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Movement should not be branded by few; Martin Schulte, Jr.; Beaver County Times; October 27, 2011. Editor’s notes for previous letters asserted “The writer is a former resident of Midland.”
I critiqued two previous letters from Mr. Schulte (here and here). In one letter I did not critique [“A ‘remarkably backward’ letter,” 11/28/10 (no longer on the BCT website)], Mr. Schulte described himself as a “liberal.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“In response to the Oct. 20 letter ‘Violence off message,’ yes, it is. By making a blanket statement like ‘The protestors in New York have turned to violence,’ however, Shaila Whitla does a disservice to their cause and hers. It is unreasonable to take several arrests as example to brand thousands as violent.”
[RWC] Lefties claim “police brutality” because one police officer pepper-sprayed a woman a month ago, but I don’t recall Mr. Schulte telling us “It is unreasonable to take [one incident] as [an] example [of police brutality].”
In a previous letter, Mr. Schulte wrote of “straightforward connections between right-wing rhetoric and violence.” I guess making “a blanket statement” is OK when Mr. Schulte does it. You’ll also find Mr. Schulte didn’t complain when lefties branded Tea Partiers as bigots, et cetera.
“It’s difficult to find a balanced perspective from any one news source when the media seek drama and controversy. There may be sympathetic portrayals, and then there are ones like the letter writer’s. Better to trust what facts, if any, can be found. What would thousands of violent protesters look like? Perhaps a riot? Is that what’s happening on Wall Street? Or is that just what it looks like on the news?”
[RWC] Here’s a video for Mr. Schulte to watch.
“Unfortunately, there are no quick, simple answers for the protesters. Our government, our means of ‘coming together,’ is at best dysfunctional. And when the will of the entire nation is stymied by a single faction of obstructionist Republicans in Congress, they should hear about it, in the most strident manner permitted. They have sown the wind.”
[RWC] Mr. Schulte didn’t tell us what he believes to be “the will of the entire nation.” If the elected Republicans are so out of touch with “the will of the entire nation,” how did they clobber Democrats at both the federal and state levels of government in the 2010 election?
“a single faction of obstructionist Republicans in Congress?” This is a hoot. Democrats were the majority party in both houses of Congress for four years (including a short time with a filibuster-proof Senate) until January 2011, still are the majority in the Senate, and held the White House for the last two-and-three-quarter years. If something Mr. Schulte wanted didn’t get passed during 2009-2010, he can’t blame Republicans.
In case you missed it, neither Ms. Whitla nor Mr. Schulte presented any specific goals of OWS. FYI, the “top 1%” begins at an income of just over $340,000/year, not the millions and billions of dollars per year we hear President Obama talk about.
Now let’s take a look at comments made by Carl Davidson (a local fulltime lefty activist and leader) on the BCT website. Comments by others are worth reading as well, but I focused on Mr. Davidson because of his position among local leftists.
carldavidson posted at 10:57 am on Thu, Oct 27, 2011.
“Lighten up and take a deep breath, ‘Legend.’
“Just because people were arrested, doesn’t mean they were violent. 200 were carted off to jail in Atlanta, and there was no violence there.
“But if police start busting heads, throwing tear gas and shooting ‘non-lethal’ projectiles, don’t be surprised in some kid picks up the canister and tosses it back.
“My educated guess is 90% or more are only interested in peaceful tactics, but when the cops create chaos, as in Oakland, all bets are off.”
[RWC] Do a little web-surfing and you find it appears Mr. Davidson tailors his comments to his audience. When addressing a mixed-ideology group, Mr. Davidson tells us his “educated guess is 90% or more are only interested in peaceful tactics,” but when he addresses like-minded lefties, as on his Facebook wall and other places, he encourages readers to “fan the flames” and writes happily of “workers with union jackets … in a militant and upbeat mood, ready to assert their power.”
While “90% or more are only interested in peaceful tactics” sounds good even if it were true, it only takes a few people to instigate violence and if/when that happens the “90% or more … only interested in peaceful tactics” likely won’t leave or simply just stand around.
“This isn’t going to go away. When Congress declares every decent option ‘off the table,’ people only have the streets. They might elect a decent candidate or two, like Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, but as we well know, in large part we have the best politicians money can buy. Maybe we’ll start seeing occupation of some of their offices, explaining why they need to place voters over donors.”
[RWC] Mr. Davidson doesn’t say what those “every decent option[s]” are.
