The right wing responds to Baltimore


baltimore-flyer

If you want to get the temper of the right on the Baltimore situation, all you have to do is open up the pages of the National Review, that money-losing magazine founded by a racist, for racists, and propped up by a constant stream of money from far right liars, like the Heritage Foundation. I did. I was unsurprised.

Whenever this kind of unforgivable idiocy occurs, some chin-stroking media wise man assures us that rioting is an expression of anger from oppressed communities, a cry for justice from those who feel every other avenue of protest has been unfairly blocked, blah blah blah.

It’s all nonsense. The last “riot” that achieved anything useful was the Boston Tea Party. If everyone in the United States swore a pledge declaring, “I will never riot,” there would be less injustice in this world, not more.

This is a theme: it’s always the rioters fault (unless they are white, like the Tea Party, and are cunningly dressed up as a minority racial group to displace the blame, like the Tea Party.) And any of the arguments that demand the root problems be addressed will be dealt with via a “blah blah blah” dismissal. Are these people not members of an oppressed community? Do they not have a cause to cry for justice? Are they not ignored, does the problem not persist? What would you have them do?

He also quotes from one of his stable of racist apologists for the elite, Steven Crowder.

You are animals. If you are able to destroy the home or business of your neighbor, you’ve lost your humanity. If you are able to harm your fellow man, to scare their children, to do so with a clean conscience, merely because of something that some cop may or may not have done, which has nothing to do with you . . . you are a horrible human being. You disgust me, as you should anyone who wishes to be a part of civilized society.

So you’re an animal if you destroy property in a protest. What does that make a policeman who murders human beings at will?

Take a look at the ‘tradition’ of nickel rides in North Philly, as just one example. People arrested on minor charges in a predominantly minority area of the city were subjected to basically vehicular battery.

Top commanders acknowledge that rough rides are an enduring tradition in the department. The practice even has a name – "nickel ride," a term that harks back to the days when amusement-park rides cost 5 cents.

An Inquirer investigation documented injuries to 20 people tossed around in wagons in recent years. Thompson was one of three who suffered spinal injuries, and one of two permanently paralyzed.

We don’t even need to consider the unarmed people gunned down; just consider this one case.

Who are the animals again?

Of course, if you really want to see the bottom of the barrel in right wing journanimalism, all you have to do is peek in on Charles C. Johnson, if you dare. Have a puke bucket handy.

Comments

  1. anteprepro says

    Seeing a lot of Moderates tut-tutting rioting on Facebook right now. Thrilling.

    . If you are able to destroy the home or business of your neighbor, you’ve lost your humanity.

    If you think somebody is no longer human because they dared to damage to property, then you have absolutely no fucking moral compass and should the fuck the up. Forever.

    merely because of something that some cop may or may not have done, which has nothing to do with you . . .

    Merely because of something that has nothing to do with you. Apparently caring about other people and their treatment is a bizarre concept.

    Who is the one who is supposed to be moral here, again?

    you are a horrible human being. You disgust me, as you should anyone who wishes to be a part of civilized society.

    Here is the face of authoritarianism: absolute disgust, complete with dehumanization, in the face of any that dare to challenge the holy order of society. The status quo is sanctified and any who would intentionally disrupt, through such as impure acts as the frightening of children or the damaging of property, are monsters. The Real Problem.

  2. karmacat says

    There were hundreds of people calmly demonstrating on Saturday. The looters are a minority of people but the right wing wants to think they represent all black people. They don’t complain when it is a bunch of white people rioting after a sporting event. According to the right wing those people are the minority and don’t represent all whites. I was impressed to see 200 clergy come out on the street in West Baltimore. I wasn’t impressed because they were praying; it was that they were outside between the police and the looters.

  3. Ogvorbis: failed human says

    Had a discussion with resident right-winger at work about this. He does not seem to comprehend that an act of violence during a protest does not in any way, shape or form, invalidate the reason for the protest.

