I admit, I was wrong – dead wrong on the origin of the destabilizing and debilitating actions of the west - especially America - when it comes to the island nation of Haiti. For a long time I assumed it was because of what the Africans on that island did to France, the humiliation of having to be the first European colonizer to be ejected by African slaves brought upon it the wrath of the west - not the karmic justice that the infantile mind of Pat Roberson brought forth. Now I see things differently, and yes the cultural and ethnic ties that bind the west is often reflected in their uniformity animus toward Haiti - it runs deeper than support of a deposed colonizer nation. What appears as western hatred, is truly fear.
Now I am clear, it is not what happened to France that has evoked two hundred years of fear masked through hatred from the west, but what that revolution meant to the west. The import and impact was loud and clear to another fledging nation seeking to build its wealth on the back of African slaves – The United States of America. Indeed the pressure of the southern slave owners were borne to bare on the 2nd and 3rd American Presidents John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson (himself a slave owner) to enact odious embargoes against the new nation. In the first many hypocritical acts by the United States whose own revolution drew a bevy of armed, diplomatic and financial support throughout the halls of Europe, even before the was over, yet she refused to provide Haiti with the same planetary hand shake of “recognition” until 1862 over 50 years after Haiti achieved independence. By contrast, the United States recognized the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro within a few days after he came to power.
The ripple effect of the Haitian revolution was intense as America could ill afford to allow what happened in Haiti to be reduplicated on their shores. Historian Tim Matthewson whose writings focus on the relationship between the 1800 Haiti and America wrote in great detail about President Thomas Jefferson’s fear of what happened on the island then called Hispaniola could happen here. Cultures just like humans have a form DNA which permeates within the psyche of a people and within each culture there are thousands of subcultures with their own rules, and accepted practices - both best and worse. For black America we often talk about having the so called “slave mentality” that has negatively impacted the black community in America, yet we underestimate the “slave owner “mentality and how it has been passed down from generation to generation. As the civil rights marches forced integration on a recalcitrant America in the fifties and sixties, the unforeseen consequences was the successful assimilation of the sons and daughters of slaves into the American way of life, which accelerated the pace of the black pacification. As a result, the black community has not been able to connect the dots between the west’s treatment of Haiti, and our own failure to launch a successful slave revolution in America. Because black people in America can sip from the cup of American freedoms, we fail to comprehend that the mentality of the slave owner has never left, in short the slave owner mentality reflects the mentality of those who capture and enslave – once having gained an advantage over your competitors, or over another people, the mentality of the slave owner is to hold on to that advantage by any means necessary.
One best way to describe the mentality of the slave owner, those who have captured and enslaved fellow humans for their own advantage may be to consider it in the context of America’s favorite sport football. During a hard fought game there may be a critical moment when the team that is trailing finally takes the lead, the commentators often use the term “capture the lead” to describe the moment. The commentators then speak on the importance of capturing the lead; the cameras show the ecstasy on one sideline and the agony on the other. Next the commentators then tell us, that the team that just took the lead, must now concentrate their efforts to avoid losing it at all cost – and they will discuss the variety of strategies that team will take to prevent a recapture of the lead by the other team. Even in baseball, announcers will conclude their commentary on an inning where a lead change has taken place and mention as they go to commercial break – now the pitcher has to go out there and protect the lead, and not allow the other team momentum. Momentum changes are the most critical elements in sports – and even more so in the life of nations and cultures.
Captured slaves gave America a monumental boast in momentum – the kind of momentum allowed her to become the world’s strongest nation in less than two hundred years. That momentum also brought with it an opportunity for many to build enormous wealth, and by doing so, presented this country with a daunting dilemma of ethics versus economic and greed – there is little doubt which choice prevailed. As a result, what happened on Hispaniola was a clear and present danger to those who benefited from slavery, and American politicians succumbed to the pressure that would give rise to an American policy toward Haiti that has left that country impoverished, yet with the exception of earthquakes, and outbreaks, for most Americans a country many dismiss as irrelevant. Yet the American policy toward Haiti has been devastatingly effective in mitigating the fears of white slave owners who braced themselves for what would happened if the wind of the Haitian revolution blew north and sparked a similar uprising here. Actually only a few slave revolts – relative to the number of slaves took place, and none reaching the white hot intensity needed to break the chains. And at the same time, as a double benefit, American intermingling in Haitian affairs supporting despots, and criminal leaders has left the country on many levels in a near terminal state so much so many Haitians have left. This brain drain was confirmed during my recent visit to Haiti, as I met many young people who feel a strong passion and love for their country, but felt they would be compelled to seek more fertile opportunities in America or Canada. The inability to effectively compete for best and brightest has long standing ramifications.
There are some who hypothesize that one of the reasons for American interest and intervention is the possibility of oil off the coast of Haiti – my gut says if there was oil there, the US has had several opportunities to do a snatch and run with Haitian oil rights during their many invasions. My gut also says its human wealth, not mineral wealth that has the Americans and the west on the edge. And why? In 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote, “When in the course of human events, it may become necessary for people to break the political bands that connect one another” that eloquence ironically coming from a powerful slave owner is illuminating on multi levels. Mr. Jefferson was no dummy, and his worldly experiences and studies helped him understand that human history was ripe with those whose understood that “in the course of human events” there would be those who were enslaved, would ultimately rise up and overthrow their captors. As the bands that bound slaves and slave owners would need to give way to a new order. However the key to that formulation is that clear understanding by those enslaved that they were indeed captives. In 1804 the year of the Haitian revolution, the Africans in this country had no illusions that they were physically free, they had no illusions that white people had their best interest at heart, therefore the echo of freedom continued to reverberate through their bones, and for some in their hearts and minds. Those whose freedom beat through the later, would always have the potential to lead a revolt, either an organized one, or an ad hoc one.
