Tag Archives: tea party

Destroying America In 3 Easy Steps

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Destroying America Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

EVERYTHING THE TEA PARTY AND THE GOP ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT… Were in full swing for 8 years under George Bush. Odd we heard not a peep from them then isn’t it? Wonder what’s changed???

How do you bring down the United States? It is easy!

Destroying America In 3 Easy Steps

STEP ONE: Get rid of the Glass-Steagall act.

This was a firewall between retail banking and investment banking. Investors want a certain amount of risk. Taking risks can lead to windfall profits. Yes, you can lose your shirt, but heretofore, people who played in the investment markets, were the wealthy and only played with money that they could afford to lose.

With Glass-Steagall out of the way, suddenly people’s mortgages became investment instruments. Retirements became pension funds tied to the success or failure of your corporation. The middle class was built on home ownership. The majority of people’s wealth was in their homes. These homes were then passed down to their children giving them a leg up into the middle class.

Destroying America - Fred Thompson AAG

For God’s sake! Don’t pass that wealth on to your children!!!

I can remember when ARMs – Adjustable Rate Mortgages – became all the rage. People were encouraged to re-finance their homes, take their equity out and spend it. Now they’re pushing “Reverse Mortgages,” Can’t have the “middle class” passing their wealth to the next generation. They might actually become really wealthy! You surely don’t think the collapse of the housing market was accidental do you?

STEP TWO: Cut the tax revenue coming into the United States

Destroying America - Debt Chart

Click for full size.

The Bush era tax cuts, which the Republicans made permanent, are what has caused our national debt to sky rocket. Under Bill Clinton, we balanced our budget and had begun paying down our debt such that had we followed through, our entire national debt would have been paid off by the year 2010. Our nation would have been debt free! Once debt free, we could kiss the Federal Reserve goodbye! However, as I recall, the GOP simply hated Bill Clinton. Matter of fact, they impeached him! If the future of their grandchildren were truly as important as they’d like to pretend… They would have embraced Bill Clinton’s policies and remained on track to America becoming debt free. Bill Clinton left George Bush a $1.9 trillion dollar budget surplus.

STEP THREE: Burn through the national savings account.

George Bush went on a spending spree along with the congressional Republicans that would make a drunken sailor blush. Yes, we were attacked on September 11, 2001. I won’t go into the plethora of facts that make the official story absolute nonsense, but let us examine our response.

First, “Terror” is not a person. It is not a nation State. It is not an organization such as Al’Qaeda. Terror is a TACTIC. You cannot wage war on a tactic. Of course, caught up in the fervor of blood lust with our thirst for revenge, very little critical thinking was going on back then. We went into Afghanistan – which made sense – but, when we had the chance to capture Osama Bin Laden and decapitate the head of Al’Qaeda, we let him escape in order to rush into Iraq which had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks on the United States. Al’Qaeda wasn’t even in Iraq until they followed us there.

Remember how we effectively cut our income by giving tax cuts to the top 1%? By launching two wars simultaneously, we were burning through billions of dollars a day and there was no revenue stream incoming to replace our outgo. Thus we simply threw everything on the national credit card. In point of fact, George Bush didn’t even include the costs of these wars as a budget item. What could possibly go wrong???

Destroying America - Bush Painting

He is a better painter than he was a President… And his paintings suck!

The only thing that did go wrong was George Bush’s timing. I am firmly convinced that the plan was to mortally wound the United States and then let a Black President preside over its demise and of course take the blame. Things came to a pimple just a bit sooner than Bush had planned thus the TARP bailout was on his watch. Yes, that’s right. It was George Bush who signed the TARP bailout, Republicans rail against. If only things had taken a few more weeks to come together, George would have been back in Crawford Texas painting his water colors and acrylics, pretending no involvement.

The media propaganda has been working hammer and tong to rewrite history such that even now, most Republicans and TEA Party nit wits will argue vociferously that President Obama was responsible for the TARP, Of course, history – and spelling – were never really their strong suits.

We Are In Much Better Hands Than We Should Be

Destroying America - Mitt Romney

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt!

