Conservatives Waking Up in Droves

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE Conservatives Waking Up in Droves Well, it seems that the GOP is finally coming into its own. Both its numbers, and its rhetoric, reflect that its rapidly becoming more of a cult than a political party. Recent polls indicate that now only 20% of the American people will even admit to being Republican these days. That's down from 32% in November. If its current rate of decline continues, after the 2010 election there won't be enough Republicans left in Washington to throw a card party - and that's with good reason. History doesn't lie, at least, until Republicans get a hold to it. But with their desperate attempt to regain power at any cost, this current crop of GOP 'leaders' have inadvertently betrayed their true agenda - to promote the interest of big business at the expense of the American people. Every initiative that they champion is transparently designed to do just that. And this is not a new agenda for Republicans. It's just that this current group of Republicans are so inept and blinded by greed that they've allowed their animus to be revealed. Alexander Hamilton, the father of Republican thought, advocated that the poor didn't even have sense enough to think, therefore shouldn't be allowed to govern - and the Republican attitude towards the average American hasn't changed a bit. Hamilton said the following: "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 an advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government." (Debates of the Federalist Convention, May 14-September 17, 1787). Thus, the GOP, literally, treats the American people like mindless children who lack the capacity to remember what took place the day before. So many well-educated and thinking conservatives are falling over one another as they leave the Republican Party. The reason for that is that they've been given a front row seat to witness how undereducated Republicans and wing-nuts are being manipulated through use of the "isms" and xenophobic fear by the Republican leadership to act against their own interest. They're beginning to recognize that internal American politics is no longer driven by race or ideology. In the new world order the GOP leadership no longer sees any profit in such nonsense. The GOP even sees America's eternal fight for freedom in terms of dollars and cents - THEIR freedom to make a dollar. In short, it's all about class, stupid. A perfect example of that can be found in the case of a young lady by the name of Jamie Leigh Jones. This young woman had the ridiculous idea that she wanted to do something for her country, so she went to work for KBR, a subsidiary of Dick Cheney's old company, Halliburton. But as soon as she hit the ground in Iraq, she was drugged, gang raped, and thrown into a shipping container under armed guard for twenty-four hours by KBR employees. She was only 19 years old at the time. Now Ms. Jones is seeking justice, but she's being blocked by a stipulation in the Halliburton/KBR contract indicating that her only recourse is to go through arbitration - a kangaroo court designed to protect the contractor. In response, a newly elected Democratic senator, Al Franken, drafted an amendment to the senate defense appropriation bill to reverse the policy that's preventing Ms. Jones from seeking legal recourse. The amendment passed by a 68 to 30 vote, and all 30 votes against the amendment was cast by White Republican males. This is only one of thousands of votes that are routinely cast in the United States Senate. But this vote holds particular significance, and should certainly go down in the annals of political infamy. Because it clearly demonstrates that the Republican Party has crossed the line that separates their advocation of a thriving and robust business environment, to a position that promotes the primacy of business interests over the justice and welfare of the American people. Thus, it's no wonder true conservatives are leaving the Republican Party in droves. The GOP has literally embraced a philosophy that is clearly, and blatantly, un-American. But this has been the case for some time. It's just that only now are Americans beginning to believe their lying eyes. If the American people ever started looking back through history they'd notice that the same policies, the very same names, and the same corruption is recycled by the Republican Party every generation. As I've  pointed out in a previous articles, as far back as October 29, 1929, the Republican Party ushered in the Great Depression under President Herbert Hoover, and it took Democratic president, Franklin Roosevelt, to bail the nation out; then on October 19, 1987, under Republican Ronald Reagan, the stock market fell 508 points due to the excesses of Reaganomics. Then, again, due to the continued freewheeling fiscal policies of conservative Republicans, between 1986 and 1989, spanning the presidencies of Reagan and Bush Sr., the FSLIC had to pay off all the depositors of 296 institutions with assets of over $125 billion. Then in 1988 Silverado Savings and Loan collapsed, costing the taxpayers $1.3 billion. It was headed by Neil Bush, brother of George W. The investigation alleged that he was guilty of "breaches of his fiduciary duties involving multiple conflicts of interest." The issue was eventually settled out of court with Bush paying a mere $50,000 settlement. Then there was the Lincoln Savings and loan scandal in 1987 involving John McCain. The scandal was very similar to the one that is currently playing out on Wall Street. He was one of a group of senators dubbed "The Keating Five" involved in a scandal by the same name. In 1976 Charles Keating moved to Arizona to run the American Continental Corporation. In 1984, shortly after the Reagan era push to deregulate the savings and loan community, Keating bought Lincoln Savings and Loan and began to engage in highly risky investments with the depositors' savings. In 1989 the parent company, which Keating headed, went bankrupt, and it resulted in over 21,000 investors losing their life savings. Most of the investors were elderly, and the losses amounted to about 285 million dollars. After having received over a million dollars from Keating in illegal campaign contributions, gifts, free trips, and other gratuities, the Keating Five--Senators John Glenn, Don Riegle, Dennis DeConini, Alan Cranston, and Sen. John McCain--attempted to intervene in the investigation into Keating's activities by the regulators. Later, they were admonished to varying degrees by the senate for attempting to influence regulators on Keating's behalf. Charles Keating ended up being convicted for fraud, racketeering and conspiracy, for which he received 10 years by the state court, and a 12 year sentence in federal court. After spending four and a half years in prison, his convictions were overturned. But prior to being retried, he pled guilty to a number of felonies in return for a sentence of time served. Now, even at this writing, Sen. John McCain is involved in a bill that would allow telecommunications companies to partition off the internet for profit, and Dick Cheney is pressuring Obama to go off half-cocked like he did in Iraq, yet again: "Come on, wimp, lets get this war rollin'. You must me scared, or something." And of course, I'm sure that Cheney's hurry to 'get it on' has absolutely nothing to do with Halliburton's profit line. And these are the people who want us to turn our backs on President Obama, and place our faith in them: "Just trust us . . . again." Yeah, right.   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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A Tribute to American Diversity: A Man Called Chuck

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

We tend to give politicians all the credit for who we are as Americans. But the fact is, politicians with all their self-serving agendas, more often than not, stifle the American spirit rather than enhance it. It is the Average American, doing what they do in their daily lives, that makes us who and what we are. So as a tribute to those Americans, I’m launching this series called “A Tribute to American Diversity”.

A Man Called Chuck

I’d like to take a moment to give a little something back to a magnificent old swinger. Being from the old school, and born and raised in Los Angeles, jazz has always been a major force in my life. So when Chuck Niles, of radio station KKJZ left this Earth, it represented the eternal silence of yet another force that went into molding what I think of as me.

In my mind, jazz, Chuck Niles, and who I am today are all a part of the same continuum. Rahsaan called us "Eulipians"- a brotherhood of writers, poets, musicians and uncommon drunks, who thrive on a riff, and passionately embrace the proposition that man’s thirst for knowledge will someday overwhelm his lust for stupidity.

I can't begin to describe the impact that this grand old cat has had on my life over the years. I first came across him when I was a kid listening to "The Knob"- Radio station KNOB. I’ve heard people talk about how tough KBCA was, and indeed it was a powerhouse of jazz, but nobody in the history of radio swung it like The Knob. They had people like Tommy B, Tollie Strode, Stevo, and of course, the ever swingin' Chuck Niles.