What happened in Haiti was not pretty, the Haitian Revolt was not one that was “tweeted” about or “liked” in the 18th century world, word travelled much slower, but it did travel, because word always has travelled, and always will. While one may assume the mere fact of being in chains would light a fire that would lead to a revolt, but sometimes you need inspiration, a template, something to say – “hey maybe this can work.” Perhaps those in chains in America needed an event that they can connect with, an energy they could bond with, and be charged by. It may begin in fits and starts, then street protests morph into something different, became reactive, and a critical mass unfolds in a manner which forces the status quo to respond, or capitulate. Often as that force grows, it loses an appetite for the one carrot the status quo has been successful in throwing – compromise. Post Civil Rights America has been especially keen in watering down real opposition with the illusion of inclusion and assimilation. It’s an unseemly game where the ruling class appears to give in with dramatic concessions, but they often gained more in return than they gave. I can only imagine what would have happened if a critical mass started in this country on a grand scale – while there were numerous mini revolts, they never sparked or ignited a galvanizing flame until perhaps Emmitt Till – but by then, the Americanization of the African was in full effect, and when the bullets stopped flying in the sixties, it seemed like our leaders were now amenable to march for the crumbs coming from the master’s table rather than burn “master’s house” down.
It is hard to quantify the connection between reign of terror waged on Haiti and the pacification of the American Negro, but instinctively I have little doubt they are intertwined. When I was in Haiti, I felt this was the closest to being in Africa without being there, ravaged as that country is, corrupt as its government has been, a nation that seemingly bounces from desolation to isolation has an amazing spirit. I have no illusions that the next President of Haiti be it popular singer Michel Martelly, or former First Lady Mirlande Manigat can singlehandedly reverse two hundred years of dysfunction both rooted internally and externally, much the same way Barack Obama cannot in four years reverse, hundred years of American imperialism, and neocolonialism. But what I do see, is an opportunity, albeit a fleeting one, that there are enough members of the African Diaspora despite our differences in hues, language, national origin, who can put the kind of political pressure on our government, the Organization of American States (OAS), and others to begin to seek real change. – Clearly if the west and America still feels that a strong Haiti will plant the seed for an African American uprising in 2011, they are clearly mistaken. The 21st Century passivity of the American black is so deep, so profound, and so disconnected with our modern day slave position that even an empowered, and enlighten Haiti, may not be able to spark an awakening.
Imagine if the genius of Haiti was allowed to foster unfettered by Europe and American manipulations, for the last two hundred years, and spread organically throughout this hemisphere – perhaps our connection to Africa would not have been lost, and we would not have to say we are African Americans, our lives, and our energy would simply reflect it. What the Haitian Revolution meant was that this nation must never allow real black revolution to ferment and cement on this soil – mission accomplished! We can only hope a new nation of black thinking in America can help liberate herself, and help bring about a new Haiti.
Yet my desire for this type of an awakening by black folks in this country, smacks against the reality that too many of us are Africans “in name only” and therefore are utterly incapable of such an undertaking the kind of liberating movement– that took place in Haiti. The revolution in Haiti and the unsuccessful revolts in America were led by true Africans endowed with the spirit of our ancestors - ancestors who provided support, guidance, and protection - which begs the question whether a people so disconnected from the true spirit of Africa can regain their inner urge for freedom because I believe only those with Africa in the hearts – not in “surname” only can lead a revolution.
The truth of Haiti has always rested in its African spirit. Haiti perhaps the only nation in this hemisphere that can truly lay claim to the greatness of Africa had to be brought to its knees to prevent their victory to augment or kickstart a bloody and final slave revolt in America; and buy America the needed time to extract Africa from its slaves so that their progegny would resemble Africa only in appearance. Now in 2011, the present mind set of the American black provides chilling and cruel testimony of the unique foresight of American founding fathers who understood the survival of their country and its slave culture depended on whether or not Haiti thrived or not. Far from being a curse - the pain of Haiti comes from a fear of a Black Nation.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Mr. Obama's Vision
In the days leading up to the State of the Union Address my first thoughts was, does President Obama see the same broken, country that I do, and my second thought was if yes, will his articulation of that vision will bring about comparisons to the Jimmy Carter “malaise” speech from the summer of 1979. A speech that helped doom his one term Presidency. Last night I got my answer. Yes Mr. Obama sees the same America that I see, but from his – and America’s perspective a “woe is me “speech was not what the doctor ordered. Instead Mr. Obama laid out his vision for America in a way that mirrored his campaign themes, but from a perspective of a man two years into governing this country as opposed to spending two years trying to be elected to govern. The distinction is critical and important. What is said on the campaign trail is often ethereal and often gives way to the bump and grind of inside the beltway politics. Progressives have hammered at President Obama since he was President Elect Obama for moving to the center, or in the words of former MSNBC host Keith Olberman, at times, capitulating to the right. Yet I have often wondered if many of those on the left simply don’t get the distinction between campaigning and governing. To be fair to his critics, Barack Obama has made some mistakes along the way, but then again who among us has been error free since January 20th 2009? Yet this address is coming from a man chastened by mistakes, and challenged by the political ramifications of his mistakes – and the political ramifications of a nation filled with fear. In November 2008 I wrote in my final support of Barack Obama’s candidacy for President that the 2008 election was about “big things” and that in my opinion Barack Obama – not John McCain would be able to deliver on an agenda that required bigness. Looking back, I have no doubt that I was correct in my assessment – Obama stumbles notwithstanding.
What was said in the State of the Union was an important and blueprint for the way forward. Let me be clear on one thing – those who want to fact check this speech on the details of policy initiatives can go to hell, because they are misdirecting the message. A few years ago I read American Theocracy by former GOP strategist Kevin Phillips who saw the combination of American dependence on foreign oil, American debt, and Christian conservatism as a clear and present threat to American democracy. I agreed with that assessment, and wondered if President Obama had the same perspective. I have never met Barack Obama so I can not say with clarity if he read Mr. Phillip’s neither book, nor have I engaged him in a conversation on the most salient points of that book, but it is clear listening to his speech that President Obama is aware of the consequences that Mr. Phillips laid out. In his address, President Obama evoked some of the key “talking points” of the book – speaking on energy reliance, debt, social liberalism and war.
