Change the Dialogue

Howling Winds (Barack Obama)

Eric Wattree — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:47:06 EST

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Howling Winds

As I watched my son, dapper as they come, walk down
Our walkway and into manhood, what I remember most is
The rushing wind. I'd seen such winds before, but
Never like this--my old foe was pulling up trees by
The roots.

So I watched, but I watched alone.

As the winds raged on and the mighty palms bowed, a
Single leaf from our Winter bare Ficus Tree
Held tough against the ferocious storm; It fought
Valiantly against the angry gale, as though hanging
On just to witness the changing of the guard.

So I stood, but I stood alone.

Like that solitary leaf, all my life I've fought the
Ferocious winds, and now they've returned, this
Mighty foe, poised to seize the hopes and dreams of
My only son.

So I cringed, but I cringed alone.

But then, posterity glanced back and squared its
Shoulders, beat back hopelessness as it trudged
Through fields of ivy, then spread its wings and rode
Those howling winds over yonder mountaintop...

So I wept, but I wept with a crowd.

God Bless America.

Eric L. Wattree

President Barack Obama:A Moment that was Meant to Be

Eric Wattree — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 09:44:08 EST

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

President Barack Obama:

A Moment that was Meant to Be

I have no way of proving this, but I think some things are just meant to happen--like the day I walked into my mother's office as a 16-year old gangster and high school dropout. It was my intent to get money to buy drugs. But my mother was a step ahead of me, so I didn't get the money, but I did meet a 14-year old ghetto girl who was destined to change my life.

When I walked through that door I had the very worst intentions, but little did I know that once I crossed that threshold, my life would change forever. I only wish that I could have somehow known what was about to take place, and had been given the opportunity to appreciate the importance of that moment--the moment when I literally stumbled way from the very gates of Hell, right into the arms of one of God's most precious angles; an angel who was undoubtedly sent to Earth for the expressed purpose of saving my reckless young soul.

The moment I met her I knew there was something special about her. She was like no one I had ever met--no games, no hidden agendas. But she knew she didn't have to hide her agenda, because she had the confidence to know that once she decided upon a goal, there was no one who could stop her from reaching it. What I didn't know, however, was how I had become so lucky. It was like hitting the lottery--the moment she first looked at me I could see her eyes light up, and that light never flickered once until that night, when her job was done.

Not over til it's over

Pale Rider — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:38:35 EST

The election IS over, but! thanks to our own Hillary Rodham Clinton and her lawyer, Mr. Berg, it may not yet be O V E R.

Emergence

Eric Wattree — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:46:26 EST

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

EMERGENCE

I now stand firm. My dedication to the power of knowledge is the platform upon which my podium rests. I now stand firm, strong, and now free--free of anger, free of self-delusion, free of the folly of empty vanity, and free of the pernicious bane of meaningless pride without substance.

MCCAIN TO VOTE FOR OBAMA!!

Pale Rider — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:00:07 EDT

Yep. You heard it right. Read this excerpt from one of his latest TV spots:
“Don't hope for a stronger America. Vote for one. Join me.”

2012 Campaign slogan for Barack

Pale Rider — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:45:14 EDT

"Four MORE for Forty-four!"

Yes. I think that has quite a nice ring to it. : )

Ok, folks. Time to get organized. Get those precinct captains moving for 2012.

Congressional seats

Pale Rider — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:40:29 EDT

While we have been strongly focused on taking the Big Chair, crucial battles are taking place along state lines. Some we are winning. Others, we are unfortunately not.

Joe the Plumber: A Prime Symbol of Republican Hypocrisy

Eric Wattree — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:10:13 EDT

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Joe the Plumber: A Prime Symbol of Republican Hypocrisy

John McCain accused Barack Obama of being an elitist. He then trotted out “Joe the Plumber” to symbolize that he, unlike Obama, stood in solidarity with the American middle class. That made for great theater, but like John McCain himself, it soon became clear that Joe the Plumber maintained a strained relationship with truth.

TO THE DNC

Eric Wattree — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:50:26 EDT

In order to set ourselves apart from the Republicans when discussing the economy, we need to modify our rhetoric:

Instead of using the phrases "Wall Street" and "Main street" when discussing the economy, Obama should start using the phrase "Your Street"--i.e., "We can't just bail out 'Wall Street', we must also bail out 'Your Street'.

