human philosopher, Jesus of Nazareth, would approve of such people at all. And finally, there's absolutely no begging in my religion, so there's not a preacher in sight. Thus, my religion is Heaven right here on Earth. We simply focus on trying to become better people, help each other whenever we can, and leave each other alone - and it doesn't take a volume of scriptures to do that, nor a collection plate.

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HOW A KID RAISED IN THE CHURCH CAME TO REJECT CHRISTIANITY

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I was recently in a discussion with a gentlemen on religion and he asked me, "You say you believe in God, and you seem to have Christian values, so why do you say you're not a Christian?" My answer was very simple - because God blessed me with common sense, and while I do have values, they're nothing like those that I've seen from so-called Christians, or any other religious group. So while I believe in God, I make it a point to keep the word of man out of anything that has to do with my spirituality.  Again, for me, God is whatever force is responsible for creating what we call reality - period. That's all I have to know, and that's all I have to contemplate.
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An individual's organized religious beliefs are merely an accident of birth, and a form of socialization. The very same man who was born in Georgia, and who was raised to be a devout Christian, would more than likely be a devout Muslim if he'd been born in Iran, a devout Jew if he'd been born in Israel, or a devout Buddhist if he'd been born in China. So organized religion is nothing more, or nothing less, than a form of socialization, and it has absolutely nothing to do with God. In fact, religion is anti-God, because you can trace nearly every form of narrow-mindedness, hatred, and bigotry, directly back to man's religious beliefs. White supremacy is predicated on the belief that "God" sent a White Scandinavian to be born in the desert to lead mankind to the "Promise Land." That has a fundament impact on our thinking. It suggests that White skin is Godly. But the fact is, if Jesus had been White, they wouldn't have had to crucify him - he would have died of sunburn. But once you can get people to believe in walking dead men and talkin' snakes, you can get them to believe in anything - and they have.
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Thus, man uses religion to try to make himself feel special, as though he has some special connection to God, so by its very nature organized religion is discriminatory, not only toward other groups, but other creatures. From their point of view, it's not that they hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like themselves - it's just that God does. So their religious beliefs are used to both make themselves feel superior, and also, to validate their hatred and distrust of others unlike themselves.  But from my point of view, since God created all things, what makes man think that God loves him any more or less than he does a parakeet?  Thus, religion is nothing more than a reflection of man's arrogance.

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That's why a person's religious beliefs are nearly inseparable from his or her political beliefs.  Many Christians don't believe in global warming, equality among people, that Jesus was Black (not that it matters, since he was just another insightful man, and nothing else), or that the Bible didn't prohibit the wholesale slaughter of up to 100 million native Americans, tying Black people up next to the mules, killing 6 million Jews, or dropping two atomic bombs on the innocent civilians of Japan. Christians claim that they did these things in the name of God - it was their "Manifest Destiny."  What they do believe in, however, is quietly allowing, and even supporting, the ascent of a nasty, bigoted, and un-Godly man like Donald Trump. Many Christians believe that Trump came into our midst as a result of the will of God, which, of course, is complete nonsense, but their religious delusions and myths justify their hatred, anger, bigotry, and greed.
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Thus, religion is invariably used to validate the most malevolent part of man's nature. It allows his hatred, selfishness, and greed to be written off as God-approved, and with respect to Black people, it allows our apathy to be written off as justified - "All we have to do is sit and wait, because God is coming to our rescue." That was the position taken by many in the Black clergy who criticized Martin Luther King. They said his activity was stirring up unnecessary animosity toward the Black community, and that all he had to do was be patient and things would work themselves out. 

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In that regard, what about Black people - why do they embrace this nonsense, and in many cases, even more passionately than Whites?
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Black people tend to be such devout Christians because they've been taught, first by slave masters, and then by rich, slick-talking Black preachers, that God's going to deliver justice upon them "by-and-by."  But what they don't understand is, God did his part when he gave us a brain, and  "God helps those who help themselves." That's the way of nature - God made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man to think. So you either do what you were created to do, or you perish - period. That's a fundamental law throughout the universe for all things that exist.  If a planet drifts to close to it's parent star, it's over, and that's it. So as Black people, we are not going to be able to pray ourselves out of our current condition; we're going to have to think our way out of it, or we're not going to survive, because God created man to think, not conjure up stories about a walking dead man coming to our rescue.  Dead men don't walk, and snakes don't talk in this universe - at least in our part of it. That's just not the way things work, and if you believe that it does, or even can work that way, you have more faith in what man says, than what God has done.
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HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET!!!?

