'Our Town Somerset' is big on attacking the poor, homeless

If only Mr. Beierle could turn these guns on the poor

I always get ticked off when someone indicates they are better than other people, especially when they feel they are better than a whole lot of people, as was said with great energy in the Somerset County Edition of "Our Town," published on Feb. 12, 2014, in Northwest, New Jersey.

The author was Robert Beierle, whom I have never heard of before and whom I know nothing about other than he represents something called "Creative Insight." I know nothing about what that means either. As well, I couldn't recognize this guy from a can of paint on the sidewalk, so that is how much I know about him.

The heart of Beierle's approximate 1500-word diatribe was found in a sentence fragment he crafted on the second page of his front-page opinion. It said: "Some would probably say collecting welfare, unemployment, disability, food stamps, or health care paid by others." He didn't finish the sentence, but I used context clues to figure out what he was trying to say. Beierle then went on to extol the achievements of the very rich (locally and nationally) and the horrible people the poor are, and their draining the 'good rich people' of this world. Yes, Beierle vilifies the poor.

Of note, Beierle not only attacks poor people born in the United States, but also illegal immigrants -- whom he speaks of in the next breath as the natural-born American poor. However, he is convinced that illegal immigrants receive all the same 'entitlements' as U.S. citizens.

Beierle stated: "Could you imagine if the pioneers had the backbone of our existing politicians or the 99 percenters or of those who sit with their hands out?"

Then, Beierle went on to say Americans should not be concerned about "evil capitalists" or "war mongers" throughout the nation. He commented about how he believed the American Flag was drenched in so much blood it should be entirely red but for the representative blue for valor and white for purity. Meanwhile, in a few places within the editorial, Beierle offered a description of Superman, the American Flag billowing in the wind behind him, over-watching either Metropolis (of comic book fame) or the United States, I wasn't sure which. In discussing his views, he reverted back to the ideology of a 10-year-old.

I suppose I am one of those people Robert Beierle (a.k.a. Superman) must want carried off or whatever he plans to do with most Americans who transgress against his political dogma. I collected Unemployment for a long time after my company closed, a newspaper in Middletown, New Jersey, in 2009 -- and my pension vanished. A middle-aged, mid-level manager, I was never fully employed again. I have health care that is paid for not only through Obamacare but also through the Veterans Administration. I collected Welfare from Hunterdon County for a bit and I have Disability claims pending not only with Social Security but also the Veterans Administration.

I would argue the following: It was both Conservative and Liberal presidential administrations that crafted the North American Free Trade Agreement, which destroyed the American Middle Class (Regan through Bush II). The only people who benefited from NAFTA were the "one percenters," who were free to send American jobs to every far-flung corner of the world where they could pay less for labor. It is the evil capitalists in this nation that destroyed the nation -- and turned the Middle Class into serfs.

Further, as industries have transitioned due to advances of technology and market conditions, there are many people left without a chair when the music stopped and the over-simplification Beierle offers is patently moronic, and his perspective speaks volumes about the Conservative Movement in this nation. Mr. Beierle apparently wants something 'done' about the poor in the United States; perhaps starving them to death or letting them live in the woods or walk barefoot as he drives by in his new 2014 car. His whole plan could be based on the musical "Les Miserables." Yet, great nations do not treat their own this way...maybe Third World dirt-holes, but not the allegedly greatest nation in the world.

Unemployment and Disability, among other programs, are not "entitlements." People contribute to them through their paychecks all their working lives. Conservatives forget about this, because it is convenient for them.

Onto "evil capitalists" and "war mongers" being a good thing. I don't know if this gentleman has noticed the United States has been at war with "terrorists" for 10 years with absolutely nothing to show for it other than a lot of killed and wounded American kids and an unfathomable debt for these wars by this country (mostly owed to Communist Red China). A lot of our children went through horrible times these many years for not a lot of reasons as I see it. I am glad my two daughters, one who serves in the U.S. Air Force and another in the U.S. Army, were not in units that deployed (as of this writing).

In move-in condition for a family of four?

I don't know if Mr. Beierle ever served his country in one of the uniformed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard). But, I have never heard a veteran espousing war mongers before, or baseless wars. Certainly, I have never heard the parents of service members speak like that.

In the case of my Disability claim, I have my Social Security claim in because I did service at the Pile at the base of Tower South in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. I was a newspaper man covering the scene and I got very sick. The Federal 9/11 Study Team itemized a list of several things they determined, medically, I had been injured by and I am basing my claim on that fact of life. Meanwhile, my Veterans claim is based on several ambulatory, orthopedic and psychiatric conditions I suffered while a serving United States Army Paratrooper (1985-1992). Due to my injuries, I can no longer work and do count on things like Welfare, Food Stamps, etc. and so on, just to live. I do not think I am a bad person for it either. If Mr. Beierle's ass had been in my shoes it would have been him sitting in my seat hearing some mouth go on about people in his situation.

I do not think someone is a coward for not signing up and doing their part. However, it is ridiculous to characterize anyone who has never served this Republic in uniform as a "patriot," as he does. No man or woman is a patriot of this nation who has never donned his or her uniform. And, no barking jerk of a politician owns the title of patriot minus such service. The barking does not gentle anyone's condition. For my money, I don't think anyone should be able to serve in any level of office without having served our nation in the service...because they are not invested or proved in their loyalty or commitment; their citizenship is cheap.

America is bigger than the nightmare the Tea Party would make

Maybe some of Mr. Beierle's political friends should be splashing the flag with their blood a little before talking about throwing our nation's kids into useless wars of adventure. Everyone deserves a measure of humanity, regardless of what the Mr. Beierles of the world say. However, it is a fact that veterans are large demographics within the homeless, the psychologically broken and addicted. Oh, and let me touch on "evil capitalists": Never before these wars has the Vice President of this country, among others, invested financially into the companies they, themselves, held stock in while making the appointments of these companies to serve the Federal Government for long durations of time. Yeah, George Washington never pulled that nonsense. And as for any "pioneer spirit" -- Mr. Beierle's people are good for very little other than victimizing their fellow citizens legislatively or regular bitching against the majority of Americans.

In all, the Tea Party and Conservative movements know very little about the Founders, who were educated people, and served in a British uniform during the French and Indian War and then in an American one during our Revolution. The Founders pledged their lives and fortunes to each other and this Great Experiment of Democracy. What I hear from Mr. Beierle is a low thing, uttered by low people in this nation -- ungrateful for the liberty bestowed them and scornful of the laws of God.

Maybe he should go back to reading Superman.


Rev. James J. Purcell, MPS, CPSP1
Lyons, New Jersey

Rev. Purcell was licensed to preach at Stelton Baptist Church, in Edison, NJ, in 2007. He is a graduate of the New York Theological Seminary, in New York City, and Capital Health's Clinical Pastoral Education Program, in Trenton, New Jersey. Rev. Purcell is the former Editor and Publisher of the late Courier newspaper, in Middletown, New Jersey (1998-2009); and is a former correspondent for The Star-Ledger, Jersey Journal and North Jersey Newspapers, among others. During his tenure in the U.S. Army, Rev. Purcell earned the rank of Sergeant and served as an Intelligence Analyst and Infantry Squad Leader, respectively, in Airborne and non-Airborne assignments.