  4. screechymonkey says

    Yep, rioting is bad. But one of the reasons that (white) people have a constitutional right to stockpile weapons is so they can form armed resistance to the government if it pisses off (white) people!

    Government officials are murdering members of your community? You’d better play strictly by pacifist rules, or else you’re an inhuman animal!

    You’re scared by the skin tone of the president, and worried that other people will be allowed to marry people you don’t think they should be allowed to marry? Better buy some more ammunition and get ready for that great gettin’ up day, you great patriot you!

  5. Randomfactor says

    If you are able to destroy the home or business of your neighbor, you’ve lost your humanity

    Unless you do it through a predatory foreclosure, then it’s just bidness.

  6. scienceavenger says

    Hmmmm. So Marie Antoinette is writing for the National Review now. Good to know.

  7. Thumper: Who Presents Boxes Which Are Not Opened says

    The last “riot” that achieved anything useful was the Boston Tea Party.

    Ah yes, the predominantly white riot about taxes. They would think that was a viable reason to riot, wouldn’t they?

    You are animals. If you are able to destroy the home or business of your neighbor, you’ve lost your humanity. If you are able to harm your fellow man, to scare their children, to do so with a clean conscience, merely because of something that some cop may or may not have done, which has nothing to do with you . . . you are a horrible human being. You disgust me, as you should anyone who wishes to be a part of civilized society

    I would suggest that anyone who is more horrified by destruction of property than the loss of human life is far more of a “disgusting animal” than the rioters, and seriously needs to sort their fucking priorities out.

  8. latveriandiplomat says

    The last “riot” that achieved anything useful was the Boston Tea Party.

    I wouldn’t call it useful, but the Brooks Brothers “riot” in 2000 succeeded in it’s goal of shutting down vote counting in Florida.

    And there’s a long, shameful history of racist and anti-union violence that could be called “riots” that also achieved their immediate goals.

    If anyone should believe in the efficacy of riots it should be conservatives.

  9. anonymous says

    I’ve taken a couple screen shots of sanctimonious, racist comments on FB. I wish there was a place to anonymously post them so the wider Internet was aware of what shits they are, in case one wanted to employ them etc.

  10. rq says

    mishcakes
    Can you post them here? You’ll get at least some of the wider internet.

    +++

    As twitter is once again saying, “I do not have to condone it to understand it”.
    And oh, the property damage… Property of their neighbours… Funny then, why people put out signs saying ‘Black-owned business’ to garner some sort of protection for themselves.
    Funny how what freaked Baltimore PD out was the Bloods and the Crips calling a truce between themselves in support of Freddie Gray and the protests.
    Funny.

  11. anteprepro says

    I imagine there would be plenty of riots that would accomplish something if it weren’t for right-wing authorities swooping in during the aftermath, telling everyone to shush shush shush, and assuring everyone that there isn’t anything to see there, nothing at all, just remember how violent and horrible riots, shake your head in disgust at the horrid mess of it all, and just be on your merry little way. Don’t think about the reasons, issues at hand, implications. Don’t look at the trends or statistics. To worry your little head about whatever injustices these people are actually worried about, and what their message is. Just spit out the word “riot” with contempt, sneering about the filthiness of it all, presuming that it is all just stupid violent people who deserve no consideration, maybe squeal indignantly about the poor persecuted corporate chains and motor vehicles, spew out a little police apologia, and go back to not thinking nor caring. Because if the white conventional authorities don’t care, why should you? There is no reason to, so just listen to the nice thought leaders, let the apathy wash over you, wail out with fatigue about how you wish people could just get along already, and then indignantly sputter out until your privileges finally lull you back into the normal state of perpetual sleep.

  12. says

    White bankers and white real estate agents “red lined” west Baltimore. I suppose they think it is not an act of violence against the community to refuse small business loans, to make sure dark-skinned people are kept within certain boundaries, to make sure most dark-skinned people remain renters instead of owners?

    Even federal government housing policies played into redlining.

