Dr. Cornel West Was Selected by Bernie Sanders to Help Shape the DNC Platform, I Burst Into Happy Tears

After decades on this earth the masses of abuses I have experienced and observed changed how I judge people. My view of them is what are their intentions towards others, are they egocentric or do they think about those around them when they take actions. That is the primary indicator of a good person, if they don’t pass this test I stay the hell away from them. 

We can disagree, but if those who are at the table writing policy and laws, running agencies etc. have good intentions towards the people of the country, want everyone to do well, be happy, be healthy and prosper the decisions will be excellent. This is absolutely why I have followed Bernie Sanders for a long time and why I immediately began jumping up and down upon finding out he was running for president. I noted years ago that Bernie Sanders has good intentions towards others. Now he has chosen some very intelligent people who have been working for positive changes for the people of the United States and the world who all meet the criteria of having good intentions towards others. Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have this basic quality which should disqualify both of them from anyone's vote.

I cried when I read Bernie Sanders picked Dr. Cornell West, Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at the Union Theological Seminary in New York to help shape the Democratic Party platform because he has demonstrated over a very long period of time he is one of those who has the interests of others as his primary intention in life. He teaches people by example and by his words to think of others, their rights, their lives, their value and he does it with honesty and courage. This makes Dr. Cornel West an immensely valuable man for our country at this point in time. I love Cornel West. He is an American philosopher and Christian scholar who has been maligned and sidelined for being right and righteous. Bravo Bernie Bravo for your courageous choice. We need our best and brightest to help our country move forward into adulthood.

We can’t heal our black brothers and sisters and heal our country from the dark parts of our history until their voices are heard, they have equal choice to do what they want with their lives, justice is equal everywhere, education is equal and accessible and institutional racism is smashed out of our system of government. When people are at the table representing those who are affected by policy decisions and can say, wait a minute this is what will happen to people if you do this we will get a whole different country than the one run by corporations that we have now.

“Sister Hillary Clinton is the Milli Vanilli of American politics,” West  said. “She lip-synchs, she gives lip service. But when it comes to policy, who supported the crime bill? Who supported, not just the deregulating of banks, but also pulled the rug from under welfare? She talks about her work with the Children’s Defense Fund way back in the 70s, doesn’t say a word about being a Goldwater girl.”

For decades since I was very young it makes me angry to hear that I should vote for a candidate because that person is the one who could win for our side rather than the one I think will make the best president. I would say what would happen in this country if people made their own moral choice based on their own values, needs and the direction they wanted the United States to go, what if we chose to vote for a good, moral person instead of the quarterback that could win the game? It would be amazing what the United States could become if people did this and we now have that opportunity with Bernie Sanders. For decades we kept being told we must vote for the lesser of two evils and the evil kept getting worse and worse nearly destroying our country. This is not a sports game where people cheer for their team to win, it is instead immensely important because without someone like Bernie Sanders as president the United States will soon crash and burn. If Hillary Clinton is elected president this country is doomed, she will cement the path to corporate control of our government leading us to what will eventually be a bloody revolution. It may take decades but considering human history this is inevitable. I prefer our beautiful peaceful revolution.

In the 1970s and into the 1980s in northern California most of us were Democrats, but if the Republican was the best candidate that is who we chose to vote for. Now it’s vote for a D or vote for an R depending on what team you are on and all those people on the other side are to be considered evil. The truth is both the Rs and Ds are owned by the corporations and they are pulling the strings on both sides.

One of my favorite stories about Dr. West was his refusal as a child to say the Pledge of Allegiance because I also refused to say it. We had different views of what was going on in the country, his was up close to the injustice and inequality, but my main reason for not saying it was my refusal to recite lies everyday and that is what I told the dean I was sent to by a teacher for thinking instead of being compliant. 

Cornel West calls himself a revolutionary Christian. He is a Christian scholar and a real Christian. I was a Christian until massive mistreatment by people who all call themselves Christians, if these

people are made in God's image thanks, but no thanks. After becoming an atheist I have no problems with real Christians or real Muslims, it is the fakers and people who use their religion as an excuse to do evil who are the problem in both religions. People use their religion according to who they are good or bad. Cornel West is an example to the country of a man who practices his faith openly, believes others have a right to their own faith and that there is separation between church and state. Our country was founded in great part for this way of thinking.

The bigger problem is the overlords in the United States allowing, manipulating and encouraging the radicals from both religions to take a front seat, harm people, harm countries and then act like they are surprised. The crazy radicals from both groups are actually in place to do the bidding of and provide an excuse for those in power who are controlled by the corporate interests including the Military-Industrial-Complex. It is such a surprise to the military and the White House when they employ Bullying 101 on a massive scale and it radicalizes people (snark) since they have a large number of psychologists and sociologists telling them exactly what will happen. This is how we know they are doing it on purpose for profit and power.

We have no right to destroy other countries and harm the lives of others who are just like us, just trying to live their lives as best they can. We have no right to destroy their country, overthrow their democratically elected leaders or take their resources so some corporation can use them to get rich while paying workers dirt wages and destroying their environment. I am so sick of this crap.

To live is to wrestle with despair, yet never allow despair to have the last word. Cornel West  

The video below demonstrates why I love Cornel West; he simply tells the truth with amazing eloquence. He explains the problems so beautifully, his words are poetry, but can also cut like a knife. This man is the true wordsmith.

