Casino Wall Street

For the life of me, I cannot put into words what a shameful disgrace it is that there is so much apathy in this country and on this campus towards the fraudulent, illegal activity on Wall Street. As new scandals surface about mutual funds, insider trading and the SEC, we as a society should pause and reflect on why we care more about the outcome in the Kobe Bryant case than in the trials of the greedy crooked scum whom through deceitful, unscrupulous means have destroyed companies and the lives of millions of Americans which put their trust into them.

Prudential, Putnam, Enron, WorldCom...the formula is: some CEO steals x. The SEC probes y too late. Redundant and sickening, the list of companies goes on and on. So do the dangerous clichés associated with these stories of fraud on Casino Wall Street, where the current fad of idolizing Gordon Gekko undermines our values, ethics and morals in the democracy that guarantees our protection from threats.

What's presently happening at the New York Stock Exchange is disturbing. Former Chairman Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark of Tyco International are standing trial for stealing 600 million dollars from the company and its stockholders. Because of the money these two men stole, Tyco was forced to cut 7,200 jobs last week.

Thousands of innocent people are confined to desperately scavenging for a job to feed their children while the criminals who took their livelihood throw multi-million dollar parties at ski resorts.
Richard Scrushy, the former HealthSouth CEO, exploited public to make an illicit profit of $267 million by inflating his company's earnings a whopping $2.7 billion. With his illicit profits he bought exotic sports cars, yachts, airplanes, and of course jewelry to give to his assumed high-maintenance spouse.

USA Today reported November 7th that in a $7 trillion mutual fund industry, an appalling 25 percent of brokers break the rules given by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Richard Grasso formerly headed the Commission, and was paid a lavish $187.5 million compensation package for apparently not doing his job properly. What's sad is that these few are just the tip of an iceberg in a cesspool of snake oil.

Why is this happening? Where is the SEC? Where are the rest of these unethical monsters and where is the justice we need? Of course, the general public doesn't seem to care. People focus more on Howard Dean's statement about "southerners in their pick-up trucks" than on their hard-earned investment money being embezzled.

The mainstream media devotes far too much time covering conversationally glamorous and socially irrelevant topics like David Blaine and Laci Peterson, while humanitarians eagerly flip past the boring business section to read the more exciting news, such as Lebron James, "The Matrix," and Rosie O'Donnell.

Activists on campus who usually jump at the chance to correct societies' injustices and prejudices are apathetic towards billions of dollars being stolen from hard working people. Whether it is economic ignorance, disinterest or ambivalence, the lack of needed concern is disconcerting.

Why care? The consequences of the actions of these greedy elitists affect everything from the cost of your education to retirement pensions. 401(k)s disintegrate. Your parents' hard earned IRAs and stock options are destroyed. Americans from all walks of life work their entire lives trying to earn something - to achieve a level of success through investment - only to have it snatched away when the books are cooked by some selfish, hot shot executive.

The common misconception is this is a capitalist phenomenon. It's anti-capitalist! It's against the law! However ridden with crooks, our economic system in itself is good, right and decent. The stock market is the cornerstone of our well-endowed economic democracy. The fact of the matter is, there are unthinkable crimes being committed and the commission responsible for reprimanding the perpetrators is not enforcing the law, spawning myriad copycats. The legislation and regulation we demand means nothing without law enforcement. Unlike other forms of crime, blame must be placed on these individuals. Fully aware of the repercussions of their actions, they are plagued with the pursuit of instant gratification and short-term gains, sacrificing everyone and everything to achieve it.

On a more fundamental level, we should consider where vermin on Wall Street learn their trade. Are colleges and universities accentuating ethics in their curriculum? The latest edition of the U.S. News & World Report's "Best Graduate Schools" will reveal that only after the Enron disaster have these issues been put in the educational spotlight. Only recently have ethics been injected into cost-benefit analysis courses. Rutgers has a unique approach, being one of only two M.B.A. programs in the country requiring a class trip to prison to converse with white-collar criminals behind bars. However, as poignant educational experiences are reserved as moral lessons for future executives (who themselves won't suffer from the crime they will chose to commit in the future), they would serve a better purpose as eye-openers to the general population whose absent outrage is fuel to the fire.

There are crimes against humanity happening in the financial district, and no one seems to give a damn. Vague rhetoric about the economy's importance overwhelms industry reform. Why are people so nonchalant? Where is the demand for justice and the pressure on the SEC?