Man, those cats swung it 24-7 like it was their last day on Earth, and every one of them had an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz. So there was never a lull in the music - Bird, Monk, Miles, Dexter Gordon, Jackie McLean, one after the other, all day, and all night long. I mean, these guys would be smokin’, and every time you thought they couldn't possibly get any tougher, they'd kick it up a notch. As a youngster, I couldn’t live without them, but even back then I understood the meaning of sacrifice - so I’d sleep on Tuesdays.

Chuck and his cohorts at The Knob not only provided me with a Ph.D. in the world of Jazz, but they also laid a foundation for a way of life that has served me quite well over the years. By the time I was 16 I had gained a wealth of knowledge into the beauty of what contributed directly to who I am. Jazz became a hook upon which I could hang other knowledge - both historic and political. I became curious about such things as what kind of political environment led to the development of a Charlie Parker or Thelonious Monk. That, in turn, led me to consider the realities of my own political environment.

Then later in life, during those moments when life became funky, I'd only have to consider my roots to know that I had what it took to carry on. The love of jazz, and the cultural message it related, taught me to take pride in my ability to deal with hardship. It also taught me to never have more respect for anyone else’s ability to think than I had for my own. It put a swagger in my outlook that has stood up to the most severe adversity, and a love and respect for knowledge, creativity, and achievement that has allowed me to truly overcome.

After all, any group of people who could navigate the chord progressions of any tune ever written, and at breakneck speed, couldn't possibly be inferior - and I was one of those people. So I never felt the need to convince the world that "I am somebody" - thanks to people like Chuck, I simply knew it.

So these cats didn't just spin records, they were educators. They provided a foundation and a philosophy of life upon which many young cats like myself have based our entire lives. And at the same time, they also promoted a tradition that assured the viability of modern jazz - an unassailable tradition, that stands as a monument to the creative genius of Black people.

Chuck Niles, even though he had white skin, was as dedicated to that proposition as any Black man I've ever known, and he continued to stoke the flame right up to his final days, with a new generation of believers at KLON (now KKJZ) on the campus of Cal. State Long Beach (a listener supported station that’s always in dire need of our support).

Today we live in a world of hip hop, Nikes, and jogging suits. But Chuck represented a different world - a world of bebop, Florsheims, and Brooks Brothers suits. His was a world of unspoken class, magnificent ladies, and shinny new Cadillacs glistening against the Moonlight; of Ray Brown's sweet bass struttin' down uncharted avenues of the blues; of Charlie Parker's bittersweet serenade to the angels; and of course, a passionate young Miles with his muted horn, sweetly brooding to Stella By Starlight, into a smoke filled night.

When I think of Chuck, I think of beautiful days and sweeter nights; a time when the promise of tomorrow was more tantalizing than the chilling passion of the night before. So the passing of this swingin' old warhorse also represents the passing of a magnificent era; an era reminiscent of an elegant lady - a lady that Chuck now, lovingly, escorts into the mist.

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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GOP ‘Patriots’ Strike America Once Again

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE GOP 'Patriots' Strike America Once Again My computer is still warm from my last article where I pointed out that the GOP is no longer conservative, and has become anti-American. Now, reinforcing my position, they've struck out against America again. In last week's column, "Limbaugh-Beck and the GOP Patriots Against America", I pointed out that you can say what you will about true conservatives, but they are fiercely patriotic, and will ALWAYS, support America, regardless to what the circumstances. But this current group of renegade Republicans are clearly demonstrating not only that they're not true conservatives, but they're not even loyal Americans. With every day that passes it becomes increasingly clear that their only concern is making money, regaining power, and accommodating their own self-interest, and they're more than willing to throw America under the bus to achieve those goals. Evidence of that fact is they've left no stone unturned to protect the insurance industry, deny Americans affordable health care, and literally celebrated America's loss of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Now, as though to reinforce my thesis, these so-called patriots have struck again by attacking President Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Regardless to your politics, just take a moment to ask yourself, considering America's low ebb in world opinion over the past eight years, would any true conservatives, regardless to their domestic grievances, criticize the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the President of the United States? Absolutely not. To have such an honor come to these shores should be a cause of celebration for every American in the country, since even the biggest fool in America should recognize that this honor gives our president the added international cachet to successfully pursue American foreign policy abroad. But in spite of that, upon receiving news of this honor coming to America, the Republican National Committee issued the following statement: "The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?' It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain - President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action." The question that the world must be asking is, 'What kind of idiots are we dealing with here in the United States that would be so actively working against their own government?' The GOP seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that the Nobel Peace Prize is not limited to simply what has taken place since the inauguration, but what the rise of Barack Obama represents overall. After all, What other world leader in history has done more to inspire the hope of people all over the world than Barack Obama, and in such a short period of time? This man is, literally, perceived as the walking, breathing personification of hope for people all over the world, so to have given the Nobel Peace Prize to anyone else would have been remiss. In addition, by indicating in its formal GOP statement that "President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action", the GOP is betraying the fact that they think the American people are stupid. One would think that the Republican Party wouldn't even want to mention these issues since it is only due to Republican malfeasance in office for the past eight years, their fiscal irresponsibility, and failure to adhere to their 'small government' rhetoric that has caused Americans to be without jobs in the first place. But the American people have come to ignore such nonsense from the Republican Party, because they recognize that due to a clumsy Republican attempt to manipulate public opinion, most GOP missives of this sort comes from Michael Steele, the closest thing to a love child between Michele Bachman and Snoop Dog (Sorry about that Snoop). The fact is, I challenge anyone reading this article to give me the name of any other person alive who could have rejuvenated America's stature in the world more effectively than Barack Obama. I also challenge anyone to give me the name of any person alive who could have brought more hope to the people of the world than Barack Obama. This man could have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize upon inauguration and it would have been perfectly justified. I only wish the president hadn't chosen to apologize for receiving this award, because there’s absolutely no doubt that he’s exactly the kind of man that Alfred Nobel had in mind when he created it. Thus, this honor wasn't bestowed based on stats - this was an azward that came directly from the heart of the people, as it should always be. So President Obama had absolutely nothing to apologize about. He not only deserves this honor, but by receiving it he’s elevated the stature of all those who preceded him. The Republican Party claims that Obama only received this award because of his superstar status. But as with most things, they have it completely backwards. President Obama didn’t receive the honor because he’s a star, he’s a star because he has the very qualities in a world leader that deserves to be honored. Even so early in his presidency, our forefathers are smiling down upon this man with pride. Even as I write, I can hear Thomas Jefferson saying, "Scoot over Abe, we've got company." So wake up, America, before it's too late. The GOP deals exclusively in hatred, fear, and war. Torture, death and descension is their forte, because there's no money to be made in peace. Congratulations, Mr. President. Alfred Nobel has never been done so proud. 　   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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Limbaugh-Beck and the GOP Patriots Against America