So, here we are. What they never counted on was President Obama being as competent as he is. Remember Mitt Romney’s article, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt?” Can you imagine having a President who would so cavalierly recommend the total destruction of an industry? Let us forget for a moment the human impacts of his advice. We all know that Mitt was born without a soul. Think for a moment what it would mean to the safety and security of these United States if we lost our manufacturing base.

If we have to have our weapons of war, manufactured and shipped to us, this creates a logistics problem and a critical supply line that could be cut by an enemy we were at war with. No need to bomb over here. Just bomb the factories that are producing our tanks, planes and other weapons of war in the various nations we’d be forced to buy them from. Think having a shotgun for home defense, but storing it at your neighbor’s house.

During WWI and WWII, it was our automotive manufacturing facilities that were tooled up and re-purposed to produce the Tanks, Jeeps, Half-Tracks, Heavy Trucks and fighter planes that helped us to win the war. The big foundries that were producing engine blocks began producing armor plating, hull sections for ships and submarines, and a host of other items we don’t even think about. Our automotive industries and their manufacturing capabilities are crucial to the safety and survival of this nation. Any person who doesn’t know this, shouldn’t be President.

Other than the Bush tax cuts, the next biggest drain on our budget is health care costs. I don’t want to live in a 3rd World Nation where people are left to die on the side of the roads. I want people around me to be healthy. My health and well being depend on it. So do yours. However, equally important is the fact that our population is greying, getting older. Older people require more and more medical attention. The question is not whether we’re going to pay for this, the question is how do we get the best service while keeping our costs down?

Let me share with you something from my own personal experience. A year or so ago, I had to have vein surgery to correct some varicose veins in both of my legs. Thus I had to have two surgeries. One on each leg. We spaced these about 4 weeks apart.

The bill for each leg was roughly $16,000 dollars or $32,000 for both. Mind you, this is routine outpatient surgery. I did not spend the night in the hospital either time. Of that total $32,000 my surgeon who actually performed the surgery, his two surgical nurses who assisted him and the Anaesthesiologist who put me to sleep and woke me back up, combined they got a total of a little over $5,000 dollars in total for both procedures. Where did the other $27,000 go? The Hospital received that for renting out it’s surgical suite for less than 4 hours.

Destroying America - Operating SuiteWhat did I use in that suite that amounted to $27,000 dollars? Since I saw the inside of the suite twice, I can tell you that the lights were the same each time, the stainless steel table was the same, the monitors and equipment were the same. Nothing had to be replaced between operations. So what exactly cost $27,000 dollars? That’s $6,750 per hour. Just like a gas station attempting to explain why the price of gas jumped 60 cents in 24 hours, the Hospital will try and explain the cost they’re charging those of us who can pay. You know? The ones of us with insurance. Their explanation is, we’re paying for all those people who do not have insurance. The ones who are treated in the Emergency room and never pay their bills.

It is a vicious circle. Insurance Companies raise your premiums because hospital costs keep rising. Hospital cost keep rising because people who’s only option is to use the “Emergency Room,” often cannot pay their bills. So, ultimately who is paying for people not having health insurance? You are. Just because you don’t see it as an itemized figure on your bill, doesn’t mean it is not there.

We need to address this and we’ve known since the 40’s we’ve needed to address the rising cost of health care. When people don’t pay their hospital bills, the hospital corporations write those off as losses on their income tax statements. In essence, they are double dipping. They’re claiming a loss to the federal government, while raising their rates to cover that loss through each paying customer. It is a sweet system… if you’re a hospital.

Saving America

To save America we need to simply reverse what has been done to her. Regulate the banks. Get rid of the Bush tax cuts. The 1% were doing just fine under the Clinton era tax rates and we need to fix health care so that people can protect their income. It is just that simple.

When Your Racism Blinds You To Reality

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Gallery - SCOTUS Meme

by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Irony, i-ro-ny: Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.

How many times have you heard some Tea Party nitwit make the claim that President Obama is destroying our “American Way of Life?” It is a constant theme and the drum beat to whatever tune they’re singing. If they open their refrigerator and the milk is sour, it’s President Obama’s fault.

When unemployment was high, that was President Obama’s fault. Now that unemployment numbers have been dropping, well, those independent agencies that report on these matters, are fudging the numbers for him.