By “a decent candidate,” I think it’s fair to say Mr. Davidson means lefty candidates at least as far left as folks like U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a self-described socialist. If you’re a “baby boomer” as I am, Mr. Davidson is not talking about your father’s Democrat candidates who even then weren’t exactly conservative. For example, on his Facebook wall (August 22, 2010) Mr. Davidson opined “Obama’s never been a lefty.” This comment says far more about Mr. Davidson and his definition of left than about Mr. Obama.
“In the meantime, go to Youngstown or Pittsburgh, and check out OWS for yourself.”
carldavidson posted at 9:05 am on Sat, Oct 29, 2011.
“Let’s get something straight here, Sunnidaze.
“I like this country quite a bit. My folks have been here since before it was a country, and I plan on sticking with it.”
[RWC] Given Mr. Davidson’s history, ideology, positions, and writings, this is a tad difficult to swallow. I believe Mr. Davidson likes the physical “country quite a bit,” but forests, lakes, mountains, rivers, valleys, et cetera don’t make a country; its laws and people do. When a lefty says he “like[s] this country quite a bit” and/or supports our Constitution, I usually have my doubts. That’s because if you are a leftist, you oppose the U.S. Constitution as it now exists because all leftisms require government power beyond what the Constitution grants. The 10th Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.” Absent a very creative interpretation ignoring both the actual words and clear intent of the Constitution, the policies/programs required for communism, Marxism, socialism, et cetera are unconstitutional. Leftist “support” for the Constitution reminds me of stories in which a spouse claims to love his/her spouse then spends the rest of his/her life trying to change the spouse into something he/she isn’t.
Mr. Davidson likes to tell people his “folks have been here since before it was a country.” That’s nice and all, but what’s that got to do with the price of rice in China?
From here on you’ll see Mr. Davidson is stuck in the past. In fairness, however, this is typical of most leftists because they have nothing to offer for today that hasn’t already been shown to fail.
“I won’t say the same for a lot of its politicians and some of its laws, however. I’ve done my best over the years to get rid of some of both, especially those that put ‘white’ folks on top and everyone else under their boot. Likewise with the laws that made unions illegal for a long while.”
[RWC] Though in a different way, Mr. Davidson seems to be obsessed with skin color just as Lonzie Cox, Jr. (no relation to me). Please read my paper “Lefty race baiters” for some insight. It will be useful as you read the rest of Mr. Davidson’s comments.
“We all know the law is often ignored and applied imperfectly. It’s against the law to fire a worker for organizing a union, but it’s done everyday and without consequences most of the time.”
[RWC] As for “the law is often ignored and applied imperfectly,” Mr. Davidson is probably upset about the non-enforcement of existing immigration laws - not.
“Police also have been known to issue unlawful orders, too. Just yesterday the Nashville cops arrested all the OWS people, and took them to night court. The judge let them all go, and took the cops over the coals for violating a very important law, the First Amendment to our Constitution, you know, the one that says we have the right to assemble and speak bitterness against the powerful.”
[RWC] Just about everything in this paragraph is wrong. At best it’s gilding the lily. First, the police did not issue the 10 p.m. curfew for Legislative Plaza, Gov. Bill Haslam (R) did and ordered the arrests. Second, the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) made the arrests, not “Nashville cops.” Third, the magistrate ruled “I have reviewed the regulations of the state of Tennessee, and I can find no authority anywhere for anyone to authorize a curfew anywhere on Legislative Plaza.” I found nothing to indicate the magistrate said anything about “violating a very important law, the First Amendment to our Constitution.” Fourth, I found nothing indicating the magistrate “took the cops over the coals,” including this video of the proceedings posted on a lefty website. “[A]ll the OWS people” was about 30 protesters.
“Our country also has a long tradition of civil disobedience. One of its patriots, Henry David Thoreau, wrote the classic text on the matter, which has spread around the world.
“I have no doubt some of the OWS events may get rowdy, especially if they are unduly provoked.”
carldavidson posted at 1:25 pm on Mon, Oct 31, 2011.
“Sunnidaze, you need to study a little Beaver County history. One thing you’ll find is that all the original land deeds were for ‘free white men only’. Since your land was your source of income, who do you think that put on top?”
