By WilliamCox

May 03, 2010 "ICH" - - Who cares that millions of children are suffering and dying around the world, in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Gaza, Sudan, the Congo, Colombia, and Mexico, and in the United States?

Why are American voters only given the choice of voting for members of the political, social and economic elite to be
their president, rather than for leaders who care for and identify with the needs of ordinary people?

Do presidential candidates supplant their empathy with loyalty to the ruling elites, or do the elites only select pliable
candidates with an absence of empathy?

Elitism and the Seizure of Political Power

Webster’s defines elites as “a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or
influence.”

Elitism was exemplified by the royals of Europe who sat on the thrones of England, France, Spain, Germany,
Austria, Russia and other countries. They intermarried and for hundreds of years controlled the lives of their subjects,
while occasionally sending them to die in family squabbles with their cousins.

The royal’s concern for those they ruled was famously illustrated by Queen Maria Antoinette who, when told that the
peasants had no bread, exclaimed, “Then, let them eat cake!” The hoi polloi returned the favor during the French
Revolution by cutting off her head, along with that of her husband, King Louis XVI.

Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The real truth of the matter is ... that a financial element ... has owned the government
ever since the days of Andrew Johnson.” Most critically, over the past 30 years, an ever-more-powerful elite has seized
complete control of the U.S. presidency.

Earning millions of dollars a year from salaries, bonuses, investments and fraud, the individuals and their families who
control major financial institutions, foundations and corporations are the new royalty and, like the kings and queens of
old, they have little care or concern for anyone other than themselves, their own, and their profits.

With little allegiance to the United States or its people, these elites seek a “New World Order” within which to exercise
their power. They meet secretly on Hilton Head Island and in the Bohemian Grove to network, and they conspire at the
Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderberg Group to complete their arrangements.

Since 1980, all U.S. presidents, including the current incumbent, have shared an allegiance to the ruling elite, and they
have governed with policies that favor the rich and powerful over the poor and disadvantaged.

Three Decades of Elite Presidents

The cast of subservient presidents was led by Ronald Reagan, a “B-grade” movie actor, who was an articulate
spokesman for the controlling elite. He not only had the ability to perform the script written by his corporate sponsors,
but he had profited handsomely from the association. Reagan lived on Rancho Del Cielo overlooking the Pacific Ocean
and vacationed in Palm Springs with his wealthy friends. As president, he elevated greed to a national creed by pursuing
politics in “which people still can get rich.”

Reagan not only redecorated the White House, ordered new china, and threw glittering parties, he provided tax
incentives to corporations to move high-paying jobs out of the U.S., and he organized the transfer of the tax burden to
the workers and the fruits of the national bounty to the bosses. In doing so, he made millionaires out of 1.3 million
devotees by 1988, including more than a 100,000 decamillionaires.

Reagan cut the personal tax bracket of his wealthy friends from 70% to 28%, and he transformed America from a
creditor to a debtor nation, encouraged the creation of massive debt to finance corporate takeovers, mergers,
acquisitions and leveraged buyouts, and he promoted wild speculation in the stock and financial markets.

Retiring in senility to fashionable Bel Air, Reagan was succeeded by his vice-president, George H. W. Bush (Sr.),
another product of the ruling elite. Both of Bush’s grandfathers earned millions from the First World War as founding
members of the “military-industrial complex,” and his father, Senator Prescott Bush was a wealthy banker, who profited
from the Second World War by helping Hitler fund his war machine.

Bush Sr. married the daughter of a wealthy publisher, who was a descendant of President Franklin Pierce. Following
World War II, Bush Sr. served as a CIA asset in establishing a petroleum company that funneled money and supplies to
CIA operations in the Caribbean and Central America. Sponsored by the CIA and supported by Presidents Nixon and
Ford, he became a Congressman, Delegate to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and
Director of the CIA, before becoming Reagan’s vice president.