Where are the protests on campus? Are we perceptive and compassionate enough to see the most salient, pressing issues facing our way of life?

Rutgers, it behooves you to at least acknowledge what's going on. It doesn't matter if you aren't business savvy. You must educate yourselves to the severity of the injustices if the institutions of the society you're a part of don't do it for you. Your livelihood depends on it. As generations before us have tolerated corruption, are we too going to tolerate the gambling away of innocent lives on Casino Wall Street?

James O'Keefe is a Rutgers College sophomore majoring in philosophy. His column, "Feathers of Steel," appears on alternating Fridays.

NJO: Originally published in The Daily Targum.

The conservative manifesto

By James O’Keefe

Published: Thursday, October 16, 2003

Updated: Sunday, February 22, 2009

There is a spectre haunting Rutgers - the spectre of liberalism.

At 19, I am a conservative Republican and an ideological minority. This country has gotten to a point where tolerant, "diverse" colleges and universities that advocate fairness and equality are beginning to ostracize those who don't hold one universal belief - that of liberalism. My social views have been bashed and underrepresented by the liberal majority at Rutgers and around the collegiate United States.

Registration records indicate the ratio of voting professors at top schools is ten democrats to every one republican, a documented fact and a pitiful, self-perpetuating tragedy, according to studentsforacademicfreedom.org. The ratio of commencement speakers on the left and right is even worse - a deplorable 15:1, according to www.frontpagemag.com. This is completely out of balance. On campuses there is more support for the Green Party than there is for the Republican Party! There is a hatred and loathing of conservatives, a trend that continues to flourish because colleges obsess with superficial diversity rather than intellectual diversity. I am intimidated and unable to express myself because there are overwhelming prejudices against what I believe in.

Witnessing 60 professors last week inappropriately label Rutgers Hillel and its Israel Inspires event as being "right-wing," and expecting that characterization in itself to be an accusation, has led me to believe conservatism has apparently become a crime. When was the last time there were 60 professors protesting all of the "left-wing" things that permeate campus? Never. Remember that these are the professors that teach us. Are there any significant forums for conservatives to express themselves in college? None. Can they say or do anything without being targeted or protested? Of course not. Rutgers promotes an intellectual imbalance, and in the process it distances conservative students. The majority doesn't care because the majority isn't conservative.

As a citizen of this country, it is my right to have a balanced education. Attention is not focused on the imbalance, but rather that it's stubborn for people like me to still remain conservative. Conservative reason is viewed as intrinsically wrong. This logic is beyond flawed - it's pathetic. Students can't defend its reason because their fundamental way of being taught is skewed!
 
"How so?" the skeptic wonders. In philosophy it is the professor's preference of theories of the self over theories of utilitarianism, of the libertarian over the communitarian. In sociology it is the preference of social conflict theories over functionalist theories - blame-society approaches rather than blame-individual approaches. In economics it is the questioning of capitalism, the bashing of "laissez faire" or "hands-off" (although many professors humorously teach void of ideological regulation). I'm not even going to mention subjects like history or political science. It is this fundamental favoritism in departments, the subtle imbalances that trusting student must embrace to get a good grade and the biased administration promoting it that enrages me. While everybody else happily jots down their daily notes, satisfied and gullible, writing in their blue books every liberal theory their beacon of academic insight taught them, I wonder what happened to the support for my beliefs. Where's my beacon?

In the first class I ever took at Rutgers, the professor begged the question, "Why is 'Communism' such a dirty word?" All the students in the class nodded and there was a chorus of "I knows." Then another student stood up and said, "If our country was socialist it would be a much better place to live." The entire class erupted in agreement.

Finally a student exclaimed, "Those conservatives are nazi bastards!"

Lovely.

The poor drones of Cuba could kindly explain to my professor, if they weren't being tortured by Fidel Castro, why "Communism is such a dirty word." So could the poor souls of Mao's China or Stalin's Russia. But I encourage gratuitous statements praising extremist left-wing tyrants, as long as there are statements praising extremist right-wing tyrants as well. Extremes are dangerous, but if presented, must be taught in a balanced format.

However, Marxism is taught freely at colleges throughout America, while it is regarded as perfectly normal for the theories of Friedrich Hayek or Leo Strauss to be ignored. (They were conservative fundamentalists, and it figures you have never heard of them). Sadly, many of the professors who embrace the "Communist Manifesto" have never had a chance to live in a Communist regime and experience its harsh realities. Perhaps only then would they we able to understand why so many of their descendants fled to Capitalist America.

