BEWARE!!!

The backlash movement led by conservatives to "take back America" is a clarion call back to a time when most Americans were severely disadvantaged -- before Progressive Movements led to women's rights, union rights, civil rights, equality in education, housing, travel and lodging, employment discrimination, and universal health care.  This is a scary movement that has stirred the inner racist in those who embrace the "foundational principles of the founding fathers" -- all card carrying racists.

Here is what the Modern Conservative movement is all about.  The new buzz word in the Republican lexicon is "freedom":

1. Freedom to get the government out of your  pocket so that you keep what you have earned.
• That means retain the advantage of privilege for those at the top.
• That means a "flat tax" -- a regressive tax that locks in the advantage for those who have already accumulated wealth.
• That means a greater tax burden on the poor and middle class.
2. Freedom to remove regulations from the "job creators." 
• That means destroy unions and drive down wages and pensions.
• That means allow predatory practices by financial institutions.
• That means remove environmental protections.
• That means restore corporate greed and profits.
3. Freedom to prevent the government from taking away from the rich to give to the "undeserving poor" -- so that the rich become more powerful.
• That means the poor don't deserve a government "safety net."
• That means remove ladders of upward mobility for the disadvantaged.
• That means replace Medicaid and Medicare with "vouchers."
4. Freedom for individuals to make their own choices, not government.
• That means eliminate protection from financial predators.
• That means let insurance companies ration and refuse care.
• That means "school choice" that destroys quality public education.
• That means "right to work laws" that destroy unions.
5. Freedom from Big Federal Government and return to States Rights.
• That means "roll back " -- Voting Rights Act of 1965, Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, Public Sector Unions, Federal Minimum Wage, any remaining vestiges of affirmative action.
• That means eliminating the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, The EPA, The Department of Commerce -- any department that helps to level the playing field.
6. Freedom from "radical socialists" and class warfare.
• That means protect their privileged status from minorities and immigrants who want upward mobility.
• That means they will never be subject to a Black President ever again.
• That means they must defeat Presdent Obama at all costs.

 This rhetoric is creating such a sharp contrast that our nation will be divided to a degree not seen since the before the Civil War.  The history of our nation follwing the Civil War has been characterized by painfully slow progress toward a more perfect union.  Only progressive uprisings have wrenched gains from the privileged racists that control wealth, financial institutions, the engines of industry, and our political processes.  In times gone by, wealthy white men could gather in back rooms and hammer out a deal in their self-interests.  What the conservatives want freedom from now is the presence of a Black man at the head of the table in the Cabinet meeting room.  Led by Tea Party activists, they see this as a zero-sum game, where any gains by the poor and underprivileged comes at their expense. 

What we are witnessing is a contest among them to determine who is the "genuine conservative who can make the sharpest contrast to Obama."  They are not interested in acting in the best interest of all of America.  They refuse to compromise on anything, in the name of "not wavering from their principles."

This is my understanding of what is going on. This understanding energizes me to fight against this "roll back agenda" with all the energy I can muster.  Those of us who have fought for every inch of progress that we have made will also understand how important it is to defeat this "conservative uprising."  Failure to do so will heap misery upon us for a generation.  That's what it takes to get back lost progress.

Beware.  And be strong.  We don't have money, but the truth is that we have more votes than they have.  Their money makes their voices louder than the reality of their numbers.  This upcoming election is the most important election in fifty years.  We must refuse to lose and meet thier moeny with grass roots resistance. 

I hope you will join me by doing all you can in your local community.