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE Limbaugh-Beck and the GOP Patriots Against America If anyone had any doubt about whether or not the GOP has become anti-American, all doubt should now be laid to rest. Rush Limbaugh, the titular head of the Republican Party, slipped into an altered state of bliss after hearing the news that the United States lost its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The man was completely beside himself with glee. God only knows what would have happened if we'd also been attacked - his body fluids would've had to be cleaned off the studio floor. I watched the video of Limbaugh's antics over and over again in total disbelief. It's literally unbelievable what's happened to the Republican Party. This man is not a true Republican, and comes nowhere close to representing conservative values. No true conservative would celebrate an American loss of anything, no matter what the competition, who we were competing against, or what the circumstances were surrounding the competition. You can say what you want about the Republican Party and conservatism, and I've said a lot of mean things, but a true conservative ALWAYS comes to the defense of America. For those progressives who are too young to understand my breaking ranks to come to the defense of conservatism, it's important to understand that as a baby boomer I know and understand the conservative mind-set, because as baby boomers we all started out raised as conservatives - society was geared that way. For baby boomers, the first thing we did when we arrived at school was to recite the pledge of allegiance; the second thing was to recite the Lord's Prayer. Then after the Lord's Prayer it was social studies, where we learned that America never loses, has never done anything wrong, and anyone who said differently was evil. That's conservatism, and I believed every syllable until I became old enough to start thinking for myself. During the fifties all children were raised with the very same values. So just like any other child in America, I pulled for the cowboys against the Indians, and rode with John Wayne as we single-handedly went about slaughtering the bad guys - which was anyone who didn't happen to look, think, or act like us. And as I looked up at the screen, even as a Black child, I was completely convinced that I was a part of "us." It was only later in life that I began to recognize that I represented "them." It was only due to the shock of that recognition that many of us became progressives. We made it our mission in life to turn the conservative myth of America into a reality. So the difference between true conservatives (as oppose to racists) and progressives wasn't a disagreement over the American ideal, but whether or not that ideal was a reality for all. So I throughly understand the conservative mind-set - been there, done that. Conservatives can be insensitive, and in my opinion, delusional about what America represents, but the Republican Party has always been fiercely patriotic. So I can say without hesitation that Limbaugh, Beck, and these current batch of demagogues who currently run the GOP are definitely NOT true conservatives, or conservatives of any definition. There was a time when a Dick Cheney wouldn't have even been able to work as a gofer in the Republican Party. A true conservative would've never put up with a man who took five deferments to avoid defending this nation, then publically admit that he didn't serve this country because "I had other priorities." Yet, in today's Republican Party he was able to make that statement with total impunity, even as he lectured America on patriotism. No, that's not the GOP I knew. A true conservative would never have tolerated such a man - a man who moved hell and Earth to avoid his own servce, now wants to teach us how to protect America. Such a man would never have been allowed to carry the Republican banner. Can anyone imagine Cheney telling General Eisenhower that I didn't defend my country because "I had other priorities"? Ike would have told him in no uncertain terms that there ARE no priorities more important than serving your country. And there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that if Ike had been president, Cheney would have been unceremoniously shot for outing a CIA agent. Ike was both a true conservative, and a true American. He had an unwavering set of convictions that didn't vary as the wind blows, and more importantly, he had the courage of those convictions. Unlike Beck, or Rush Limbaugh who avoided serving this country by claiming a boil on his ass, Ike was the kind of man that one could have serious disagreements with, but still feel compelled to call him sir. Ike said that he understood these people, because he helped to create the military/industrial complex in an effort to mobilze America during WWII. But as one of his last acts in office he warned America to keep its eye on them, because their greed could become a threat to both America, and the world. Thus,Ike anticipated Cheney's corrupt disregard for America and the world, long before the Cheneys and Limbaughs seized control of the Republican Party. So am I smply indulging in hyperbole? Think about it. Is there anyone who was alive during the fifties and sixties who believe that conservatives would allow the Republican Party to be taken over by draft dodgers, and worse yet, allow draft dodgers to send our troops to a senseless death? I don't think so. Even as a progressive, as a former marine I think I'm safe in going on record for Ike and every American in Arlington Cemetery as saying that it is unforgivable that America let our young troops and their families down like we did. We let this bunch of demagogues send these young people to an untimely grave. And for what? The horrible, and inescapable facts are, they died for no other reason than to enrich a bunch of cronies who made it a point to not only avoid their own military service, but made very sure that their children avoided any harm as well. Conservatives? No, I don't think so. These are a bunch of conspirators against America who used the nation's pain over 911 to victimize this nation and accommodate their own greed. Like the vultures they are, they decided not to let a good crisis go to waste. And they knew exactly what they were doing. As the bodies of our brave young troops were carried off the battlefield, they were honored in secret, because the dishonorable men who sent them to their deaths didn't want America to see the true price of their vulturous greed. For if these young people did indeed die for this country instead of simple greed, where were the bodies of the sons and daughters of those who sent them? Aren't they also patriots, and don't they also love this country? Oh, Of course they do, but their job is to luxuriate in the lobbies of the nation's country clubs, paying lip service to patriotims, and drinking martini toasts the brave sacrifice of all the little dead people. Where is Liz Cheney? She's all over the media these days claiming how much she loves America. Can't she drive a truck? If she can't, I'm sure the marines would be more than happy to teach her. So does this batch of GOP scoundrels truly love America? Let's take a look at that through a simple analogy. For the sake of this discussion, let's think of America as a football team. Suppose a member of our team didn't like the coach and was angered because he had to ride the bench during the Super Bowl. What would you think of him if he started openly pulling for the other team, then once our team lost, he ran out on the field and started dancing and celebrating? Could he ever convince you that in spite of his actions, he loved our team? I don't think so. Well, that's exactly what's taking place in America with Limbaugh, Beck, and all of their new-and-revised Republican colleagues. So as progressives, we should stop referring to these insurrectionist turncoats as conservatives, because by doing so we do a gross disservice to a long and honorable tradition, and a LOYAL opposition - even though we may seriously disagree with the tenets of that tradition. If these neo-fascists were truly representative of conservative thought, Barack Obama would not be in office today. Let there be no doubt about it. This man was not elected by progressives alone. 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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Wake Up Progressives, and Get Rid of the "Liebercrats"