How many times have you heard some nitwit Tea Bagger declare, “I want my country back!” When I woke up this morning, I made a point to check on it and apparently it’s still here. Nevertheless, for some reason, they believe that this country has changed… and it’s all Obama’s fault!

A great number of so called Libertarians and Tea Baggers are simply appalled that two people who love each other, regardless of gender can make a lifetime commitment to one another and marry. This seems odd to me because I was under the impression that Libertarians enshrined the philosophy of absolute personal freedom so long as the exercise thereof does not negatively impact another.

“Obama’s coming for your guns!” How many times have you heard that one? Never mind the fact that your gun rights have actually been expanded under President Obama, nevertheless, that one sure gets people up in arms – literally – and hollering about the decimation of our Bill Of Rights.

The Irony? While they’re venting their spleens at President Obama, the United States Supreme Court – the majority appointed by Republican Presidents – has done more to change this nation from the comforting delusion they’ve embraced all their lives.

It wasn’t President Obama who signed an executive order striking down the Defense of Marriage Act which led to Gay people finally being able to marry. That was the U.S. Supreme Court. It wasn’t President Obama who struck down California’s Proposition 8 which took away the legality of marriages between same sex couples. That was the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Land Of The Free?” The Supreme Court has held that police can seize your DNA without you being even charged for a crime. The Supreme Court has held that the police can strip search you if they arrest you for a traffic violation. Perhaps you didn’t have your insurance card with you when you were pulled over?

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Corporations have the same rights as an individual citizen. I’m 56 and this isn’t the America I remember growing up in. Hate the idea of everyone having health care – “Obama Care” – It was the Republican majority of the U.S. Supreme Court that declared “Obama Care” to be legal and Constitutional.

So, why aren’t the Tea Baggers taking a cue from the Occupy Wall Street Movement and marching on the U.S. Supreme Court? Because the real issue isn’t all the things they claim. Their real issue is, there’s a Black man in the White House. That’s what has really changed in this country and some of them simply have no idea how to deal with this fact.

When your racism blinds you to reality, your behaviours and your actions put your own self-interests at risk.

RULE BY FEAR – The Fleecing Of The Gullible!

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Rule By Fear - Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

If you’ve been paying attention over… THE LAST DECADE, we’ve been bombarded with one thing to fear after the other. Remember when all the computers were going to crash and send us back to the stone age? They called it “Y2K.” We bought generators, stored food, prepared for the Apocalypse. Well, at least I did. Yeah, they got me. A lot of merchants got paid though.

9/11 The Fear Of Terrorism

Rule By Fear - Saddam Statue ToppledTerrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. That was certainly an international tragedy! We lost close to 4,000 United States Citizens that day. We saw the “Twin Towers” fall and the Pentagon hit. They used our own air planes against us. Yes, we were angry, but our fear fanned the flame of that anger. Because of our fear and anger, we invaded two countries, one of which had NOTHING to do with the attacks. We’ve lost more lives fighting over there than we lost on “911.” If you count the maimed and wounded, our casualties are easily over 30,000. Yet, in that exact same year, we lost 37,862 people in fatal car accidents. Not one move was made to outlaw automobiles or restrict driving. Why?

Fear is what drives our economy. Fear is why our gasoline prices fluctuate wildly from day to day. Start a rumor about an oil spill or a slow down in production anywhere in the world, and like lemmings going over a cliff, oil speculators will drive the price of gas through the roof. Fear is both expensive and profitable.

Economic Fear

Rule By Fear - J. P. Morgan

J. P. Morgan

Fear brought on “The Great Depression.” People were afraid that their bank was going to run out of money. The rumor as started by J.P. Morgan and others to kill off some of their competition. So everybody ran to their banks and withdrew all their money, thus causing the very thing they feared, to happen.

When we go to war, large industrial corporations make billions! War is good for their businesses. All of them have full time, paid lobbyist who lobby your representatives. Whom do you think your representatives, represent? You or them?

Political Fear

With the election of our first Black President, there has been the constant drumbeat of fear. I don’t know how white people – those who haven’t gone insane – keep their sanity. “We’re becoming socialist!” Ever hear that? Next time you do, ask the person saying it to define socialism. Bet you almost anything they won’t be able to. Fire departments, police departments, ambulance services and public schools are technically socialism. We seem to have done alright down through the years with these institutions.

