Remember not to holler over Ferguson like our parental president says. . . 'don't shout'
Last edited Tue Aug 19, 2014, 12:27 PM - Edit history (4)
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Don't holler, don't shout. Not UNLESS you actually want to be HEARD, because the president obviously doesn't understand ANYTHING about what folks out here are angry about.
Unless you're a youth in trouble or looking for leadership, it's unlikely that you're going to be satisfied with his first and foremost admonition in his talking down to Americans today that we look to his very worthy effort with 'My Brother’s Keeper' to cause the police forces in MO., or elsewhere in the country, to bring themselves to respect the rights of black youth and others in the African American community.
As if it was somehow a matter of assuaging our own anger out here in the nation at police forces which regularly and deliberately treat our black youth like thugs and criminals, President Obama wants us to change their "perception and reality" of our children and family members by trying to "understand" and to "listen" to more of their deprecating and duplicitous bullshit, and incredibly, "unite" with them.
President Obama today:
"I’ve said this before," President Obama lectured. "In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear. And through initiatives like My Brother’s Keeper, I’m personally committed to changing both perception and reality. And already, we’re making some significant progress, as people of good will of all races are ready to chip in. But that requires that we build, and not tear down. And that requires we listen, and not just shout. That’s how we’re going to move forward together -- by trying to unite each other and understand each other, and not simply divide ourselves from one another. We’re going to have to hold tight to those values in the days ahead. And that’s how we bring about justice, and that’s how we bring about peace."
The President has been part of that group who lord down their nonsense on us for so long that seems to have forgotten that WE ultimately decide who serves in those positions of authority. He's apparently lost sight of the reality that WE are to have the ultimate voice in how these public officials regard and deal with our communities. The glare and din of his office has apparently rendered him deaf and blind to the fact that many of these police forces aren't, themselves, "listening" to our appeals and demands.
He's out of touch with the reality that it is these very police officials in Ferguson and elsewhere who have "divided" themselves from the people they are supposed to serve and are doing little more than defending their own positions of authority over us; and abusing that power we've invested in them with our votes and with our hard-earned contributions to our democratic system of governance.
It's not the demonstrators of Ferguson who've neglected to "hold tight to those values." It's these abusive and self-protective officials and officers who have let go of any modicum of respect for these communities under siege and under fire from canisters of smoke and tear gas hurled from a distance behind the protection of their taxpayer-sponsored armaments.
We are going to need to keep raising our voices above their sonic cannons and their lecturing from the elevation of the offices we've gifted them with; HOLLER if we must, until our voices are plainly heard and our demands addressed. THAT'S how "we bring about justice," and THAT'S how we "bring about peace;" by not allowing ourselves to be cowed into believing that these same indifferent officials and officers can be made to listen and bridge that "gulf" they've deliberately created to neuter our voices and place themselves outside of the reach of their own responsibility and accountability to us by muting or repressing the VOLUME of our own protests.
Pretending that our concerns about the militarism of these local police forces are just about these officials and officers' ability to communicate with each other and protect themselves with radios and hazmat suits shows that those "lines" the president says he wants to preserve are already "blurred" and distorted in his defensive view. No one looking at the virtual army that has been arrayed and has already attacked protestors and demonstrators in Ferguson in the past week can ignore or dismiss the fact that these police forces erected to protect and serve are already armed and armored for repression and positioned to completely suppress the very voices President Obama is lecturing us to keep quiet.
What we expect from our President and other leaders is to amplify our voices DEMANDING justice in Ferguson - not co-opting officials and officers in that town in their attempts to choke them out with barrages of gas and smoke; materially or rhetorically.
The president promised today to "watch" Jay Nixon as he deploys the National Guard in Ferguson, to "make sure it's used in a limited and appropriate way." It's as if the president hasn't really been watching that town at all in the past week. That expectation of his is as fleeting as his brief words today about the crisis of oppression in that town against what is essentially the same community of individuals as the youth from the Brown family who was gunned down and his life extinguished for what was, essentially jaywalking.
Essentially, their community of individuals have been under direct attack since the first bullets left Officer Darren Wilson's publicly-provided service revolver.
As apt as it was in a popular science fiction series; and applied to the surreality of the military siege of Ferguson; Commander William Adama, portrayed by Edward James Olmos, an eloquent point is made on the merging of military with police:
"There's a reason you separate military and the police," he says. "One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people." When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.
This Democratic president has become so accustomed - so comfortable with wielding the force of our military abroad for 'humanitarian' missions, that he's lost sight of the fact that Americans can no more be cowed away from HOLLERING for justice and peace than any other community's targeted population will allow themselves to voluntarily recoil at the point of our government's weapons.
At Edwardsville, Illinois, on September 11, 1858, Abraham Lincoln remarked:
"What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence is not our frowning battlements, our bristling seacoast, the guns of our war steamers, or the strength of our gallant and disciplined army. These are not the reliance against the resumption of tyranny in our fair land. All of them may be turned against our liberties without making us stronger or weaker for the struggle."