    […] The book exposes the clandestine dealings that rendered the city physically, economically and politically divided – ghettoization that has only deepened over time. While the broad outlines of this story are known, Pietila has connected prominent local figures to the city’s legacy of segregation and filled holes in the narrative, revealing that very little about the process was random. […] Baltimore Brew link

    More background:
    http://www.jhupolitik.org/2015/01/06/the-legacy-of-redlining-in-baltimore-using-credit-to-curb-social-mobility/
    Excerpt:

    Redlining refers to the common tendency of banks to refuse business loans and mortgages to individuals from certain localities or charge higher rates for them, rather than evaluating potential debtors by their assets and income. […]

    The long shadow of redlining in Baltimore extends to this day. It was notably observed in the 2008 district court case City of Baltimore v. Wells Fargo, in which the municipal government of Baltimore sued Wells Fargo for charging interest higher than market rates to black debtors from certain areas. The City claimed that this practice contributed to the unaffordability of housing and financial instability in many inner-city neighborhoods, which in turn exacerbated the 2008 housing crisis. While the district court ruled in favor of the City, the case demonstrates that the legacy of government redlining still lives in Baltimore. Areas initially redlined by HOLC include Berea, Seton Hill, Midtown, Upton and Sandtown-Winchester, and these neighborhoods today are rife with high poverty rates, decreased average life expectancy, and low percentages of homeownership. Moreover, all are host to a significant portion, if not a majority, of black residents.

  13. rq says

    I’m also amazed at whoever decided it was a good idea to close Baltimore schools today – that’s about 80 000 children without a place to go, 85% of whom rely on schools for meals. It’s like a purposeful provocation or something. And not coming from the oppressed.

  14. says

    rq @13, I agree with you. Closing the schools is not going to help. Some of the local churches and other organizations with larger buildings are opening up for the school kids, and they are hosting activities for them.

    Meanwhile, Donald Trump is saying stupid stuff: “Our great African American President hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore!” he tweeted.

  15. Saad says

    Steven Crowder: “You are animals. If you are able to destroy the home or business of your neighbor, you’ve lost your humanity. If you are able to harm your fellow man, to scare their children, to do so with a clean conscience, merely because of something that some cop may or may not have done, which has nothing to do with you . . . you are a horrible human being. You disgust me, as you should anyone who wishes to be a part of civilized society.”

    So fucking sick of hearing these words every time.

    It’s not violence when racist police officers commit government sanctioned murder of a black person. It only becomes violence when a black person responds to it in any way other than silence and obedience.

    It’s not destruction when racist police officers ruin entire families and communities by taking their friends and family members from them without any hesitation (or even any superficial display of shame or guilt afterwards). It only becomes destruction if a fucking building or an automobile is damaged in outrage afterwards.

    He’s not a fellow man who has dark skin and is being choked, punched, Tasered, or shot to death by public servants whose very jobs it is to uphold the law. No, apparently, the fellow man is the property owner. Or the white person who is appalled at seeing the consequences of organized racism on their televisions in safety, safety simply imparted on them by their skin color. How dare anyone offend their sensibility!

    There’s no lamenting of the decline of civilized society when black people are publicly executed on camera for all to see. Civilized society only becomes endangered when these same people start voicing and acting out in anger.

    And animals. Of course he has to use that word. Can’t talk about anything to do with the plight of black people without letting them know they still live in the same system that fucked over generations of their ancestors. That word is the very distillation of centuries-old racism.

    Steven Crowder, you are a lowly racist fuck. I look down upon you and any of your tribe of destructive, violence promoting, uncivilized hatemongers who have no compassion for your fellow man and no interest in civilized society.

  16. anteprepro says

    rq: That and also bringing in the National Guard and the riots last night seemed to have happened after dozens of officers in riot gear set themselves up. Yes, it looks like intentional provocation. Or that they are stupid and don’t realize they are fighting fires with a hose full of gasoline. It is exactly what happened in Ferguson: Police kill someone, people protest peacefully, police then make a big show of their power in the name of preventing riots and, surprise, it fucking raises tensions because the people are protesting against the excesses of the fucking police!