As vice president, Bush Sr. had presided over Reagan’s deregulation and government reduction programs. As president,
he inherited the massive deficits provided by Reagan’s “voodoo economics” and the savings and loan collapse caused by
his own deregulation efforts. Bush Sr. became increasingly unpopular with republicans when he was forced to raise taxes
and with democrats when he failed to reduce the unemployment and poverty resulting from an economic recession and
corporate reorganizations.

Bipartisan disenchantment with Bush Sr. resulted in the election of William “Bill” Clinton in 1992, who was from a
family of small business owners in Arkansas. Clinton attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University
on an academic scholarship and University College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, before obtaining a law degree from
Yale University (where he met his wife, Hillary Rodham).

Clinton had been fascinated with politics from a young age and, following his return to Arkansas to teach law, he was
elected as the state’s attorney general and to multiple terms as governor. Clinton was a “New Democrat,” who believed
in the “Third Way” of governing whereby he advocated free trade, welfare reform, smaller government and financial
deregulation. He and his wife made political and professional liaisons with law firms that represented corporate interests
and with financial and investment companies doing business in Arkansas.

Although he positioned himself as a “centralist,” Clinton’s failures, particularly health care reform, were on the left,
while his successes, such as welfare reform, free trade agreements and financial deregulation, were on the right. Most
telling, in light of future events, including the “Great Recession of 2008," was his support of the Financial Services
Modernization act of 1999, which eliminated essential restrictions on the integration of banking, insurance and stock
trading.

Since leaving office in 2001, Clinton has earned more than $109 million, including a $15 million advance for My
Life,primarily from his speaking engagements. Among the groups paying him up to $450,000 for a one-hour speech are
AEG London, Goldman Sachs, and the Chamber of Commerce. He told one audience, “I never had a nickel to my name
until I got out of the White house, and now I’m a millionaire, the most favored person for the Washington Republicans.”
Senator Hillary Clinton has also profited from corporate sponsors, among which Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have
been her most generous benefactors.

With the inauguration of George W. Bush (Jr.), the ruling elite placed its own crown prince on the throne. Not only
descended from political royalty, Bush Jr.’s intellectual limitations and business failures made him the most pliable of all
recent presidents. He harmed workers and benefitted businesses by eliminating regulations in areas such as on-the-job
injuries and overtime compensation, he refused to enforce the regulations he couldn’t change, or he emasculated the
enforcement agencies, such as the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Coming into office, Bush promised that he would sign a tax cut every year. He almost succeeded. With a great fanfare,
he signed major tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, and a smaller one in 2002. Bush very quietly signed a major revision of
corporate tax law in 2004 that provided billions of additional tax breaks to corporations. In 2008, he signed extensions of
tax cuts that were set to expire, and he slipped another $120 billion of “tax relief” into the financial rescue bill.

In combination, these laws lowered the marginal tax rate for high-income household, eliminated estate taxes, and
reduced taxation of stock dividends and capital gains. The tax burden of the super rich fell by one third, allowing the
amount “earned” by the top 1% of total U.S. personal incomes to more than double from 9.97% in 1979 to 23.5% in
2007. The top 3% of households raked in almost half of the national income!

The Obama Administration

In October 2008, Senator Obama endorsed and voted in the Senate for the economic bailout package prepared in secret
by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and outgoing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and signed by
President Bush. Thus, even before commencing his term in office, Senator Obama rewarded a cadre of corrupt
international bankers, while failing to include any rescue efforts for the hard-working American people who were facing
foreclosure, bankruptcy, unemployment, homelessness or hunger as a result of the bankers’ fraud.

Why would Senator Obama fail to demand consideration for the poor and downtrodden in the bailout bill? One answer
can be found by an examination of the political contributions he was receiving at the time. Top securities and investment
firms were Obama’s fourth largest source of funds, contributing $7.9 million, even more than for his republican
opponent. Of these, Goldman Sachs was responsible for almost one million dollars, closely followed by Citigroup and
JPMorgan.

