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, treat Americans like mindless children without 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.

Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles (Watts). He’s a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, The Black Star News, and a contributing writer to Your Black World, the Huffington Post, ePluribus Media, and several other online sites and publications. He's also the author of "A Message From the Hood."

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:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghz4_kikLkE

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.

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 actively working against their own government?' Secondly, 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 hoped 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 the 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", they're betraying the fact that they think the American people are stupid. One would think that the GOP wouldn't even want to mention these issues, since it is only because of Republican malfeasance in office, their fiscal irresponsibility, and failure to adhere to their 'small government' rhetoric for the past eight years 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 created it. Thus, it wasn’t awarded based on stats - it was an award 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 he’s elevated the stature of all those who preceded him.

The Republican Party claims that he only received this honor because of his superstar status. But as with most things, they have it completely backwards. President Obama didn’t receive the award 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 your presidency, our forefathers are smiling down upon this man with pride, and 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.

Letter dated Sept. 10, 2009

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 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 that they totally irresponsible, have absolutely no respect for American ideals, the welfare of the American people, or understanding 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

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, because 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, 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 promoting your interests, and I even arranged for my bank to send you 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 you're on the verge of deeply disappointing millions of people.

When I first heard the pundits beginning to point out that the far left was becoming disenchanted with the way you're caving in to the GOP, I began to grieved . But what made it even more painful was knowing that their mild admonishment hadn't gone far enough. The truth is, it's not just angry radicals who are becoming disenchanted, it's your entire base. It's just that it's only the radicals who are speaking out - at this point.

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 is 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 lunch money 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.

You're only into your seventh month as president. While you're putting up a good front so far, the reality is, they 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, telling the people that you're too weak to defend them. 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. Because the bottom line is, how are you gonna protect us from Osama Bin Laden when you can even protect us from Dick Cheney?

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 you alone. It's really not as daunting a task as it seems, since most bullies are actually wimps in disguise (that's how they know who to target).

So you should start by revealing Cheney for the wimp that he really is - and I guarantee you, he's probably the biggest wimp in Washington. He's just been hiding behind his positions, and has learned to play the cold silent type. But don't forget, this is the very same Dick Cheney who hid behind his wife's apron strings to get out of Going to Vietnan.

Thus, you should start by unleashing Attorney General Holder to do a full and unfettered investigation of the Bush Administration's 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's corruption would creep so deeply into the Republican party that they wouldn't have time to think about anything but saving their own butts.

Then you should also 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.

Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Lofty Ideals are Meaningless Without the Backbone to Defend Them

Is it just me, or is anyone else curious about how the Republicans managed to suspend the United States Constitution, thrust us headlong into a costly and unjustified war, and ravage our national treasury under George Bush, while the Democrats, even after being given the White House and a huge majority in both houses of congress, can’t even manage to pass a healthcare bill that would benefit every family in America?

If indeed you have been curious about this issue, scratch your head no more. The answer is actually right before our eyes, but like the angry medicare recipient boisterously demonstrating against socialism, we refused to believe our lying eyes.

The fact is, the Democratic party desperately needs to get its act together, but two issues need to be addressed immediately. First, there are too many Republicans in drag on the Democratic side of the isle. These people have been playing both ends against the middle for years, and they’re destroying the party. They keep a constant tog-of-war going on that makes Democrats seem indecisive, and cause the American people to doubt the resolve of the Democratic party for its own initiatives.

But the debate on universal healthcare could be a blessing in disguise in that regard. It’s a debate that so clearly separates what’s in the best interest of America from the greed of private interests that it’s forcing the hypocrisy of self-interested politicians to the forefront.

Healthcare is one of those seminal issues like civil rights, social security, and the G.I. Bill. Thus, it can, and should be used to separate the wheat from the chaff, and flush out those so-called Democrats who pay lip service to progressive principles while working subtly in the background to maintain and protect the status quo. So it provides the Democratic party with an excellent opportunity to reveal, and then openly rid itself of its dead weight.

And it is essential that the Democratic party do just that - just as the party had to weed out the Dixiecrats during the civil rights movement. These Bluedog and conservative Democrats are diluting the Democratic agenda. They’re disillusioning the Democratic base, and thereby, weakening the party as a whole. So the DNC needs to take a page from the Republican playbook and use the primary system to replace these neo-crats with Democratic candidates who are loyal to the party and Democratic principles.

While the GOP is atrocious when it comes to governing, there are none better when it comes to keeping their troops in line. That’s why even though the Republican base has shrank to it lowest numbers in years, the current political environment clearly demonstrates that they’re still effective. The reason they’re still effective is because they stick together - and they stick together because they all know that any member who falls out of line will be targeted for removal in the very next election.

As progressives, most Democrats are wedded to independent thought, so they tend not to want to adopt the Republican tactic of lockstep action. But the GOP is using the Democratic party’s idealism against them, so if the Democratic Party wants to survive in this cut-throat political environment, they need to start to adding pragmatic political tactics to their lofty political ideals.