But what makes people so passionate about their religion is it allows them to believe what's convenient for them to believe. That's why in spite of the atrocities that has been committed by this so-called "Christian nation" that have been listed above, we have Americans walking around with tears in their eyes talking about "God bless America."  Such people represent a monument to man's capacity to delude himself.  If we do an objective assessment of the atrocities committed by the United States in its relatively short existence, it will become immediately clear that this has been the most brutal and un-Godly nation in the history of humanity. Our historic record would make one think that the United States was founded by a cult of Devil worshipers - and this comes from a man who loves America. But I love what it can be, not what it is, or what it has been. So if we are ever to truly become the nation that our founding documents lie so eloquently about, it is a must that we begin to think clearly, and stop believing in talkin' snakes.    

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Ephesians 6:5-9 says, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ." Those are not my values - and for so-called "good Christians" to simply sit back and say, "We're praying on it" don't fly with me, because they’ve been "praying on it" for centuries now. That's one of the major reasons that Black people are in such dire straits - we're spending more time worshipping the philosophy of bigots than we are educating ourselves, and as a direct result, we've become "bligots" ourselves.

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PORTRAIT OF AN IDIOT

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THE CONVERSION

"Come here nigga and let me teach yo crazy, animal ass about the Lord. The first thing you got to learn is to Love thy Neighbor . . . especially me."
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"Yes sir, Massa. Why would anybody not love you, Sir? You so good to me, Massa. Anybody don't love you needs to have dey ass beat real good, Massa."
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"Shut up, nigga. I'm talkin'."
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"Listen, you been blessed already, and you don't even know the Lord. The Lord made it where you don't have to worry 'bout a thing. I feed you, I put clothes on yo nasty ass, and I give you a shed to sleep in, and all you have to do is whatever the hell I tell you to. Do you know how blessed you are?"
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"Oh, indeed I do, Massa. You take good care of me. I's so happy."
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"Now, listen real good 'cause dis impotant. God said, thou shalt not steal from me, thou shalt not kill (unless I tell you to), thou shalt not stick another coon's wife (unless we tryin' to make some mo niggas), and nigga, whatever you do, thou shalt not even look like you want to stick a white woman, or we gon lynch yo black ass. You here me, nigga?"
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"Oh yes, Massa. We know dat! But Massa, I thought you said thou shalt not kill?"
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"Dat means people, fool - real people! Dat don't go for niggas. God wants us to keep you in yo place."
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"Dat's right, Massa. We sho gotta keep niggas in dey place. No tellin' what a happen if we let dese niggas git loose. God so smart."
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"I said shut up, nigga, and listen to the word."
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"The next thing you got to learn is, whatever happens on this plantation is God's will bein' done. And if you listen to me, you'll get to live like I do when you die and go to Heaven."
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"Live like you, massa? A nigga ain't got no business livin' dat good. What a Po nigga like me gon do with all this? You know I ain't got sense enough to run nothin' like this."
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"Just shut up, nigga!" When you dead you gon get some sense - the lord gon give it to you. The Lord can do anything, even give sense to a nigga. And he gon give you all the other niggas you gon need to help you in the fields, too."
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"Massa, you so good to me! Thank you for tellin' me all dis. I'm gon be a good nigga - the best nigga you ever seened. Look, I'm gon pray for you right now, and thank the Lord for givin' me so good a massa."
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"Shut up and get up off your knees, ya dumb nigga! The fields need tendin'! You pray to the Lord on your own time. God don't won't you talkin' to him when you s'pose to be workin'."
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"A couse, Massa. What I been thinkin'? I's so dumb. I don't know why you put up with me, Sir."
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"How many times I got to tell you to shut the hell up, nigga?"
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"Yes Sir, I's a shuttin', Massa. I's a shuttin', right now."
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"Now get yo ass out there in that field and let's get some work done around here . . . Oh, and Toby, have yo woman meet me in the barn. I need to tell her 'bout the Lord too."
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"Yes sir, Massa."
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"And another thing, Toby, if my momma come a lookin', tell her I'm playin' in my tree house."
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"Why you gon go fibbin' to yo momma, Mr. Tommy? She knows you like to sit wit Lou Ann."
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"Just shut up, nigga, and do what I said! And tell Lou Ann to wear that pretty dress I like, cause we gon be talkin' 'bout the Lord, so it's gon be like chuch."
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"Yes Sir, Mr. Tommy." . . . "Whaaaaaaat a friend we have in Jeeeeesus . . ."