It is increasingly difficult to find any differences between the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Even though he has increased enforcement of some labor regulations, President Obama has failed to push passage of the
Employee Free Choice Act for workers. In all other respects, ranging from enforcement of environmental regulations
and approving offshore drilling, to his reappointment of Ben Bernanke as the Federal Reserve Chairman and Robert
Gates as the Secretary of Defense, Obama has encouraged continued massive profits and bonuses for Wall Street,
followed harmful environmental policies, including allowing off-shore drilling, supported renewal of police-state
legislation, and expanded the profitable wars of the military-industrial complex.

Obama’s much touted health care reform bill is proving to be a bonanza for the health care, pharmaceutical and
insurance companies.It provided few benefits for working people, while forcing them to buy expensive health insurance
from the very companies which are victimizing them.

Rather than marshaling the resources of the government to directly help the people, Obama continues to throw away
hundreds of billions of borrowed dollars on the U.S. wars of aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Every day,
children are being horribly injured and are dying in these countries as a result of the militaristic policies he pursues on
behalf of the ruling elite, while denying the suffering children of his own country the food, education and relief the
wasted money would otherwise provide.

Commander-in-Chief Obama has appointed a military assassin to command U.S. troops in Afghanistan and has silently
endorsed war crimes, including a confirmed report that his Special Forces murdered three gagged and bound women, one
of whom was pregnant. The soldiers cut into the women’s bodies to remove evidence of their slaughter, and tried to
blame the carnage on their innocent victims.

In other night raids, Obama’s assassins executed eight handcuffed boys, the youngest of whom was 11 years old, and
machine gunned another family, including two youths and an infant, on the roof of their home as they tried to escape
what they believed to be robbers breaking in. In each case, the military initially claimed that “insurgents” were killed
during firefight operations, before admitting their “error.” Meanwhile, President Obama has remained silent on these and
a multitude of continuing war crimes committed under his command.

>Presidential-elect Obama also failed to condemn Israel’s military attack against the civilian population of Gaza during
December 2008 in which hundreds of children were slaughtered, and he has remained silent while Israel has denied
humanitarian aid for its Gaza victims. The White House “stood with Israel” and voted against the UN Human Rights
Commission report that found Israel to be guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Today, in the U.S., one out of every six adults is unemployed or underemployed, and one third were without work at
some point in 2009. One of every four children in the United States lives in poverty. Yet, the nation is still without a
dedicated jobs program.

With one in six children living in a household suffering from food insecurity, the nation is still without a targeted food
program. President Obama has promised to eliminate hunger in America by 2015 and to create millions of jobs through
his overall economic recovery program; however, all across America, tonight, there are millions of children going to bed
hungry with little “hope” for their future.

President Obama promised hope and change for the United States. He is certainly one of the most articulate presidents
ever; however, is he merely mouthing words, or does he have real feelings for others?

The Presence or Absence of Empathy

Empathy is a capacity for understanding and sympathizing with the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another person.
An empathic person does not have to be poor or to have personally suffered to “feel the pain” of another person;
however, empathy does require real feelings and not just an expression of concern.

Franklin Roosevelt was born into a family of wealth and privilege; however, he quickly demonstrated upon being elected
president that he truly cared for the well-being of the poor and disadvantaged. He immediately established job and relief
programs and directed public spending to put money into the pockets of workers, rather than profits onto the balance
sheets of corporations.

Roosevelt did not cater to the ruling elite. Rather, he said “the transmission from generation to generation of vast
fortunes by will, inheritance, or gift is not consistent with the ideals and sentiments of the American people.” FDR
believed in an essential human right to be free from want, in order to enjoy a healthy peacetime life, and to be free from
the fear caused by military armaments.

For Roosevelt, empathy was not a rhetorical device; it was a deeply felt identification with those with the least power
and those who suffered the most.

