The Washington Post Editorial Board has decided to have a snit fit over the case of St Louis officer Jason Stockley shooting and killing Anthony Lamar Smith. The headline read St. Louis is what happens when the Justice Department won’t do its job. The editorial spends 3 paragraphs giving the briefest of overviews of the case, certainly not enough to make a truly informed decision (though they do provide a few links), as the judge who found Stokely not guilty had to make his decision (note: I think Stokely is guilty. Perhaps not 1st degree murder, but, certainly some level of murder).
They also forget to mention Smith’s criminal history, his fleeing arrest, and what the judge had to say in the decision.
It then moves on the reports that police were chanting “whose streets? Our streets”, something I mentioned as well, but, let’s consider, there is only one report of this. There doesn’t seem to be video of this. One would think there would be one video with audio, what with all the smartphones. But, this has made the WPEB apoplectic.
The police department says it’s investigating the chant. But in the wake of Mr. Wilson’s ruling, officers’ co-opting of a slogan often adopted by protesters of police violence sends a signal to black St. Louisans that law enforcement views them as adversaries, rather than as a community deserving protection.
Well, the community, or at least a certain section which is responsible for the bulk of crime in St. Louis, seems the police as adversaries to start with. But, none of that is really the point
The Justice Department declined to press charges against Mr. Stockley during the Obama administration. Yet despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s disdain for police reform, the facts as they stand in St. Louis are more than enough to merit federal review of the city’s police force. In a sign of Mr. Sessions’s priorities, the Justice Department announced— coincidentally, on the day of Mr. Stockley’s acquittal — that it would roll back a program designed to assist local law enforcement with reforms. That stranded the St. Louis County Police Department, which had sought help following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson within county lines. Mr. Stockley’s case is one more reminder of how much is lost under a Justice Department that refuses to rise to the task.
Gotta love it: this occurred during the Obama admin, they didn’t do a thing about (nor should they have done anything, IMO), but, the blame is shifted to the Trump admin and Jeff Sessions. The program is being changed from trying to get a community which hates the police and often refuses to help the police to one which helps the St. Louis PD do more traditional policing, such as “arresting violent criminals, breaking up gangs, and making drug busts.” That’s per the Buzzfeed link in the above paragraph (St. Louis County Police Department).
Buzzfeed goes on to note that not one report on the program was published since the inception of what was called the COPS program under Obama, nothing which states whether it was even effective.
But, hey, let’s blame Jeff Sessions, because why not?
Crossed at Right Wing News.
I watched a movie the other day called. “Truth” With Robert Redford and Dennis Quaid.
The story was about the events leading up to Dan Rather losing his job at CBS over the unsubstantiated documents about president Bush’s readiness report while in the National Guard.
There was a particularly telling remark that Dan Rather makes towards the end of the movie.
Im going to paraphrase here. But what he said was as follows:
“In order for the government to give airwaves to the networks they had to promise that they would be for the greater good of America. Enter the News. We used the news to benefit America. For a really long time, News was a net loser of money for the networks so they were forced to make it up some other way. Then came 60 minutes. 60 minutes was an astounding success. It was the first news program to make money. Everyone was watching it. it was making money hand over fist.
Then the networks copied 60 minutes with nightline, good morning America etc. They all began to make money. The more money they made the more the networks looked at how they could make even more money. In the end what happened is that news and reporting and real journalism took a back seat to profits. As a result real journalism died in America. Now we pay other people to do our investigations and then we just report on what they dig up hoping that they are accurate.
Turns out they are not. So today we have a lazy press that no longer does their jobs. They simply report on other people reporting on other people reporting the news.”
End of paraphrase.
In short Dan Rather nailed it. The nail in the coffin of real journalism. Networks now make more money with the news then they do with their regular programing. Until that changes the real news will be fake news. Dan Rather predicted it. Saw it coming.
The movie itself is made by liberals trying to defend liberal actions in trying to take down Bush during the 2004 election. They were lazy, sloppy and in a hurry. The story might have actually been true. Who knows. They did such a shoddy job of throwing it together that in the end half the news department lost their jobs or were reassigned.
The press is what keeps us informed. Today it only spread rumors and reports on other peoples lies. Its lost its way and with it so has the world.