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE Wake Up Progressives, and Get Rid of the "Liebercrats" Can you just imagine what the Republicans would do with their man in the White House and a majority in congress the size of the majority that the Democrats currently enjoy? They'd be invincible. The Republicans are horrible at governance, but they do know how to wield power. Just look at the mayhem they managed to commit under George Bush. So why is it, with their huge majority in congress, the Democrats are struggling to pass a healthcare bill that would benefit every family in America? The answer is clear - they tolerate too many Democratic turncoats. Yes, I've said this before, but it seems that it bears repeating. If the Democratic Party wants to continue to exist, it's simply got to get rid of its "Liebercrats." What's the sense of even having a party if it's going to allow people like Joe Lieberman and his clones within its ranks to sabotage its very reason for being? It is very commendable that progressives are so dedicated to their belief in social, political and intellectual, egalitarianism. It's commendable that they believe that all Democrats should be left to their own conscience with respect to public policy. But Democrats must keep in mind that they are also a party. Their only reason for being is to promote a progressive agenda. So while it's commendable to believe in a Blue Dog's right to independent thought, it's stupid not to demand some measure of basic loyalty while that politician is benefitting from their political brand, and living on their dime (make that, their constituents' dime). The turncoats within the Democratic Party is not only making them look incompetent, but foolish. It's no wonder the American people are prepared to accept a Republican lie before they'll accept a Democrat pointing out what's right before their eyes. At least the Republican will tell his lie with conviction, and stand up for what he's lying about. There is such a thing as being too tolerant, and Democrats are just that. They allow people to walk all over both them, and their truth - even other Democrats. Just think about the treachery that Joe Lieberman committed against the Democratic Party. After the Democrats oozed blood, sweat, and tears trying to get him elected to the vice presidency, this man turned right around and started snuggling up to the very man who literally stole the election from the Democrats. Then, he not only supported the Republican Party two elections later, but became the darling of the Republican convention. Now, after winning the 2008 election, the president and Democratic congress not only welcomed him back, but passed over a loyal Democrat to give him a chairmanship - even though his own Democratic constituency had long since rejected him. Can you even imagine the Republican Party doing such a thing? Of course not, because, again, even though Republicans are lousy at governing, they recognize that as not only bad politics, but down right stupid. The Democrats might as well have let the Republican Party bug the DNC. No vote is that valuable. And what did Democrats get in return? They got a self-serving sociopath with absolutely no character. Lieberman has simply thumbed his nose at all of the loyalty, effort, and money that millions of Democrats put into supporting his candidacy in the 2000 election. And is he the least bit repentant? Not hardly. Even now, in a healthcare reform initiative that the Democratic Party has sought since 1947, Lieberman's public position is, maybe we should hold off just a little bit longer. He wants to hold off just a little bit longer as 45,000 Americans a year die due to a lack of affordable health care. This man is nothing short of Benedict Arnold, in a party filled with them. But this is the people's fault. While I'm ordinarily not one to quote the Bible, in this case the verse seems to be particularly appropriate - "God helps those who help themselves." But the Democratic Party seems to be too foolish to recognize that fact. The Democratic base should be up in arms over their party supporting such people. Their resources are being literally squandered on people who are Democrats in name only - and in the case of Lieberman, not even that. The DNC is wasting their time, money and effort propping up politicians who are only Democrats when it's convenient to use the Democratic brand to help them obtain power and prestige, or receive Democratic contributions to help them be re-elected. These are people, just like Lieberman, who give lip service to Democratic principles in public, but when the rubber meets the road, they're hard at work behind the scenes sabotaging anything that challenges the status quo. But there is a very simple way to weed these people out. As the very first order of business with each new congress, the Democrats should caucus and agree upon a reasonable, but firm, primary agenda. Thereafter, bills should be put forward and amendments considered to address minor concerns. But after a bill has been agreed upon by the Democratic leadership, any Democrat who fails to support that bill should be stripped of any positions they hold due to Democratic seniority, and targeted for replacement the very next time he or she comes up for re-election. Democrats simply have to take disloyalty more seriously. They shouldn't even have to discuss the matter. It should be routine - just so the turncoat will know there's nothing personal. If a politician wants to use Democratic resources to be elected, he should be willing to stand in solidarity behind Democratic initiatives. If he wants to be independent, he has that option. But let him be true to his fiscal or ideological philosophy and run as independent, so as not to waste Democratic resources. That way, he can support the Democrats when it's convenient, and the Democrats will support him, when it's convenient. I'm sure there are those who will say that's extreme, since Democrats come from districts with varying political persuasions. But since many of these people can't seem to find the integrity to put their constituents before self-interest, we have to find a way to force integrity down their throats. You can't always get politicians to act in the best interest of the people, but you can be virtually certain that they'll always act in their own best interest. In addition, with this process the Democratic leadership can be held directly accountable when legislation favors lobbying interests over the interests of the people. It's up to the DNC and the politicians themselves to educate the public about exactly what the Democratic Party stands for. A Democrat shouldn't have to lie to the voters about being more conservative than he actually is to be elected. He should be elected because he and the DNC have done an effective job of educating the voter that the Democratic Party's agenda is directly aligned with their best interest. If the party is effective in that area, when a voter votes for a Democrat they'll know exactly what they're getting before they even cast their vote - as they should. Sure, Democrats want to remain a "big tent" party. But big tent doesn't mean a party that compromises its basic values, and neither does it mean a party that includes all manner of wing-nuts. A big tent party is one that is reasonable and measured in its effort to reach its primary goals. But when a tent becomes so big that it begins to accommodate those who would deny basic and affordable healthcare to the American people, that should send up a red flag that it's time to trim back a bit. 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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A Stately Old Ship

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

A STATELY OLD SHIP

The stately old vessel limps weakly towards port
As the rolling storm begins;
Veracious vermin gnawing
at its rotting hull,
Destroying from within.
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Colors that once flew proud and strong
In distant and exotic lands,
Now flutter shamefully, tattered and torn,
Reflecting the flaws of "flawless" men.
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With cheers of fading greatness,
True patriots are scorned;
Demagogues are lifted aloft,
While the stately ship we mourn.
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But the old vessel was made of sturdier stuff
By a different kind of man;
Storms and vermin and rotting hulls
It can easily withstand.
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Waiting in port, a fresh new crew
Now eager to take command;
A new coat of paint, and fresh colors await,
This proud ship of state's next stand.

In memory of
Senator Edward M. Kennedy

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With His Dying Breath, He Fought For A Better America, and He Was Instrumental in Getting Sen. Robert Byrd (a former Klan Member) to Leave His Death Bed to Appear in the Senate to Support the First Black President of the United States.

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 We wish you calm seas, and steady winds, my friend.

 

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Statesman.

 

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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 Republican Agenda: Keep America Ignorant and Miserable, at any Cost