Elections have consequences, and the 2008 election of Barack Obama brought with it , changes in health care, the finance industry, don’t ask don’t tell in the military, and an alterative to “no child left behind”. Likewise the 2010 midterm elections had consequences – one of the best lines in Mr. Obama’s speech was when he reminded both parties that the mandate of the 2010 election was for both parties to work together to solve serious problems. Sitting to behind him to his left was the man the US Constitution puts third in the line of succession to be President – Speaker of the House Congressman John Boehner. Congressman Boehner wanted to lead; now Speaker Boehner has that responsibility. Republicans can ill afford to misread their fall midterm victory, and behind the strategy of being the party of no, because now they are governing partners. Which means if President Obama is on his game, it will be the Republicans who pay a political price in 2012 for obstructionism. And that is the heart of the Obama challenge. Barack Obama won the White House on the wave of progressive initiatives, but his two years have shown that issues that are dear to conservative’s especially fiscal responsibility need to be addressed, secondly while Wall Street seems to have rebounded from the near collapse in 2008, Main Street – especially the middle class main street still struggles. Why? Jobs. Budgets reflect a nation’s priority, and the priority of a nation in debt, and a nation that is underperforming has to reflect seriousness in resolving both problems. Therein lays the heart of the Obama challenge – and the Obama opportunity. The State of the Union is one of a President’s biggest stage, where he can be both politician, and statesman. President Obama laid out a Statesman like vision for America – a vision for big things, while issuing a political challenge. But he must do more.
Yes we need to tighten our bootstraps, our national debt is unsustainable. Yet resolving our debt requires choices, and President Obama in his address was clear and concise in where his budgetary battle lines were drawn: education, clean energy, infrastructure, consumer regulations and social security. Moreover, Mr. Obama clearly articulated why each of those areas should be provided the needed funds in order to secure America’s future. This is critical. In 2008 candidate Obama laid out a rationale for health reform – a rationale that melted under the hot glare of Washington politics. President Obama simply can not afford to lose control of the budget narrative - his own presidential reelection hopes and more importantly, the future of this country depends on his ability to manage the debate on debt, jobs and energy. The same can be said for our international agenda especially in Afghanistan, where it is clear our partners are shaky at best, and duplicitous at worse – and where history cruel to invaders. President Obama reiterated his July 2011 timeframe for drawing down in Afghanistan, and he must not allow any pressures to change his mind.
Finally, President Obama talked about the hundreds of thousands of children of immigrants who are in America because of the choices made by their parents, and alluded to their plight as an opening salvo for a cogent and meaningful immigration policy. These are all part an ambitious agenda and will require bigness on the part of all of us. We can ill afford to waste energy micromanaging President Obama’s speech on the details, but rather we should embrace it as a challenge to America to live up to its ideas, its history, and its potential. The challenge for President Obama is to not allow his vision to be a one night “State of the Union” stand, but a predicate for change that he is willing to make the centerpiece of his second term. I listened and was impressed; as this was not malaise “Part II” but a blueprint for the restoration of American greatness. Well done, and well said!
What was said in the State of the Union was an important and blueprint for the way forward. Let me be clear on one thing – those who want to fact check this speech on the details of policy initiatives can go to hell, because they are misdirecting the message. A few years ago I read American Theocracy by former GOP strategist Kevin Phillips who saw the combination of American dependence on foreign oil, American debt, and Christian conservatism as a clear and present threat to American democracy. I agreed with that assessment, and wondered if President Obama had the same perspective. I have never met Barack Obama so I can not say with clarity if he read Mr. Phillip’s neither book, nor have I engaged him in a conversation on the most salient points of that book, but it is clear listening to his speech that President Obama is aware of the consequences that Mr. Phillips laid out. In his address, President Obama evoked some of the key “talking points” of the book – speaking on energy reliance, debt, social liberalism and war.
Elections have consequences, and the 2008 election of Barack Obama brought with it , changes in health care, the finance industry, don’t ask don’t tell in the military, and an alterative to “no child left behind”. Likewise the 2010 midterm elections had consequences – one of the best lines in Mr. Obama’s speech was when he reminded both parties that the mandate of the 2010 election was for both parties to work together to solve serious problems. Sitting to behind him to his left was the man the US Constitution puts third in the line of succession to be President – Speaker of the House Congressman John Boehner. Congressman Boehner wanted to lead; now Speaker Boehner has that responsibility. Republicans can ill afford to misread their fall midterm victory, and behind the strategy of being the party of no, because now they are governing partners. Which means if President Obama is on his game, it will be the Republicans who pay a political price in 2012 for obstructionism. And that is the heart of the Obama challenge. Barack Obama won the White House on the wave of progressive initiatives, but his two years have shown that issues that are dear to conservative’s especially fiscal responsibility need to be addressed, secondly while Wall Street seems to have rebounded from the near collapse in 2008, Main Street – especially the middle class main street still struggles. Why? Jobs. Budgets reflect a nation’s priority, and the priority of a nation in debt, and a nation that is underperforming has to reflect seriousness in resolving both problems. Therein lays the heart of the Obama challenge – and the Obama opportunity. The State of the Union is one of a President’s biggest stage, where he can be both politician, and statesman. President Obama laid out a Statesman like vision for America – a vision for big things, while issuing a political challenge. But he must do more.
Yes we need to tighten our bootstraps, our national debt is unsustainable. Yet resolving our debt requires choices, and President Obama in his address was clear and concise in where his budgetary battle lines were drawn: education, clean energy, infrastructure, consumer regulations and social security. Moreover, Mr. Obama clearly articulated why each of those areas should be provided the needed funds in order to secure America’s future. This is critical. In 2008 candidate Obama laid out a rationale for health reform – a rationale that melted under the hot glare of Washington politics. President Obama simply can not afford to lose control of the budget narrative - his own presidential reelection hopes and more importantly, the future of this country depends on his ability to manage the debate on debt, jobs and energy. The same can be said for our international agenda especially in Afghanistan, where it is clear our partners are shaky at best, and duplicitous at worse – and where history cruel to invaders. President Obama reiterated his July 2011 timeframe for drawing down in Afghanistan, and he must not allow any pressures to change his mind.