I'm tired of President George W. Bush being used as a scapegoat for every social problem. I'm tired of people questioning the need for a military defense after madmen bomb and threaten us. I'm tired of frivolous lawsuits and obese children suing fast food restaurants and patients driving up insurance costs by suing the doctors that protect their health. I'm tired of the incessant protesting for the sake of protesting, and the constant belligerence against America without the acknowledgement of how much opportunity and freedom we have.

I realize right now I'm appealing to a collegiate audience that hates everything I stand for. I know there are those who will deny this imbalance, or who will tell me my views are wrong. (Did I say your views are wrong?) Politics aside, I implore you to desire an objective and balanced education. There is no conspiracy I speak of, just a sad truth. I am concerned for your welfare. One day when you graduate from this liberal oasis and enter the real world, you will find that half the country will be just like me. An unlikely state like California just ousted their governor because they were getting fed up with liberal politics. Perhaps you will work some day for a boss that is conservative, no doubt for a company. This is your wake-up call.

So go ahead. Criticize my conservative column. Continue to nurture the lack of political balance at universities everywhere. Do it to conform. Do it because you love ignorance. Do it because you're young, gullible, and you're manipulated into thinking it is your collegiate duty to hate the status quo. Do it because 60 brilliant Ph.D.s at Rutgers actually think conservative propaganda is beginning to become a problem, when at one of the only conservative rallies last year (supporting the troops - not the war), there were more protestors than there were supporters. Do it because people like me are evil and shouldn't have the right to express themselves on campuses where extremists have the right to spit on my American flag and slander my American character.

Call me names, and frown at me because of my beliefs. It happens in my classes every day and I'm used to it. Maybe you liberals will realize I'm the one who's the underdog, and you'll start rooting for me.

James O'Keefe is a Rutgers College sophomore majoring in philosophy. His column, "Feathers of Steel," appears on alternating Fridays. 

NJO: Originally published in The Daily Targum.

Politically Correct B.S.

Politically correct language and its inane euphemisms are a menace to society. They are threatening your right to free speech and your ability to express yourself the way you want. Form is now becoming more important than substance. Prevalent social inequalities and oppressions look to language for remedy. What results is a thick, cunning manipulation of English - a lackluster solution to a problem that cannot be solved by words alone. A constant desire for some to be in power has turned those in our society into attackers - not physically, or even intellectually, but rather by cowardly accusation. Political correctness is shying away from simply being common courtesy and is turning into an epidemic. We accuse each other of being sexist if we say "mailman" instead of "mailperson." We accuse each other as being racist if we say "Indian" instead of "Native American." Your opinion of either entity does not change regardless of the term. Our attention is being focused not on the issues that matter, but rather on our defense. Why must we lower ourselves to such abysmal depths of linguistic nonsense? Because if we don't, our social doom will be swift, certain and inevitable. The worst thing to be labeled is a sexist or a racist. We must resort to learning how to communicate in this pathetic dialect that accentuates the appeasement of everyone and the offense of no one. We must sacrifice what was given to us in the constitution so we can succeed in a society with a politically correct social disease.

What used to be called the "Department of War" is now the Department of Defense. Bank tellers are supposed to refer to a disabled person as "a person with a disability," emphasizing his personhood first and not his disability. In business, "greed" has become the more positive sounding "profit motives." Special interest groups have transformed and, likewise, "anti-abortion" morphed into "pro-choice" and likewise "pro-life" into "anti-choice." "Used" becomes "Pre-Owned." "Liberals" have become "Progressives." Changes that were once somewhat necessary have become tiresome and pretentious. "Loser" becomes "second place." "Garbage men" become "Garbage people," and then become "sanitation workers" - which totally disassociates and dehumanizes the act of collecting smelly trash but at least gives those numerous female sanitation workers all the respect they've always wanted. (Notice my sarcasm.) Stealing one from George Carlin, "Shell shock" has become the verbose "Post traumatic stress disorder." This change disrespects the military veterans who actually experienced the horrors of battle - the mustard gas, the trenches, the death and destruction - just in sacrifice for all of today's super-sensitive. These euphemisms have been created by a manipulative, elitist few.