It’s time to start playing hardball. If the DNC fails to take immediate action against these thinly veiled Republicans, and start running loyal Democrats against them, it’s not only going to perpetuate the neo-crats’ rebellious behavior, but these so-called "Bluedogs" and conservative Democrats are going to bring the entire Democratic party to its knees. After all, there’s a lot of money in being a rebellious Democrat in a Democratically control congress.

That brings me to the second issue - backbone.

President Obama was elected for the most part, based on his rousing oratory, his ability to lift the American spirit, and his inspirational ideals. But if you look back through history you’ll find that while the American people will eagerly embrace these characteristics initially, in the final analysis, lofty ideals are meaningless in America if you don’t demonstrate the backbone to back them up.

We don’t have to go far to see this principle at work. One day history will look back upon Jimmy Carter as a president who was ahead of his time. He came very close to establishing piece in the Middle East, and the issues that brought him down had no more to do with him than the fall of the Soviet Union had to do with Ronald Reagan. Yet, while Ronald Reagan was clearly incompetent, and should have been both impeached and jailed on several issues, many remembered him as a great president. On the other hand, Jimmy Carter served with competence, honor and distinction, yet he’s remembered by many as weak.

The reason for that is image. Ronald Reagan isn’t honored as a great president based on anything he did in office. The only reason Reagan is remembered fondly is because he reminded the American people of John Wayne. That was his function, and that was all he needed to do - to remind America of a silver screen fantasy that bore no relation to reality. On the other hand, President Carter isn’t remembered as weak due to anything he failed to do. President Carter is remembered as weak because he represented reality - something that America is determined to escape at any cost.

The American people don’t want reality, they want to live in a fantasy. They don’t want to hear about the bestial brutality of what it took to wipe out the Native American population on this continent. They want to hear about their Manifest Destiny. They don’t want to talk about the gross immorality of slavery. They want to talk about America as that shining light on the hill.

So if I could relay just one message to President Obama it would be the following:

Ok, you’ve shown me that you can be a nice guy. Now let me see you grab the Republican party by the scruff of the neck and throw ‘em out the saloon. That’s what the American people want to see. Sucking up to the Republican party is not helping your image at all. Have you ever seen Randolph Scott sucking up to the bad guys? America wants a gunslinger.

I know your ears would look funny in a Stetson, but at least get the dialogue right.

From Annette Walker

To Glen Ford, Executive Editor of the Black Agenda Report:

A few thoughts in reference to your recent article, “The Peculiar Class Solidarity of Barack Obama and ‘Skip’ Gates”, posted on July 27, 2009.

U.S. Presidents should not get involved in local matters, which should be left to state, city and county governments. So this begs the question: Why has Barack Obama become involved in the Gates-Crowley dispute?

You say it’s an issue of class bonding. I disagree. I believe there are two reasons. First, he had to engage in some damage control for his remark that the Cambridge police acted ‘stupidly’. It was an error on his part to admit that he didn’t have all the facts about the arrest, but then go on to make a judgmental statement.

Second, having committed that ‘faux pas’, Obama realized that he had created the opportunity to tread into some very sensitive territory that he has had to be cautious about as President. He had the opportunity to throw the spotlight on a sensitive ‘race’ issue that is national in scope.

You mention the class issue. Let’s reflect on Obama’s background. Upon graduation from Columbia University, he chose not to seek employment in the corporate sector or those areas that attract Ivy League graduates. Rather, he chose to become a community organizer in a predominately African-American neighborhood in Chicago. After two years he left that endeavor because he believed that he would need to be in a policymaking position to better assist poor people and minorities.

You may be aware that “Brother” Thomas Sowell, the economist, is warning people to beware of Obama’s background as a community organizer. Sowell says that Obama’s experience explains why he is trying to lead the United States “down the road to Socialism”. So much for Sowell’s misunderstanding.

Remember that African-Americans with Obama’s upbringing ---overseas, in Hawaii and Indonesia and with little contact with Black Americans—sometimes have a hard time developing positive relationships with us. Obama, however, had a profound desire not only to get to know his African family—in Kenya--, but to be part of the African-American community in this country. His marriage to Michelle Robinson, from a working-class family on Chicago’s South side, fits in with the way he envisioned himself.

After finishing Harvard Law School, he returned to Chicago and entered the political arena. As we’ve been told repeatedly since the Gates arrest, as an Illinois state legislator, Obama had a special interest in the racial profiling issue.

We know about his road to the White House. We also know that his advisors cautioned him about how to handle the race issue during the campaign. In brief, White Americans must feel that he is not going to be a ‘Black President”, but one who “just happens to be Black”.

Obama has always wanted to be and is President of all the people. However, it is a gross error—and just plain wrong—for anyone to think that Obama has set aside the race issue. It’s just that he has to be careful with his approach and strategy.

The Gates-Crowley matter has given him the opportunity to get involved with an issue that is not really local. Racial-profiling is a national issue. And it’s a sensitive issue.

