Page1 « THE UNHEARD HERALD « Monday, November 7, 2016 Such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks and all it wants is the liberty of appearing — Thomas Paine THE Unheard HERALD SERVING DEMOCRACY AND THE HEART OF DURANGO COLORADO | TheUnheardHerald.com | Monday, November 7, 2016 | SHARE FREELY ¢ 2016 America — Open Letter to President Barack Obama To: From: President Barack Obama Root Routledge, PhD The White House PO Box 830 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Durango, CO 81302-0830 Washington, DC 20500 [email protected] Dear President Obama, plish three objectives: First, I want to express my sincere gratitude and I am moved to write this heart- respect to you Barack, on a person- felt letter to you, Mr President, as al level if I may, for running and I am deeply troubled about what serving as our first black president. is happening to my beloved coun- I am proud that, after several earli- President Barack Obama try, the United States of America. er attempts America finally passed and undermined by deceit, con, di- My thoughts will unfold here from that political and cultural thresh- vision and the cynical exploitation more than one perspective, as they old. Second, I wish to share my con- of ignorance, hatred and fear. emerge not only from sober, lev- tinued and growing concern about We are both witness and partici- el-headed and rational reflection; our country and the deterioration pant in an unprecedented presiden- but, from a seeming cauldron of of our democracy — in fact, the ac- tial election cycle that, via a system mixed emotions that have been tual disintegration of democracy, if of corporatized oligarchic “man- brewing for some time — excite- that means fracturing to the point aged democracy”, has produced ment, enthusiasm, and hope; be- of impairment in quality, function- two of the most damaged, disliked coming swamped with heartbreak, ing, and condition; indeed, now and distrusted major party candi- disappointment, loss, insult, frus- manifesting as an apparent farci- dates in anyone’s memory, if not tration and bewilderment; inter- cal failure, a ridiculous and empty our country’s history — explicitly mixed with justified outrage and show of personal attacks lacking placing our country and our future righteous anger, fierceness and pertinence and substance. And fi- at risk of devastating consequenc- more. nally in the midst of all this, I want es. Never before have I viewed a With this letter1 I wish to accom- to fan the flames of inspirational presidential election as such an hope for healing in this bizarre era existential threat to our country as 1 This is not a short “presidential of polarized confusion over core we now know it. The candidacy of briefing”, but the sharing of a story—my story. values, which have been muddled the loser con-artist the Republicans So without apology, I don’t know at the outset have produced should not even rise how long it will be; nor do I have any illusion it write something about my experience with above the level of absurdity. Yet, will even reach your desk, let alone that you’ll this election and as a National Delegate, I have find the time to read it. Nonetheless, I’ve prom- chosen this path and time to communicate my the loser has attracted a following ised so many people that I would eventually thoughts broadly. of validly disgruntled Americans; © 2016 Root Routledge — Permission granted to copy and freely distribute A Democracy Activism publication under the First Amendment Page 2 « THE UNHEARD HERALD « Monday, November 7, 2016 Such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks and all it wants is the liberty of appearing — Thomas Paine but whose gullibility, anger and al will not save our democracy or ignorance he has easily exploited planet? with a continual stream of negative Yet, as an active participant I have memes that go to the heart of their seen that even this system, even as most base emotions, duping and it is, had the potential to deliver suckering this ill-informed group to us the valued qualities of dig- into believing the con of his impe- nity, honesty, integrity and moral rial prowess, while lacking even a strength by surfacing more than shred of substance. Whereas, the one inspiring candidate with such Democrats have produced and se- exemplary character—namely Ber- lected a candidate who, through nie Sanders and Jill Stein—instead her own actions, decisions and be- of the two that have exacerbated Root was an elected Democratic havior, seems to be in a precarious the polarization of the nation. But struggle to even hold a majority of it failed to do that. It failed due to National Delegate pledged to Ber- the electorate over the Republican fraud, disempowerment of the elec- nie Sanders, from Colorado Con- loser candidate. How can it happen torate, groundless