The term "politically correct" derives itself from Communism. Karl Marx coined the term P.C. as a cute reversal of C.P. (The Communist Party), and used it as propaganda. Even Hitler mastered the art of speaking in such a way that controlled the minds of others. Presently, The New York Times will give you more than a whiff of politically correct language. Much of the colorful, adjective- packed, progressive prose in The Times is on the threshold of up-to-date politically correctness. It has been used in various forms all over the spectrum, liberal to conservative, to brainwash others by manipulating the way of speaking.

The social and political implications of an artificial, politically correct language are destructive. The only things coming out of politicians' mouths are perfectly orchestrated pieces of well-planned sentimental glop. We have candidates being elected due to their (or their speechwriter's) magical talent of spitting out happy dribble, not due to character or morality or anything else that defines greatness. This new breed of language is a force to be reckoned with, putting more emphasis on one sentence that than a whole life of achievement. Any public figure that makes a politically incorrect statement is immediately attacked by the American media. David Howard, a Washington mayoral aide, used the word "niggardly" as a synonym for "stingy." Howard did not intend the racial epithet, it was a legitimate definition that a dictionary would confirm. However, the public and media were quick to accuse him of being racist, and he turned into a victim of political correctness run amok. Rush Limbaugh is the new target, although his statements were probably more racially directed, and therefore unacceptable. But there is a danger in letting one statement alone have such a huge impact on careers. Political Correctness can even cause controversy with those like John Lennon, who once said, "Only those with no hope take drugs." Bill Maher's show was canceled from ABC because he made a perfectly viable comment about the misuse of the word "cowardly" to describe the acts of terror on 9/11. This man's show was actually called "Politically Incorrect," and it was cancelled due to a controversial statement. There is a danger in encouraging those in the public sector to speak flawlessly. It will subliminally sway our attention from meaningful substance and force us to concentrate our attention on controversy and form. We will find it is impossible to satisfy the ears of everyone - we will just be fighting a futile battle we will never win. Every Targum column has its naysayers. Every speaker has protesters. Every optimist has skeptics. Don't live by them.

George Orwell once said, "All language is political." Perhaps we should address the actual issues themselves, not just sugarcoat them with an artificial and dangerous sense of false security. Understanding the world around us is contingent upon language. When that language is manipulated by the powerful, elitist source that seeks to use it as propaganda for a cause, language becomes a force to be reckoned with. When that force only appeals to the aesthetic and the superficial, we solve nothing; we achieve nothing. We cover up our problems with a fake blanket. This is America. We have the freedom to say whatever we want. Let's come together, stop accusing each other of things for our own political reasons and advancements, and talk the way we want. Let's have the courage to say what we feel. Because when it comes down to it, euphemisms suck! Well perhaps "suck" is much too vulgar a word; so I "dislike" them. Maybe I shouldn't judge a word based on its shallow qualities; so I suppose I find euphemisms "disagreeable with my preferences, per se."

James O'Keefe is a Rutgers College sophomore majoring in philosophy. His column "Feathers of Steel," appears on alternating Fridays.

NJO: Originally published in The Daily Targum.

The miracle of life

Each time a man ejaculates, 500 million sperm - a number exceeding the population of Europe - eagerly swim forth. Ingrained in each one of these feisty chromosome-filled tadpoles is the incessant, instinctual, dire need to pursue and discover the pot of gold over the rainbow. Every human being was at one time a mindless, helpless, microscopic piece of bean sprout-looking matter with a mere chance of one in 500 million (all other things being equal) of fertilizing our mother's egg. But somehow in a world of six billion, each one of us has beaten these astronomical odds. We are walking and talking exceptions to a statistical impossibility; virtual pieces of art sculpted from bare nothingness; manifestations of an oppressed chance in a world where we can't even win the raffle at a little league baseball game.

But not all sperm are created equal. Take a look in the mirror. You are essentially looking at an Olympian. You sprinted through dark canyons, solving mazes and using inherent superpowers to break through shells of steel. You emerged triumphantly winning the gold medal in a race of 500 million. First place receives a bright journey filled with meaning, truth and accomplishment. These special sperm grow up to become doctors, lawyers, puppeteers, and professors - perhaps curing a disease, becoming president, preventing a war or writing a thesis on kangaroo psychology or what-have-you. The other 499,999,999 (give or take a couple) vanish into the dark recesses of an unacknowledged life they never get to live.