"Your Street" drives the point home that we're speaking to each individual, much more effectively. I'm certain that just that change alone would add to our lead in the polls.

Eric L. Wattree

The divisive Ms. Palin -- creating hatred and violence

Pale Rider — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:51:34 EDT

In a story about Ms. Palin's campaign rally in Colorado on Monday, it was revealed that one of her supporters got into a road rage incident in which he PULLED A LOADED HANDGUN because "he wanted to be ready for anything".

A new low in a long strong of ever-descending dirty tricks

Pale Rider — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:19:21 EDT

I just got an email from David Plouffe, Barack's campaign manager in which he describes the new RNC mailer. Get a load of this:

Couldn't happen to a more deserving person : )

Pale Rider — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:25:18 EDT

Gov. Sarah Palin, a virtual paragon of...well, virtue, apparently has been deflowered and exposed for the fraud she really is. The running mate of Mr. Reform, Sen. John McCain, who also touted Gov. Palin's bent for reform, evidently has defrauded the state of Alaska by charging the state's tills for airfare for her daughters to accompany her on state business, even when the daughters were uninvited. Then, the oh-so-honest VP candidate fudged her expense reports to state that her daughters' status on the trips were "state business".

No litmus test, John?

Pale Rider — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:22:30 EDT

In Wednesday night's debate, John McCain was asked if he would nominate any judge for the Supreme Court who was in favor of Roe v. Wade. Am I the only one who heard his response?

A Community in Decline

Eric Wattree — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:40:56 EDT

A Community in Decline:
Don’t Preach Me a Sermon, Live Me One

Hi Eric,

You said it was unbelievable that the Black community won't step up to the plate to help its own, but you're new to this, it's far from unbelievable to meâ€"I've been living through it for years now. I spent 3 years crying (I mean literally crying) over the community's lack of response to my pleas to help these former foster girls and their children. As I send you this email tonight, I'm not only having to deal with the disappointment of a community that's turning its back on its own, but I'm actually being ridiculed for my efforts. Here's the situation:

The Kierrah Foundation does not receive any funding from the City, County, State of Federal Government, why we don't is another story and we will talk about that at another timeâ€"and believe me, it's deep. In any event, as a result, my husband and I raised funds for our day to day operations through Celebrity Fundraising Events. It's a lot of work, but I am grateful for the journey. Not only do we help young women between the ages of 17 and 26 when they age out of the foster care system without family or friends. We also help them with their children.

The state exists because of the rivalries within society.

Rob-33704 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:21:19 EDT

The state exists BECAUSE of the rivalries within society.

If the state maintains order - which is its true function - then rhetoric doesn't matter and pluralism can flourish.

If order is maintained then the heated rhetoric of the right may even beneficial by allowing people to vent or to enjoy the illusion that someone - anyone - is listening to them and championing their cause.

It is only when order cannot be maintained and rhetoric becomes action that you have to worry.

That is the true historic lesson of the brownshirts. Their behavior was only possable because the German state could not maintain order.

When Hitler came to power he established a "new order" which as a demonstration of its control liquidated the leadership of the SA - mostly accomplished by the new "good puppies" of the party, the SS.

John McCain: Portrait of a Demagogue

Eric Wattree — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:29:19 EDT

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

John McCain:
Portrait of a Demagogue

Demagogue: “A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.”
The American Heritage Dictionary

Demagogues are vampires who prey on the viability of society. They depend on hatred, hostility, and dissension for their very political survival. Wherever there is underlying tension and hostility, they exploit it, and in the absence of hostility, they create it. They have a vested interest in creating discontent, and they are most creatively prolific, when society is in turmoil.

And there’s a very good reason for that. A demagogue’s agenda is virtually always fundamentally at odds with what’s in the best interest of the people. So the only way that they can get the people’s support is to appeal to their hatred, fear, or anger��"that’s when individuals are most prone to act without taking the time to think about their actions. Demagogues specialize, therefore, in appealing to the emotions. That allows them to circumvent the mind, and thus, not have to deal with the nuisance of one’s common sense.

