Lonzie Cox – 4/18/08

This page was last updated on June 7, 2008.

Understanding our frustration; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; April 18, 2008. I am not related to Mr. Cox.

Mr. Cox’s letters are routinely tinged with race, but this one is an exception. I wonder why. <g>

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Within 28 days, I will have seen U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in person.”

[RWC] So? Unless Mr. Cox spoke with them privately and had meaningful conversations, who cares?

“Either would be a vast improvement over President Bush and/or the terrifying threat of U.S. Sen. John McCain becoming president. Good grief!”

[RWC] If you’re familiar with Mr. Cox’s body of work, you recall he views any non-leftist as a “terrifying threat.”

“Obama is my choice for president because we need intelligent change, and we need it now. We need several decades of thoughtful liberals, progressives and moderates running the federal government to undo the structural damage done by Ronald Reagan, tight-wad extremist conservatives and the Bush family.”

[RWC] Given his letter history, did anyone really doubt which leftist Mr. Cox would support? My only thought in this area was that Mr. Cox might let the fact that Mr. Obama is half white cloud his thinking.

If we can use 2004 as a guide, we can expect to hear Mr. Cox speaking in support of Mr. Obama in front of the Beaver County Courthouse and see him picket local rallies for the Republican candidate. Actually I need to correct this comment. The words “supporting” Mr. Obama will likely take the form of bashing Mr. Obama’s opponent.

You’ll note Mr. Cox doesn’t describe “the structural damage done by Ronald Reagan, tight-wad extremist conservatives and the Bush family.”

Regarding the “tight-wad extremist conservatives” comment, you’ll note Mr. Cox doesn’t provide any names. Further, if “tight-wad extremist conservatives” are in control, perhaps Mr. Cox can tell us why federal spending constantly increases, how we’re deficit spending, and how we’re increasing the debt year in and year out.

“When Reagan was inaugurated in 1981, Pennsylvania and Beaver County were still industrial powerhouses. Democratic and liberal presidents from Roosevelt to Carter, plus Eisenhower and Nixon (to be fair), had protected American workers as well as the workplace through fair labor laws and essential business regulation.”

[RWC] “When Reagan was inaugurated in 1981, Pennsylvania and Beaver County were still industrial powerhouses?” Apparently Mr. Cox forgets Jimmy “Stagflation” “Misery Index” Carter.

This is at least the third time since 2004 Mr. Cox has made this claim. In my critiques of the previous two letters (here and here), I wrote “Regarding Mr. Cox’s steel industry claim, blaming President Reagan for steel’s collapse is like blaming an emergency room doctor for the death of a DOA patient.” and “What is it with libs and history? Mr. Cox wants us to believe the steel industry was strong and vibrant until the day Ronald Reagan took office and he somehow managed to kill it within a few years. It’s the same as the revisionist history trying to convince us terrorism against the U.S. didn’t exist until President Bush took office. Earth to Mr. Cox. The U.S. steel industry had been displaying serious problems since at least the mid-1950s.”

“[T]o be fair?” A letter by Mr. Cox? Excuse me; I can’t stop laughing!

“Recent Republican/conservative administrations have gutted the American economy and workers’ rights. We are but a shadow of our post-World War II economic strength.”

[RWC] Note Mr. Cox didn’t provide any evidence that “[r]ecent Republican/conservative administrations have gutted the American economy and workers’ rights.” Note also that Mr. Cox appears to believe Republican and conservative are synonyms.

“The media now have produced another so-called crisis by reporting Obama’s private words about our ‘frustration’ over today’s economic conditions. We have reason to be frustrated or disappointed.”

[RWC] Note that reporting what Mr. Obama said “produced another so-called crisis,” not what Mr. Obama said.

“[P]rivate words?” When did speaking to hundreds of campaign supporters and contributors become “private words?” Where did Mr. Obama tell his buddies we’re “bitter” and “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like [us] or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain [our] frustrations?” It was at a fundraiser held at the San Francisco home of Ann and Gordon Getty. Yes, billionaire Gordon Getty, heir to the J. Paul Getty oil fortune. You know, the evil oil industry Mr. Obama rails against, at least in public.

While Mr. Cox tells us “[w]e have reason to be frustrated or disappointed,” he doesn’t provide any reasons.

“If religion and guns are all some voters care about, then they can be my guest. There are plenty of each to choose from. From Cheney hunting in Texas to Cho at Virginia Tech, anybody can have a gun much too easily.”

[RWC] Note how Mr. Cox accepts a premise that “religion and guns are all some voters care about.”

Other than in a bitterly partisan mind, how does one link VP Cheney’s hunting with friends to a mass murderer?

While Mr. Cox makes up links about his opponents, he ignores the real life link of Mr. Obama to former Weather Underground member William Ayers. As a reminder, the Weathermen set bombs at government facilities like the Capitol and the Pentagon during the 1960s. “In addition, three members died when their bomb-making session at a New York City town house went awry in 1970, and several members were convicted in a botched 1981 Brink’s truck ambush during which two police officers and a guard died.” In an interview, Mr. Ayers said, “I don’t regret setting bombs,” and “I feel we didn’t do enough.” Despite evidence to the contrary, Mr. Obama initially implied he barely knew Mr. Ayers.

“Clinton’s shrill opportunism must be ignored.”

[RWC] I’ll give Mr. Cox credit for one thing. He knows about “shrill.”