ideological ab- gressional District 3, (West Slope that such a candidate can be so de- surdity, and cynical subterfuge that and SW Colorado), to the Demo- spised by both the rightwing/alt- undermined the democratic process cratic National Convention, Phil- right and the progressive left, who itself within the parties. Hence, that adelphia, July 25-28, 2016. understand that business as usu- has further exacerbated disillusion- ment, apathy and disengagement of the American electorate. And it the “Corporate Political Complex”. THE Unheard HERALD has precipitated an angry response It represents monopoly control of The Unheard Herald™ is a trademarked for change, any change, regard- our corrupted politics, which is (TM) and copyrighted © trade name, less of how inept and disastrous subservient to moneyed interests of created on April 7, 2012 with the first the capitalist billionaire class, push- published edition “Keep Durango it might be. The right in particular Local”; the trade name is owned by the has abandoned all factual reality ing the single paradigm of capital- publisher Root Routledge. because they don’t care about that; ism as the principal if not only rul- This eNewspaper and website are pub- what they want is “something else” ing construct for society — a failed lished and distributed ad hoc as facts and and to dominate by dictate from a ideology that displaces true market circumstances warrant an exposé or the morally and intellectually vacuous economies and focuses entirely on advocating for a particular democratic growing and concentrating more cause on behalf of the people affected. con-artist, a charlatan megaloma- and faster money for those who Publisher/Editor: Root Routledge niac with a delusional mental dis- hold the most money; harvesting Website: www.TheUnheardHerald.com order marked by infantile feelings Contact the Publisher at: and expressions of personal omnip- the wealth of our socioeconomic Phone: 970-382-0711 Fax: 970-403-1171 otence and grandeur. He becomes system, while delivering devasta- [email protected] their IED simply to wreck the sys- tion to our culture, society and envi- Mail: PO Box 830, Durango, CO 81302 tem status quo. ronment. It has even devolved from one focused on productive private Herald (n): A messenger that conveys The two-party system is corrupt- news, proclaims, announces or warns; investment, to say nothing about its one that supports or advocates, esp. for ed, perhaps beyond recovery. Civic inability to meet the needs of pub- notable events or major change, often liberty is all about fair participation lic investment, into an unhinged presaging what is to come. (Webster) in political power; which our cur- convoluted epi-device generating rent system, in the end, continues “We have it in our power to begin the phantom wealth for a small few, world over again...” to be unable to deliver under the extracted from real tangible wealth “It is error only, and not truth, that oligarchic control of the democratic and built on an ever enlarging debt shrinks from inquiry... The most formi- process by what I call the two-head- dable weapon against errors of every pyramid that is bound to collapse. kind is reason... Reason obeys itself; ed “Corporate R&D Party” serving This system is not designed to pro- and ignorance submits to whatever is only the concentration of wealth mote what’s good for people or life; dictated to it.” — and power accumulation goals of Thomas Paine in fact, history teaches us if we will © 2016 Root Routledge — Permission granted to copy and freely distribute A Democracy Activism publication under the First Amendment Monday, November 7, 2016 « THE UNHEARD HERALD « Page 3 Such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks and all it wants is the liberty of appearing — Thomas Paine only observe, it is sucking the life who made the difficult moral de- I’ve actively voted ever since that out of society, civilization and the cision to move to Canada to avoid first election, where in 1968 you still planet, continually increasing the fighting in Vietnam. But, as it might had to be 21 years old in order to risk of irreversible catastrophic col- be with many of the Dreamers who vote. Most millennials today, I dare lapse. have been here since childhood, say, scarcely know that it took mas- Before I address the three objec- even though our parents arrived sive student protests to demand a tives noted above in some detail, under different circumstances, I constitutional amendment allow- I want to share a bit of my back- grew up identifying as an Amer- ing those 18-to-20 year-olds being ground because it is important ican, not as a Canadian. I didn’t drafted to fight a war to participate to understand where I’m coming want to leave America; by then I re- in selecting politicians for or against th from.