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I PUT A SPELL ON YOU

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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@gmail.com
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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ODE TO A BLEEDING HEART

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE ODE TO A BLEEDING HEART The one factor that contributed most to the downfall of the Democratic Party during the seventies and eighties was allowing conservative Republicans to seize control of the political rhetoric. The Democrats simply sat back and allowed themselves, their constituency and their agenda to be redefined in the eyes of the American people by conservative "spin doctors" without rebuttal.  As a direct result, they've allowed the term "liberal" to become a bad word in the political lexicon. When you consider how methodically the conservatives went about mounting their assault on the liberal agenda you can't help but recognize that it was a stroke of genius. Ironically, the conservatives took 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 downtrodden 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". Once the connection was made between minorities, welfare, crime, and the liberal agenda, it was just a matter of repeatedly hammering the message home. 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 was said in such a way that the implication was made that it went without saying that all the negative stereotyping of liberalism was true. In other words, their attitude seems 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 in the election that spawned the "Republican revolution" the voters said, yes, we do. 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 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." One would think that Democrats would be up in arms in defense of their liberal tradition. It would seem that they would be falling all over one another in an attempt to debate this issue. But instead, these people are falling over one another trying to put distance between themselves and the liberal tradition. Where are their backbones? Where is that one Democrat willing to say, wait a minute! Read your history! It was the "bleeding heart liberal" policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that brought this country back from the brink of disaster. *******　 In 1921 -- eight years before the great depression -- Republicans took over the helm of this nation for 12 years. During that time there were three Republican administrations, the first of which was the administration of Warren G. Harding. History remembers Harding's administration for one thing more than anything other -- scandal. It was during Harding's presidency that the Teapot Dome Scandal erupted. His administration was considered the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States -- until Nixon's, and then Reagan's. Next, in 1923, came Calvin Coolidge, the president that Ronald Reagan is said to have most admired. Coolidge's policies of large tax cuts, allowing business a free-rein, and his encouragement of stock speculation contributed greatly to the impending stock market crash and the great depression that was to come. Then in 1929 Herbert Hoover came to power. During his administration the stock market crashed, starting the great depression. In spite of the fact that by 1933 the unemployment rate was at 33.3% with 16 million people out of work, the Republican, Hoover, just sat, thinking that the economy would eventually rejuvenate itself. 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. Finally in 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a liberal democrat, was elected overwhelmingly. 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. 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 give relief to the American people and to insure that they were 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 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 to work. He also signed the Fair Labor Standards Act which protected workers rights and set a minimum wage for workers. 