Finally, President Obama talked about the hundreds of thousands of children of immigrants who are in America because of the choices made by their parents, and alluded to their plight as an opening salvo for a cogent and meaningful immigration policy. These are all part an ambitious agenda and will require bigness on the part of all of us. We can ill afford to waste energy micromanaging President Obama’s speech on the details, but rather we should embrace it as a challenge to America to live up to its ideas, its history, and its potential. The challenge for President Obama is to not allow his vision to be a one night “State of the Union” stand, but a predicate for change that he is willing to make the centerpiece of his second term. I listened and was impressed; as this was not malaise “Part II” but a blueprint for the restoration of American greatness. Well done, and well said!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Us versus Them – the Gun has left the Holster
Any who ever who played pickup basketball games in college or at the local YMCA can relate to the term “skins versus shirts”. For the uninitiated, the calculation was simple, one team had their shirts on the opposition went shirtless. It was a simple way to define “us versus them”. Us versus them playing out in a five on five hoops game is for all practical purposes a harmless manifestation of human classification that has operated for time immemorial. That classification of good guys versus bad guys can take on a variety of hues, agendas, size and scope. In our Westerns movies , the “us” wore the white hats; the bad guys – “the them” – had the black hats. In the 30’s Nazi Germany showed the world how “us versus them” can function at its most anti human level as they used it as a horrific justification to murder six million Jews. In America the Nation of Islam used the history of slavery, and injustice to create an “us verse them” pro black American template and in doing so built a powerful organization by framing white people ostensibly as devils.
“Us versus them” can also be a survival mechanism, as understanding with clarity, who your enemies are, is a useful stratagem. Yet even in the South during slavery, those like Harriet Tubman whose navigation of the Underground Railroad depended on the help of with abolitionists, understood that while white slavery is the enemy – every white person is not - thus redefining “us versus them” with a sense of nuance and perspective. Finally nationalism is “us versus them” writ large for example I recall in 1972 when the United States lost the Gold Medal Game to the Soviet Union in the Berlin Olympics, I was mortified, and how we all cheered in 1980 during the “Miracle on Ice as the United States defeated the Soviet Union in Hockey. Nationalism also serves to motivate a nation at war, therefore in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center attacks, Presidents Roosevelt and Bush respectively were able to rally a heaving and grieving nation to a war time posture primary by framing those tragedies in a nationalistic “us versus” them point of view.
When I think of tragic shootings that took place last weekend in Arizona, I am reminded of “us verses them”, but I am concerned that while much of the focus on toning down political discourse is appropriate, we may be blind to the reality that the violent gun may have forever left its holster, and America may be in for a period of violence unseen in this country in generations. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, both the political right and political left backed into their respective corners with the left on the attack mode and the right for one of the few times in the last few years on the defensive. As one who leans toward the progressive end of the political spectrum, it felt good to see the left with their fangs out, but only for a moment. Because as the media strove to push their own partisan button they are doing America an utter and total disserve by ignoring the obvious.
While the information about the alleged shooter Jared Loughner is still evolving, one thing seems to be clear and was pointed out on NBC News by former FBI profiler Clift van Zandt. This shooting did not seem to be motivated by the rantings Glen Beck or Sarah Palin blogs and Tweets. Jared Loughner rather fits the profile of an anti government, long wolf loser with pent up anger/obsession with Congresswoman Giffords whose below the radar seethings eventually erupted last Saturday. Understanding this profile as well as the current climate in this country will prove critical if we as a country are to truly understand this event. If we only see this event through the lens of political discourse and talking head vitriol, we are missing a dangerous point.
In her eloquent blog on Open Salon Greer McVey pointed out a Homeland Security report in early 2009 that said that “long wolf extremism” is on the rise. A report that was attacked by the right, including now Speaker of the House John Boehner, and regrettably the Obama Administration backed down from its own findings. The report’s finding included:
“Threats from white supremacist and violent antigovernment groups
During 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry
out violent acts. Nevertheless, the consequences of a prolonged economic
downturn—including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability
to obtain credit—could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing
extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and
government authorities similar to those in the past.
Rightwing extremists have capitalized on the election of the first
African American president, and are focusing their efforts to recruit new
members, mobilize existing supporters, and broaden their scope and appeal
through propaganda, but they have not yet turned to attack planning.”
Furthermore in a chilling report titled Rage on the Right, the Southern Poverty Law Center offered a concurring assessment by saying:
“Since the installation of Barack Obama, right-wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. Racist skinheads and others have been arrested in alleged plots to assassinate the nation’s first black president. One man from Brockton, Mass. — who told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites — is charged with murdering two black people and planning to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama’s inauguration. Most recently, a rash of individuals with antigovernment, survivalist or racist views have been arrested in a series of bomb cases
It gets worse - Washington insider Ronald Kessler reported in his recent book The Presidents secret service Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect that death threats against President Obama have increased 400 percent over his predecessor George W. Bush. And we all recall the Facebook page that asked should Barack Obama be killed. This is “Us versus them” in its most dangerous manifestation. As a nation grieves over the shootings in Arizona, the national media seems to be obsessed with making conservative politicians and talking heads repudiate any comments made in the past that may suggest violence – all well and good. While that may satiate the pristine inside the beltway commentators, I am certain that if for example Sarah Palin made a follow up speech with a clear and forceful statement and apologizing for her role in turning up the volume, it will be too little and too late. The underlying forces that give rise to hate groups are too hardwired and ingrained into their psychotic anti government DNA to be set aside by a single speech. These hate groups are trapped in an “ugly us versus them” mentality that is ticking American time bomb. They don’t need the vitriol of conservative talk show hosts to set them off, their own psychosis, hatred; and fears - both real and imagined will eventually spark them into action. My fear is that these attacks will grow in volume and voracity, and because of the rapid news cycle, each event will create new internet heroes, give rise to wannabees and will spur on more deadly events. “Us versus them” - unfortunately, this is not shirts versus skins, this the United States of America versus itself
“Us versus them” can also be a survival mechanism, as understanding with clarity, who your enemies are, is a useful stratagem. Yet even in the South during slavery, those like Harriet Tubman whose navigation of the Underground Railroad depended on the help of with abolitionists, understood that while white slavery is the enemy – every white person is not - thus redefining “us versus them” with a sense of nuance and perspective. Finally nationalism is “us versus them” writ large for example I recall in 1972 when the United States lost the Gold Medal Game to the Soviet Union in the Berlin Olympics, I was mortified, and how we all cheered in 1980 during the “Miracle on Ice as the United States defeated the Soviet Union in Hockey. Nationalism also serves to motivate a nation at war, therefore in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center attacks, Presidents Roosevelt and Bush respectively were able to rally a heaving and grieving nation to a war time posture primary by framing those tragedies in a nationalistic “us versus” them point of view.