Race Fear

Rule By Fear - Zombie Apocalypse

Zombie Apocalypse?

Nit wits such as Bill O’Reilly predicted that if George Zimmerman were acquitted, this nation would erupt in race riots. I wonder how many frightened white people got their guns, ammo and hunkered down for that one? We hear terms like “Zombie Apocalypse!” We all know what that means. The Zombies are the inner city urban people – Blacks and other minorities – who are going to come to the suburbs and rural areas to kill white people and take what they’ve got. The NRA sure makes a bunch of money feeding this fear. Gun manufactures make money feeding this fear. Conservative talk radio gets listeners by feeding this fear and their advertisers make money feeding this fear. Buy gold! Buy Silver! Question, what is a gold coin worth? If you’re starving, it is just about worth a single slice of bread.

Because of fear, we allow ourselves to be subjected to invasive searches and body scans whenever we fly and we allow our children to be groped. Why? The rules were rewritten by flight 93 on September 11, 2001. You no longer need to search anyone getting on a plane. If a terrorist pulled out a sub machine gun he’d get beaten to death by the passengers before he could holler “Allah Akbar!”

Rule By Fear - Police State

Police State?

Because of fear we are watching our nation and the nations of the world, turn into “Police States.” Police departments are armed damn near as heavily as army combat units. They have their own armored personnel carriers, helicopters with FLIR and other various weapons systems. They patrol our streets in “Jackboots” with armor and full automatic weapons. Yet, we don’t seem to mind because we’ve deluded ourselves into *believing* that they’re keeping us safe… but who will keep us safe from them?

Rule By Fear

It’s all one big game. The objective is absolute control and subjugation of the population. Consider poor white people during the time of Slavery in the United States. Talk about being had! These poor fools supported the very institution that was keeping them in poverty! The mind control trigger was in convincing them that because of their skin color, they were better than the Slaves. Never mind the fact that they weren’t really living any better. Some were living worse off than the Slaves. On the plantation the Slaves were fed.

Rule By Fear - Poor White People

They should have joined forces.

Why were these white people poor? They were poor because they were out of work. Who was in a position to hire? The plantation owners of course. However, why should they hire white people whom they’d have to pay a wage, when they could make the Black Slaves do the work for free?

We had a commonality of interest that was derailed by deluding these poor white people to focus on race and skin color. If they’d been smart, they’d of been fighting to free the Slaves. Freed slaves would have meant that the plantation owners would have to hire them and pay them a wage. That money would have made it possible for them to move up the social ladder, and build a better life for them and their own children.

Nothing has changed! You can see poor white people, blinded by racism, wanting to kick all the undocumented workers out of this country under the impression that these people from south of or border are costing them jobs. Many of these people are wearing clothes that they purchased from Walmart. They’re buying groceries to put on their tables, from Walmart. The irony approaches the surreal!

Fear Of Immigrants

Rule By Fear - China-Mart

Let’s call it what it is.

Hispanic people come to this country, undocumented or not, work here, pay taxes here, buy goods and services here and for the most part, the money stays right here. They contribute to our economy. When you shop at Walmart – we really should call it by its true name, China-Mart – the people manufacturing the products you buy are in China. Many times working in slave conditions. They do not pay taxes here, nor do they support the American economy. They are the cause of American factories and plants closing and our jobs going to China. Big business gets richer and you get poorer. Don’t focus on the *real* problem. Fear people who don’t look exactly like you do. They must be the problem! Not big business. We are gullible and being ruled by a fear that has no merit, but has been fostered and fed to keep us distracted from the real problems. The reality? In the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself!” It is time to dispose of childish fears.

The Pain Of Republican Hypocrisy

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Republican Hypocrisy Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

The Pain Of Republican Hypocrisy

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, an interesting phenomena has been observed. Something of a shark feeding frenzy has been occurring amongst Republicans.

Those Republicans who’s districts are located along the Atlantic seaboard, where hurricane Sandy did most of it’s devastation, are suddenly coming face to face with the consequences of their own policies and rhetoric. Who are they at war with? Interestingly enough, their fellow Republicans!

The TEA Party

If we’re going to be honest and objective, the Republican philosophy has been proven to be a farce for years now. It is one of the most dramatic examples of false advertising imaginable. What are the primary planks of the Republican platform? I’m sure you know them. These are the things that come immediately to mind when you think “Republican.”

