Comments on "Hate from the Left - Violent Rhetoric Continues"

The Daily News Record: Editorial Opinion

[This post was submitted as a Letter to the Editor on March 6.  We'll see..]

Let's be clear.  In his piece on March 4, when the editor refers to "this country’s radical left," he's talking about the folks in Wisconsin who are protesting peacefully in the state capital there.  He's talking about me, my friends in education, public employees, union members, in short, he's talking about the hard working, middle class citizens that are, sadly for the editor and his ilk, finally waking up to the oppression of the overclass. 



He speaks with the assurance of privilege when he quotes the "insane commentary" from the "kook left." These words could just as easily be turned around on himself. He makes a very curious argument with this strange and upside down bit of logic: "The left is enraged that taxpayers are finally fighting back against the Democrat-union axis of power..."  That's laughable!  The taxpayers ARE indeed enraged at the corporate tax dodgers who have very loudly and emphatically announced their nation-wide strategy of smashing unions, killing public education, and railing against the prosperity of the middle class. The whole point of the demonstrations is the realization that the folks responsible for the fiscal crisis in Wisconsin are the ones sitting in the seats of power. The "Democrat-union axis of power" has already been dealt body blow after body blow in a "war" that has been going on since 1979. What stupid person reading this piece still believes that the rightists are helpless victims of the "Democrat-union" juggernaut?  



His comment, "we being the taxpayers who are struggling to get control of public spending..." is yet another bit of upside down logic.  The whole point of controlling public spending is to keep taxes low so more money is available for the transfer of public wealth into corporate coffers.  Mr. Walker did it in Wisconsin, Mr. McDonnell is doing it in Virginia as we speak. This policy of public theft is at the root of the rightist campaign for political power and wealth.



The editor is correct with this statement though: "Money, and a lot of it, is at stake."  The choice we face as citizens is pretty simple.  Do we hand over public wealth to private corporations or do we keep it for the work and needs of the people?  Do we invest in better, smarter, more productive citizens or do we invest in better widgets?  Do we invest in clean water and air or do we invest in dirty energy? Do we invest in children, families, workers, and citizens in need or do we invest in off-shore oil, factories in foreign countries, real estate holdings, or stock market derivatives?

Finally this, "So too is political power that the entrenched special interests in this country have held for far too long."  This also presents us with a choice.  We get to choose which special interests hold our future.  It could be those community organizations that serve the needs of the people, it could be the government organizations in which we all have a voice and where we all have the right to agree or disagree on what we need to do together as a nation; or it could be Karl Rove and his minions, the Koch Brothers, the great Oil Companies, or even that most special interest of all, the Murdoch media empire where none of us have a voice and only the desires of the wealthy are of concern.  The editor's choice is clear.  He's following the money.