"Our reliance is in the love of liberty, which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is the preservation of the spirit, which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere." Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your down doors."
"Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage," Lincoln warned, "and you prepare your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you."
This local MO. government and this administration have become too accustomed to trampling, and bondage. And we have allowed them to skirt accountability for their sly justifications for their attacks on our civil liberties; demagogic appeals to 'unite" with them in their delay and denial of justice; the deliberate inflaming, and careful stoking of the sparks of fear that flash from their tear gas launchers; their smoke grenades; and from the service revolver which struck Micheal Brown down in the prime of his life.
We can hardly afford to quiet down now.
= new reply since forum marked as read
That would be AWESOME!!!
And sometimes the quiet one in the room is the real leader.
The man doesn't please everyone; he never could and, to his credit, he doesn't even try.
But that never means he isn't working on it, having others work on it, making things happen in the background or waiting for the best time to act.
"The US Dept of Justice has mounted an unusually swift and aggressive response to the death of Michael Brown, from an independent autopsy, to dozens of FBI agents combing Ferguson, Missouri for witnesses to the shooting of an unarmed black 18 year old by a white police officer.
The goal legal observers say is, to ensure the truth about the killing is revealed, to ease racial tensions, and to reassure those fearing a cover up that justice will be done.
snip//
At the Justice Dept, Holder, the first Black Attorney General, who took office promising to fiercely fight discrimination and inequality, has been an increasingly visible presence during the Ferguson case.
This is reassuring to Blair L.M. Kelly, a history professor at North Carolina State University.
"I'm glad to see him being pro-active on the case", she said. "That's the best way to tamp down anger on the streets, to pursue justice in an even handed manner. I think he knows that and is best using his position for a broader sense of justice."
"It puts pressure on the local investigators to do their best because he is there," Kelly said.
President Obama speaks with AG Eric Holder-August 18, 2014
More to the story..
http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Strong-DOJ-response-to-Ferguson-seeks-truth-calm-5696414.php
Michael Brown
Obama: I told you... blah blah blah... (can't think of anything good)
Holder: Can you believe I have to listen to this shit every fucking day?
Sorry, but Obama looking worked up and like he's speaking very sternly and Holder looking away with that expression is cracking me up.
I think especially as he is speaking to all of the nation, all of the world, and not just progressives or just the oppressed citizens of Ferguson, that his words are filled with wisdom and are tempered.
Naturally, you and I want to shout at the top of our lungs, but we aren't president and doing that, for him, would probably backfire, both politically but possibly in the streets.
There's a lot of tension, it could go in a bad direction or it could be used to effect change. Using that energy toward positive outcomes requires patience and, I think, messaging that invites cooperation without undercutting the dignity of those who have been suffering so long.
I'm all for the "be mindful and move thoughtfully" type of strategy.
Thanks for the reply, I don't think it's OTT or needs to be deleted.
Here's the excerpt about Ferguson- I can't take much of the Iraq/Iran shit, I've never traveled past Italy but I do know some folks from Qatar and Lebanon.
Earlier this afternoon, I spoke with Governor Nixon as well as Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill. I also met with Attorney General Eric Holder.
The Justice Department has opened an independent federal civil rights investigation into the death of Michael Brown. They are on the ground and along with the FBI, they are devoting substantial resources to that investigation.
The attorney general himself will be travelling to Ferguson on Wednesday to meet with the FBI agents and DOJ personnel conducting the federal criminal investigation and he will receive an update from them on their progress.
He will also be meeting with other leaders in the community who’s support is so critical to bringing about peace and calm in Ferguson.
Ronald Davis, the director of the DOJ’s Office of Community- oriented Policing Services, or COPS, is also traveling to Ferguson tomorrow to work with police officials on the ground. We’ve also had experts from the DOJ’s community relations service, working in Ferguson since the days after the shooting to foster conversations among the local stake holders and reduce tensions among the community.
So, let me close just saying a few words about the tensions there. We have all seen images of protesters and law enforcement in the streets. It’s clear that the vast majority of people are peacefully protesting. What’s also clear is that a small minority of individuals are not.
While I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving into that anger by looting or carrying guns, and even attacking the police only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos. It undermines rather than advancing justice.
Let me also be clear that our constitutional rights to speak freely, to assemble, and to report in the press must be vigilantly safeguarded: especially in moments like these. There’s no excuse for excessive force by police or any action that denies people the right to protest peacefully.
Ours is a nation of laws: of citizens who live under them and for the citizens who enforce them. So, to a community in Ferguson that is rightly hurting and looking for answers, let me call once again for us to seek some understanding rather than simply holler at each other. Let’s seek to heal rather than to wound each other.
As Americans, we’ve got to use this moment to seek out our shared humanity that’s been laid bare by this moment. The potential of a young man and the sorrows of parents, the frustrations of a community, the ideals that we hold as one united American family.