When I think of tragic shootings that took place last weekend in Arizona, I am reminded of “us verses them”, but I am concerned that while much of the focus on toning down political discourse is appropriate, we may be blind to the reality that the violent gun may have forever left its holster, and America may be in for a period of violence unseen in this country in generations. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, both the political right and political left backed into their respective corners with the left on the attack mode and the right for one of the few times in the last few years on the defensive. As one who leans toward the progressive end of the political spectrum, it felt good to see the left with their fangs out, but only for a moment. Because as the media strove to push their own partisan button they are doing America an utter and total disserve by ignoring the obvious.
While the information about the alleged shooter Jared Loughner is still evolving, one thing seems to be clear and was pointed out on NBC News by former FBI profiler Clift van Zandt. This shooting did not seem to be motivated by the rantings Glen Beck or Sarah Palin blogs and Tweets. Jared Loughner rather fits the profile of an anti government, long wolf loser with pent up anger/obsession with Congresswoman Giffords whose below the radar seethings eventually erupted last Saturday. Understanding this profile as well as the current climate in this country will prove critical if we as a country are to truly understand this event. If we only see this event through the lens of political discourse and talking head vitriol, we are missing a dangerous point.
In her eloquent blog on Open Salon Greer McVey pointed out a Homeland Security report in early 2009 that said that “long wolf extremism” is on the rise. A report that was attacked by the right, including now Speaker of the House John Boehner, and regrettably the Obama Administration backed down from its own findings. The report’s finding included:
“Threats from white supremacist and violent antigovernment groups
During 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry
out violent acts. Nevertheless, the consequences of a prolonged economic
downturn—including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability
to obtain credit—could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing
extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and
government authorities similar to those in the past.
Rightwing extremists have capitalized on the election of the first
African American president, and are focusing their efforts to recruit new
members, mobilize existing supporters, and broaden their scope and appeal
through propaganda, but they have not yet turned to attack planning.”
Furthermore in a chilling report titled Rage on the Right, the Southern Poverty Law Center offered a concurring assessment by saying:
“Since the installation of Barack Obama, right-wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. Racist skinheads and others have been arrested in alleged plots to assassinate the nation’s first black president. One man from Brockton, Mass. — who told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites — is charged with murdering two black people and planning to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama’s inauguration. Most recently, a rash of individuals with antigovernment, survivalist or racist views have been arrested in a series of bomb cases
It gets worse - Washington insider Ronald Kessler reported in his recent book The Presidents secret service Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect that death threats against President Obama have increased 400 percent over his predecessor George W. Bush. And we all recall the Facebook page that asked should Barack Obama be killed. This is “Us versus them” in its most dangerous manifestation. As a nation grieves over the shootings in Arizona, the national media seems to be obsessed with making conservative politicians and talking heads repudiate any comments made in the past that may suggest violence – all well and good. While that may satiate the pristine inside the beltway commentators, I am certain that if for example Sarah Palin made a follow up speech with a clear and forceful statement and apologizing for her role in turning up the volume, it will be too little and too late. The underlying forces that give rise to hate groups are too hardwired and ingrained into their psychotic anti government DNA to be set aside by a single speech. These hate groups are trapped in an “ugly us versus them” mentality that is ticking American time bomb. They don’t need the vitriol of conservative talk show hosts to set them off, their own psychosis, hatred; and fears - both real and imagined will eventually spark them into action. My fear is that these attacks will grow in volume and voracity, and because of the rapid news cycle, each event will create new internet heroes, give rise to wannabees and will spur on more deadly events. “Us versus them” - unfortunately, this is not shirts versus skins, this the United States of America versus itself
We The People - Confessions of an anti Government Zealot
I wrote this piece December 12th. As I reflect on the tragic shootings in Arizona, and pray for the recovery of Congresswoman Giffords - I am mindful that one can distrust this government, believe it is corrupt, owned by corporate interests, incapable of big things, yet the solution is not violence - yet given the conditions outlined below, I feel blood will continue to flow -
We the People – America’s bloodless Revolution
we are putting faith in a broken and corrupt system.... a system where our government all 3 branches are wholly owned subsidiaries of global corporations.....only able to produce change lite...but seductive enough to draw in the American public into an electoral process by identifying charismatic candidates who can raise expectations, hopes, and money.....in 2008 it was Barack Obama....this system needs to be blow up.....how can that be done?....only by we the people - the steps to revolution can only come via a population that is either not programmed or de-programmed - so no you are not venting...u c the emperor has no clothes
In my 2003 poem"Black Power - Yeah Right"
I wrote
Our blindness energizes the new world order, Babylon’s daughter
We all say we want a better world, we pray about it, we talk about it, we blog about it, we march about it, we vote about it, yet despite the massive amounts of energy and resources expended in this country, we are slipping deeper and deeper into an abyss. Yet what is most frightening is the degree that now instead of laying face down execution style and taking a bullet to the brain, we now gladly take the gun from the executioner and do his work for him. We are smiling gleefully as we pull the trigger, and squeeze off a round ending our lives. I recently re-read Running Blind by Lee Child whose man character Jack Reacher was on the hunt for presumable a serial killer who was on a killing spree but leaving no evidence at the crime scene, but all of the women died by swallowing their tongues. Jack Reacher and the FBI were puzzled because their was no sign that these women were forced to do kill themselves in such a painful and frightening manner, until the end when they learned that the killer was an FBI trained hypnotist. So she hypnotized the victims and they followed her instructions to their demise.