It amazes me that an entire species is composed of these Olympians - those special sperm who beat unthinkable odds and come from nothingness with no probability of ever existing to persevere over those statistical detractors. Right now take a look around you at the people who take their lives for granted. Look at them. They don't even consider how incredible their journey has been. They don't realize how much of an impact they will have on the world around them.

Everybody has an impact on the world around them. If Christopher Columbus's mother didn't have sex with her husband on the exact day she did, in the exact form she did, the whole fate of the western world would be changed forever. When Columbus was a sperm he could have decided he would give up on his way to fertilizing the egg, tired of meandering through tunnels of darkness with no egg in sight. A different, less adventuring sperm could have mistakenly bumped into him and fractured Columbus's tail. The other sperm could then reach the egg, and Chris could have grown up with different interests to become a jester, instead of a skilled entrepreneur like Columbus. The entire free world would have ceased to exist as it does now. Perhaps Japan or the Swedes would have discovered us. Native Americans could have lived in tranquil serenity for another hundred years. Perhaps we would turn into a communist breeding ground. But whatever the outcome, everybody would be having sex in different ways with different people in different places. Maybe there would be no melting pot. Entirely different people would have been born. Life on earth would be irrevocably changed into a new paradigm that would have stayed the course of human history forever. Perhaps we should really accredit the discovery of the "New World" to the less adventurous sperm not getting in the way of Columbus.

As you can see, this isn't just a reproduction phenomenon. It is also connected to fate. We choose a path, take it and one thing leads to another. One could eternally retrace steps not taken and roads less traveled to no end, realizing there were so many people and places not encountered. That is why when I'm talking to anyone, I realize how amazing it truly is that I am with that person, at that time, in that place, when things could have turned out completely different in infinitely many ways. A 100-year-old man has discovered so many forks in his journey, so many twists and turns since he was conceived. There will be generations of people affecting the world due to the choices he made; due to the fact his parents decided to immigrate to America. He has made an eternal ripple on the pond of time. Billions of people, just like him, operate all over earth. We meet in subways, at Starbucks or in school. If we change our desire for coffee one morning, or our decision to take the F instead of the EE, perhaps we'll be missing out on potential friendship or some type of epiphany; deciding to have a cappuccino could change our lives drastically.

Now you can't live your life like this. You would probably never choose your major here at Rutgers. You would never marry anyone ever. You would obsess over every decision you have to make. But the next time you hear a mathematician belittling your chances of winning the lottery, tell him both of you were once facing odds approaching 1 in 500 million. You were both one of about 10 trillion sperm produced in a man's lifetime. Explain that you both beat the impossibly small likelihood of meeting each other in a universal realm of infinite space-time. Perhaps he'll look at you, shrug, and say, "You've got a point." Whatever you believe in, whatever your origin and whatever ideology you ascribe to, you cannot deny the miracle of life. Believe in yourself and in your ability to achieve impossible things, because you already did.

James O'Keefe is a Rutgers College sophomore majoring in philosophy. His column, "Feathers of Steel," appears on alternating Fridays.

NJO: Originally published in The Daily Targum.

My roomate and I...

My roomate and I haven't spoken in two weeks and now this. Some people arepurely evil. Some people are so deceitful, manipulative, hurtful and cunning, thatit makes you feel that when yourwith that person the world isn't even worth fighting for. When you encounter a situation where your dignity is being held against your will, when someone threatens your emotional well-being for their own cheap advantage, when that same person uses you and violates your mind in ways you didn't know it could be violated, it forces you to reavaluate who you are as a person. This could be in the form of aninjustice, such as a wrongful conviction, it could come in the form of abetrayal from a friend or an ex-lover, whatever it is, it leaves you helpless bracing that reasurrance deep inside yourself that comforts you. I haven't really ever experienced these people in my life. for the most for the most part people are inherently good and there are some invisible laws and trusts and principals that are always upheld. People i've always been associated with have never crossed that line into the realm of irratioanlity, and if they have, It's easy to distance yourself from them ,it's easy to isolate them in your mind, your capable of realizing that they're wrong and your right. Right?

Not with PaulPaul has fucked with my mind, broken the rules of interaction that you deem unnescary to even lay out, gone beyond irrationality to the point he is evil in a rational way, destorting reality while maintaing the truth, threatening me and making me feel like the shit on his shoe, and then celebrating another victory. Why did it come to this? Why?