[RWC] If you care about Mr. Davidson’s representation of “Beaver Country history,” you’ll want to do some fact-checking. Here’s why. Mr. Davidson routinely claims Brodhead Road was “built by the troops of General Brodhead and General George Washington in the 1700s … because the market [could] not do the job.” The implication of Mr. Davidson’s comment is the military built Brodhead Road for the settlers. In fact, the military built Brodhead Road to supply Fort McIntosh from Fort Pitt. Built in 1778 at the mouth of the Beaver River, Fort McIntosh, along with other new outposts, was considered necessary to help defend the frontier from local Indians (British allies) and British outposts to the west. While early settlers took advantage of the military trail (much of which followed an existing Indian trail), it was not built for them.
“And then note that ‘free’ didn’t even apply to all ‘white men’, since it excluded those whites who were still ‘bonded’ to their ‘masters’ as bondservants.
“There were always a few African descendants in Beaver County, the first settlers had a few slaves with them, but even those who were freed couldn’t get land for a good while. Ask any Beaver County realtor, and if they’re honest about it, they’ll tell you that ‘restrictive covenants’ against Blacks existed in most of the township housing developments up to the mid-1950s.”
[RWC] Aren’t we all “African descendants?”
“Would you have stood up against those restrictions at the time? Everyone claims to support the change now, but a few of us did back when it counted for more.
“There’s another thing you’ll learn from studying the early history of the area. No one truly made it ‘on their own.’ Whether it was barn raising or sharing scarce goods, the settlers helped each other as best as they could, and pooled their meager funds to start a few schools--and there was always a ‘poorhouse’ just outside Monaca for those who truly hit bottom and had no family to care for them. ”
[RWC] In case you missed it, Mr. Davidson (perhaps unintentionally) told us “the settlers helped each other as best as they could …,” all without being forced to do so by government or some other societal construct. Propose the same today and the left will call you greedy, mean-spirited, et cetera. Do I believe people who need help because of circumstances beyond their control should get it? Of course, but via private charities funded by voluntary contributions.
carldavidson 8:02 pm on Mon, Oct 31, 2011.
“Hang it up, Sunnidaze, you just don’t get it. No one is asking for a handout--but many would appreciate a hand-up.”
[RWC] So, among other things, demanding a free college education and the forgiveness of student loans is not “a handout?”
“Willing to work hard doesn’t count for much when, as today, there are five people in line for every job opening available. Learn how to do the math. Even if all five are willing to work hard, four hard workers are still left out in the cold. Hence the OWS protests.”
[RWC] When Mr. Davidson says “Learn how to do the math,” consider the following. Back in April Randy Shannon (an officer of Beaver County Reds) proclaimed “THERE IS NO DEFICIT!!!” When my critique of that piece indicated it made no sense, Carl Davidson made the following comment on Facebook: “‘No deficit’ simply means the tax system is broken. There’s plenty of potential revenue out there to correct imbalances with progressive change in the tax laws and their enforcement. A financial transaction tax is an excellent choice, as is taking the $106K cap off FICA. And none of this need significantly harm productive investment in new manufacturing generating real wealth.” Translation: “Deficit” doesn’t mean government spending more than it takes in. As long as our total (local, state, & federal) effective tax rate is less than 100% of family income, there can be no “deficit.” The point of this “blast from the past” is to remind you lefties have a different dictionary than the rest of us and what they appear to say frequently isn’t what they mean.
“Some of you just don’t believe the numbers because they don’t match your prejudices. The country and the economy have serious problems, and you keep pretending it’s the fault of the people at the bottom who, since they’re at the bottom, must, by your beliefs, be there only because of their own failings.”
[RWC] “Some of you just don’t believe the numbers because they don’t match your prejudices?” Wow, talk about throwing rocks while living in a glass house! The rest of the paragraph is an example of the straw-man tactic. That is, bash someone for a position they don’t hold.
Please take a look at my critique of “Let us have some of the $700 trillion” and let me know if it reads like “pretending it’s the fault of the people at the bottom.”
“Fortunately, most folks have more sense, either because they’ve been down on their luck themselves, or have friends who have been.
“African Americans have always been hard working--but it never stopped the upper crust from hiring them last and firing them first, and drawing the ‘color lines’ i spoke of; and you, if you have any honesty, will admit that they were clear and harshly drawn until they were rebelled against.”
[RWC] Note the mention of “the upper crust.” Apparently pushing “poor vs. rich” class warfare, is Mr. Davidson telling us only “the upper crust” (Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Kennedy family, etc.) engaged in hiring discrimination?