Like Roosevelt, George W. Bush (Jr.) was also raised in great wealth and privilege, and he held himself out as a
“compassionate conservative.” However, it was no secret that Bush was anything but. He once bragged to an audience
of wealthy New Yorkers, “This is an impressive crowd. The haves, and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I
call you my base.”

Bush may have spoken these words: “Those who are poor, those who suffer, those who have lost hope are not strangers
in our midst; they’re our fellow citizens.” However, when a citizen dared to criticize him during a promotional event for
his “faith-based” programs, he snarled, “Who cares what you think?”

Ernest Partridge writes that the “‘absence of empathy’ is ‘the one characteristic that connects’ most of the immoral and
misbegotten tenets of Bushism: that dogmatic mix of market absolutism, libertarianism, corporatism and simple greed
that falsely describes itself as ‘conservatism,’ and which I choose to call ‘regressivism.’ ‘Absence of empathy’ is the
essence of evil which, if unchecked and unreversed, is certain to bring about the demise of the American republic as we
know it, just as it led to the advent of the Third Reich.”

One has to ask: has the United States evolved an electoral system that deprives its presidents of empathy, or are
presidentalcandidates selected because they have an absence of that quality?

Is President Obama a Member of the Ruling Elite?

Barack Obama was not raised with wealth, but by a single mother who, at one time, had to draw upon food stamps.
However, he was privileged to receive an upper-class education. He received a scholarship to the exclusive Punahou
School at age 10, where he spent the next eight years on the lush hillside campus preparing for college. Following
graduation, Obama received scholarships to attend Occidental College in Los Angeles and Columbia University in New
York City.

After taking a break to work as a community organizer, Obama received a scholarship to attend Harvard Law School,
where he served as editor and president of the law review journal, and he clerked for two prestigious law firms in
Chicago during his summer vacations.

of Chicago Law School as a visiting fellow in order to complete his book, Dreams from My Father.
In 1992, Obama married Michelle Robinson, who was a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School.
Their two daughters have attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and, after they moved into the
White House, the children were enrolled in the private Sidwell Friends School.

Like Clinton, Barack Obama relied upon scholarships to raise himself by education from modest circumstances, but can
it be said that his experiences resulted in empathy for other underprivileged children who do not qualify for such
assistance, or who do not have the family or community support to take advantage of available opportunities? Does he
blame these children for their own failures?

In September 2009, President Obama recorded a message to American students, and the Department of Education
suggested that teachers have their students "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president" and
"to make students accountable to their goals." The government also recommended that, after listening to the speech,
students should discuss what "the President wants us to do." Obama laid his expectations upon the students, but he failed
to mention what they could expect from him.

After a year in office, the evidence is convincing that Obama is willing to make politically advantageous deals on behalf
of his corporate sponsors and, in doing so, fail to serve the interests of the voters who elected him, and their children.

These lives are simply “collateral damage” in the wars being fought around the globe against “terrorism,” “drugs” and in
support of Israel’s program of apartheid in Palestine.

One must conclude that, irrespective of his race, creed, or culture, President Obama is much more a part of the
international ruling elite, than the ordinary people of America, who seized upon his message of hope and change and
elected him as their president. Sadly, it appears his soul was already spoken for.

Who Cares for the Suffering Children?

Children continue to suffer and die around the world and in the United States because the presidents placed in the White
House by the ruling elite have no empathy for those who suffer from the policies they pursue, or the critical problems
they ignore, all in response to the dictates of their masters.

By adhering to the “ethics of the marketplace,” by allowing the politics of greed, the culture of militarism, and the
pursuit of an empire to dictate his administration’s policies, President Obama has betrayed the American people who
believed and trusted in him.

If the President of the United States fails or refuses to take action on behalf of children, the most vulnerable victims of
the unlawful wars he is fighting on behalf of the ruling elites, or the corrupt policies he pursues for their benefit, who
shall speak for the children?

Who cares for the suffering and dying children, the homeless, those without hope, those abandoned or ignored by the
politics of power, the little ones who cry themselves to sleep each night, cold, hungry and alone? The lights may be on in
the White House, but is there anyone at home?

