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BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
by Eric L. Wattree
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."
by Eric L. Wattree
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."
| Community Voices A News Resource ... A Positive Perspective! |
VIEWPOINT
The Wattree Chronicle
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
wattree.blogspot.com
everyone who doesn't look, think, and
act like me - it's just that God does.
... Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
The Day America Outlawed Democracy
The time is past due for America to start connecting the dots regarding our political
establishment. It has become increasingly clear that we've reached a political crisis
in this country, but contrary to what we're being led to believe, the major division in
country is no longer between liberals and conservatives, but rather, the American
people and those we've elected to represent us.
Due to our political indifference, we've allowed the political establishment in this
country to lavish upon themselves so many rewards, prerogatives, and political
perks that they can no longer identify with the people they're supposed to represent.
They've become a class within themselves. Where they were once considered the
trusted employees of the American people, they've now become a part of a new
American aristocracy. Thus, they now identify much more closely with the rich and
powerful - or those they're supposed to be protecting us from - than they do the
constituency they're supposed to represent.
So liberals and conservatives alike need to open their eyes. We need to recognize
that we're now facing a common foe that has morphed into something that has
become a threat to us all. We must also realize that it is essential that we set our
respective differences aside - at least temporarily - just long enough to address this
common enemy to our way of life.
While liberals and conservatives may disagree on their respective philosophy of
governance, we must never confuse that philosophical disagreement with the belief
that liberals are any less loyal as Americans, or that conservatives are any less
sincere in their desire to make America a better place for us all. As different as the
two groups are, in the final analysis, both liberals and conservatives want the very
same thing - what is in the best interest of the American people. But that can no
longer be said of our political establishment. Their current behavior has clearly
demonstrated that their top priority entails feathering their own nests by protecting
their true constituents - big business.
They were better able to hide their alliance in the past, but the current geo-economic
circumstance has forced them into the open. Thus, the political establishment is
now forced to betray their true attitude toward the American people - an "ignorant
worker class," with a moral obligation to sacrifice both our families (in war), and
wealth (in bailouts), for the personal comfort of the upper class.
That accounts for why the Wall Street bailout sailed through congress like a hot knife
through butter, with only perfunctory grumbling from congress for effect, while
healthcare reform, the jobs bill, legislation to enhance veterans benefits, and any
other legislation aimed at helping the average American has been met with fierce
resistance.
It's no accident that the only Obama effort that's being supported by the GOP is his
initiative to go to war. The "party of no" eagerly says yes to that, regardless to the cost
of (lower and middle class) lives and treasure; nor is it an accident that they
completely ignore the fact that even after the useless waste of life and treasure, a
victory means that Al Qaeda will simply move on to a different location. They don't
have a problem with any of that, because war enriches their constituency, the
military/industrial complex.
Neither is it an accident that the rule of law is simply being ignored regarding Bush
and Cheney's war crimes, in spite of the fact that it makes America less safe, or the
fact that it led directly to the economic hardship currently being suffered by the
America people. They don't have a problem with because the political establishment
is a class within itself, and it protects its own. That's the one area of agreement that
truly seems to be bipartisan.
The reason for that, as I've mentioned in earlier columns, is the new world order is
not only geopolitical, but economic in nature. "When the United States had a thriving
industrial economy one class complimented the other. Labor was well paid and
given the security of knowing that they had a job for life, so they had the confidence to
purchased goods that the corporations produced. That allowed the companies that
sold the goods to prosper to the benefit of the investor class." But now that U.S.
corporations have to compete globally with countries that are paying their workers
pennies per day, the American middle class has become a prohibitively expensive
liability to America's ability to compete around the world. So now the U.S. government
- both Republicans and Democrats - is in the process of addressing that issue by
downgrading the standard of living of the American middle class.
The idea of relegating the American people to second class status isn't a new strain
of thinking in American politics; it's been around since this nation's founding. It's just
that after being shot down during the constitutional convention in lieu of a more
egalitarian form of government, previous adherents of this philosophy had the good
sense to be more discreet in their efforts.
As I've pointed out before, Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the
fiscal conservative philosophy, 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 any advantage by a change, they therefore will
ever maintain good government." (Debates of the Federalist Convention May
14-September 17, 1787).
So the fact is, the reason that the political establishment is so willing to throw
America under the bus is that the new world order has made it politically expedient to
embrace Hamilton's philosophy that lower and middle class Americans shouldn't
have a right to self-government in the first place. But since it would be problematic to
try to formally take that right away through a constitutional amendment, it's being
taken away through legislative procedure and rulings through the Supreme Court.