  • Smaller Government.
  • Strong National Defence.
  • Lower Taxes.
  • Self-Reliance/Independence/Personal Liberty.

You might be able to add one or two more, however they’re going to be in this same vein. When you look at the history of Republican administrations from the 50’s to now, what you see is nothing of the sort. Consider the national debt. Does it go up or down under fiscally conservative Republican Administrations?

National Debt by President

The Inconvenient Truth

You might be surprised to know it goes up dramatically under the Republicans. While they are talking East, they’re walking West. How did Ronald Reagan defeat the Soviet Union? He spent them into oblivion. They simply could not match our spending and in trying to do so, they ruined their economy forcing their breakup. Is the world safer for having them gone? Simple question: Who now is controlling and monitoring all their nuclear weapons?

Slowest Spending President

President Obama is the most frugal President we’ve had in modern history

Is President Obama the biggest spender in the history of our nation? The thing about statistics is, figures lie and liars figure and sometimes it is difficult to tell who is doing which. Republicans like to simply take the raw numbers out of context. They forget that President Obama is dealing with a much higher GDP and he’s also dealing with a debt that his predecessor – “Lord Voldemort or He Who Shall Not Be Named” – ran up. Thus, by simply paying on the debt already in existence, his spending is going to be – by the pure numbers – higher. However, when you compare his numbers to the rest of the economy and look at the adjusted and thus more correct big picture, it turns out that President Obama may be the most frugal President we’ve had in modern history.

Vicious Attack Dog

Sometimes a dog will turn on it’s master.

This fact has not been lost on the American voting public. In an effort to generate enthusiasm, energy and new blood into the foundering Republican Party, they formed an unholy alliance with the TEA Party. These misguided souls, mostly racist running under the banner of people angry about paying too much in taxes, are like an attack dog. People seem to enjoy owning an attack dog. The concept of having an ever vigilant ally on one’s side seems comforting. But what happens when your dog turns on you?

Hurricane Sandy And Republican Hypocrisy

Peter King Is Livid

New York Republican Representative Peter King is livid.

This past week, Congressman Peter King of New York took to the airwaves to deliver one of the most scathing rebukes I’ve heard, to the Republican Party. What makes this so unusual? Rep. Peter King is himself a Republican. Within 10 days of Hurricane Katrina, the House voted to appropriate 60 billion dollars in relief and rebuilding aid for the stricken Gulf Coast. It has been 9 weeks and they haven’t appropriated a cent to aid the Atlantic seaboard. Frankly? I do not blame him! This shouldn’t be about politics. There are over 517,000 people who have had their lives devastated. Many have lost everything. You can have insurance, but what happens when the insurance company runs out of money? What happens when you cannot get building supplies to your lot to rebuild your home because the roads are impassable? Each day that goes by, the damage is compounded. If you’ve ever experienced a basement flood, you know that getting the water pumped out and the basement dried as quickly as possible is of paramount importance. It doesn’t take mold long to grow. Once mold sets in, you’ve got to start tearing out walls.

An Angry Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – the presumed Republican Presidential nominee for 2016 – also had quite a lot to say. What made his comments so Earth shattering was the fact he was the keynote speaker at the most recent RNC convention. He is considered the “working man’s blue collar Republican Champion.” Caustic, bombastic and extremely “real,” truth be told, Hell! I don’t know that I wouldn’t vote for him if I lived in New Jersey. I would rather have someone with whom I disagreed with on some issues but whom I knew was doing the best job for the welfare of my State. When Chris Christie called out the Republican House and John Boehner, it got people’s attention and rightly so! Why? Because the needs of American citizens who through no fault of their own, were being thrown under the bus in the name of Republican and TEA Party ideology.

America Is An Idea – Nothing More

Quite often we become confused with borders, State and Federal and we think our geography is what defines us. We are not a homogeneous society defined by ethnicity like China or Japan. You cannot look at someone walking on our streets, note their ethnicity or how they’re dressed and conclude that they are or are not American citizens.

