Walter Williams: Big time propagandist

I'm going to have to set my alarm and start taking my blood-pressure medication at 5:00AM, if this morning's Walter William’s column titled “Liberals, Progressives and Socialist” is an example of what we will be seeing for the next 89 days. It's the same red baiting tactics but Mr. Williams just inserted some new names and deleted ACORN.

Walter Williams is just a black version of Glenn Beck but with a lot more education. He's a libertarian and a supporter or Ron Paul, and endorses a laissez-faire economic system in which the government should not interfere with commerce. Anything short of that is considered socialism or communism. He's out there on the outer edges because he believes in legalization that would allow someone to sell their own body organs and after reading the founders documents, he concludes that it is the right of U.S. states to secede from the union. Mr. Williams’s appeals to the low information voter and those who like to get their ears tickled, but I have to give him props, as I would any snake oil salesman; he's made a lot of money off the gullible.

The first four paragraphs of his article accurately describe some of the most ruthless regimes, but he inserts his definition of what their motive was. As Glenn Beck does, he picked up the words "social justice"(imagine him using a chalkboard)  and did his best to link the Wall Street occupiers to the fascist and totalitarian dictators who committed mass murder. If pushed, he would say, "I was not calling them mass butchers I was just be saying that's how Hitler got his start in Germany." It's 6° of Kevin Bacon to the extreme. The propaganda wouldn't be complete, unless there was a reference to an Obama appointee or a former member of the administration. He uses a controversial statement from Anita Dunn speech to some high-school graduates  where she said “Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa as two of her "favorite political philosophers." Beck stated that the speech revealed Dunn as a Maoist, while Dunn stated that, her reference was meant to be ironic, and was a quote borrowed from Republican strategist Lee Atwater. If that's the best he's got, he is deceiving his readers but then again, as long as their ears are tickled; nothing else matters.

Walter William's fear mongering article wouldn't be complete, unless he used the words" loss of freedom or liberty." In a typical victim fashion, he blames the academic community, the media elite, stalwarts of the Democratic Party, and organizations like the NAACP, La Raza, and Green for All, the Sierra Club and the Children's Defense Fund. I guess they are more fearful than the Neo-Nazi clubs. I guess voter suppression doesn't register as a loss of freedom in his mind. Mr. Williams is an ideologue, who believes either you with him or against him (and he's always right) because, if you don’t like his opinions, then you believe in the primacy of the state over individual rights. The author asks," you don't believe it, just ask yourself: which way are we headed tiny steps at a time-toward greater liberty our toward more government control over our lives?" How ironic, I would bet that Mr. Williams believes in the republican led personhood bills headed toward our legislation. Mr. Williams and his ilk, do not own the definition of liberty or freedom; I am 67 years old and have never been fearful of losing my freedom or liberty. It's always available at the ballot box; sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.

Mr. William's piece is just the preamble to the familiar culture war politics we are about to endure. It's the first shot across the bow because the previous Romney campaign tactics are not working, so they need to go to what they think will work, and that is welfare. Recently, the Romney campaign launched an ad stating that Obama is gutting Welfare Reform Bill Clinton, and the GOP led Congress voted and signed into a "welfare to work" legislation. The Ad Praises Bill Clinton, trying to lure the Reagan Democrats and uses the typical "too lazy to work" byline to reel in the 6% moderates. The only trouble is, that the ad is a complete lie. According to ABC News "These requirements are quotas, which states must meet to receive federal welfare dollars under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, pronounced “taniff”): certain percentages of enrolled households must meet “work activity'” requirements, including work training, job searches, “job clubs'” that offer job-search advice, and job searches with verified paperwork from employers where jobs were sought.

HHS announced that states can propose pilot programs, which can include changes to how qualified welfare recipients are counted. If HHS approves a state’s program, it will grant a waiver from federal work-activity requirements. For instance, HHS suggests, states could propose, “projects that demonstrate superior employment outcomes” if work-activity participation rate requirements are dropped and replaced by other measurements of “employment outcome.”

This is another area where the federal government wants to give more rights to the states, but it's demonized for political gain.

I'm feeling a lot better now, but my work is not done because there are many misconceptions that are being thrown around as facts about the constitution and the role of government. I can't do much with a “unverified comment" but if I can make one person aware of another viewpoint, it might help them from being a victim of propaganda. I am just a lowly poster without clout but I'm aware of that; I’m not like the gun owner that thinks he needs a gun to protect him from a repressive regime.