That's what has led to the current disaffection by both liberals and conservatives
toward government. The American people can sense their rights slipping away, but
they have yet to come to terms with what is actually going on. They have yet to realize
that congressional gridlock is a convenient way of denying them their rights. They
have also yet to recognize that the majority in the senate is allowing the minority to
abuse of the filibuster procedure because both parties are in collusion. The
Republican filibuster provides cover for the Democratic majority for failing to enact, or
greatly watering down, legislation being demanded by the people, but neither party
wants to enact.
Then on January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court delivered the final blow against the
people. In order to insure against any repeat of the 2008 election where the people
mounted a grassroots effort over the internet to usurp the power of corporations
through campaign funding, the Supreme Court past what is essentially the modern
version of Plessy v. Ferguson, taking away the rights of the people by saying that the
American people and corporations are "separate but equal."
That ruling should serve as a red flag for both liberals and conservatives alike. In
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson was used to undermine the rights of Black people in this
country. Now, the current ruling, Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee, is
being used to undermine the rights of the middle class.
The ruling stands as a perfect metaphor for Jim Crow. But this time it ushers in an
era of a diminished American middle class, and the jackboots of the new world
order, as it formally arrives at our front door.
--------------------------------
Posted CVs February 23, 2010
The time is past due for America to start connecting the dots regarding our political
establishment. It has become increasingly clear that we've reached a political crisis
in this country, but contrary to what we're being led to believe, the major division in
country is no longer between liberals and conservatives, but rather, the American
people and those we've elected to represent us.
Due to our political indifference, we've allowed the political establishment in this
country to lavish upon themselves so many rewards, prerogatives, and political
perks that they can no longer identify with the people they're supposed to represent.
They've become a class within themselves. Where they were once considered the
trusted employees of the American people, they've now become a part of a new
American aristocracy. Thus, they now identify much more closely with the rich and
powerful - or those they're supposed to be protecting us from - than they do the
constituency they're supposed to represent.
So liberals and conservatives alike need to open their eyes. We need to recognize
that we're now facing a common foe that has morphed into something that has
become a threat to us all. We must also realize that it is essential that we set our
respective differences aside - at least temporarily - just long enough to address this
common enemy to our way of life.
While liberals and conservatives may disagree on their respective philosophy of
governance, we must never confuse that philosophical disagreement with the belief
that liberals are any less loyal as Americans, or that conservatives are any less
sincere in their desire to make America a better place for us all. As different as the
two groups are, in the final analysis, both liberals and conservatives want the very
same thing - what is in the best interest of the American people. But that can no
longer be said of our political establishment. Their current behavior has clearly
demonstrated that their top priority entails feathering their own nests by protecting
their true constituents - big business.
They were better able to hide their alliance in the past, but the current geo-economic
circumstance has forced them into the open. Thus, the political establishment is
now forced to betray their true attitude toward the American people - an "ignorant
worker class," with a moral obligation to sacrifice both our families (in war), and
wealth (in bailouts), for the personal comfort of the upper class.
That accounts for why the Wall Street bailout sailed through congress like a hot knife
through butter, with only perfunctory grumbling from congress for effect, while
healthcare reform, the jobs bill, legislation to enhance veterans benefits, and any
other legislation aimed at helping the average American has been met with fierce
resistance.
It's no accident that the only Obama effort that's being supported by the GOP is his
initiative to go to war. The "party of no" eagerly says yes to that, regardless to the cost
of (lower and middle class) lives and treasure; nor is it an accident that they
completely ignore the fact that even after the useless waste of life and treasure, a
victory means that Al Qaeda will simply move on to a different location. They don't
have a problem with any of that, because war enriches their constituency, the
military/industrial complex.
Neither is it an accident that the rule of law is simply being ignored regarding Bush
and Cheney's war crimes, in spite of the fact that it makes America less safe, or the
fact that it led directly to the economic hardship currently being suffered by the
America people. They don't have a problem with because the political establishment
is a class within itself, and it protects its own. That's the one area of agreement that
truly seems to be bipartisan.
The reason for that, as I've mentioned in earlier columns, is the new world order is
not only geopolitical, but economic in nature. "When the United States had a thriving
industrial economy one class complimented the other. Labor was well paid and
given the security of knowing that they had a job for life, so they had the confidence to
purchased goods that the corporations produced. That allowed the companies that
sold the goods to prosper to the benefit of the investor class." But now that U.S.
corporations have to compete globally with countries that are paying their workers
pennies per day, the American middle class has become a prohibitively expensive
liability to America's ability to compete around the world. So now the U.S. government
- both Republicans and Democrats - is in the process of addressing that issue by
downgrading the standard of living of the American middle class.