I can’t really add anything insightful to that, hit the nail on the head.
They are lazy. They rarely dig. They are basically doing what bloggers do, which is not their job.
Except it wasn’t.
Actually see this is the problem Mr. David. There is no way of really knowing if it was true or not because 60 minutes did such a pathetic job of putting the story together that it was then considered a career ender of any other journalist who touched it. That is why I said it might be true. Had Woodward and Bernstein put this story together they would most likely have nailed it but in the end if you watch the movie the story was not about the documents. It was about a young Bush who failed to fulfill his duty requirements in the National Guard.
However during this time. 60 minutes was swift boated. Global warming is being swift boated. The police are being swift boated. Every idea put forth in the world is swift boated by the other side. There is no room on either side to compromise now. Its much more fun to destroy ideas then to come up with new ones. Better ones.
Does America really not understand what is happening to them? Every opinion is now being swift boated by the side that disagrees. This in and of itself leaves no room for negotiation, forming alliances to get anything done. Reaching consensus is now impossible on everything because bloggers swift boat on both sides.
Trump was swift boated, but his voters did not care. HRC was swift boated and the voters did care. On and on it goes. Trump is now being swift boated on every item on his agenda. Even ideas that matter to the left. Why? Because voters on the right are swift boating their own president on ideas that might help the other side.
One of your Founding fathers was quoted as saying a little rebellion every generation or so is a good thing. I think he understood that even the founding of the USA was a contentious idea in a world of post French Revolution. I submit that America is on a collision course with Rebellion because no one can share an idea that is not trashed by the other side. Not because it might have merits but because it is simply an idea that is from the other side.
Rott,
Please.
Maybe you don’t quite understand the fact that America was founded BECAUSE of what you call “swiftboating”.
That’s what makes us so great!
I do not think the French Revolution or the American Revolution was the result of swift boating. Swift boating by definition is: An untrue or unfair political attack or smear campaign.
However I will entertain your idea for a moment. If as you say the origins of the foundation of America is in response to the above definition then why would you choose to continue to embrace the same ideology that caused the initial rebellion in the first place?
Seems counterproductive to me.
As for Jeffery I understand him. His posts scream communism. I would be willing to bet he is a paid agent of the communist party. I say that because the person posts a 100 posts a day on this site, attacking every other poster here with communist ideology. That is the classic profile of a paid agitator.
Rot,
Do you disagree that income inequality resulting from Dem and Repub policies punishing the working classes and rewarding the wealthy is a root cause of America’s current disquiet? How is that related to communism?
Personally, I’m a devoted capitalist and recognize the economic power in the system. I started a successful company in 2009, risking my own money and investing thousands of hours with no guarantees. Reasonable controls on capitalism is not the same as communism.
Anyway, calling everyone you disagree with a “communist” is so 1960s.
Did you read this:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014?o=1
Does or does this not happen with every election in the U.S.? (re. Trump “colluded” with Russia 2016 or the Rather “report” in 2004)
It’s standard operating procedure in American politics.
And yes little jeffvckery is a little agitator but I doubt anyone would be willing to pay the little dumbass. He provides his stupidity for free.
You watch movies with Robert Redford? He is on the list.
One other thing, if you had an once of sense in the 60’s, you looked for every way to get out of Vietnam. Kennedy and LBJ started the affair. Kennedy as he was one stupid idiot. LBJ so he could sell helicopters and ammunition. He profited big time from that war. So, if Bush did try to get out by joining the Guard, good for him.
Rotterdam,
We agree that the US is on a collision course with rebellion, but for slightly different roots. Once the white working class and the oppressed minorities stop opposing each other and recognize that the enemy of both are the economic elites.
The elites NEED the white working class to always be fighting with immigrants, Blacks, LGBTs and non-Christians, to always have the mind’s eye turned away from the economic chaos that benefits elites at the expense of the rest.
Remember the discussions about US healthcare? Each year Americans spend about $1 trillion in unnecessary healthcare costs that global economics tell us does not add to our overall health. Where does this re-distribution of money go? UP the economic chain to doctors, patent attorneys, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies. $1 trillion a year redistributed from the working classes to the already well-to-do. It’s a good gig if you can get it.