  17. Saad says

    Here’s Ta-Nehisi Coates:

    An officer made eye contact with Gray. Gray, for unknown reasons, ran. The officer and his colleagues then detained Gray. They found him in possession of a switchblade. They arrested him while he yelled in pain. And then, within an hour, his spine was mostly severed. A week later, he was dead. What specifically was the crime here? What particular threat did Freddie Gray pose? Why is mere eye contact and then running worthy of detention at the hands of the state? Why is Freddie Gray dead?

    The people now calling for nonviolence are not prepared to answer these questions. Many of them are charged with enforcing the very policies that led to Gray’s death, and yet they can offer no rational justification for Gray’s death and so they appeal for calm. But there was no official appeal for calm when Gray was being arrested. There was no appeal for calm when Jerriel Lyles was assaulted. (“The blow was so heavy. My eyes swelled up. Blood was dripping down my nose and out my eye.”) There was no claim for nonviolence on behalf of Venus Green. (“Bitch, you ain’t no better than any of the other old black bitches I have locked up.”) There was no plea for peace on behalf of Starr Brown. (“They slammed me down on my face,” Brown added, her voice cracking. “The skin was gone on my face.”)

    When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself. When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse. When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con.

  18. anteprepro says

    Also, had the privilege on facebook of seeing a police officer making two frustratingly asinine arguments:

    1. The hypocrisy of people saying only a small number of protestors are looting or committing violence, while criticizing the small number of police who are bad and kill defenseless citizens. This would be a good point if it weren’t for police like him apologizing for violence. Which he does in the second argument.
    2. He objects to calling it “murder” when a police officer kills people like that. He invokes legal definitions and says it is homicide instead. Because if it is justifiable, it isn’t murder. Which, if that isn’t apologizing for police brutality, I don’t know what is.

  19. says

    Here’s a video of the Crips and Bloods disputing claims made by the Baltimore police.

    I think that claim of organized gang violence was fear mongering. That claim was repeated in every media outlet, and that ramped up the tensions.

    Yesterday, immediately after the funeral of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore Police Department released an ominous message stating that they had received a credible threat that the Bloods and Crips had entered into an agreement to kill police officers.

    Within hours, malls closed, colleges and universities closed, sporting events were canceled, but the Bloods and Crips were only seen on the streets helping to defuse tensions. Late Monday night they gave an interview that can be found below the fold, openly disputing the claims of the police.

    It’s a must see.

    Somebody’s lying.

    Link

  20. says

    Another Baltimore resident noted that on the sun Paper’s liveblog there were repeated reports of the Bloods and the Crips protecting properties and trying to temper anger.

  21. says

    Here’s a clean up and recovery story that hits some positive notes.

    That story also highlights how the rumor of a Blood/Crips organized assault, and/or an assault organized by high school kids, affected the police response:

    The violence started after police responded in force to rumors of a “purge.” On police advice, local businesses shut down […]

    When 3 p.m. came, 75 to 100 students heading to Mondawmin Mall were greeted by dozens of police officers in riot gear. The mall is a transportation hub for students from several nearby schools.

    The students began pelting officers with water bottles and rocks. Bricks met shields. Glass shattered up and down Gwynns Falls Parkway. Officers sprayed Mace. Confrontations bled into side streets, where officers threw bricks back. A heavily armored Bearcat tactical vehicle rolled through the neighborhood.

    Note that the “transportation hub” for all of those students was not working. Students did not have access to their usual mode of transportation home.

  22. Jackie the social justice WIZZARD!!! says

    The cold blooded entitlement in that response proves the protesters’ point.
    Sickening.

  23. says

    Protestors: Please stop what you’re doing, police, it isn’t right.
    Police: Poke protesters. Poke. Poke. POKE.
    Protestors: Please don’t do that.
    Police: They’re rioting! Get ’em!

