"I pledge allegiance to the flag ... " intones every first-grade kid, in unison and sincerity. When I was in the first grade, we faced the mortal crises of Pearl Harbor and fascism in Europe.
I was yet to learn history, to see that not all cowboys rode white horses and that not all Indians were murderous savages. I still had to realize that human servitude did not end with the abolition of slavery.
Even today I am still learning that racism has never reached the point where a white "listener" to stories of black hurt or denigration was not in the privileged position of just dodging the uncomfortable implications, dismissively. Such stories often become "unjustified accusations," or flipped around to be called "reverse racism."
We united to win World War II, and our national decisions to rebuild Germany and Japan into self-sustaining countries, spurred our own rebounding prosperity. But our position as King of the Mountain is eroding badly. The rich have gotten richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the gulf between "us" and "them" grows with the bitter dissension between Right and Left. It is almost like a civil war with the Right seceding.
What strikes me is how fervently the Right recites its formula as if it were the pledge to the flag, in lock-step unison, over and over, desecrating civil argument, denigrating the president, and disparaging any endeavor that is not privatized.
At present, the priority is to get rid of Obama, who is called everything but black, though that is the odor of everything that they do, in fact, dare to say, lies included.
Obama, following his instincts for cooperation and rationality, has seriously weakened his image by not playing their game as they try to make the country ungovernable. In the face of insult and insinuation, he turns the other cheek, inviting crucifixion.
Indeed, many on the Left see him as too allied with Wall Street and banker-type advisers. He named General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt to head his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, whose first act was to identify how even small business is harmed by too many complicated regulations.
Both GE and Warren Buffet's company have been favored with enough tax loopholes as to totally avoid corporate taxes. But middle of the road is invisible to myopic right wing extremists. It is not in their script.
On the other hand, they were mightily alarmed at the prospect of Elizabeth Warren heading the Consumer Protection Agency. She helped to create it after the abuse of exotic banking products helped to spark the financial crisis we all inherited from George W. Bush in 2008. Reform that helps everyday people is "stifling oppression" to the Tea Party.
Its creed is something like NO deficit spending, NO tax increases, NO public and ONLY privatize services, and NO restraints on the business ethics of wealthy interests that "create jobs." After the Republican history of creating deficits, I am reminded of how Jimmy Carter was once described as the victim of his own catastrophes.
In fact, there have been NO funded "wars" since Harry Truman. Tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-rich essentially created the deficits they decry. They're the pot calling the kettle black. It seems like the Tea Party types are bent on proving that government is no good, by obstructing and destroying its very usefulness. They know how to do that, so we should let them run it. Yeah, right _ right into the ground.
We hold the world record among industrialized nations of widening the gap between the few very prosperous citizens and the many at the bottom, hopelessly frozen out of their American dream.
A direct consequence is reflected in the U.S. having the highest rate of imprisonment. Our schools are not able to overcome the damage that poverty and social injustice do to children, whose performance in the march to citizenship lags as they mature in a climate of indignity and declining opportunity.
Freedom is increasingly the province of power, and the powerful naturally tend to use their advantage to bolster their own leverage and fortunes. And now, with the idea of "too big to fail," comes the fact that the government takes our money like no corporation ever could on its own, to bail business out _ Big Business.
Who does that speak for? Not for us, because business increasingly has the power to influence government and even to corrupt elections. The growth we are getting is the growth of wealth. That will only increase if the Tea Party gets its way.
William Masters can be reached at wmasters@thedailystar.com. The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of The Daily Star and its editorial board.
Columns
Freedom should not belong to the rich alone
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
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Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
- As Center Street Elementary goes, so goes Center City
- U.S. intervention in Syria's uprising would be a gamble
- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
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- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
Continued ... - Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
- Untethered from the cable box
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
- Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
- Spring is here, so fishing should pick up soon
- Sneaky fox may be the next animal looking to horse around
- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
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I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
- It’s not easy for a politics junkie to get off the stuff
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica in print, unmourned by me
- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
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- William Masters
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
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War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
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Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
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William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
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A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