Because I fought back. Because when he called me an ass hole and said that i smell, i said i didn't like that language, and his girlfiend smells. When he retalitated by saying America sucks, i said Greece sucks. When he Told me not to plug MY COMPUTER into the interent socket (Becauseit happened to be on his side of the room and he's territorial) I did it anyways, when he throws my computer part on the ground in rage i told him he was going to have to pay for it, in defiance i stood up and screamed athim and told him I'm NOT swallowing my pride for you, I respect you even though you don\'t respect me, I speakto you kindly, i treat you decently, I've made compromises, taken your accusations, AND YOU ARE WRONG. Paul called the police, told me his daddy was going to arrest me, he had his lawyers ready to file charges of assuault, threats, SEXUAL ABUSE,RACISM, GREEK BIAS, and he even threatened to have me kicked out of the university in handcuffs. He told everyone he knew lies and manipulated everythign i have ever said, sometimes even jovially; into serious accusations , and worst of all, he made up shit about my pyscholgical history and started telling everyone he knew that his safety is in danger and James needs help.

From once making me a cd and offering me a slice ofpizza, he now holds that against me saying he treated me like a king. He now says i sniff his girfirend's underwear, and he told his girlfirend's parents who are out after me, he told me his lawyers would hang me, and he's got proof, evidence angainst me in "a court of law"he has taken statements i have made, purpously embellished them into theworng context and used them against me, trying to kick me oiut of myroom. this is the person who has treated me like shit from day one. WHOCWOURLDNT EVEN LET ME PLUG MY COMPUTER IN!!! but i have no evidence, i'm not a sneeky rat, and my quick wit doesn't come in false accustaions orsadistic threats, and i certainly do not document his actions, even though he spends everyday in my room with his girfriend all day for hours, I respect them and leave them alone always-- i ran out and he told me not tocome back. So instead of punching him in the face and having him win (i seriouslywould have done it) i ran outside, crying hysterically not knowing who to call or what to do, i simply have neverfelt so terrible before, at least in the last couple years, never felt so alone inside myself or so captured by another human being, all i wanted todo was have someone anyone know the TRUTH, i didn't even want a hug,becuase i was set up, and i still feel inside captured by his evil trap, and I've never encountered anyone so manipulative, so decieveing, so pernicious, in Paul. He's very sick. If you have encountered someone like this in your life, you can relate, you know how it feels, it feels like cancer, it drains you completely, t ohave someone attack you in such a awful way, and have people beleive him and hear him tell them whacked-out sick things about me,and i guess thats what scares me, i need to get very far very very veryfar away from people like that in my life. I need to be around peoplethat love me for me, and will not attack me in such a way. This is a warnign to you that people like this exist out there,sometimes in the beginning camouflaged in jovialness or laid back-ness butbe careful what you say, be careful what you reveal, and you don't have to sacrifice yourself for these people you don't have to become evil tocompete, you just have to stay far far far far far far away and know thatyou are loved

Thanks for listening.
 

For Paul

There's no way to Summarize People Like You
Putting me Down and Loving it too
I wasn't born knowing the Color of your skin
Your Deep-rooted hate
The way you manipulate
Your bitter angry conscience
Or your national origin
You can abuse my innocense
But be forwarned
I don't have your quick-wit
I got more
The Wind is my only friend
Through the Air I soar
I burn like a fire
And fight for my right to roar
You want to spit and lie?
Soak me with despair??
Slander my character find solace there...
Magnify my weaknesses and fuck with my mind?
Look for an evil in my you can't find?
Behind closed doors you run and you hide
And you scream so loud it hurts inside
Because beneath your pretending and all that you sell
The man that I am
Scares you like hell

NJO: In this post from 2006, James posted this with the context "I wrote this in March, 2003 in a pool of my own tears. Because words could not express what Paul had done to me, I was just confused and cheated. What do I do, who do I talk to, where do I go from here? Is this what college is about? The subsequent poem I wrote was a national finalist."

Tolerate This

By James O’Keefe

Very few people at Rutgers are about to agree with what I have to say

But because you believe in acceptance and diversity

I’m ‘bout to say it anyway

You think you’re all Peace?

You think I’m all war?