Trade, labor, tax, immigration, union, fiscal and monetary policies have all served to re-distribute wealth UPward in the US. That’s why the elites want us all to be fighting about race and religion. That’s why the tRump near election is a symptom not a cause. When the fever breaks and the oppressed (white AND Black) in the US recognize who’s been fvcking them over the past several decades we’ll have a true economic revolution.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014_Page4.html#.WcZT27qcE6Y
Jeff, income inequality is a liberal myth and has nothing at all to do with real economics. Please get an education. I am sure you can list any number of web sites, don’t bother, find a reference in an economics book.
Oh, the real reason for the pending civil war is our government and the loss of freedom, and you are part of the cause for that.
Actually no. I never read that article but thanks to your link I did indeed read the article.
I then did some fact checking.
Forbes Feb. 10, 2017 Four of the top five cities were in florida with the other being Provo, Ut.
USA today dated Mid August 2017: The Census Bureau shows the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. are …Seattle and San Franscisco do not even make the list of the top 15.
Additionally. Washington Restaurant Association’s Anton puts it this way: “It’s not a political problem; it’s a math problem.†further stating that with the rise in minimum wage the cost to a typical 700,000 per year restaurant will be 6 percent of gross revenue. Sad because the average typical profits are only 4 percent. Forcing every restaurant to cut employees in order to meet the overhead math.
Once the man offered his version of facts it was easy to then verify these facts using reputable sources such as the Bureau of labor Statistics as well as Forbes Magazine which as we all know is run by a liberal media biased division. I checked other sources such as your Census bureau to find my own set of statistics to even support his absurd claim that since Seattle and San Fran have instituted the 15.00 per hour minimum wage they have become the fastest growing cities in America. They are not even in the top 15 after the wage passed but were 4th and 7th overall before the wage was passed.
Here you once again allow your communist roots to shine thru your veil of being concerned for the welfare of the USA. In fact Trump is fighting every politician in the US government trying to renegotiate trade deals to make things more equitable but you once again go off on the tangent of the middle class being deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness when in fact he is about the only one trying to help them.
So what would be fair to say is that you are not who you say you are. You embrace the doctrine of communism which only manages to come about in any country thru violent revolution. You seem to be embracing the coming of revolution as well as advocating for it a 100 times a day in every post you make here.
No one in this world wins if the USA falls into Antifa x’s 50 states until the nation falls. Certainly not you. Your so called business will be confiscated as will most of your property since you are quite obviously claiming to be middle class+++. So this is an easy spot. You are not who you claim. You are whomever you want to be on an a website that cannot(and chooses not to) verify who you are.
Excellent reply Rotter, our little fool will not be able to handle facts like this
Rotter,
Did you read the article by Mr. Hanauer? He’s a billionaire capitalist and was warning HOW NOT to have an economic revolt. Is he a communist?
Call me a communist all you want. It’s clear you don’t know what you’re talking about.
It’s fair to say you are not who you say you are. All evidence points to you being a paid right wing shill, likely a 20-something independent contractor paid by the RNC or even the tRump organization. How do we even know you’re an American citizen? You are not who you claim. You are a paid agitator, maybe even part of the neo-Nazi movement that tRump supports. Is that it? Are you a neo-Nazi? Please prove you’re not, as this website does not verify the identity of commenters.
Our fake presinit tRump has not and will not do anything for the working classes of America. He is incapable. He has benefited greatly from the poor to rich wealth transfer in America. He fully supports the transfer of health care monies from the working classes to the wealthy – some $1 trillion a year!
What part of America are you from? Probably an old confederacy red state sucking at the teat of the blue states that pay the bulk of federal taxes.
What you are ignorant of, or just refuse to acknowledge is the state of everyday working man and woman of America who live on a cusp – being a heart attack away from homelessness – a failed transmission from losing their underpaid job.
By whatever mechanism, our failed economy needs to find a way to rebuild the US middle class – government policies of the past 40 years have decimated the wealth and income of the working classes. This assault on America’s middle class was not natural but was engineered by Republican and Democratic elites – the misery of the working classes led to the near nomination of Bernie Sanders and the actual near election of Donald tRump.
I’m a capitalist and an entrepreneur. What government programs keep you fed, clothed and housed?