Fiction or not, the Lee Child narrative effectively captures the plight of America today. I would image that astute archeologist of a future century would look through rubble of the American carnage and say wow! Cause of death mass suicide, brought on by congestive brain failure. Those same archeologist would then begun the work to deconstruct America’s unraveling, and what they would find was that same symptoms that brought down other empires, but in America’s case they would be amazed at the accelerated pace of America’s demise. Where would they start? Perhaps it would be the de-evolution of the American mind which has succumbed almost in whole to processing information, not by engaging critical thought, but by accepting as read, information that is downloaded, streamed, or pitched on television. As a sedentary nation bonds more and more with the internet and television, the best we can come up not is the ability to mimic often chapter and verse what TV talking heads and internet bloggers put out there. As a result the American public if often looking the wrong way, at the wrong time. As the mass media defines what we should like, what we should eat, how we should look, and most importantly what we should care about, we abrogate our power to decide our own priorities. The human fragilities of over consumption, living beyond our means, keeping up with the Jones, have been part and parcel of every society in some form or fashion since time immemorial. But the undue influence of the mass media, now accelerates, and spreads the gospel that self worth is tied to owning things, like a deadly virtual wildfire. There was a cellular telephone provider whose commercial that was played during last year’s NCAA Basketball tournament is dispositive on how the media creates neatly ties one’s self esteem to the capacity of his mobile device. In this commercial four friends are communicating by telephone discussing the latest basketball game. As the commercial ended, it was clear that one of those friends, by appearance a well to do young black man, did not have the same capability on his phone, the commercial ended with a close up shot of this man’s down casted face. At a macro level, media images and clever marketing campaigns have helped usher in American consumer debt, a rise in bankruptcy, foreclosures, and the ticking time bomb of sub prime loans that exploded with a viral impact on this nations – as well as other’s economies.
In the 20 so months of the Obama administration the mass media has had us gripped and dialed into the inside the beltway death match that included the President versus the Republicans, as well as the President waging war with his own party. At the same time I often wondered how many of us have made significant lifestyle changes on our own accord? How many of us, realize for example we – not Congress or the President have the ultimate control over our own health? How many of us realize that we – not Congress or the President have control over our personal budgets, and budgetary choices?
How many of us, realize that we – not Congress or the President have the ultimate responsibility for our children’s education, our neighborhoods and communities, and our future? Yet what is most frightening is the manner in which the media though all of it’s outlets continue to frame our political system as functional, how despite the fact that by all accounts our government at the national level – all three branches have been reduced to becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate interests – both domestic and international – yet our system of government is still sustainable.
America is changing; the baby boomers are aging at time when Social Security becoming an unsustainable burden on our national budget. The unresolved plight of twelve million Hispanics threaten the social fabric of several communities, and challenge an impotent national government to respond to them. Millions of middle class white Americans face in their mind, threats both real and imagined as they see this no longer the world of 1959. Large federal and state deficits undercut safety nets, aging infrastructure, school systems, and the capacity of state and local governments to function. Those at the top of the pyramid are hoping American’s addictions, obsession with the lives of others and general slugginess, will allow them to continue their game of smoke and mirrors, as the rich get richer, and on the surface a slumbering nation appears to be ill equip to change the dynamic, and reject at large a failing system, and by any means necessary seek as this countries founding fathers did, a new nation.
Yet in America smoldering is a new fire, a new spirit of 1776, waiting to happen. It may not happen in ten years, or twenty years or even in my lifetime, but it will happen. This is a nation of people, and ultimately they will awaken. Our governments inability to resolve big issues, while at the same time losing lives, and resources in foreign wars, will ultimately force and awakening and with it, a revolution of the spirit. Will there be blood? Consider the history of how the status quo has responded to the awakening of the human spirit. Two thousand years ago, a man was crucified, as his revelations challenged both the Jewish and Roman centers of power. Josef Stalin killed of his own Russian citizens in an attempt to control, power. In the sixties change agents from John F. Kennedy, to Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King were all struck down, in order to pave way for America to assume the mantle of imperialist power from a battered Europe.
In the last year of Dr. King’s life he began to expand his message to connect the explosive dots of poverty in America both black and white, to poverty in third world nations. His death April 4th 1968 came one year to the day after his searing indictment of America and its role in Vietnam. The sixties a decade in America that started with President on the cusp of a new frontier ended on the cusp of revolution. That revolution never happened - primary because of the striking down of its leaders, but more importantly the manner in which the status quo moved to begin to create the illusion of inclusion. Whether by accident or design, many of those whose eyes sparked with revolutionary fervor in the sixties where now brought to the table, off went dashikis and afros, replaced by three piece suits, and low cut hair styles. Hippies ended their “summers of love” and rejoined the corporate world of their parents. Black folks left the inner cities in droves, now armed with college degrees, PHD’s and other advanced degrees. With the smoke of the sixties now in America’s hindsight, seeking a new hero to revitalize an American image that took a hit from both Vietnam, and Watergate, Ronald Wilson Reagan stood astride the Oval office, and behind the toothy smile, the warm benign visage, created massive debt, destabilizing Latin America, and ushered in crack to America's vulnerable urban centers. At the same time, the internet was taking form, which would ultimately usher in both an era of prosperity under the Clinton administration, but cause information to spread at an exponential level.
On January 20th 1993 when William Jefferson Clinton took the oval office, America was now a quarter of a century removed from Martin Luther King’s assassination, and black America was looking ahead – not back. At the same time, a new generation of blacks under the influence of “hip hop” listened to rap music from groups like Public Enemy and Tribe Call Quest, which brought with it a new wave of black awareness. Gangster rap rooted in the South Central LA rap groups like NWA, and Tupac Shakur were now challenging the status quo both black and white with their music.