William John Cox is a retired prosecutor and public interest lawyer, author and political activist. His 2004 book,
"You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency" is reviewed at http://www.yourenotstupid.com. He
is currently working on a fact-based political philosophy.

The drawing of "Who Cares for the Suffering Children" is by Helen Werner Cox, who was trained as a classical
painter at Boston University. She is nearing retirement as a nationally-certified library media teacher, who has made
extensive use of art in her literacy programs. Credit for photographs used for models include: French Association
Friends of Afghans and Afghanistan; Gaza1.wordpress.com; Helen_01 on photobucket; Andy Graham, the hobo
traveler; starving_child-sudan21 on wordpress.com; and Marrilee Boyack.

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John · 12 weeks ago +1

This is a good article and very clear in it's indictment of the ruling elite!

Reply Report

guest · 12 weeks ago 0

At last,a well written article telling it how it is in simple terms.These "people" must be loathed and despised not worshipped with
voting,ignore them utterly and completely as they do you,when you turn your back on them they fall apart as admiration from
the poor feeds and sustains them.They hate being ignored as it takes away their self-importance and power over you and this
renders them null and void and they hate it......never vote again and that will have a massive impact.It is the only peaceful
protest there is,just stay home on voting day.

Reply 2 replies · active 12 weeks ago Report

William John Cox · 12 weeks ago +1

 Thanks much for your appreciation of my "telling it how it is in simple terms," but there is a better way to peacefully protest
than staying at home on voting day. Let's imagine that every disgruntled voter who was tired of picking the least unattractive
candidate simply wrote in the name of the person he or she thought would be the best candidate, whether or not the name's
on the ballot? THAT would get their attention! See more at Voters Evolt!

Reply Report

Robin · 12 weeks ago +1

Stop consuming and withdraw savings from Bankster accounts. Voting is an irrelevance.

Reply Report

chiun99 · 12 weeks ago +1

Occam's Razor - if someone lacks empathy, which is very HUMAN feeling, they're not human, period. They look like humans,
but are absolutely different species, evolving other from apes (evolution), or from some alien invaders (or God, call it all you
want.) There must be some paramount differences on some genetic level. Wonder, if somebody made researches.

Reply Report

guest · 12 weeks ago +1

@William John Cox.....not a bad idea...actually I quite like that idea,I will now offer this alternative thought to others who do not
vote,yes I can see the headlines now,"Highest voter turn out in history,a 50% increase,the only problem was they didn't vote for
anyone on the ballot sheet,in fact,we counted 100,000 votes for "John"....the man who has slept/lived on the streets for twenty
years.

Reply Report

guest · 12 weeks ago +1

If you want to know if the system is working talk to someone who isn't.
The people who live on the street like "John" would have more empathy in his little toe than any elitist i know.

Reply 1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago Report

guest · 12 weeks ago 0

Contrary to popular opinion one does not need a university degree or silk shirts and suits etc.,to run a country.
The "John",mentioned above would know that all you need and want is love,food and shelter,simple isn't it?
"John" would know all about that.
The elitists do not,except for themselves.

Reply Report

guest · 12 weeks ago 0

YES YES YES....My vote is for "John".

Reply Report

pat · 11 weeks ago 0

What would be so complicated about not only guaranteed annual wage for all; but maximum annual wage as well - say $2
million per year take home. Those who love making money and are good at it could continue, provided the wealth is not created
resulting in practices destructive to life and health (yes this includes military) - and anything they make over the $2 million they
keep, they can choose which area of the earth's family of plants, animals and humans they would like to help heal. Their name
would be known for their good works; they wouldn't have to stop creating wealth - it obviously motivates them - and their
creativity and energy would be harnessed to help heal a suffering planet.
Put 'Local Citizens' on the ballot box. We are everywhere. We are the only ones who understand how to organize our lives, and
were managing alright before the global reality set in. We can do it again.

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