What makes us American is we all believe in the idea of America. “Out of many one.” From California to New York, from North Dakota to Mississippi, from Texas to Maine, we all consider ourselves one nation. When trouble rises or disasters strike, historically we all have pulled together as Americans… until now. When the events of September 11, 2001 happened, we didn’t say, “bummer! Too bad about New York.” We felt that we all had been attacked. We were ready to go to war… with somebody… anybody… turns out that’s just what we did.

Republican Hypocrisy

Pork

Pork is always something benefiting someone else’s district.

The definition of “Pork” in a congressional bill is anything that doesn’t directly benefit your State and your constituents. The same Republicans from the Atlantic seaboard who have decried wasteful government spending and who have demanded that there be cuts and offsets for every dollar spent, are now facing their Republican counterparts from States who were not affected by Hurricane Sandy. It’s a case of political Karma. How does it feel? It’s like being in the “Emergency Room” bleeding to death and before the doctor will operate to stop the bleeding and save your life, he pulls up a chair and begins discussing who your insurance carrier is and wants to check if you’re paid up on your premiums.

Tea Bagger

Crazy as a Mad Hatter.

Is this what the TEA Party has brought us to? We will either stand together or hang separately. The TEA Party mentality is exactly the same as that of the Southern Secessionists. The bloodiest war in our history was fought to lay that idea to rest. Many of these States who’s representatives promote these ideas are also the very States first in line with their hands outstretched seeking Federal aid. While Governor Rick Perry was making political points with his base talking about Texas seceding from the Union, wildfires were burning across his State. He was at the front of the line asking President Obama for Federal aid for his State. Like a rabid dog, he was busy biting the hand that feeds him while whining for more food.

It is time we say, enough is enough and get rid of our current crop of Republicans. No, you cannot make the “false equivalence” argument and try and claim that the Democrats do the same thing. They don’t. It is time to belly up to the bar, call a spade a spade and hold accountable the Party who is busily engaged in destroying our homeland. It is time to call Republicans on their hypocrisy. America will exist only as long as it’s citizens embrace the idea of America. That idea is under all out assault by the wing nuts in the Republican Party.

You Might Be Following A Judas Goat

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At the slaughter house where sheep are processed, there is a goat

The Judas Goat at Work.

known as “The Judas Goat.” The Judas Goat’s job is to lead groups of sheep into the slaughter house where they are killed. Sheep have the peculiar habit of following any member of their herd who seems to know where to go. The Judas Goat is placed within the herd. It grazes with the herd, rubs shoulders with the herd and in all respects acts as though it is one of the herd. It is accepted by the herd. At the appointed time, it leads the herd to the slaughter. To be sure, eventually the Judas Goat will end up on a spit slowly roasting over the fires at a Greek restaurant being carved up for gyros. However, that is small consolation for all the sheep who willingly followed in his treacherous footsteps.

It seems the work of the Judas Goat is so effective it has been adapted to work on people. Just look around. During the last Presidential primaries, when Barack Obama was running against Hillary Clinton, Black pundits began pouring out of the woodwork in support of Hillary Clinton. Tavis Smiley embarrassed himself to the point he has not yet recovered. His purpose? To lead Black voters into the Clinton camp. At a time when all Black people should have rallied around one of their own, suddenly we were inundated with Black leaders – whom we had not elected – filling the airways to share their opinionated wisdom.

The networks dusted off faces I hadn’t seen in years. For a season, diversity was back on our televisions. This time it wasn’t “sit-coms.” Almost any network you watched, you could be sure of seeing several Black faces giving articulate opinions about the day’s events. I found it to be a refreshing change. However, it was not lost on me that over half of my newly discovered brothers and sisters were being used to further an agenda that was not my own. Obama won because of racism. Not the racism of Black people, we only make up 12% of the population. Obama won because of the racism of white people. The Republican war machine was all geared up to face Hillary Clinton. They had attack ads sitting on the shelf ready to go. They just knew Hillary Clinton would be whom they’d be facing in the general election.  After all, what were the odds that a relative unknown – dark horse literally – with a funny sounding name like Barack Hussein Obama would win in the primaries against the Clinton political machine? Did I mention that he’s Black? This is the United States of America founded on a history of Slavery. As far as they were concerned, there wasn’t a chance in the world he could win. They were caught flat footed with their britches around their ankles.