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE The Republican Agenda: Keep America Ignorant and Miserable, at any Cost The 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 - international business interests, and social bigots. It is the former of these two, international business, that controls the GOP. It's made up of highly educated individuals with huge resources and plenty of clout - and they use every bit of their resources and clout to manipulate what has become their citizen army - the social bigots. The social bigots are the people we see armed to the teeth at presidential speeches, disrupting townhall meetings, and fighting against their own interests. In short, these are the Joe the Plumbers of the world. While the traditional conservatives are legitimately concerned about the direction of the country and assuring that the nation remains fiscally sound, big business could care less about the condition of the American people, because for the most part, they've become international in scope. That should be clear to anyone with eyeballs, considering how they first, created an economic crisis in this country, then used the very crisis that they created to gouge the American people. So all big business is concerned about is making money at our expense, and more often than not, to our detriment. These are the very same people who have gouged America dry, given themselves huge bonuses, then rented post office boxes in other countries to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. And if that isn't bad enough, these corporations then used the very money that they avoided in taxes to buy politicians, who are suppose to be representing us, to feather their nest even further. They also use the incredible wealth that they've managed to maintain, again, thanks to our tax dollars, to clog our airwaves with propaganda in order to incite every undereducated social bigot within earshot to near insurrection. They use these people to distract us from examining the true issues, that would serve to protect us from their greed. And the social bigots are easy targets - not only because they have less than a tenuous grasp on reality, but in many cases, they're willing stooges. These are not true victims. Due to their bigotry - and I don't mean simply racial bigotry, but bigotry against anyone who doesn't happen to share their beliefs - and anger over losing the last election, they're willing to accept any manner of nonsense disseminated about the government, and President Obama in particular. Due to that blind anger they're perfectly willing to not only accept the most blatant nonsense, but they're also willing to cut their own throats, and that of their families, if it means striking a blow in the name hatred. Take the issue of socialism, for example. Shouldn't even the most misguided idiot understand that there's a big difference between the government taking over the free enterprise system, as oppose to protecting its citizens from the predatory business practices and greed of large corporations? Even after being told by Wendell Potter, whistle-blower against the insurance industry and former chief spokesman for Cigna Healthcare, in testimony before congress that "I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick—all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors." These social bigots are trying to demonize a man who's placed his presidency on the line to try to protect their families. Potter went on to testify that "The thing they [the insurance industry] fear most is a single-payer plan. They fear even the public insurance option being proposed; they'll pull out all the stops they can to defeat that to try to scare people into thinking that embracing a public health insurance option would lead down the slippery slope toward socialism ... Putting a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor. They've used those talking points for years, and they've always worked." As I've pointed out in previous articles, some things are just too important to our society to be left to for-profit business interests. Those things include police, fire, national defense, and public healthcare. I've also invited the reader to try to imagine calling the police to report your daughter being raped or kidnaped and the police informing you that they were sorry but there was nothing they could do - your daughter just turned 18, so she's no longer covered in your rape/kidnap policy. That's exactly what's happening to hundreds of thousands of people regarding their health-care. They'll pay their premiums for twenty-five years, then after coming down with an ailment that the insurance company considers prohibitively expensive, the insurance company suspends their coverage. A prime example of that is the young woman who came down with cancer, then the insurance company denied her coverage because she failed to report that she had acne as a child. Without a public option to take away the insurance companies' monopoly, they can make coverage so expensive that any other laws that we pass will be meaningless. Let's say that we pass a law saying that it is illegal to deny coverage for pre-existing illnesses. The insurance industry can say, okay, we'll cover you, but it's gonna cost $800 a month, and you've got to pay for 55% of your treatment. That's why the industry is fighting so hard against a public option. They don't want the people to have any place else to go. If we have a government option that sets the price of healthcare at a reasonable rate, the industry can't inflate their prices to make us pay for those $30 million executive bonuses. If they did, they'd lose all of their business. They want us locked in and mandated by law to purchase health insurance, and have nowhere to go but to them. The price of healthcare is going up several times faster than wages, and it has been estimated that it will cost the average person $24,000 a year for health insurance in the next seven years. That's 41% of the average salary. That will not only be a tremendous hardship on the individual, but a severe drag on the economy, since businesses won't hire new people because they can't afford to provide employee healthcare. So the GOP sees defeating healthcare reform as a win-win proposition. It will keep the American people traumatize due to the lack of affordable healthcare, sabotage President Obama's efforts to revitalize the economy, and also appease their true constituents, the insurance industry - all of which will help them to regain power. Thus, the GOP is using its social bigots to disrupt society in order to protect America's moral obligation to allow Wall Street to cut our throats - yet, again. 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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The Religious Right: A Threat to America

BENEATH THE SPIN · ERIC L. WATTREE The Religious Right: A Threat to America . When I became of age one of the first things I did was to reassess all of my previous beliefs and attitudes. Thereafter, I discarded as invalid anything that didn't stand up to logical and objective scrutiny, because even at that young age, I'd lived long enough to recognize that most of the problems in this world are a direct result of our failure to re-examine our illogical views of reality. Most religious zealots not only fail to go through that process, but refuse to as a matter of religious doctrine. It is due to that kind of zealotry, along with their doctrinal obligation against even considering the fact that they might be zealots, that makes the religious right a clear and present danger to both the United States, and the world. . Now, I don't have anything against religious people, per se - I was raised by Christians, and they were wonderful and loving people. In fact, I'm very spiritual myself. But if you show me a man who believes in talking snakes and that Moses parted the Red Sea, I'll show you a man whose logical assessment of reality cannot be relied upon. . Such people fail to realize that efficient thought require that we must first see reality as it is, and only then, as we would have it. But these people have a tendency to try to force reality to conform to what they want it to be, then demonize, and in many cases condone the slaughter, of others who they even suspect might view the world differently. Thus, it is primarily their kind of thinking that introduce into the world the related horrors of xenophobia, homophobia, racism, etc. . And the GOP leadership is expert at dipping into this well. While most GOP leaders could personally care less about religion, the intolerance of religious zealotry is one of their most potent weapons, and as we speak, they're mounting a campaign of intolerance against President Obama. And to demonstrate just how potent that weapon is, just tune in to FOX. The zealots are currently wallowing in their intolerance like hogs in slop, even though it means cutting their own throats. . Because the fact is, the zealots don't really care about religion themselves, at least, with respect to how it relates to God. If they did, those very same people wouldn't be so mean-spirited, selfish, and wedded to the instruments of death. . Another indicator of that is how they only embrace those tenents of their religion and/or patriotism when it promotes their point of view. Take school prayer, for example. While these zealots are ready to lay down their lives for the constitution when it comes to their right to come armed to the teeth to a presidential assembly, they're prepared to ignore both the Bible and the constitution when it comes to the separation of church and state . Matthew 6:6 says the following: . "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." . So, according to Matthew, public prayer is not the proper thing to do (and by extention, I would imagine that God also wouldn't be impressed by the ostentation of flags and crosses being worn as lapel pins). But the zealots aren't interested in that scripture, because it neither contributes to their point of view, nor is it condusive to their campaign to demonize others. . Another thing that zealots tend to conveniently overlook is the fact that their entire concept of God is merely an accident of birth. If they'd been born in in the Middle East, chances are they would have been Muslems, or if they'd been born in China they'd probably have been a Buddhist, or in India, a Hindu or Sikh. . That immediately suggested that religious doctrine is more a cultural manifestation of man than it is a dictate from God. So anyone who has surrendered their soul to any organization, be it religious or otherwise, and have a mind that is so closed to reality that they don't recognize that fact, makes me very nervous, because they're obviously more into hating others than they're into loving God. After all, the only reason that we're wasting young lives in Afghanistan, is because we're trying to keep Pakistan's nuclear missiles out of the hands of religious zealots - and by definition, a zealot's a zealot, regardless to what country he's from. They're all out of touch with reality, whether they're Christian, Muslim, or Jew. . One would think that any clear-thinking person would recognize that God - or Nature, if you will - provided us with a sense of ethics, common sense, and empathy to guide us through life. So man doesn't require a users guide any more than birds require a calendar or map to fly South for the winter. And since ninety-nine percent of all the conflicts throughout the world involve a religious component, common sense should tell us that religious doctrine not only does NOT come from God, but indeed, represents the very darkest side of man. . Think about it, with all of the organized religions throughout the world, and all of the billions of people who claim to love God, why is there so much cruelty, murderous atrocities and suffering in the world? Why is it that with all the collection plates being passed around, collecting billions of tax-free dollars in the United States, for example, that there's any homelessness or suffering anywhere in this country? And most instructive of all is, why is it that the Bible belt was the birthplace of slavery, and the most bigoted part of the entire country? . I'll tell you why - because our religious doctrines are not focused on teaching us to love our fellow man. They're more focused on teaching us that other people who are unlike ourselves and have different beliefs are heathens. It is in our churches where we learn that God is on our side, and "those others" who don't look and think like we do are un-Godly, and are going to be condemned by God to eternal damnation. No? I'd be willing to bet a years pay that some of these so-called "men of God"are condemning me right now for having the audacity to speak the truth. . That's what makes it so easy for us to commit the most horrendous atrocities against others. Our religions spend all of their time teaching us to "have faith" in what we're being told, and hardly any time at all teaching us to love our fellow man. Man's need to control the minds of the masses dictate that they focus on teaching us to be selfish and hateful, rather than loving and Godly. It's all about saving MY soul from the devil, and what God did or is going to do for ME, instead of what I'm going to do to make this a better world. . Consider what man has told us to have faith in. Over the centuries we've been told such things as God wants us to burn young women at the stake because they're a little different. They told us that God wanted us to excommunicate Galileo and threaten other brilliant scholars with death before the inquisition for having the audacity to try to educate us and give us the benefit of their God-given brilliance. And why? Because their brilliance betrayed the erroneous thinking of church leaders who claimed to be getting their information from a direct pipeline to God. We see that very same Mindset today. Many church leaders dismiss the validity of evolution, even in face of the fact that every time we get our children vaccinated it validates the fact that man is evolving. . When we're vaccinated we give our bodies a manageable dose of a disease. This allows our bodies to evolve to the point that it can tolerate a disease that would otherwise killed or disabled us. But the church has a vested interest in discounting evolution, because new knowledge is often in direct conflict with their version of creation. Thus, for their own selfish reasons religious leaders dispute evolution, global warming and other valuable knowledge, even though every bit of new knowledge we've ever collected has served to glorify God's wondrous creation much more thoroughly than Biblical authors could even dream of. But religious leaders don't care about glorifying God - they're only interested in saving face, and revenue. . Thus, some of the most serious problems that we have in the world today is a direct result of our organized religious leaders having our minds on lockdown. Their activity in that regard is a direct assault on the will of God, since God clearly made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man to think. We know this, because all of the evidence available to man shows that God made man's ability to think the key to his survival. . Man arrived on this hostile planet as a necked ape, but with neither a legitimate ape's agility or strength. Man wasn't as ferocious as the lion, as strong as the elephant, nor could he soar like the eagle. He should have been dead on arrival, but God provided him with one tool to help him to survive - the human mind. And it is through the development that tool that man, this most unlikely and fragile of creatures, has established dominion over the entire Earth, and in an incredibly short period of time. Now, through our God-given intellect, we've become more fearsome than the most ferocious lion, we've created machines that are thousands of times more powerful than the strongest elephant, and we can now soar far beyond the eagle's domain. We've even left the planet to explore other worlds. . Thus, it was clearly God's will that we be logical, thinking beings. So for us to now allow man to come along and tell us that we should suspend our nature as thinking beings, and "have faith" in what he tells us, is a slap in the face of God. By doing so, we're showing more faith in what man says, than what God has done. . That is the source of all of our problems, we're not remaining true to our nature. To tell a man not to think is like telling a fish not to swim, or a bird not to fly. If either of those creatures were stupid enough to comply, they would not survive. And if man continues to listen to other self-serving men instead of utilizing his mind as God intended, he's not going to survive. . It was through putting our faith in man that we believed that God condoned the Manifest Destiny, that led to the near genocide of Native Americans. It was through our faith in man that we believed that God condoned the brutal enslavement of millions of African Americans. It was also man's faith in man that allowed Hitler to convinced the German people that God condoned the murder of six million Jews. And more recently, it was through having more faith in George Bush and Dick Cheney than the common sense that God gave us , that the American people were convinced that God condoned the sacrifice of our youth and the blatant murder of 102 thousand innocent Iraqis, who did absolutely nothing to us, other than being in the unfortunate position of possessing the oil that we coveted. . But don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with being spiritual. But always remember, just because a man has the gift of gab and says he's a man of God, that doesn't mean that God sees it that way. God doesn't speak to him any louder than he speaks to you, and no man speaks for God. So whenever you want to hear God's word, just listen to your heart, and God will speak to you directly. . And there's one other thing. While admittedly, I don't speak for God myself, I think I'm pretty safe in saying that God will never tell you to buy another man a big house and a new Cadillac - he didn't do it for Jesus, so why should he do it for these latter-day saints? . And for you zealots out there. Don't forget, God works in mysterious ways. Although, personally, I don't think God works in this way, based on your religion, he might have led you to read this piece. You don't have to have "faith" in one word I've said. Every word is based on fact . . . and according to the Bible, "the truth shall set you free." So maybe you should think about what I'm saying . . . if you're allowed to. . 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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The Ironies of 911