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. He then ushered in the most sustained prosperity that the world has ever known. One would think that conservatives would have seen the light, but their passion to further enrich the wealthy at the expense of the middle and lower classes seems to supersede all logic. Therefore, from the moment that the New Deal went into place, conservatives have been determined to dismantle it. The closest they've come to succeeding started during the Reagan administration with Supply-Side Economics, or, "Reaganomics" -- and the battle is currently raging in Washington D.C. as we speak. Supply- Side Economics was a scheme hatch by U.S.C. economist Arthur Laffer and the Reagan crowd which was supposed to cut the deficit and balance the budget. The theory behind Reaganomics was ostensibly, if you cut taxes for business and people in the upper tax brackets, and then deregulated business of such nuisances as safety regulations and environmental safeguards, the beneficiaries would invest their savings into creating new jobs. In that way the money would eventually "trickle down" to the rest of us. The resulting broadened tax base would not only help to bring down the deficit, but also subsidize the tremendously high defense budget. When the plan was first floated, even George Bush, Reagan's vice president to be, called it "voodoo economics." Reaganomics, for the most part, sought to undo many of the safeguards put into place during the Roosevelt era and create a business environment similar to that which was in place during the Coolidge Administration. What actually took place, however, was even more like the Coolidge era than planed. Instead of taking the money and investing it into creating new jobs, the money was used in wild schemes and stock market speculation. One of these schemes, the leveraged buy out, involved buying up large companies with borrowed funds secured by the company's assets, then paying off the loan by selling off the assets of the purchased company. This practice cost the citizens of this country its industrial base. In addition, the bottom fell out of the stock market. On Monday, October 19, 1987 the Dow-Jones Average fell 508.32 points. It was the greatest one-day decline since 1914 - 15 years before the Great Depression. And what about Ronald Reagan's promise to balance the budget and lower the deficit? By the time he left office he was not only the most prolific spender of any president, but he also added more to the deficit than all of the other presidents from George Washington to his own administration combined. And what does the Republican Party propose to do about that? One of the Republican proposals in their "contract with America" is a capitol gains tax cut -- for the rich. History is clear. The conservative Republicans don't mind spending money, they just don't want to spend it on those who need it -- us. Remember, they're the party of Alexander Hamilton, one of this country's founding fathers who believed that only those who owned property should even be allowed to vote. He also said: 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 turbulant 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). So, let's set the record straight. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, that "bleeding heart liberal", not only brought the nation back from the Great Depression and saved the world from Hitler during his life, but his "New Deal" for the American people gave us the greatest prosperity we've ever known, and allowed him to reach back from the grave to save the nation from Ronald Reagan 50 years after his death. That isn't to say that the liberal Democratic philosophy corners the market on what is in the best interest of the nation -- it is clear that both parties have had illustrious moments in the past -- but rather, this is one of those defining issues in American politics that determines whether this is to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, or a government where the citizens or nothing more than disposable resources for big business. In the past the Democratic Party has always been there to draw a line in the sand on this issue, but in recent history the liberal philosophy has been distorted to the point that even Democrats are distancing themselves from their own political philosophy. But what makes America great, are those dramatic moments in American politics when that one individual has the courage to put everything on the line to defend, protect, and save the American people disaster. And the annals of modern American history will clearly show that during those moments, it was a "bleeding heart liberal" that stepped up to the plate. First FDR, then Bill Clinton, and now Barack Hussein Obama. Thus, future historians will record that there is nothing more honorable in American politics than a bleeding heart . . . Because those hearts bleed for America. Listen to this heart bleed: 　 Eric L. Wattree wattree.blogspot.com   Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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CAN A WOMAN BE A GOOD PRESIDENT?