I love Dr. West's courage to see the truth and speak it. The 'demos' is the populace.
 


Updated due to lack of time to edit yesterday.

U.S. Fueling the Arms Race in The Middle East for the Economy and Control of Iran

Be aware of what is said in the news media about Iran. Note statements about Iran from Hillary Clinton, President Obama and others. Read between the lines when the news media discusses the middle east. Be aware as the public is groomed for the next war. The Military Iindustrial Complex is like a workplace bully, always looking for the next target. Sure Ahmadinejad is a jackass and the people in Iran would be better off without him(that is how people in Iran felt about GWB), but that will be the excuse, not the real reason for a war. This is not the whole story, Ahmadinejad wants a Middle Eastern union formed similar to the European Union and that would be a threat to U.S./Iraeli influence in the Middle East. One reason for his actions are the backing he gets because people in the Middle East are angry at the United States and Israel. I am concerned for the people of Iran. It is always the innocent who have to pay. Who is using who here? Is the U.S. using the right wing paranoia in Israel to fuel a war or is Israel using the U.S. corporate/economic needs for a war? I think both are a factor. The needs of the military contractors and the economy are being put above the needs of the people of the middle east and ultimately everyone else.

James Denselow on HuffPo:
Following the recent record-breaking deal to sell $60.5bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times reported at the end of last month that the Pentagon proposed to sell weapons worth $4.2bn to Iraq, including 18 F-16 fighter aircraft, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs and reconnaissance equipment.

This deal is the latest in a series that has seen Iraq purchase more than $5bn worth of US weapons since 2006, and inherit a significant amount of equipment left behind as part of the US redeployment. According to UPI, the Pentagon stated that the deal would make Iraq "a more valuable partner in an important area of the world as well as supporting Iraq's legitimate needs" regarding self-defense.

Jonathan Tasini on HuffPo:
...the upshot should be clear: the United States--and this is true of Republican and Democratic Administrations (i.e., Bush and Obama)--is dispensing weapons like candy without even making sure that the sales of the weapons advances anything but the bottom lines of the weapons industry.

Professor Stephen Zunes on HuffPo:
The Pentagon has announced a $60 billion arms package to the repressive family dictatorship in Saudi Arabia, the largest arms sale of its kind in history. Rejecting the broad consensus of arms control advocates that the Middle East is too militarized already and that the Saudis already possess military capabilities well in excess of their legitimate security needs, the Obama administration is effectively insisting that this volatile region does not yet have enough armaments and that the United States must send even more.

According to reports, Washington is planning to sell 84 new F-15 fighters and three types of helicopters: 72 Black Hawks, 70 Apaches and 36 Little Birds. There are also reports of naval missile-defense upgrades in the works.
Though supporters of such arms sales argue that if the United States did not sell weapons to the oil-rich kingdom, someone else would, neither the Obama administration nor its predecessors have ever expressed interest in pursuing any kind of arms control agreement with other arms-exporting countries. A number of other arms exporters, such as Germany, are now expressing their opposition to further arms transfers to the region due to the risks of exacerbating tensions and promoting a regional arms race.
The United States is by far the largest arms exporter in the world, surpassing Russia -- the second-largest arms exporter -- by nearly two to one.
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This US insistence on countering Iran through further militarizing this already overly militarized region is particularly provocative. Not only has the United States refused to engage in serious negotiations with Iran regarding mutual security concerns, but it has discouraged its regional allies from pursuing arms control talks or other negotiations that could ease tensions between the Arab monarchies and the Islamic Republic. If the Obama administration were really interested in addressing its purported concerns regarding Iranian militarization, it would be willing to engage in more serious diplomacy to limit the procurement of conventional arms on a region-wide basis.

In addition to alleged worries about Iran as a military threat to the region, US officials have also tried to justify the arms package as a means to respond to Iran's growing political influence. However, most of Iran's enhanced role in the region in recent years is a direct consequence of the decision by the Bush administration -- backed by the current vice president, secretary of state, secretary of defense, and other leading Obama administration officials -- to overthrow the secular anti-Iranian regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and replace it with a new government dominated by pro-Iranian Shiite parties. Another key element of Iran's growing influence is the earlier US decision to oust the anti-Iranian Taliban of Afghanistan and replace it with a regime dominated by tribal war lords, a number of whom have close Iranian ties. Similarly, Iranian influence has also increased in the Levant as a direct consequence of US-backed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, which have strengthened popular political support for Hamas and Hezbollah and their ties to Iran.
For an excellent analysis of the whole situation read his whole article.

Jeremy White on the HuffPo:
A few days ago the U.S. and Saudi governments announced a record breaking $60 Billion dollars in future arms sales. This comes as a great relief to the Obama administration who was faced with the prospect of massive layoffs in the defense sector as the Defense Department begins to roll back its budget. While these cuts will come slowly over the next few years,the more important issue for the defense industry is the lack of big ticket defense procurements in the pipeline. Defense budgeting usually looks five to ten years into the future and from what I have seen of these budgets there is simply not enough money coming their way to maintain the American defense sector at its current size. This is however nothing new. The American defense industry has essentially existed as a welfare system since the end of the Cold War. If you were to ask Ash Carter, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, he would tell you (privately of course) that the DoD is personally paying the operating costs of several U.S. weapons factories that are not producing so much as a single bullet. In fact only one weapons plant has actually shuttered its doors since 1991.



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