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE The Ironies of 911 While viewing America's solemn commemoration of the eighth anniversary of 911, I began to reflect upon its many ironies. The very first thing that came to mind was Dick Cheney's claim that the Bush administration's policies have kept us safe. My second thought was, he must think we're crazy - and far too many of us are. When one looks upon the trauma, anger, and pain still etched upon the face of America eight years after the loss of 3000 of its citizens, one can only imagine what the Iraqi people are feeling after the documented murder (by name) of over 101,552 innocent men, women, and Iraqi children. Only after we begin to recognize the gravity of the atrocity that we committed in Iraq will America begin to understand that we will never be safe until we make the people responsible for that carnage accountable for their actions. Americans have a tendency to discount the valued lives of people from other countries. We tend to forget that people outside our borders grieve and mourn the loss of their loved ones just as we do in here in America. So even as eight years later we grieve and commemorate the loss of 3000 Americans, the unjust murder of 101,552 innocent Iraqis - Iraqis whose only sin was that they sat on one of the world's largest oil deposits - tend to be just an abstract number to us. But as we mourn our own, we should stop to consider what that number represents. If as we grieved we stopped to consider that since the population of Iraq is only one tenth that of the United States, in order for a terrorist group to reap the level of carnage and destruction upon us that we've perpetrated upon the people of Iraq, they'd have to kill one million and seventy-one thousand innocent American men, women, and children. Maybe then as we grieve over the loss of 3000 American lives, we’d begin to imagine what the people of Iraq must be feeling. We'd also begin to recognize that each one of those 102 thousand innocent Iraqis have friends and family who see us in the very same way that Americans look upon Osama Bin Laden. Then add to that, that if an undocumented worker can simply walk across the Rio Grande, so can an undocumented terrorist. Yet, Dick Cheney insist on talking to us like we're idiots. Considering the above facts, do you feel safer? If you do, you're a fool. American safety is a myth, and Cheney knows it. The fact is, one of the reasons we may not have been hit again in the past eight years is because Osama reasoned that Bush and Cheney was doing such a good job of destroying America, why should he waste perfectly good terrorists. But life is about more than just being safe; there's also a moral component to this story. As we mourn the unjust deaths of our American compatriots, that anguish should be coupled with our outrage over that very same kind of injustice (multiplied thirty-four fold) that's been perpetrated upon the Iraqi people in our name. Our failure to do address this issue desecrates the memory of those we've lost, since those 3000 Americans didn't just die at the hands of terrorists, they, ultimately, died at the hands of injustice. So the enemy is not just Osama Bin Laden. The true enemy is the moral depravation that Osama represents, and under the guise of avenging our dead, the Bush administration perpetuated the very same kind of moral depravation in Iraq, and much more. And for what? The 911 victims are still dead, and America is no better off than we were on September 12, 2001. On September 12, 2001 Osama Bin Laden was strutting around in the hills of Afghanistan thumbing his nose at America, and as I write this article on September 16, 2009, Osama Bin Laden is still strutting around in the hills of Afghanistan thumbing his nose at America. The only difference between our situation today, and the day after 911, is that 4106 young American troops have joined the victims of 911 in death, and over 100,000 more have been wounded and left to live lives that will never be the same. In addition, America's stature in the world has been irreparably damaged, the U.S. Treasury has been ravaged, our economy has been brought to its knees, and the United States Constitution has been savagely attacked. So the fact is, we're much worse off than we were the day after 911. America trusted Bush and Cheney to avenge our dead and protect our interests, but instead, they ignored our dead and promoted their own interests. Instead of going after Osama and making us safe, they went after Iraqi oil and enriched their cronies. So the irony is, if it was Osama Bin Laden's goal to bring America to its knees, the Bush administration was his closest, most valuable ally. Bush, Cheney, and their GOP cohorts have done more to damage America than any outside terrorist could ever hope to. Osama hit us at the perfect time - at a time when greed, irresponsibility, and corruption was at the helm of state. As a result, with the assistance of the GOP and Bush administration, Osama has been uniquely successful in changing the character of America - possibly, forever. The excesses of these so-called super-patriots that we trusted to protect America played right into Bin Laden's hands. Even through America's pain these so-called patriots remained true to their unconscionable creed - "Never let a good crisis go to waste." They took America's pain after 911 and used it to solidify their power, weaken our American ideals and institutions, then enriched themselves and their cronies. As a result, they've come just short of turning the United States into a Banana Republic. And the horror is, they're not done. Consistent in their creed, they’ve become even more ruthless out of power. Even as I speak the institution of the presidency is under attack, there's an asserted effort afoot to destroy the American economy, and elected officials are encouraging insurrection and even secession from the union. Even as they mount a direct assault on America, they tell us they're keeping us safe, while they themselves are America’s greatest threat. So President Obama's hands are indeed full. He’s being force to protect the United States from enemies both at home and abroad, even as he tries to repair the worst economic destruction to America in the last seventy years, and he's not going to be able to pull us out of this alone. This nation's founding fathers must be turning over in their graves as they watch the blatant sabotage of this nation. And if we listen closely, we can hear them screaming for all true Americans to stand in firm solidarity behind this president and help him to save this nation. But at the same time, they're also speaking to the president. This is no time for the expediency of making deals with the devil. While our political initiatives are important, nothing is more important than protecting this nation from the insurrection and tyranny from within, and the hatred created through our own tyranny abroad. These issues must be addressed, and they can only be addressed through the strict adherence to the rule of law. We cannot afford the luxury of having anyone who's too big to fall. We can no more expect to move forward with tyrants and war criminals within our midst than we could allow others to move forward if they were holding Osama Bin Laden. These monsters simply must be brought to justice - not only to atone for their brutalities abroad, but to address a growing malignancy here at home. So as I watched the solemn ceremonies honoring our dead, it was clear that the greatest irony of 911 by far was the fact that those we trusted to protect this nation against further assault became so drunk from eight years of unfettered power that they've overshadow Osama Bin Laden himself, as the greatest threat to America. And just like on the morning of 911, the American people don't seem to have a clue to the danger just over the horizon, and heading their way. 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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Bravo, Mr. President!

