These people - the "social bigots" you mention - will yet become this society's suicide bombers. Blind belief does that.

WATTREE:
What an outstanding post! You are but a pup to me relative to age, but you have a succinct understanding of the manipulation of what's what. Twenty-five years ago, I noted the deliberate dissolution of unionism via corporate union busters amongst our major industries...I was in management. When a union couldn't be busted, the industry was moved to Mexico or China. I know of a once successful machine shop in Ohio that was reduced to removing the "Made In China" logos from their designed machines (manufactured in China)to their original logos to be distributed in the U.S.! Having spent 30 years on the internet, I had devoted a lot of my time writing in forums. Being pro-blue collar, I voiced my abhorrence to the focused dissolution of Americas' middle class. I posted attacks against politicians, organizations and all entities involved with the intense desire to caponize the blue collar worker. At times, my posts were overly-virulent...I am a true believer. As a result, I have paid a price. I have never been convicted of a felony. I have not had a traffic violation in over 10 years. The last time I flew, my wife and I were pulled to the side and our baggage was wiped for explosive components. I was informed that the IRS had erred and I owed $1000...No explanation. The IRS suggested that I sell my personal property in order to repay their mistake. We agreed on a monthly payment program in order to right the error. I made my monthly payments and within a week of making my last payment, I received a check for the amount I had paid plus interest with no explanation. Am I a "good American?" Don't sh*t yourself! I voted in 2008...never again!

Wattree:
How do I get deleted from the airlines' "potential terrorist list?" All I did was call a spade a spade! By the way...I'm proud to be called "brother."

Hi Wendy,

I try not to call anyone a racist unless I have firm evidence to prove it. I learned early in life that we never know what's a person's heart. Some of the most life-changing assistance I've received in life came from conservatives who I assumed were racist.

There was the cop who hounded me throughout my teenage years, only to show up in court when I was 19 and convinced the judge to send me into the military rather than prison; The old Marine Corps 1st Sgt. from Kentucky who forced me to return to school to get my high school diploma, then arranged to have the entire Battalion turn out in dress uniform to see it awarded.

Then later, there was the college professor who used to constantly humiliate me in front of the class every time I put pen to paper. Her words stay with me to this day:

"Mr. Wattree, you say absolutely nothing more eloquently than any student I've ever had. This is not a poetry class. We deal in facts, not flowery hyperbole. Whenever you make an assertion, you must be prepared to back it up in the very next sentence, or no later than the next paragraph.”

I was convinced that she was a racist out to demonstrate that Black men were dim-witted. Then I ran into her and her husband in the parking lot. He was a black man - and he could discuss in detail every paper I’d written in her class.

Then there was Larry Kelly. He was a rabid Reagan conservative, but in spite of that, he became so close to my young family that my kids called him “Uncle Larry” - and they really thought he was their uncle, even though he was as Irish.

Wendy, Larry was so conservative that I had to debrief my son and daughter every time he spent time with them. But they loved this old guy - probably because he had the money to shower them things that my young wife and I couldn’t afford. I told him to stop spoiling my kids, but that would only spark one of our many debates. He’d accuse me of teaching my kids that there was something honorable about being broke. “If you want to teach ‘em to turn down something, teach ‘em to turn down affirmative action.” And of course, I’d say, “Don’t you go there with me, you old fascist goat.” Then we’d pour us some gin, and things would really heat up.

Later my son became a star basketball player in high school, and good enough to pay his way through college. But when he finished college, instead of trying out for the NBA, he enlisted into the Air force. He’s a federal agent today, and I’m convinced that’s more than a little due to the impact that Larry Kelly had on him as a child, with all his stories about Patton, and Gen. MacArthur and such. Larry was full of ‘em, and in a well-meaning way, full of IT, as well. But I figured it would get them interested in history.

But that old conservative scoundrel managed hijacked both my kids. While both are Democrats, my daughter has referred to my writings as “radical” more than once, and I’m sure that where ever Larry ended up, he’s slappin’ his knee with laughter. I wrote a short story about our relationship called “The Encounter.”

So fortunately, I learned very early in life that just because a person may disagree with my view of the world, that makes them neither racist, nor stupid. My experience in this area has taught me to at least listen to what a person has to say before I write it off as nonsense. After all, Larry outwitted me in a very big way.

I also learned that in order for this nation to remain balanced and free, we need both a Martin Luther King, and a Gen. MacArthur. Because even though Larry is long gone now - and in many cases in life, was as wrong as the day is long - unlike many current Republicans, he was pure of spirit, and that spirit lives on. Through my daughter, he’s helping young people to get through college, and through my son, he’s fighting the good fight against illegal drugs entering this country, and our inner-cities.

Wonderful Wattree: Like you I viewed all white people as racist when I was a pup. I was in America visiting when the Black panthers were the political option of choice for many blacks in the Caribbean, even though my Irish-Jew mother had married a black man, a noted politician/philantrophists in Jamaica. After immigrating to Canada, I was forced to reexamine my beliefs. I came to the realization that I wasn't racist but that I abhorred racist acts, whether they were praticed by Blacks or White people. Today my 2nd son a law student in British Columbia is married to a wonderful girl pursuing her Phd., and my oldest boy, a physician is dating a wonderful girl neither of whom are black. As I thought about it, I began to feel proud of this younger generation, and a little ashamed of my own ignorance as a young man. In a shrinking world, we better learn to get along with each other. I pride myself as a Canadian for the multicultural nature of our society. I am proud to visit my Italian friends and enjoy pasta. I am proud to visit my East Indian friends and enjoy roti. By the way,in Canada, we enjoy a single payer health system. Its not perfect but in my opinion, it is excellent. So I wish you the best in your pursuit of health care for all American. While at University, I heard that where there is ignorance the church prospers,so I am not surprised that the religious right is the instrument that most object to 'doing unto others as they would have done unto themselves'. Like I say every time, JUST PASS THE BILL WITH A PUBLIC OPTION, because some people only learn when things are demonstrated. Keep up the good fight.