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE CAN A WOMAN BE A GOOD PRESIDENT? . Anyone who can't answer the above question in the affirmative couldn't have been raised in the Black community. As ashamed as I am to have to admit it, it is clear to anyone with eyeballs that the African American culture is matriarchal by it's very nature. That said, now I'm supposed to start explaining all of the conditions beyond the Black man's control that led to this state of affairs, but the fact is, I'm not predisposed to lying, so I refer you to Black Entertainment Television (BET) and you can be the judge. . Ok, had enough? Now that you've viewed the misogynistic subculture that has all but seized the soul of the young Black male, it has to be clear that any woman who can manage to raise well rounded, productive, and stable children--by herself--in such an environment can do anything. . So, of course a woman can be a good, even great, president. But I don't count Hillary Clinton among those women. Hillary, and many other so-called "feminists" of her generation, suffer from seriously misguided views on what it truly means to be a strong and independent woman. They actually diminish the meaning of womanhood by embracing the position that the only way a woman can truly be strong and independent is by being more like a man. . She, and many other modern women have dedicated their entire lives to the proposition that the traditional role that women have played in society is something less than what a modern woman should aspire to. I firmly disagree with that position. While I think that a woman should be free to compete with a man in any and every area in this society, I also think the role of the traditional "housewife" has been severely undervalued in this society. What our society looks upon as a "mere housewife" is actually a mother, a psychologist, a nurse, a chef, an economist, an interior designer, and in many cases, a sex therapist for a philandering husband--and society has been going downhill every since these women were convinced that what they did wasn't worthwhile. . Remember Donna Reed? Women of Hillary's ilk tend to look down their nose at women like that, but consider this--there was no such thing as a drive-by on Donna's watch. She created a stable home environment that served to stablize society as a whole. She did more for society from her family's house, than a Hillary clone could ever do as president from the White House. The problem with the Hillary kind of women is that they fail to recognize that fact. They see women like Donna as "quaint", and completely fail to realize that women like Donna are directly responsible for who, and where they are today. So it's not Hillary that I dislike, or her chosen path in life; it's the condescending attitude of Hillary-type women towards homemakers--and I don't think I'm alone. Hillary hasn't personally done a thing to deserve the hostility that she engenders in many Americans. While much hostility is directed at her, it's not about her, it's about what she represents--the degradation of America. . The American people don't have a problem with women seizing the opportunity to express their creativity and potential as human beings, but what they do resent is a handful of abitious women attempting to further their personal goals by convincing a generation of housewives that they're being less than productive by not entering the workforce to take up arms against men. Prior to these women entering the workforce, one income was sufficient to comfortably support a family. Now, a woman must work whether she wants to or not just for most families to survive, because once working women put more money into circulation, the business community simply doubled the cost of living. So what we're left with as a result of this mass exodus of housewives into the workforce is a rise in the of the cost of living, women being forced to juggle family and a fulltime job, latchkey children, a hoard of incorrigible teenagers, a rise in workplace indiscretions, failed marriages, and skyrocketing crime--a net loss anyway you look at it. . But of course, now I'm going to be accused of wanting women to remain barefoot and pregnant, but that's not at all the case. Women should be free to go into whatever profession they choose, but if they choose homemaker as their chosen profession, they shouldn't be denigrated as "barefoot and pregnant", because as our current situation clearly demonstrates, they are actually the backbone of this society. . This country is falling apart because we allowed the "feminists" of the sixties to sell us a bill of goods. When these women chose to pursue professions and then ran into sexism in the workplace, instead of addressing the problem within the workplace itself, they decided to hitch their wagon to the civil rights movement in order to sop up some of the gravy that the eloquence of Martin Luther King had stirred. But in order for these White, middle and upper class women to make an effective case--many of whom, living comfortably, and supported by husbands--they had to convince all of the housewives across America that they, as a class, were just as victimized as Black civil rights activists, who were not allowed to vote, couldn't find jobs, and were being attacked by police dogs. . So while these women did have a just cause, they addressed that cause in a fraudulent manner--and in the process, convinced women across this land that raising a family and laying the foundation that everything else in our society is built upon was something less than a desirable pursuit. They also convinced many women that the only things that are of value in this world are those things that men do--in fact, focusing on being a lady, in itself, was a frivolous pursuit. The message was, the only way to compete with men was on a man's terms--a message that places women at a gross disadvantage. . I have a good friend who happens to be an Asian. She's so beautiful she doesn't look real--she looks like someone drew her. In addition, she's brilliant, and one of the sexiest women I've ever laid eyes on--and she knows it. Her only shortcoming is she's bought into the nonsense that it's against the rules to use her femininity to help her get ahead. She told me one day that her boss wouldn't allow her to move up any farther in management. When I asked why, she said, her boss always tries to flirt with her and she doesn't want to play that game. So I asked her, doesn't your boss use his deep voice and intimidating personality to get what he wants? And she told me that he did. I then asked, so why shouldn't you use your beauty and feminine wiles to get what you want? You don't have to give in to your boss, just make him think you might--right after the next promotion, then the next, and the next. You don't have to give up a thing. Just keep hope alive. There's nothing immoral about that.  You're simply manipulating him with your feminine beauty in the same way that he manipulates you with his masculine ability to intimidate. . So, absolutely a woman can be good president--and quite possibly, one of the greatest presidents we've ever had. But I don't want one who thinks she has to act like a man to be successful. I want to vote for a female who's intelligent, charismatic, and well educated, yet, not afraid to stick her hands in dishwater. Yes, I want her to be professional and dignified, yet, also know the value of a short skirt and silk shiny stockings. I don't want any president who's going to try to be effective with one hand tied behind his or her back. A president should be prepared to bring every resource to bear. So if the president happens to be a woman, sure I want her to know how to be firm when she needs to be, but she should also know how to work it like it's hot. .  If a man's strong suit is intimidation, the illusion of power, and brute force, a woman's is insight, subtlety, and finesse. Once a woman loses sight of that fact, she's tying one hand behind her back. . Eric L. Wattree Http://wattree.blogspot.com Ewattree@Gmail.com Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA) Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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WHEN I LOOK AT BARACK OBAMA