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE Bravo, Mr. President! As I sat back last night and watched president Obama speak before the joint session of congress, I was delighted to be able to say to myself, now that's the man I voted for. He spoke with eloquence, he addressed every relevant issue, and he was inspirational - but most importantly, he spoke with the kind of strength that the American people expect of their leaders. Personally, I wanted to hear an unwavering commitment to a public option in universal healthcare, because in my opinion, that's the only thing that's going to prevent the private insurance companies from playing fast and loose with whatever policy is adopted. But just the sight of a strong and resolute president standing before me gave me the confidence that I could trust this man to do what is best for America. I wasn't the only one experiencing that feeling, and I'm sure that the president could see it in the eyes of congress as he looked across the room. I hope he never forgets that sight, because when all else fails, strength and personal resolve will prevail above all else with the America people. Just a cursory review of our history will substantiate that fact. Out of all of the presidents that we honor most throughout our history, each had various shortcomings, but they all had one thing in common - they didn't take no crap. While these presidents understood the value of being a likeable guy, they understood that it was of more value to be an authority figure. So while they strove to be likeable, they strove to be likeable parents, not friends. They understood that while we like both parents and friends, a parent has the quality of being not just liked, but loved, honored, respected, and most importantly, trusted. That's what I saw for the very first time last night - President Obama as parent. In the past we saw Obama the inspiration, Obama the superstar, and President Obama the mystery wrapped in a riddle. But last night we saw President Obama the authority figure, and it is essential that he nurture and maintain that persona. The value of that persona has already reaped rewards. When Rep. Joe Wilson called out that the president was lying, his emotions didn't get away from him as he claimed when had to come crawling back to apologize, his outburst was calculated. Considering all of the rancor that had taken place at the town halls during the recess, he thought he was going to be received with wild applause and become a hero of the GOP. But to his surprise, when President Obama pause to glare in his direction, you could hear a pin drop, because by that time the president had established his authority. The reason his GOP colleagues didn't rush to his support is due to a very simple psychological difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives made the perfect children. They always respected the ideals of their parents and authority figures without question. On the other hand, most children who grew up to become liberals were often considered "problem children," because they were independent thinkers and always questioned authority. Most Americans, those who grew up to become moderates, fall somewhere in between. They became independent thinkers as adults, but unlike liberals, they still have a healthy sense of trust and respect for authority figures. But the problem with conservatives is that even after they become adults, they never learned to think independently. Thus, for a conservative, if a person's thinking varies even the slightest bit from the status quo, that person is considered a bad boy or girl. They look upon the person in the very same way that they did in the third grade - as a child who refuses to listen to the teacher, or who doesn't mind their parents. It is completely lost on them that as adults, it's time to start thinking for ourselves. So they're the one's who are most apt to gulp down Republican cool-aid. That brings us to why the Republican party has been so efficient at demagoguing the American people. While the GOP is atrocious at governance, there are none more astute when it comes to public manipulation - they have to be, in order to push an agenda that is invariably at odds with what's in the best interest of the people. But they know that they have a ready-made following that's been nurtured from birth to follow any one who seems to represent authority. So since they understood from the very beginning America's fixation on authority, their plan of attack against President Obama was quite simple - to undermine his image in that regard. Thus, even before Obama became president, the GOP began to attack his authority by claiming that he was nothing but a rock star, he hung out with terrorists, and began to question his American birth. Then immediately after he became president, a cartoon was published where two police officers (honored authority figures) saw fit to shoot him down in the street. Thereafter, Rush Limbaugh began to openly advocate that they work to sabotage his attempt to restore the economy and provide Americans with affordable health care. Then the GOP literally encouraged, while non-violent (at this point), armed insurrection at town hall meetings, all designed to undermine the president's legitimacy. So while last night's speech went a long way towards re-establishing who's running things, it is incumbent upon the president to maintain his authority and always deal with the GOP from a position of strength. I can't emphasize this point too strongly. We're dealing with people who in the past eight years have lodged a direct attack on the United States Constitution, literally wasted the lives of young Americans for personal and political gain, and have committed the most unconscionable war crimes. Now, they casually suggest secession from the union simply because they lost an election. There is no speculation here. These people have proven to be completely irresponsible. They're like a bunch of irate children with matches and liter fluid. They have absolutely no respect for American ideals, or the welfare of the American people. In addition, they're totally oblivious to the concept of limits. In short, they're the greatest threat to America since the Civil War. And yes, it can happen here - again.

