Political partisanship has become the new racism cause

By Dan Barber

To be a politician is hard if you wish to represent everyone while serving "at the pleasure" of a specific constituency. American society is mostly controlled by the “billionaire class” primarily through the elected leadership representing the American cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In addition, there are “billionaire class” foreigners who have financial interests in the US who also insert influence on our politicians.

Find the answers to the following questions and you might understand American politics: Who are the most dependent on our government? What can be done to maintain political power? When do we bring in the cameras showing candidates visiting, shaking hands, drinking coffee, eating a hot dog with “real Americans”?  Where do the poorest of the poor live? Why are politicians interested in these poor people? How can a politician convince a poor uninformed person to support them?

Dana Milbank an opinion columnist at the Washington Post described American politics as tribalism. If politicians could put aside their tribal bias, for the benefit of their fellow Americans, for a moment and try to honestly inform their fellow tribe members then perhaps we might be able to escape the mire of ignorance and become a better nation by really helping the poor and represent everyone.

I thought that we overcame racism when President Obama was elected to our nation’s highest office… but now I don’t think that was the case. Racism caused Obama to be elected. Americans voted for Obama because of the color of his skin not for the merits of his character. That is not what Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream was about. He wanted people to be judged on the merits of their character, not on the color of their skin. Even the President can’t seem to shake his life experiences when representing the American public when he is forced to deal with a sensitive situation such as the police officer’s use of force situation in Ferguson, Missouri that set back Americans trust in police officers across the country.

Also, since Obama took office, people have been increasingly accused of being a racist if they oppose the President on any policy he proposes. Blacks in opposition to administration policies have been accused of being “Uncle Tom’s.” And Hollywood has even tried to revise civil rights history with a “blockbuster” film.

We are entering into a new general election cycle where tribal warfare is starting to heat up. Politicians and activists with professional self-serving screamers such as Al Sharpton are busy whipping up their voting base in the hi-density population centers of America. This activity gets the attention of the national media just as a laser pointer will get the attention of a cat and cause it to endlessly chase the light but never catch it.

The media running after the "Scooby Do" van carrying Clinton must be really proud! After all, they are doing a bang up job of being manipulated into focusing the laser light on a presidential candidate whose only qualification to date is her married name. It's no wonder the American public has lost faith in what mainstream media report today.

What I learned in my public relations class in school about controlling journalists must be true, make the media work for the story and it will make the front page or feed the story to them and it will be buried on an inside page… just make sure you don’t get caught in this manipulation you might be accused of being a “spin doctor.” However, a good political communications director (spin doctor) will find those “lazy” or partisan journalists who will accept the press releases and place them on the front pages, or the lead broadcast of the “nightly news.”

The messages that I hear from conservatives are: Stop being poor, take responsibility for your life and actions so you can be truly free. The messages I hear from liberals are: Don’t worry about your unfortunate situation, we will take down the rich politicians (Republicans) and share the spoils with you. Also, if you support a conservative you must be a racist or Uncle Tom. This may be a very simplistic view but boiled down it is accurate.

My message to you: study the choices of candidates before voting for your future.