Other blacks were under the influence of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan who in October 1996 led a massive “Million Man March” day of "atonement" which promised to bring about a sea change in the attitude of black men, and with it a new sense of personal accountability. A few years earlier young blacks erupted in Los Angelas as a jury acquitted Los Angeles Police officers whose video taped beating of Rodney King, became the first true moment of the video new world. Now almost twenty years since the Million Man March and the Rodney king beating, many young blacks continue to lag behind in almost every category save prison sentences. Many young blacks have become disaffected, and disillusioned even with the presence of a man of color in the White House. Yet as our federal debt grows larger, and predicted budget cuts will impact those on the lower of the economic scale, while the inner cities burn while Washington dithers? The last twenty years conversely have had a different effect on America’s middle class.
On the watch of President Clinton America’s financial institution begun strides to shred some of the regulatory shackles that prevented them for risky misadventures, began to expand their credit portfolios, therefore opening lines of credit to Americans that heretofore would not be eligible for it. In home loans for example the credit – debt ratio of 28:36 was an industry standard. Meaning, your debt prior to the purchase of a home could not be more than 28 percent of your income, and your debt as a percentage of your income could not go above 36 percent after the purchase of the home. Now lenders by expanding that ratio to sometimes 28:40 were opening the floodgates for new home purchases, to buyers that were ill equip to handle the debt – in short subprime loans. These new homeowners then were seduced into using their home as an ATM machine, which fueled an overheated economy fueled on bad debt.
That all came to a crash on September 17, 2008. When the crash came, it took with, it iconic companies like Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers, as the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and both Presidential Candidates Obama and McCain were all swept away in the madness. But more importantly the crash depleted pension funds, 401ks, and brought lending almost to a halt. Suddenly Middle Class America had a wake up call, as the economy tottered, many Americans – especially white Americans faced fear on several fronts. Job loss, the specter of an emerging China, and India from the East, 12 million undocumented Hispanics at home, the ongoing war with Islam, and a Black man in the oval office, all gave rise to a political phenomenon called the Tea Party. Funded by conservative extremist like the billionaire Koch brothers, many of these ulber conservative groups challenged both Republican and Democratic incumbents – although their success was mixed, they served notice that gave both parties pause. As anger, disillusion, fears, reaches a critical mass, how will Americans respond? Many will undoubtedly continue to seek a political solution, but what about the rest – when the awakening takes place, will it bring with it the spirit of 1776, or has America become so dumbed down, we will all be asleep as America loses its thorny crown?
We the People – America’s bloodless Revolution
we are putting faith in a broken and corrupt system.... a system where our government all 3 branches are wholly owned subsidiaries of global corporations.....only able to produce change lite...but seductive enough to draw in the American public into an electoral process by identifying charismatic candidates who can raise expectations, hopes, and money.....in 2008 it was Barack Obama....this system needs to be blow up.....how can that be done?....only by we the people - the steps to revolution can only come via a population that is either not programmed or de-programmed - so no you are not venting...u c the emperor has no clothes
In my 2003 poem"Black Power - Yeah Right"
I wrote
Our blindness energizes the new world order, Babylon’s daughter
We all say we want a better world, we pray about it, we talk about it, we blog about it, we march about it, we vote about it, yet despite the massive amounts of energy and resources expended in this country, we are slipping deeper and deeper into an abyss. Yet what is most frightening is the degree that now instead of laying face down execution style and taking a bullet to the brain, we now gladly take the gun from the executioner and do his work for him. We are smiling gleefully as we pull the trigger, and squeeze off a round ending our lives. I recently re-read Running Blind by Lee Child whose man character Jack Reacher was on the hunt for presumable a serial killer who was on a killing spree but leaving no evidence at the crime scene, but all of the women died by swallowing their tongues. Jack Reacher and the FBI were puzzled because their was no sign that these women were forced to do kill themselves in such a painful and frightening manner, until the end when they learned that the killer was an FBI trained hypnotist. So she hypnotized the victims and they followed her instructions to their demise.
Fiction or not, the Lee Child narrative effectively captures the plight of America today. I would image that astute archeologist of a future century would look through rubble of the American carnage and say wow! Cause of death mass suicide, brought on by congestive brain failure. Those same archeologist would then begun the work to deconstruct America’s unraveling, and what they would find was that same symptoms that brought down other empires, but in America’s case they would be amazed at the accelerated pace of America’s demise. Where would they start? Perhaps it would be the de-evolution of the American mind which has succumbed almost in whole to processing information, not by engaging critical thought, but by accepting as read, information that is downloaded, streamed, or pitched on television. As a sedentary nation bonds more and more with the internet and television, the best we can come up not is the ability to mimic often chapter and verse what TV talking heads and internet bloggers put out there. As a result the American public if often looking the wrong way, at the wrong time. As the mass media defines what we should like, what we should eat, how we should look, and most importantly what we should care about, we abrogate our power to decide our own priorities. The human fragilities of over consumption, living beyond our means, keeping up with the Jones, have been part and parcel of every society in some form or fashion since time immemorial. But the undue influence of the mass media, now accelerates, and spreads the gospel that self worth is tied to owning things, like a deadly virtual wildfire. There was a cellular telephone provider whose commercial that was played during last year’s NCAA Basketball tournament is dispositive on how the media creates neatly ties one’s self esteem to the capacity of his mobile device. In this commercial four friends are communicating by telephone discussing the latest basketball game. As the commercial ended, it was clear that one of those friends, by appearance a well to do young black man, did not have the same capability on his phone, the commercial ended with a close up shot of this man’s down casted face. At a macro level, media images and clever marketing campaigns have helped usher in American consumer debt, a rise in bankruptcy, foreclosures, and the ticking time bomb of sub prime loans that exploded with a viral impact on this nations – as well as other’s economies.
In the 20 so months of the Obama administration the mass media has had us gripped and dialed into the inside the beltway death match that included the President versus the Republicans, as well as the President waging war with his own party. At the same time I often wondered how many of us have made significant lifestyle changes on our own accord? How many of us, realize for example we – not Congress or the President have the ultimate control over our own health? How many of us realize that we – not Congress or the President have control over our personal budgets, and budgetary choices?