Nah, you’re a little dumbass and your comments prove it over and over again.
It does not matter who I am in the sense that I am not here to sew discord nor suggest that violence and rebellion is the answer to any from of political disagreement.
I am here to give a perspective from someone on the outside looking in. I wish America well. I wish America would stabilize itself and realized that both sides are swift boating everything about the other side.
It is so painfully obvious from the outside. Having looked at the facts of this so called Russian collusion I can honestly believe one simple fact. Everyone the entire world over, including the CIA, NSA, FBI, Interpol, wikileaks, Hillary Clintons campaign have been digging for dirt on Trump for two years now.
They have basically found nothing. Trump is indeed In my opinion the most bombastic and most paper thin president or politician in the world. he simply says what he feels and hurt feelings be damned. My only concern is how he tends to get his facts wrong.
But as for a plant by the RNC. Hardly because I take your side on many issues. I do believe that global warming is an issue. I just have a problem with how the left wants to address it. I equally have an issue with how the right seems bent on discrediting it. Yet I am willing for both sides to be given a bone. I have no dog in that fight.
I do believe the middle class has suffered over the last 20 years. Most of this has been because of trade deals that benefit large businesses at the expense of the middle class. Im on board with you. Im not your enemy.
You however seem to be the enemy of every word spoken here. You cannot wait to leap on anyone who says anything no matter how sane it might appear.
Your police do not target blacks. Individual policemen might. But your police do not have a policy of bashing the heads of blacks in. The narrative by the left is that they do. It is hard to seperate bad cops from the tens of thousand good cops.
DACA. I believe in fixing this solution. Resolving your immigration problems. They will swamp your country. I have no problem with amnesty even though most people here do because it is a right website. Sometimes you have to compromise to fix the problem long term. Right now the lack of compromise by the right ensures that the illegals will continue to flood the shores of America. Compromise with a solid immigration reform bill that can fix it long term and both sides win.
So unlike almost everyone here. I am on both sides of the fence on many issues. hardly an RNC plant. What I am however is a Netherlands citizen whose wife and three children were born and raised in the USA. My three children have dual citizenship so I do in fact have a care about the USA.
America makes the world strong. Right now your country looks just plain stupid to the rest of the world. Not because of trump but because of the petty insanity going on around your country.
I am simply here to shine a light on those things you have in common while trying to get my little voice to see some compromise on all sides on the things that you cant compromise on.
Stop swift boating each other and discuss the facts, and if you cant agree on the facts well you would not be the first people on the planet that cant agree on facts.
As for you I have no doubt by your 50-100 posts a day attacking every word said by every poster here….that you sir are indeed a paid political agitator assigned to this blog and perhaps a few others I have not found yet. Me? Im just here to get America to start coming together at least a little bit, instead of tearing each other apart because you all have to have the last word.
Rot,
You repeatedly call me a communist and a liar and a paid political agitator. And now you want to discuss facts?
This conspiracy theory on the right (and voiced by you, once again, in a comment where you ask to discuss facts, LOL) that there are communist agitators paid to comment on right-wing blogs is fascinating. I think you’re a neo-Nazi sent to spread discord. And a European neo-Nazi at that.
Here’s a fact: Every advanced nation on the planet uses some form of universal healthcare, delivers to every resident and does it for much less per capita than we do in the US. Are all these nations communist?
50 to 100 posts a day? Hardly. Other blogs? not a chance. tRump did not cause the political divides in the US, but he makes it worse every day.
dave,
You offer little but invective, you dotard, you.
Now’s your chance to educate me and others with just a short essay.
dave,
You’ve likely noticed that Con Men rarely enumerate the freedoms they’ve lost – Will you? Now is your chance.
Read the book Who Killed the Constitution. You will find we actually have few freedoms.
dave,
Surely you can come up with a few freedoms that have been lost without diverting attention.
Freedom to discriminate against Blacks?
Freedom to discriminate against gays?
Jeff,
You got owned by Rotter. I don’t waste time with fools like you, read the book.
Right, dave.
You were also misled by that neo-Nazi tRump. You’re easily fooled.
YOU claimed you’ve lost your freedoms, but you can’t think of one freedom you’ve lost.