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE, SR. WHEN I LOOK AT BARACK OBAMA When I look at Barack Obama, I not only wonder why every Black person in America isn't supporting him, but why they aren't jumping up and down with glee at the opportunity. I've had many people tell me--both Black and White--that I'm just supporting Obama because he's Black. True, I am supporting Obama because he's Black, but not ONLY because he's Black. I'm supporting Barack Obama because in spite of being blessed with Black skin, and all the disadvantages that entails, this brother has managed to rise head and shoulders above the very best this society has to offer. That not only empowers him, but it also allows Black youth to embrace their Blackness with a lot more genuine pride. It allows them say, and more importantly, think, "Yes, I'm Black, and you're damn right I am somebody! I'm the product of a great and resilient people. That's very important for young people, because as the Bible points out, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." So, no, I don't support Obama just because he's Black–I support him because he's Black, on top of all his other fine qualities. Both Jesse and Sharpton are also Black, and I didn't support either of them. But this is different. When Barack Obama stepped upon the world stage, I could feel a change in the air, like something important had just happened, or a significant presence had just entered the room. I felt like, for the briefest moment the world stood still, then I looked up to see a lone figure standing on the horizon. And I wasn't alone--White folks across this land also felt it. When the change started to take hold, I noticed that in places that would have met Martin with attack dogs and fire hoses, White people were jumping up and down, smiling and singing--some of them with tears in their eyes--straining just to touch this young Black man. That's when I knew it was happening--I knew a change was coming eventually, but not like this. He came fast, and out of nowhere like a thief in the night–far from the Messiah, but like a man who knew his time had come. Then, like in that Phil Collins song, I could feel it comin' in the air, oh Lord! It was clear there was something different going on here--something that's been in the cards every since that first slave looked to the sky and said, "Please help us, dear Lord." Now, I not a religious fanatic, so I'm not about to sit here and preach you a sermon. But I am spiritual, and I'm telling you, Obama's arrival is not an accident. I don't know why, but some things are just meant to be–and if you look at them in hindsight, you can see it! When you look back on Martin and Malcolm, it's clear they were meant to be. I don't know why, but some men are just put on Earth to fulfil a plan. You can laugh at me if you want to, but I'm telling you, Obama is one of those people. Think about it. This brother is the complete opposite of everything nasty that racists have ever said about Black people. They said that we were ignorant, nasty, lazy, and didn't have any class--then this brother pops up out of nowhere. If God had handpicked somebody to show that everything racists said about Black people was a lie, we couldn't have done any better than Barack Obama. He's such a clean-cut brother that Senator Joe Biden got himself in trouble for commenting on it. His intellect and academic credentials are beyond dispute–Hillary went to Yale Law School and then got out and couldn't pass the bar; but Obama was the very first Black president and editor of the Harvard Law Review. When he becomes president, he'll easily be one of the smartest presidents in the history of this country. Think about what that's going to do to the argument of those who want to say that Black people are intellectually inferior–and more importantly, think about what it's going to do for the self-esteem of Black children all over this country, all over the world. So looking at Obama is like looking into a crystal ball–he's a perfect reflection of everything the future holds for us as a people. Even his personal heritage is a perfect metaphor for the African American people as a whole–he's the product of a marriage between Africa and America. That's what we are. Barack Obama is the walking, breathing, personification of who we are as a people. He represents the future of Black people as a whole. Many brothers like to refer back to antiquity to cite the past greatness of our people as something for us to hold on to, but while I recognize and appreciate our great contribution to the past, I'm convinced that it is the future that will define our true greatness. As African Americans, we are a brand new culture that's in the infancy of our development as a people. We're a people who were conceived in pain, born into struggle, and baptized in adversity. But adversity is experience, and experience is the source of knowledge, so we are uniquely suited to create a new, better, and more compassionate world. Thus, our history lies before us, and I'm convinced, that history will someday reflect that Barack Obama was the first step in our emergence as a people. All of us who are sitting here today, are blessed to be living at this moment in time. We are a witness to history. We're living in a time that history will someday record as the defining moment of our legacy as a people. And someday, maybe hundreds of years from now, young Black people will be able to look back on our contribution to that history and say, I now stand firm: I Now stand firm. My dedication to 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 now 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, and oozed from the yoke around his neck, now rage with resolve and a sense of purpose, and trembles with passion, 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 stand embraced by my creator, as God now smiles upon my people. Yes, I Now Stand Firm--Firm, Black, and Free. That's why I support Obama. Eric L. Wattree Wattree.blogspot.com