You don’t know what it is we’re fighting for

It’s kill or be killed and we’ve been killed before

You don’t seem to understand the fundamentals of war

Like anxious butterflies behind closed doors

You imply utopia, logic you ignore

You disagree with dieing hard likes its

Some choice to make

You defy society like it’s some claim to stake

Hurry up and bitch because tolerance won’t wait

But we can’t let impatient hippies determine our fate

You blame this nation

For what madmen have done

On the Eleventh of September, 2001

You Support Palestine

But ignore about their laughter

Emanating from their celebrating the hating of Jews and destruction of America

On the day after

You use shady language and class dividers

You label suicide bombers as “freedom-fighters.”

You’re pro-harmony but never stop causing noise

Still

Against Capital

Against Capital punishment

Against Capitalism

On the Steps of Capitol

Hill

Sometimes it seems from your unpatriotic screams

You’d rather be in chains

In a Communist nation where a dictator reigns

Your ignorance just thrives when you describe

Bush as a Texas cowboy running astray

You stereotype him so I can stereotype you

Smoking weed and drinking your double cappuccino latte

How does it feel?

Just deal

No blood for oil but gas prices to high for sale

No tax cuts but stash the cashed check in the mail

You won’t make sacrifice for homeland protection

You often question but never offer suggestions

You’re in constant defense of criminals somehow

You persecute people for not being politically correct

Who’s hypocritical now!

You make up slogans and accusations

Believe anecdotes without a single citation

Brand me a racist with an agenda to gain

Hand me your bluff but I’m tough not insane

You spit on our honor cause division and pain

When you say the victims died in vain

Sitting on your pedestal of judgment

So-called “tolerance,” progressive, cosmopolitan, comfortably, cool, seriously doubting

Whining and pouting

Shouting against Inequality for the disunited States

And rising crime rates

You don’t care about the cause, just want the effect

You Dine in the paradigm the military you hate is trying to protect

You think I wouldn’t die for this country you’re wrong

I realize America’s where I belong

So you can stab me with your words

Protest me to the ground

Call me a fascist, racist, selfish clown

But I wont’ let hypocrites put me down

I’m American and I realize how fortunate you are

Why your teacher made you salute those stripes and stars

It’s ok to criticize but think before you speak

Think about the rights you have

What happens when the shuttle crashes?

Instant gratification

No more space exploration

We put a man on the moon 40 years ago

But now it’s too soon to send

A man into space?

A slap in the face

Of our imperialist plot to conquer a lot

Don’t rebuild the WTC higher

Simply build a tiny spire

It’s time to abandon all structural endeavors

Hide under our beds and cover our heads

Like the sissies you are

Don’t salute those stripes and stars

Fire Bill Maher

Because he told us we’re cowards

And we’re afraid that we are

We all care about our civil liberties being taken away

But only some parts of the constitution are ok

Not the electoral college part?

It works both ways doesn’t it?

The FBI, CIA should have done its job then

Its got all the evidence now

But you don’t care

You want infinite proof there

You wouldn’t sacrifice one fraction

To Save Millions of lives and when

Those lives are lost you blame those who didn’t take action!

The least I can do is ask you

TO not use sugar coated language and abuse our sensitivity

Our communication

Please do not call killing babies equipping young women with a choice

Don’t defy those who protect us

You’re making the enemy rejoice

It’s easy to hate

To accuse me that I discriminate

But to those who raise their fists

Answer me this

When the bomb is dropped by Iran (rhyme with bomb)

You look up and see the mushroom cloud

In the Sky

With forgotten rebelliousness and futile messages at your side

The day, when perfect hindsight is suddenly all around

And a billion tear drops fall to the ground

The day when you look into your child’s eyes and have to explain

More innocents have died

And your pedestal, your ability to be free is taken away

Then you’ll see something other than a President’s blue blood royalty

Tell me THEN your opposed to war

And the reasons for which we’re fighting for

Tell me THEN we’re imperialist clowns

Who operate on fallacious grounds

So if it’s true, your division’s still tall

Then perhaps the most powerful truth of all

Is you’d look the families in the face

Tell them one-by-shun

You helped cause another 9/11,

2001.

NJO: James wrote this in "the Winter of 2003". The exact date is conjecture.

Illiteracy Count: 9

1. Annie DiFranco
2. dieing hard
3. like its Some choice (apostrophe?)
4. gas prices to high for sale
5. Who's hypocritical now! (question mark?)
6. our honor cause division (comma?)
7. die for this country you're wrong (comma?)
8. wont’
9. Its got (apostrophe?)