With the election of President Obama, the Republicans decided they needed their own magic Black man. Of course, from their racist perspective, we’re all the same. To this end, they elected Michael Steele and we all know how that’s turned out for them. In two words, NOT WELL! Nevertheless, Michael Steele is a Judas Goat. His primary purpose is to lead Black people away from President Obama. There is nothing in the Republican platform that benefits Black people, other minorities or poor White people. As a matter of fact, if you do not have a net worth of at least 3 million dollars and an income in the high 6 figures, the Republican party doesn’t represent you. But I digress.

Judas Goats are pervasive in our society. Most commercials and ads contain Judas Goats. From the kindly old couple sitting around the table discussing health care myths, to the 3 hicks sitting in a diner sharing their opinions on high level economic issues. They all have one purpose and that is to lead people to vote against their own interests. Judas Goats may even be in your church pulpit.

Knowing how to recognize a Judas Goat is necessary for your survival. It always ends poorly for those who follow Judas Goats. Being informed is of paramount importance. The first thing you need to know is where your best interests lie. I am amazed at how many people have been deceived into supporting Republican tax polices. Most of these people, comparatively speaking, aren’t really paying any taxes. The simple facts are, the poorer you are, the more you tend to rely on the goods and services provided by tax dollars. Poor people are more likely to live in high crime areas. They are more likely to have homes who’s wiring is such that fires are likely. They often drive vehicles that don’t get around well in the snow, so they need their streets plowed. Those who do drive pick-up trucks often live in rural areas where even with 4 wheel drive, plowing the roads is still necessary. The poor quite often have little to no health insurance, so their primary care physician is whomever is the first doctor they see at the emergency room. Yet, because they’ve been duped into following a Judas Goat, you see them at “Tea Party” rallies railing against the very policies designed to benefit them the most. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic.

When it comes to the church, particularly in the Black community, you have multi-million dollar edifices built and sustained by congregations who’s median incomes are barely above the poverty level. If you’re in a church and you know members in good standing who’s homes have been foreclosed on, and the church didn’t come to their aid, you’re probably following a Judas Goat. If your pastor lives in another county from the church because that is where the high dollar real estate is, you’re probably following a Judas Goat. If on Sunday morning, you can pick out the pastor’s car not just because of the monogrammed parking spot, but because it is the most expensive car on the lot, you’re probably following a Judas Goat. If in order for you to be a member or your church, you have to submit copies of your W-2 form, you’re following a Judas Goat. If the deacons, trustees, elders and auxiliary heads of your church also happen to be the most financially successful members of the church, you’re following a Judas Goat. If your pastor has to have an entourage of “armor bearers” doing everything from carrying his /her brief case to helping them dress, you’re following a Judas Goat. If you’ve been contributing to the building fund for the past 10 years and the church hasn’t built a thing, you’re following a Judas Goat. It might be time for you to come up out of the slaughter house.

God gave you a brain and the gift of reason. Don’t insult God by not using your gifts. Don’t just ask yourself what would Jesus do? Ask yourself, what would LOVE DO! The Bible says, “your bodies are the temple of God.” It also says that God does not dwell in temples made by men’s hands. The church was intended to be God’s store house for the benefit of the people in their time of need. It was never intended to be the private game preserve of a pastor or his ministerial staff. The trouble is, most ministries benefit the pastor and the church more than they benefit the community.

I have an acquaintance whom prior to the crash of he housing market, was making in excess of 300 thousand dollars a year. He was a devoted and faithful member at his church. He was a devout tither. This of course put him in line to be an official at his church. For over 5 years he tithed in excess of 30 thousand a year. This doesn’t include offerings and other monetary contributions. When the housing market crashed, he lost everything. He was married with two small children. The bank repossessed his Mercedes and his BMW. He needed 5 thousand dollars to save his home. He went to his pastor and explained the situation to him. He told him of his need. He had no one else to turn to. All he needed was 5 thousand dollars. This was the same church that over the course of the previous 5 years he’d given over 150 thousand dollars. What do you think the pastor did? The pastor told him that he would pray with he and his wife that God would deliver them. They lost their home. He had to move in with his mother-in-law. Because of he stress on the marriage he wound up getting divorced. Do you think he’d been following a Judas Goat? Well, he certainly got slaughtered.