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WHY HILLARY'S DOG DON'T HUNT

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE, SR. WHY HILLARY'S DOG DON'T HUNT Hillary managed to pull her carcass out of the fire in the New Hampshire Primary. But her 39 to 36 percent victory over Senator Obama seems rather shallow when you consider that she was seen as the presumptive Commander-in-Chief in waiting just prior to the Iowa caucuses. In just a few short weeks Hillary has gone from the anointed one to a woman who was, literally, brought to tears over concern for her political career—and those very tears points out an issue that begs to be examined. If Hillary's tears were genuine (and that's a big IF), we need to ask ourselves whether or not she has the emotional strength to handle the job of President of the United States. If she breaks down into tears under the stress of simply running for the job, what can we expect from her under the awesome responsibility of actually doing the job? Some may say that's a cheap shot that's only being leveled at her because she's a woman, but actually, it's a sword that cuts both ways. If Barack Obama would have broken down under similar circumstances, his candidacy would have been over. So when we're discussing the most powerful job in the world, we can't think in terms of whether the candidate is a man or a woman, we must look at their character, strength, and stability alone—and that's exactly what my question seeks to address. The fact is, we know very little about Hillary Clinton, other than she's married to Bill. She projects the image of a strong and independent woman, but how independent is she? Truly independent women are indeed something to behold, because they rely solely on their own resources under tremendous odds. No old boys club for them–it's just one women against the world. But Hillary seems to fall short in that regard–she tends to have no problem at all with embracing her husband's accomplishments as her own. With all of her talk about experience, for example—it's not her experience, it's her husband's. The only experience she has is that she slept next to power for eight years. If you take that experience away, Obama is more experienced, hands down. Hillary's claim of vast experience is completely analogous to if Mamie Eisenhower suggested that she was qualified to take over as commander of the allied command simply because she was married to General Eisenhower. Of course, I'm being facetious--but only slightly. Because the point is, just as Mamie Eisenhower would be basing her claim on her marital status, Hillary Clinton actually seems to consider the office of the president community property. One can see it in her irrational anger towards Senator Obama. She seems to look upon the senator as a young interloper seeking to take away something that is rightfully hers. That's why she can't resist attacking him every chance she gets. Even when she became "tearful", she just couldn't resist implying that Barack didn't know what he was doing: "Some of us know what we will do day one, and other's haven't thought it through." How does she know what Obama has "thought through", and what makes her such an expert on the presidency—other than she slept with one?" While Hillary tearfully claimed that her primary reason for wanting to become president was so she could bring change, and move the country in a different direction, her combative, calculating , and mean-spirited behavior clearly belies such altruistic motives. Everything she's done since she made that statement embraces the old-style approach to politics. Rather than emphasizing what she has to offer that would make her the best choice for president, she's chosen to use the old, Rovian, attack-dog style of campaigning in an attempt to undermine Obama's appeal–and history shows that appeal is a president's most valuable asset. She campaigned in South Carolina with Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, in order to appeal to the Black voters, for example. Then Johnson immediately went on stage to attack Senator Obama, and serve Hillary's purpose well–or did he? Hillary showed very poor judgement in using Johnson, and judgement is another important presidential quality. One would think that if Hillary truly had the best interest of the Black community at heart, she wouldn't have even wanted to appear on the same stage with Johnson. While, granted, Johnson is a highly successful Black entrepreneur, he's also responsible for spreading more pernicious dysfunction and cultural degradation among more Black youth than any Black man who's ever lived. This man's thoughtless greed has contributed directly to the destruction of life, and the functional viability of, literally, millions of Black kids. If Hillary didn't know that, she's out of touch with the Black experience; if she did, she simply didn't care. It was the height of irony that she would send Johnson on stage to criticize Senator Obama. The senator has spent his entire adult life trying to create a better life for the people in the Black community. On the other hand, what has Johnson done? After building the perfect tool to educate Black youth and introduce them to a better way of life, what did he do with it? He made a fortune by spreading a culture of gangster rap–with its glorification of murder, disrespect for women, saggin' pants, and the perpetuation of a dysfunctional vocabulary that all but ensures that countless young Black people will never be able to get through a job interview. Then Hillary brings this man up to criticize Obama?! If you call that love for the Black community, that's a love I can do without. On the other hand, let us look at Obama's background. After high school Obama moved to Los Angeles and attended Occidental College for two years. Thereafter he transferred to Columbia University in New York. He majored in political science and specialized in international relations, receiving his B.A. in 1983. Thereafter he worked for Business International Corporation, and later, the New York Public Interest Research Group. After moving to Chicago he became a community organizer–he worked with low-income residents in Chicago's Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing project. He went on to Harvard in 1988, and in 1990 became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review in 104 years. After obtaing his law degree, magna cum laude, in 1991, he returned to Chicago to direct a voter registration drive. He then became an associate attorney in the law firm of Miner, Barnhil l & Galland, representing community organizers, doing discrimination and voter rights claims. He then went on to become a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago. In 1996 Barack was elected to the Illinois State Senate where he represented the 13th District on the south-side of Chicago. While a state senator he worked with both Democrats and Republicans to draft successful legislation on ethics, health care reform, tax credits for low-income workers, welfare reform, subsidies for child care, a law monitoring racial profiling, and led the passage of legislation requiring the videotaping of homicide interrogations. Yet, he still managed to win the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police. 1 But while I'd be less than honest to contend that Hillary hasn't demonstrated some compassion for the plight of the average American, her tendency to discount Obama's experience, competence, and qualifications to be president is grossly disingenuous, and the Johnson affair clearly demonstrates that her judgement under fire is highly suspect. What is also clear is that Obama's preparation for the highest office far exceeds her own. After all, while she, and her healthcare plan, was being soundly trounced by her Republican opponents, Republicans were working with Barack in Illinois to get his passed. And while she was giving tea parties in the White House to help the poor, Barack was in the trenches, and public housing projects, directly involved in the struggle. So while both senators have challenged the opposition to "bring it on", Barack was on the ground, while Hillary, was on the phone. Eric L. Wattree wattree.blogspot.com

