Some Disconcerting Disconnected Dots

By William L. Garvin

“Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.”  Winston Churchill

When the Obama administration normalized relations with Cuba, the story was that after fifty years of failed policies, it was time for something new.  After fifty years of failed policies (and $15 trillion dollars!), isn’t it time for something new in the war on poverty?  In his column, Thomas Sowell points out that in the fifties, black poverty was worse than now.  White racism was also worse than now but black crime was less!  In fact, the murder rate was going down among blacks.  Black children mostly had two-parent families and among black married couples, the poverty rate was in single digits.  What changed?  Maybe the “great society” has removed a significant part of society from accountability, responsibility and consequences similar to the white underclass in Britain.

 

Now we have “protestors” marching down the street screaming “What do we want?  DEAD COPS!” and “When do we want it?  NOW!”  Any sensible person would be appalled at the dearth of common sense and decency as they exercise their freedom of speech but it’s a sad fact that their wish is being granted.  Felonious police officer fatalities increased 89% in 2014 over 2013 according to the FBI.  But of course, that’s not news according to mainstream media.  Everyone knows it’s the police who are to blame.

Even in Baltimore, where there is a majority black city council, a black mayor, a black police chief, and nearly 50% black police force, it is still the police at fault.  Remember in March of this year when President Obama and his task force on “21^st Century Policing” praised Baltimore’s police force for “implementing national best practices for policies and training” and for “use of force reforms”?  No, of course you don’t because then you would have to explain the disconnect that occurred in the last two months!  After four years in office, four long years of governing and satisfaction capped by presidential praise, suddenly the Baltimore mayor calls for a DOJ investigation of Baltimore police because of “widespread civil rights abuses.”  The new attorney general is only too happy to oblige.  As per Charlatan Sharpton’s request, one more city is falling under the web of federal consent decrees and we are inching closer to a nationalized police force.

Then there’s disconnected Chris Rock, normally a very funny guy: “It’s not that it’s gotten worse, it’s just that it’s part of the 24-hour news cycle. What’s weird is that it never happens to white kids. There’s no evidence that white youngsters are any less belligerent, you know? We can go to any Wall Street bar and they are way bigger assholes than in any other black bar. But will I see cops stop shooting black kids in my lifetime? Probably not.”  Newsflash for Mr. Rock:  in 2012, the last numbers that I have, 326 whites died in confrontations with police while 123 blacks did as well.  Nobody in the liberal media cares when a white or black cop kills a white teenager or when blacks kill other blacks.  You should care about the truth but apparently you don’t.

Of course, he’s not a journalist but Brooke Baldwin of CNN is.  She added to the “out of control cop” mythology:  “I love our nation’s veterans, but some of them coming back from the war, they don’t know the communities and they are ready to do battle.”  In one stupendously stupid sentence she manages to slur both veterans and police!  Finally forced to apologize, one can’t help but wonder if it was only because she was caught!

Another dot may be, as Booker T. Washington, the founder of Tuskegee University warned: "There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs. There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don't want the patient to get well."  There is also a certain class of “not colored” people who wallow in emotional angst, search for “micro aggressions,” absolve criminal acts but discount hard work as luck, and who excuse crime as an aberration (unless it’s a cop then of course it’s “systemic abuse”).  There’s also a political party that profits by keeping certain segments of society on the voting plantation.  Guess which one!