Opinion
A New Breed of Bigoted Politicians
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ernie F oster
Founder/Publisher
B oBBie D ore F oster
Executive Editor
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Advertising Manager
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News Editor
P atriCia i rvin
Graphic Designer
a rashi y oung
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Reporters
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Seattle Office Coordinator
J ulie K eeFe
s usan F rieD
Photographers
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A
mong the many windswept
cliffs that stand guard on
the shores of the island of
Okinawa, one is known for its par-
ticularly gruesome history.
“Suicide Cliff” is located on the
southern portion of Okinawa. It is
so named because thousands of
Okinawans took their own lives
at the site as American forces ad-
vanced across the island in 1945
during the last months of World
War II.
Twenty five years later, flying
low over cliffside memorials hon-
oring the dead of various towns
and villages who perished there,
I was struck by the fact that so
many people felt compelled to
rush to their own destruction. I
soon learned that for tactical rea-
sons, and to further their own
doomed war effort, the Japanese
army had terrified Okinawan ci-
vilians with tales of extreme cru-
elties they should expect at the
hands of the approaching Ameri-
cans. The island’s people had their
minds manipulated to the point
that many chose to kill themselves
rather than fall into the hands of a
ruthless enemy.
Eventually, the people of Okina-
wa came to realize that these were
“useless deaths” as the Americans
turned out not to be the monsters
portrayed by the Japanese army.
In the years since viewing this
tragic site, I learned it is not un-
usual for people to be manipulated
into a mass hysteria that makes
them act against their own self-in-
terest, or even to rush toward their
own self-destruction. In this cycle
of the U.S. presidential election,
we have extraordinarily clear ex-
amples of the type of propaganda
Oscar H.
Blayton
NNPA Guest
Columnist
and demagoguery that leads to this
type of madness.
Donald Trump is the poster child
for destructive demagoguery. This
bloviating bigot has pulled the Re-
publican Party down to new lows
and, in the process, dumbed down
the national political discourse to
a point where America is gnawing
Like the thousands who fol-
lowed a manipulative Japanese
army to their hurried end on Oki-
nawa, individuals who flock to
Trump’s banner of bigotry and
foolishness eventually will see
the senselessness of championing
someone who makes extremely
ill-considered
pronouncements
and whose campaign completely
lacks sound policy ideas.
Fortunately for them, however,
Trump will not be president of
the United States. Unfortunately,
however, other Republican presi-
dential hopefuls are mimicking his
audacious and bigoted posturing
because his followers are giving
so much credence to this cartoon
This is a person who feels so entitled
that he can determine what America is
and who Americans are
at its own flesh in an attempt to ex-
pel nonexistent horrors.
Echoing the likes of former Gov.
George C. Wallace of Alabama
and the two Virginia senators,
Harry F. Byrd Sr. and Harry F.
Byrd Jr., Trump feeds his follow-
ers platters of noxious vitriol that
are devoid of facts.
In addition to demonizing Lati-
nos and “Black Lives Matter” ac-
tivists, Trump, a privileged White
man who inherited his wealth
from his father, once declared that
the Pequot Indians “don’t look
like Indians to me.”
This is a person who feels so en-
titled that he can determine what
America is and who Americans
are.
of an ugly American.
Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Mike
Huckabee may not be stoking
the fires of the exact same bigot-
ed causes, but they are ramping
up their rhetoric to approximate
Trump’s level of demagoguery.
Just as George Wallace and both
Senators Byrd relied on a strate-
gy of saying the “N-word” louder
than anyone else, this new breed
of bigoted politicians base their
strategies on attacking liberal
targets of opportunity with more
vigor than anyone else. And while
there are varying degrees of big-
otry among the Republican field
of presidential candidates, they
all seem to be willing to have the
country self- destruct rather than
give in to its liberalization.
During the past seven years,
most of them have urged their
followers to reject the Affordable
Care Act, with little regard for
the fact that many of them can-
not pay for basic medical needs.
These Republican candidates have
called upon their followers to op-
pose an increase in the minimum
wage, despite the fact that many
of those supporters are low-wage
earners. They ask conservatives to
join them in opposing the multi-
lateral nuclear deal with Iran, even
though the sons and daughters of
those conservatives might bleed
on the battlefields of any ensu-
ing war. And, of course, they op-
pose extending equal rights to the
LBGT community, while many of
their backers have family mem-
bers and loved ones who are in the
LBGT community.