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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An Open Letter to President Obama

BENEATH THE SPIN ERIC L. WATTREE An Open Letter to President Obama Mr. President: I've always been one of your biggest supporters. I remember looking on with moist eyes the day you threw your hat in the ring. I knew even then that I was witnessing the beginning of a new era in America. Even then I knew that you were destined to become the next president of the United States, so along with millions of others I embraced the audacity of hope. While I've voted in every election since I've been eligible to vote, this time it was a little different. This time around, for the very first time in my life, I set my cynicism aside and invested my time, money, and emotion into a campaign. I defended you in my columns against even the slightest hint of criticism. I wrote letters and corresponded with people and groups all over the country promoting your interests, and I even arranged for my bank to send a modest check each month. I didn't do these things because I saw you as a rock star, I did them so I could contribute something more than just lip service to change in America. Now I'm asking you to reciprocate, because as I see it, you're on the verge of deeply disappointing millions of people like myself. When the pundits first began pointing out that the far left was becoming disenchanted with you for compromising your campaign promises in the face of GOP pressure, and then your administration started sending out trial balloons, I began to agonize - Here we go again. But what made these reports even more painful was knowing that the mild admonishment from the pundits hadn't gone far enough. The truth is, it's not just angry radicals who are becoming disenchanted, it's your entire base. The dream that was so palpable in the hearts of millions just a matter of months ago, was on the verge of evaporating before our eyes. It was on the verge of succumbing to the very thing we rallied against - business as usual. In one of my previous articles I pointed out how much I admired the fact that you tended to give reason priority over ideology. I found it quite refreshing to see a politician who assessed every issue on its on merit instead of basing his decisions on pre-chewed and regurgitated dogma. I had hoped that such a mindset would help to break the gridlock in Washington and serve to help the American people to get the kind of governance that they deserved. But it became clear early on that the GOP was having none of that. They clearly demonstrated that it wasn't effective governance that they were after. Their primary motivation is to bring you down and regain power, by any means necessary. So why pretend otherwise? I though you'd recognize that fact and quickly replace your carrot with a stick - or more appropriately, a brick - but to my horror, you're still running around Washington trying to pet a snake. Wake up, Mr. President. It's time to show some backbone. If you don't, by this time next year you'll be both branded, and through. Somehow I managed to missed Harvard, but as a proud product of South Central Los Angeles I have extensive experience when it comes to aggression. So believe me, mindless aggression can never be appeased through kindness. The Republicans are like coyotes. They're still feeling you out at this point, but once they're convinced that theres nothing to fear, they're gonna have you for lunch. They're all bullies, and the first place a bully goes when he's looking for a victim is to that guy that's always going around trying to make friends with everybody. He draws the bully like a mouth to a flame, because the bully perceives Mr. Nice Guy's need to seek out friends as a sign of weakness. At this point you're only into your seventh month as president. While you're putting up a good front so far, the reality is, the Republicans, in spite of their small numbers, already have you cowering in the corner while they're encouraging blatant insurrection all over the country. They're publishing cartoons about your assassination, telling blatant lies about your initiatives, and showing up at your town hall meetings armed to the teeth. You even have a war criminal running around shaking his finger at you for having the audacity to investigate his crimes - and at the same time, he's telling the people that you're too weak to defend them against an aggressor. So the fact is, you're not looking too good. You're allowing the Republican party to Carter-ize you. They're ignoring your accomplishments, portraying all of your assets as liabilities, and you're too busy trying to make friends to fight back. They're making you look like a wimp, and the American people can't stand a wimp - regardless to how nice a guy he is. You may feel that you're being reasonable and remaining above the fray, but that's not the public perception. even as I write the American people are beginning to ask themselves a very pertinent question - how can we trust this man to protect us from Osama Bin Laden when he can't even stand up to Dick Cheney? You should also ask yourself that question, because the the Republican strategy has absolutely nothing to do with substance. It's all about perception. Ask Jimmy Carter. So what should you do about this situation? Fortunately, growing up in the inner city was instructive in this area as well. Most young boys in the hood learn very early in life that if they want to save themselves a lot of unnecessary fighting, they should grab the biggest bully in the crowd and wear his butt out. Thereafter, everybody else will leave them alone. That's exactly what you need to do to Dick Cheney, and it's really not such a daunting task, since most bullies are actually wimps in disguise - that's how they know who to target. So your rehabilitation should start with revealing Cheney for the wimp that he really is - and I guarantee you, he's undoubtedly one of the biggest wimps in Washington - he's simply been hiding behind the power of his executive position for the past eight years, and he's learned the value of playing the strong silent type. But in spite of the foreboding image that he's carefully cultivated, don't forget, this is the very same Dick Cheney who hid behind his wife's apron strings to avoid having to defend this country in Vietnan - five times. Thus, it's easy for him to play tough now, when it's other people's lives he's placing on the line. So with just a minimum amount of pressure you're going to find that Cheney's not only a wimp, he's a wimp without character. The minute he begins to feel any kind of personal jeopardy he's going to start throwing people under the bus, then all of their crimes will begin to unravel. You can begin this process by simply embracing the resolve to follow the rule of law. Unleashing Attorney General Holder to do a full and unfettered investigation of the Bush Administration's corruption and war crimes (just like the Republicans would surely do if the situation was reversed). Thereafter, there's a literal certainty that the fingers of Bush and Cheney's corruption will creep so deeply into the Republican party that they won't have time to think about anything else but saving their own butts. Being the weasels that they are, then they'll begin to re-discover the virture of public service, in an attempt to generate goodwill in order to save their Then you should setup a public relations office in the White House to both coordinate your initiatives and trumpet your accomplishments. In the area of healthcare, for example, you need to do more than just talk to the people about the hardships that the private insurance industry has visited upon the America - you need to demonstrate it by going about the country and gathering up people who have personal hardships to share (with a special emphasis on finding Republicans who fought against the Clinton healthcare plan). Use these people to do political ads about what they had to endure, then run those ads continuously, all across the country. The very same kind of ads could be produced using small business owners discussing what they were paying in healthcare costs five years ago as oppose to today, and the impact that it's had on their businesses and their ability to hire new employees. I've also noticed that the economy is rebounding, yet I've heard very little fanfare about it. That's a big deal. The White House public relations office should be all over that. It seems to me that if you do nothing else in your term of office, the fact that you averted a second Republican generated Great Depression, and without GOP support, is something that the American people should know about. And finally, I once heard you mention that you didn't support reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. That's a complete giveaway to the Republican party, and it makes absolutely no sense. The argument that the fairness doctrine hinders the right of free speech is totally specious. The fairness doctrine doesn't hinder speech, on the contrary, it promotes it. It mandates that if a broadcaster disseminates inaccurate or slanted information that it must provide equal time for opposing views. Thus, there's nothing in such a policy that would hinder free speech - it simply makes it costly and inconvenient to tell a lie. The American people have just as much right to expect truth in content with respect to what goes into their minds (and the minds of their children) as they do with what goes into their bodies. One is just as important as the other, since accurate information gives people the necessary knowledge to act in their own best interest. And as every insurrectionist knows, depriving the people of accurate information is the easiest way to deprive them of their rights. That's why the GOP is dead set against this policy - because it's impossible for them to compete in an informed environment. I continue to pull for you, Mr. President. I'm confident that you have the character to overcome this hurdle and go on to become one of this nation's greatest presidents. All you need is someone who's not afraid to give you a little tough love . . . and here it is: Your heart is in the right place. All you need now is for your backbone to get the message. The Republicans are not going to respond to reason nor platitudes, so show 'em what you're made of, and give 'em hell. The American people are behind you. Respectfully, 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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