The fact that a Black man of Gate’s professional stature was handcuffed for ‘disorderly conduct’ is instructive for the nation and the world. Yes, others of his stature have been hassled. Colin Powell recently recounted some incidents that he had with the police. In brief, he had to convince them that he really was a high-level official in the National Security Agency when he held that position.

Obama is supposed to stay away from these “local” and “Black” issues. But he knows that the Gates-Crowley dispute made racial-profiling a priority news item. He decided to take a leadership role and create a reconciliation scenario. After all, one of his campaign topics was bringing together people with opposite viewpoints to talk and to develop a working relationship. So he brought Gates and Crowley together in an informal manner (beer and pretzels) to talk.

The fact that Gates is a Harvard scholar and a friend of Obama’s is not the point. By getting involved, Obama has thrown the spotlight not only on racial-profiling, but displayed a reconciliation strategy.

It seems that Obama used the word “stupidly” without forethought. In the end, that verbal error has brought into focus one of the many important racial issues of this time period. The media and the internet have been replete with testimonies by African-American men about their experiences as victims of racial profiling. This is good for the United States and the world. And like it or not, the Henry Louis Gates incident and Obama’s intervention has provoked a national dialogue. And this is good for America.

THE GLOBAL VILLAGE

The Global Village presents analysis of political, economic and social issues at home and abroad. It will deconstruct and demystify some commonly-held assumptions including inaccuracies put forward by the established media and when necessary will "speak truth to power.”

Annette Walker is a writer, radio producer and educator. She worked in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic as a teacher-trainer and traveled throughout the Caribbean including Cuba. She has been a lecturer in the City University of New York, Aurora Community College and Metropolitan State College.

NATIONAL LABOR ISSUES
New York City Employees Struggle Against Mayor’s Privatization Efforts
DC 37’s Radio and Subway Ad Campaign Slams Bloomberg’s Layoff Plans

Mayor Pays Billions to Private Contractors
By Annette Walker

Lillian Roberts, Executive Director of New York City’s largest municipal employee union, District Council 37 (AFSCME/AFL-CIO), has launched radio and subway ads criticizing Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to lay off thousands of city workers. Roberts says the mayor spends billions of municipal dollars on private contractors and outside consultants.

“Mayor Bloomberg wants to cut over 12,000 positions and pay $9 billion to private contractors to do jobs that city workers do more reliably and more cost-effectively,” said Roberts. “That’s not only wasteful, but it’s harmful to our kids, our families and to our communities,” she continued.

The ads began appearing on all New York city subway lines May 18 and one week later they began to air on radio stations such as 1010 WINS-AM, WBLS-FM, WRKS-FM, and Spanish-language WADO-FM. The ads inform New Yorkers that the city currently awards 18,000 private contracts to individuals who are not held to the same standard as public employees.

The ads inform New Yorkers that the city currently awards 18,000 contracts to private firms and individuals who are not held to the same standard as public employees. The ads say, “Private contractors don’t undergo background checks. Private contractors don’t take tests to show they’re qualified to do the work. Many don’t even pay workers a living wage or provide health care benefits. Some don’t even pay their share of state or city taxes.”

The subway and radio ads are part of an ongoing DC 37 campaign that began with the release of a report entitled, “Massive Waste at a Time of Need”, which revealed a “shadow government of private contractors that employs a parallel work force of more than 100,000”.

Roberts criticized Mayor Bloomberg’s plans to layoff thousands of city workers. “This is totally unnecessary,” she said. “The money is there. We’ve proven that with the report we just released, which examined 10 contracts in eights city agencies, and identifies about $130 million in savings the city can realize by cutting down on outside contracts with over-paid consultants and over-priced contractors. And that is just the tip of the iceberg,” she continued.

Roberts also insists the city’s proposed layoffs will “inevitably lead to larger long-term human and economic costs” and “go against everything President Barack Obama is trying to do for the working people of this country. While the president is creating jobs, the city will destroy jobs and undermine his recession recovery plan.

The quality of life for New Yorkers is being threatened by laying off employees who work in over 1,000 job titles – everything from Accountants and actuaries to Zookeepers. They all help this city run. As a result of these cuts, hospital clinics will close and neglected illnesses will get worse. Reports of child abuse and neglect are rising and these layoffs will cripple programs created to prevent that. No responsible government can in good conscience cut vital services and layoff loyal, hardworking employees while there are realistic alternatives. And the alternatives are there!

The public can read the report at DC 37’s website – www.dc37.net. The subway and radio ads urge New Yorkers to use the website to send e-mails to the Mayor and their City Council members to “Cut Private Contractors, Not Public Services.”

THE GLOBAL VILLAGE

The Global Village presents analysis of political, economic and social issues at home and abroad. It will deconstruct and demystify some commonly-held assumptions including inaccuracies put forward by the established media and when necessary will "speak truth to power.”

Annette Walker is a writer, radio producer and educator. She worked in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic as a teacher-trainer and traveled throughout the Caribbean including Cuba. She has been a lecturer in the City University of New York, Aurora Community College and Metropolitan State College.