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I CAN FEEL THE QUIET HUM OF GREATNESS

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

I can feel the quiet hum of greatness, in the air. Can you feel it, America—that roaring silence that befalls the land just prior to a significant event; the way the birds fall silent and a gentle breeze rustles the leaves just as a lone figure appears on the horizon?

“I wouldn't be running for president today without the women in my life . . .” My grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who raised me, while rejecting the bigotry that might have torn other families apart . . . my mother, Ann Dunham, "the kindest, most generous spirit I have ever known," who died of ovarian cancer while she was in the "prime of her life," acquainting me with "what it's like to see a loved one suffer because of a broken health care system"-- between jobs when diagnosed, and uncertain of her health care coverage. And my wife, Michelle--"balancing her role as a mother with her responsibilities at work."

It sounds like Obama is pullin’ out all the stops, and if he pulls it off in Iowa, then New Hampshire, it’s no longer a race—it’s a strut down Broadway, confetti and all.

This is an exciting moment in our history, and we’re extremely fortunate to be alive to witness it. It’s a moment in American history where the wisdom, integrity, and honorable itent of this nation’s forefathers has allowed them to, literally, reached back from the grave before the entire world, to rescue this nation from tyranny, on the very eve of its destruction.

Can you feel it, America? I can literally, feel, the strength of this young man’s greatness . . . in the air.

Remember, you heard it here, first.

Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com

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