You’ll find Mr. Davidson’s leftist labor union management also engages in racism and/or turns a blind eye to it. The management of the United Steelworkers of America union, along with nine steel companies, was slapped with a federal consent decree in 1974 to address “discriminatory hiring, promotion, assignment, and wage policies directed against women and minorities.” More recently, in 2003 the EEOC charged AK Steel – Butler with racial bias. The EEOC charged “that the steelmaker condoned offensive language and graffiti and the open display of nooses, swastikas and Ku Klux Klan videos at its plant in Butler.” If the charges were valid, what was union (Butler-Armco Independent Union at the time) management doing? Shouldn’t union management have filed grievances on behalf of the offended employees long before employees had to involve the EEOC? If the offending employees were union members, couldn’t union management have handled the problem internally?
Mr. Davidson can’t be comparing the OWS crowd to people subjected to racism, can he? Then again, some in the OWS crowd are comparing themselves to the Continental Army at Valley Forge.
“Solidarity and mutual aid are core working-class values, Sunni. They’re also common to Christianity and other faiths. so if you have either, stop kvetching about those trying to improve things, and lend a hand instead.”
[RWC] As a reminder, Mr. Davidson’s definition of “working-class” may differ from yours. Mr. Davidson once described his definition of “working-class” thusly: “If someone else [signs your paycheck], you’re in the working class.” Most business owners - large or small - (who pay SS and Medicare taxes just as the rest of us) would be surprised to learn they aren’t “working class.” Other lefties define “workers” even more restrictively, including only those who pay dues/fees/taxes levied by labor union management.
As for Mr. Davidson’s reference to “Christianity [He lists his religious views as Zen.] and other faiths,” it’s been awhile since my eight years at St. Titus grade school and four years of high school CCD classes, but I don’t recall anything about The Bible or Jesus advocating government taking from one family to give to another. As I recall, we were taught charity was about the individual making personal sacrifices by his choice, not by government diktat. There’s nothing altruistic or charitable in “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
I know I’m stating the obvious, but by “those trying to improve things,” Mr. Davidson means leftists like him pushing already-failed leftist policies. Other than “occupying” places, consuming resources, and disrupting the real 99% of us, what exactly is the OWS crowd doing “to improve things?”
carldavidson 7:47 am on Wed, Nov 2, 2011.
“You’re still not getting the math, ‘Sunnidaze.’”
[RWC] As I noted above, be wary when lefties lecture others about “the math.” You may recall a BCR article tried to convince us there is no problem with Socialist Security.
“One reason people are in OWS events is because there are not enough jobs to go around. I keep repeating that for every job opening, there are five hard-working unemployed people in line for it. We won’t even go into the under-employed and under-paid.”
[RWC] What is “under-paid?” I suspect this is leftyspeak for someone paid the economic value of his job to his employer but less than what lefties would label “fair.”
“I’ve been to Zuccotti Park. The kids do a decent job of keeping it orderly and as ‘stench free’ as any public spot in NYC. The city could help with a dumpster and a few porta-johns if it wanted to, but the kids keep it swept and scrubbed.
“As for local business, when I was there the local restaurants were booming from all the visitors and sight-seers to OWS, not to mention the guys with the lunch trucks, who were doing very well indeed.”
[RWC] I don’t know if Bloomberg is a more reliable info source than he, but the article “Occupying Wall Street Knows Not What It Does Devastating Jobs of Merchants” presents a different view than Mr. Davidson.
“The guys is suits gambling in derivatives were rather upset with the whole scene, and would rather go back to skimming off their billions without a public spotlight--but then that’s the whole point of the protest, isn’t it?”
[RWC] Is it?
“But just do the math on the millions of unemployed and the number of job openings, ‘Sunnidaze,’ just do the math--then accept the answer and try to figure out what to do about it.
“Ask a business person which would they rather have right now, a tax cut or a purchase order? Then ask them if they would reject a purchase order from government? Then ask why some folks want to slash purchase orders from government as their rather weird approach to job creation, and you’ll see where the real immediate problem is.”
[RWC] This paragraph is simply a display of leftist arrogance in that they believe they can dispose of (invest, save, spend) your family’s paycheck(s) more wisely than your family, the ones who earned the income.
Choosing between a tax-rate cut and a government make-work purchase order is a false choice. I hate to be a wet blanket, but from where does the money come to pay the invoice resulting from the government make-work purchase order?
I’ll conclude with the following quote: “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong … somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises … I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started … And an enormous debt to boot.” - Henry Morgenthau, FDR’s Treasury Secretary during the Great Depression, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee in May 1939.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.