The idea of relegating the American people to second class status isn't a new strain
of thinking in American politics; it's been around since this nation's founding. It's just
that after being shot down during the constitutional convention in lieu of a more
egalitarian form of government, previous adherents of this philosophy had the good
sense to be more discreet in their efforts.
As I've pointed out before, Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the
fiscal conservative philosophy, 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 any advantage by a change, they therefore will
ever maintain good government." (Debates of the Federalist Convention May
14-September 17, 1787).
So the fact is, the reason that the political establishment is so willing to throw
America under the bus is that the new world order has made it politically expedient to
embrace Hamilton's philosophy that lower and middle class Americans shouldn't
have a right to self-government in the first place. But since it would be problematic to
try to formally take that right away through a constitutional amendment, it's being
taken away through legislative procedure and rulings through the Supreme Court.
That's what has led to the current disaffection by both liberals and conservatives
toward government. The American people can sense their rights slipping away, but
they have yet to come to terms with what is actually going on. They have yet to realize
that congressional gridlock is a convenient way of denying them their rights. They
have also yet to recognize that the majority in the senate is allowing the minority to
abuse of the filibuster procedure because both parties are in collusion. The
Republican filibuster provides cover for the Democratic majority for failing to enact, or
greatly watering down, legislation being demanded by the people, but neither party
wants to enact.
Then on January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court delivered the final blow against the
people. In order to insure against any repeat of the 2008 election where the people
mounted a grassroots effort over the internet to usurp the power of corporations
through campaign funding, the Supreme Court past what is essentially the modern
version of Plessy v. Ferguson, taking away the rights of the people by saying that the
American people and corporations are "separate but equal."
That ruling should serve as a red flag for both liberals and conservatives alike. In
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson was used to undermine the rights of Black people in this
country. Now, the current ruling, Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee, is
being used to undermine the rights of the middle class.
The ruling stands as a perfect metaphor for Jim Crow. But this time it ushers in an
era of a diminished American middle class, and the jackboots of the new world
order, as it formally arrives at our front door.
--------------------------------
Posted CVs February 23, 2010
iT'S MY oPINION...
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The Progressive Network
It pains the The Progressive Network to
report that Air America is going off the air.
TPN would like to bid one of the most
informative, and firm supporters of the
progressive movement a fond farewell.
And we wish all of its talented personnel
who worked so hard, and brilliantly, to
keep America informed a smooth
transition into new, and successful
careers in the near future. We look
forward to hearing from you again, real
soon.
Eric Wattree
____________________________
“Air America Going Off the Air
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of
our Board, that we must announce that Air
America Media is ceasing its live
programming operations as of this
afternoon, and that the Company will file
soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy
Code to carry out an orderly winding-down
of the business.
The very difficult economic environment
has had a significant impact on Air
America's business. This past year has
seen a "perfect storm" in the media
industry generally. National and local
advertising revenues have fallen
drastically, causing many media
companies nationwide to fold or seek
bankruptcy protection. From large to
small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel
Broadcasting and closures like that of the
industry's long-time trade publication
Radio and Records have signaled that
these are very difficult and rapidly
changing times. …
------------------------
Posted CVs January 22, 2010
It pains the The Progressive Network to
report that Air America is going off the air.
TPN would like to bid one of the most
informative, and firm supporters of the
progressive movement a fond farewell.
And we wish all of its talented personnel
who worked so hard, and brilliantly, to
keep America informed a smooth
transition into new, and successful
careers in the near future. We look
forward to hearing from you again, real
soon.
Eric Wattree
____________________________
“Air America Going Off the Air
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of
our Board, that we must announce that Air
America Media is ceasing its live
programming operations as of this
afternoon, and that the Company will file
soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy
Code to carry out an orderly winding-down
of the business.
The very difficult economic environment
has had a significant impact on Air
America's business. This past year has
seen a "perfect storm" in the media
industry generally. National and local
advertising revenues have fallen
drastically, causing many media
companies nationwide to fold or seek
bankruptcy protection. From large to
small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel
Broadcasting and closures like that of the
industry's long-time trade publication
Radio and Records have signaled that
these are very difficult and rapidly
changing times. …
------------------------
Posted CVs January 22, 2010
----------------------------------------------