They are urging their followers
to go over the cliff and pull the rest
of America over behind them.
For those of us who refuse to
swallow the venom of the likes
of Trump, Cruz, Huckabee and
Paul, we have a pressing obliga-
tion. We must do all that is nec-
essary to prevent the forces of
self-destruction from taking hold.
We must not allow a group of
hysterical bigots to determine the
future of America. We must stand
against those who are taken by a
type of self-destructive madness
and would throw America over a
political cliff to drown in a sea of
hatred and despair.
Oscar H. Blayton is a former
Marine Corps. combat pilot and
human rights activists who prac-
tices law in Virginia.
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Revolutionary Lessons from Burkina Faso
T
he Sept. 17 coup against
the interim president of
Burkina Faso, Michel Kaf-
ando, contains important lessons
regarding the struggle for justice
and democracy. Under pressure
from demonstrators, striking labor
unions and the West Africa re-
gional bloc, the coup leader, Gen.
Gilbert Diendere, stepped aside
and Kafando and Prime Minister
Yacouba Issac Zida were restored
to power as transitional leaders of
the country formerly known as the
Republic of Upper Volta.
The background to the Septem-
ber 17 coup can be traced to Octo-
ber 2014 when a popular uprising
ousted long-time dictator Blaise
Compaore, who had overthrown
and murdered his former friend
and comrade, the near legendary,
Thomas Sankara in 1987. It re-
versed the revolutionary changes
that the central African country of
Burkina Faso had experienced un-
der Sankara’s leadership.
Compaore returned Burkina
Faso to its neo-colonial status un-
der French and U.S. domination,
and instituted a repressive dicta-
torship. In the fall of 2014, after
an attempt to extend the length of
his presidency, millions of people
turned out in defiance of the gov-
ernment, ultimately driving Com-
paore not only out of office, but
out of the country.
Page 2 October 7, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner
Bill
Fletcher Jr.
The Global
African
The excitement generated by
this insurrection was infectious,
not only in Burkina Faso but in
neighboring countries.
Yet there was an almost imme-
diate problem. Was this an an-
objective of the coup-people was
clear.
Regardless of whether Com-
paore is returned, the coup leaders
wanted a return to the old regime.
Since the Arab democratic up-
risings that started in late 2010,
we have witnessed in the Middle
East and Africa a phenomenon of
similar democratic protests and in-
surrections.
In many cases, the leadership of
such movements are not visible,
and in other cases, they are quite
dispersed.
Popular, democratic uprisings
can drive dictators out of office,
Democratic uprisings can drive
dictators out of office, but in order to
purse a revolution, more is needed
than masses of people in the streets
ti-Compaore insurrection or was it
a revolution? And, if it was to be a
revolution, then how was it to be
pursued?
The Sept. 17 coup against the in-
terim president was carried out by
units led by the presidential guard,
which had not been dismantled
and remained loyal to Compaore.
In carrying out a coup, shortly be-
fore the upcoming elections, the
but in order to purse a revolution,
more is needed than masses of
people in the streets.
There is a critical need for or-
ganization, whether in the form
of political parties, unions or na-
tional fronts that can harness the
energy of those in rebellion and
help to advance the interests of the
majority of the people.
It is also essential to have orga-
nization in order to neutralize the
organization of the “other side.”
That is, the side that represents
the old and corrupt regime. After
all, the old regime would never
have been able to stay in power
absent organization. And there are
few examples in history where the
old regime has voluntarily surren-
dered and walked off into the night
of history. Usually, they attempt to
find their way back into power.
Recognizing that, Kafando an-
nounced Friday the disbandment
of the presidential guard, a unit
of about 1,300 soldiers, and fired
its commander and the minister of
security. On Saturday, the country
announced that it would freeze the
assets of Gen. Gilbert Diendere
and 13 others suspected of being
associated with the coup.
Gen. Diendere and presidential
guard staged the coup because
they were upset that supporters of
former President Blaise Compaore
couldn’t run in elections, original-
ly scheduled for Oct. 11.
They are expected to be post-
poned for several weeks and a 30-
day investigation of the coup will
be conducted.
In the wake of disbanding the
presidential guard, the county is-
sued a statement Saturday saying,
“The government invites the pop-
ulations to remain calm and exert
restraint.”