How many of us, realize that we – not Congress or the President have the ultimate responsibility for our children’s education, our neighborhoods and communities, and our future? Yet what is most frightening is the manner in which the media though all of it’s outlets continue to frame our political system as functional, how despite the fact that by all accounts our government at the national level – all three branches have been reduced to becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate interests – both domestic and international – yet our system of government is still sustainable.
America is changing; the baby boomers are aging at time when Social Security becoming an unsustainable burden on our national budget. The unresolved plight of twelve million Hispanics threaten the social fabric of several communities, and challenge an impotent national government to respond to them. Millions of middle class white Americans face in their mind, threats both real and imagined as they see this no longer the world of 1959. Large federal and state deficits undercut safety nets, aging infrastructure, school systems, and the capacity of state and local governments to function. Those at the top of the pyramid are hoping American’s addictions, obsession with the lives of others and general slugginess, will allow them to continue their game of smoke and mirrors, as the rich get richer, and on the surface a slumbering nation appears to be ill equip to change the dynamic, and reject at large a failing system, and by any means necessary seek as this countries founding fathers did, a new nation.
Yet in America smoldering is a new fire, a new spirit of 1776, waiting to happen. It may not happen in ten years, or twenty years or even in my lifetime, but it will happen. This is a nation of people, and ultimately they will awaken. Our governments inability to resolve big issues, while at the same time losing lives, and resources in foreign wars, will ultimately force and awakening and with it, a revolution of the spirit. Will there be blood? Consider the history of how the status quo has responded to the awakening of the human spirit. Two thousand years ago, a man was crucified, as his revelations challenged both the Jewish and Roman centers of power. Josef Stalin killed of his own Russian citizens in an attempt to control, power. In the sixties change agents from John F. Kennedy, to Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King were all struck down, in order to pave way for America to assume the mantle of imperialist power from a battered Europe.
In the last year of Dr. King’s life he began to expand his message to connect the explosive dots of poverty in America both black and white, to poverty in third world nations. His death April 4th 1968 came one year to the day after his searing indictment of America and its role in Vietnam. The sixties a decade in America that started with President on the cusp of a new frontier ended on the cusp of revolution. That revolution never happened - primary because of the striking down of its leaders, but more importantly the manner in which the status quo moved to begin to create the illusion of inclusion. Whether by accident or design, many of those whose eyes sparked with revolutionary fervor in the sixties where now brought to the table, off went dashikis and afros, replaced by three piece suits, and low cut hair styles. Hippies ended their “summers of love” and rejoined the corporate world of their parents. Black folks left the inner cities in droves, now armed with college degrees, PHD’s and other advanced degrees. With the smoke of the sixties now in America’s hindsight, seeking a new hero to revitalize an American image that took a hit from both Vietnam, and Watergate, Ronald Wilson Reagan stood astride the Oval office, and behind the toothy smile, the warm benign visage, created massive debt, destabilizing Latin America, and ushered in crack to America's vulnerable urban centers. At the same time, the internet was taking form, which would ultimately usher in both an era of prosperity under the Clinton administration, but cause information to spread at an exponential level.
On January 20th 1993 when William Jefferson Clinton took the oval office, America was now a quarter of a century removed from Martin Luther King’s assassination, and black America was looking ahead – not back. At the same time, a new generation of blacks under the influence of “hip hop” listened to rap music from groups like Public Enemy and Tribe Call Quest, which brought with it a new wave of black awareness. Gangster rap rooted in the South Central LA rap groups like NWA, and Tupac Shakur were now challenging the status quo both black and white with their music.
Other blacks were under the influence of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan who in October 1996 led a massive “Million Man March” day of "atonement" which promised to bring about a sea change in the attitude of black men, and with it a new sense of personal accountability. A few years earlier young blacks erupted in Los Angelas as a jury acquitted Los Angeles Police officers whose video taped beating of Rodney King, became the first true moment of the video new world. Now almost twenty years since the Million Man March and the Rodney king beating, many young blacks continue to lag behind in almost every category save prison sentences. Many young blacks have become disaffected, and disillusioned even with the presence of a man of color in the White House. Yet as our federal debt grows larger, and predicted budget cuts will impact those on the lower of the economic scale, while the inner cities burn while Washington dithers? The last twenty years conversely have had a different effect on America’s middle class.
On the watch of President Clinton America’s financial institution begun strides to shred some of the regulatory shackles that prevented them for risky misadventures, began to expand their credit portfolios, therefore opening lines of credit to Americans that heretofore would not be eligible for it. In home loans for example the credit – debt ratio of 28:36 was an industry standard. Meaning, your debt prior to the purchase of a home could not be more than 28 percent of your income, and your debt as a percentage of your income could not go above 36 percent after the purchase of the home. Now lenders by expanding that ratio to sometimes 28:40 were opening the floodgates for new home purchases, to buyers that were ill equip to handle the debt – in short subprime loans. These new homeowners then were seduced into using their home as an ATM machine, which fueled an overheated economy fueled on bad debt.
That all came to a crash on September 17, 2008. When the crash came, it took with, it iconic companies like Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers, as the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and both Presidential Candidates Obama and McCain were all swept away in the madness. But more importantly the crash depleted pension funds, 401ks, and brought lending almost to a halt. Suddenly Middle Class America had a wake up call, as the economy tottered, many Americans – especially white Americans faced fear on several fronts. Job loss, the specter of an emerging China, and India from the East, 12 million undocumented Hispanics at home, the ongoing war with Islam, and a Black man in the oval office, all gave rise to a political phenomenon called the Tea Party. Funded by conservative extremist like the billionaire Koch brothers, many of these ulber conservative groups challenged both Republican and Democratic incumbents – although their success was mixed, they served notice that gave both parties pause. As anger, disillusion, fears, reaches a critical mass, how will Americans respond? Many will undoubtedly continue to seek a political solution, but what about the rest – when the awakening takes place, will it bring with it the spirit of 1776, or has America become so dumbed down, we will all be asleep as America loses its thorny crown?
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