I’ve said this before. In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear. And through initiatives like My Brother’s Keeper, I’m personally committed to changing both perception and reality. And already, we’re making some significant progress, as people of good will of all races are ready to chip in. But that requires that we build, and not tear down. And that requires we listen, and not just shout. That’s how we’re going to move forward together -- by trying to unite each other and understand each other, and not simply divide ourselves from one another. We’re going to have to hold tight to those values in the days ahead. And that’s how we bring about justice, and that’s how we bring about peace.
So, with that, I’ve got a few questions I’m going to take. I’m going to start with Jim Ceune, (ph) from AP.
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I tried throughout that Address to the Nation to see your point of view......but when it came to Ferguson....it all fell apart. Parsing his words and then seeing what he really thought come out between the lines.
We have different views...it's okay....but, I stand firm in my rant....even though I try and try with him...this just was too much... I can't stuff my view back in the box on this. And, I think if "Big Tree" (one of Obama's biggest supporters forever here on DU) saw what I saw...and heard what I heard...then I'm going with that.
We agree to disagree on this..no problem.
because I see nothing in those words that shows acknowledgement of the real problem or intent to address it. IMO these words only heighten the sense of impotent rage.
Thank you for this post. It's eloquent and powerful, and it needed saying.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html
It's almost certain that if the police agencies cooperate, the ACLU will find that the militarization trend has accelerated since Kraska's studies more than a decade ago. All of the policies, incentives and funding mechanisms that were driving the trend then are still in effect now. And most of them have grown in size and scope.
The George W. Bush administration actually began scaling down the Byrne and COPS programs in the early 2000s, part of a general strategy of leaving law enforcement to states and localities. But the Obama administration has since resurrected both programs. The Byrne program got a $2 billion surge in funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, by far the largest budget in the program's 25-year history. Obama also gave the COPS program $1.55 billion that same year, a 250 percent increase over its 2008 budget, and again the largest budget in the program's history. Vice President Joe Biden had championed both programs during his time in the Senate.
The Pentagon's 1033 program has also exploded under Obama. In the program's monthly newsletter (Motto: "From Warfighter to Crimefighter"
, its director announced in October 2011 that his office had given away a record $500 million in military gear in fiscal year 2011, which he noted, "passes the previous mark by several hundred million dollars." He added, "I believe we can exceed that in FY 12.”
Then there are the Department of Homeland Security's anti-terrorism grants. The Center for Investigative Reporting found in a 2011 investigation that since 2001, DHS has given out more than $34 billion in grants to police departments across the country, many of which have been used to purchase military-grade guns, tanks, armor, and armored personnel carriers. The grants have gone to such unlikely terrorism targets as Fargo, N.D.; Canyon County, Idaho; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Link to the final ACLU report on militarization of police in America
https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-police-report
I've had lot of respect for you over the years, but your hatred of this President (however you try to mask it) is very disconcerting.
in the largest mass-execution in this nation's history.
Mankato, Minnesota on December 26, 1862
I'd say that Obama's not the only prez who's gotten too comfortable with wielding the force of our military nor attempted to silence those who struggle for justice and peace.
"Civil liberties" in this country has always been a relative term, when it comes to minorities.
So we don't need to be "allowed" to protest anymore?
sanctimonious.
in case it wasn't obvious
Who remembers this? I did and so did Obama:
Judge: Obama sex assault comments unlawful command influence.
Two defendants in military sexual assault cases cannot be punitively discharged, if found guilty, because of “unlawful command influence” derived from comments made by President Barack Obama, a judge ruled in a Hawaii military court this week.
Navy Judge Cmdr. Marcus Fulton ruled during pretrial hearings in two sexual assault cases — U.S. vs. Johnson and U.S. vs. Fuentes — that comments made by Obama as commander in chief would unduly influence any potential sentencing, according to a court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Fulton approved the pretrial defense motions, which used as evidence comments that Obama made about sexual assault at a May 7 news conference:
“The bottom line is: I have no tolerance for this,” Obama said, according to an NBC News story submitted as evidence by defense attorneys in the sexual assault cases.
‘I expect consequences,” Obama added. “So I don’t just want more speeches or awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this, they’ve got to be held accountable — prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period.”
Continued in article:
http://www.stripes.com/judge-obama-sex-assault-comments-unlawful-command-influence-1.225974
to okaawhatever:
He wasn't talking about Johnson or Fuentes, he was making policy. It was in response and support of a bill to end sexual assaults in the military by not allowing them to be swept under the rug so many times.
The victim represented by the US never saw justice because of how the judge interpreted those words. I think the judge was wrong but that is what happened. So in order to not let that happen again, he cannot visit or say what he thinks on Wilson and all the rest of it.
It's not about him being a coward, not caring, or any of what he's been accused. It's about caring for the victim and his family enough to not have his words used to allow the shooter to escape justice.
Is that not a higher goal than satistfying voyeurs on the net demanding to see him rip into Ferguson PD and the shooter?
Is that cheap thrill worth letting Michael Brown and his community suffer by letting the defense use his words to establish undue influence to free Wilson?
Most of us know damn well that they will. This is a disgrace to talk about a man who is trying to get the best thing done, not go for the political win in the short run and lose the bigger goal of justice.
JMHO!