An example of that strategy at work is clearly demonstrated at a recent John McCain rally. While addressing his angry supporters--who were already frustrated over the economy, the financial bailout, pending foreclosures, and the loss of jobs--instead of reassuring them by sharing policy initiatives that he’d developed to address their concerns, he further inflamed the crowd by giving the floor to, and agreeing with, a supporter who stood up to called Barack and Nancy Pelosi hooligan socialists.

Nobel Prize winning economist characterized Obama supporters as 'cult like.'

Rob-33704 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:02:13 EDT

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman has characterized Obama supporters as 'cult-like', and has complained that the media has not given Obama sufficient scrutiny.

Krugman, considered to be a neo-Keynesian economist, taught at the London School of Economics before joining the faculty of Princeton University, in 2000. He also served as a consultant for an advisory board for Enron in 1999 prior to joining the New York Times as a columnist in 2000.

Krugman is a member of The Group of Thirty (G30) which was founded in 1978 by the Rockefeller Foundation which also provided initial funding for the body. Its first chairman was Johannes Witteveen, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Its current chairman of trustees is Paul Volcker.

The Actual Purposes Which are Served by the Separation of Church and State.

Rob-33704 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:24:44 EDT

We have separation of church and state in the United States of America because the state - all states - exalt themselves above all other groupings of people.

When we ask ourselves, ‘what is the state?’ We quickly realize that we must first ask, ‘ what are people?’ Human beings are individual organisms. Long age, however, these individuals came to realize that they could accomplish a great deal more as members of groups than as individuals.

The individuals formed families, clans, tribes, and eventually states. At first city-states, then groups of city- states which became nation-states. The state is itself, however, a group of people.

So, the answer to our question - ‘What is the state’ - is that the state is an organization - a group of individuals. These individuals may originally be a tribe, a clan, or a family which has become capable of influencing - exerting power over - the other groups within that particular state.

Organizations exercise power through control. To effectively exercise control the state has to be the focus of the individual’s loyalty. The state must, therefore, eliminate the other organizations within the state which are capable of competing with it for the loyalty of the individual.

We can now understand that the chief proponents of the rise of a state are, themselves, a group and that they are the dominant group within the state. It doesn’t matter whether this dominant group is an aristocracy, or a group of businessmen. Whatever it’s composition the group’s continued dominance is dependent upon control. The state must, therefore, eliminate the tribal leader, the clan chief, and the family patriarch through assimilation, or execution.

In the context of a struggle for dominance the priesthood is as great a rival of the state for the loyalty of the individual as are the tribe, the clan, and the family. Like the tribal leader, the clan chief, and the family patriarch the chief of high priest can be assimilated or executed but not the entire priesthood.

Assimilation of the high priesthood is not practical because the head of the state must also become the state religion’s high priest or another individual must be invested with that power. State religions run the risk of undermining the loyalty of those who practice a different faith. Power sharing with a high priest might result in a rivalry for control of the state.

The question then becomes how best to dominate the priesthood without turning them into rivals or martyrs. When the question is posed in this fashion the obvious solution is the "separation" of church and state. Being separate from the state the priesthood can be dominated by the state through the "rule of law" as easily as any other group of individuals within the state.

Separation of church and state is, therefore, a method of control and dominance by the state. That is why the state extends tax free status to those religious organizations which do not meddle in "politics." That is, those religious organizations who do not concern themselves with whether the state is actually managed in a fair and equitable manner.

What Most of You People are Not Understanding

Rob-33704 — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:08:18 EDT

What most of you aren't understanding is the depth of the anger on the right and left of the electorate in this country.

That is what John McCain is hearing at his rallies and you are seeing on CNN. Democrats don't hear it at their rallies because the left long ago discarded the democratic party.

This anger is not something that will somehow evaporate and just go away. The right is just now discovering how much they have been misled and betrayed.

Taking care of the needs of the citizens is not PANDERING - it is what ruling classes do to stay in power.

You Are Giving Socialism a Bad Name.

Rob-33704 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:33:40 EDT

Could some of you PLEASE talk to your friends in the news media and get them to stop referring to this as a "Socialist" bailout?

You know, I know, and they know that is not true.

Thanks for you help.