    If there’s any good coming out of all of these incidents, it’s that the officially sanctioned violence is being exposed for all the world to see. Beyond that, I got nothing.

  24. HolyPinkUnicorn says

    @Lynna, OM #21:

    Good link, also in there a link to an editorial by Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic that cuts right to the hypocrisy of government officials calling for peace:

    Many of [the people now calling for nonviolence] are charged with enforcing the very policies that led to Gray’s death, and yet they can offer no rational justification for Gray’s death and so they appeal for calm.
    […]
    When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself. When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse. When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con. And none of this can mean that rioting or violence is “correct” or “wise,” any more than a forest fire can be “correct” or “wise.” Wisdom isn’t the point tonight. Disrespect is. In this case, disrespect for the hollow law and failed order that so regularly disrespects the community.

  25. anteprepro says

    From Lynn’s quote:

    Confrontations bled into side streets, where officers threw bricks back.

    What the fuck?

  26. rq says

    Here’s something slightly more uplifting: 28 Moments That Show Another Side Of The Baltimore Riots. Which is mostly decent stuff, and some questionable (see #11), like – I understand praising kids who are helping clean up the streets, but they should have been in school…

    anteprepro @16
    Well, that and the fact that public transportation was shut down shortly before school was due to be out, essentially stranding a lot of students near the riot police. It’s stupid enough actions to seem unintentional, but enough stupid actions as a collective to seem intentional…

  27. rq says

    anteprepro @26
    Yup.
    Article form.

    The footage was downloaded by a viewer and uploaded to Youtube, which you can see below.

    It’s short. Fifteen seconds. But it shows a cop hurling a rock at protesters before the protesters swarmed them, forcing them to run back.

    The second video appears to be the same incident but captured on the ground from behind.

  28. Jackie the social justice WIZZARD!!! says

    This weekend a guy told my husband “If the races didn’t mix so much these things wouldn’t happen”. He blamed the civil rights moment for the riots. The “best part”? He said “Civil War”, but he was talking about the 60’s. Quite the Freudian slip, huh?

    My husband just turned and walked away. He was not expecting to be lectured by a racist. He now wishes he’s have at least said, “Bullshit”.

    We’ve lived here a long time and while racism has always been standard (We have a high school named for a confederate general, FFS) alot of the buried stuff is rising to the surface. People have stars and bars tattoos and all that crap, but they used to pretend it was about “history not hate”. We avoid most of our extended family now because the racism is becoming so blatant. These racist shitheads are getting bold. They’re smug too and it is unbearable.

    Why wouldn’t they be getting bolder? When they see cops walking away from murder with gifted millions they know it is safe for them to finally open up about how vile they are. They don’t have to pretend anymore.

    I hate this place.

  29. toska says

    merely because of something that some cop may or may not have done, which has nothing to do with you

    Merely? Merely? Nice minimizing the death of a young person there. I also notice the actual act of violence is taken out of the sentence and replaced by something that some cop may or may not have done. What is it that this cop did? Huh? It was murdering a young person. Now when you fill that content into your damn sentence, doesn’t merely seem misplaced? If you can minimize murder, what’s left? What’s more serious than murder? Oh yeah…. property damage.

    Fuck these people. I haven’t seen a single one of their opinions that doesn’t compare black lives to property and the justified outrage of black people to animalistic behavior. What would these people do if their children were murdered by the state with impunity? They absolutely would not just shut up because it has nothing to do with them.

  30. TV200 says

    It was certainly a tense night in the city last night. Shutting down the bus and light rail system ahead of the “Purge” was about the stupidest fucking thing that those in power could have done. Combined with the “co-ordinated gang threat” that the police made sure got a national release. It feels very contrived. The Baltimore City Paper is doing a very good job with the coverage.

  31. toska says

    Jackie @30

    We’ve lived here a long time and while racism has always been standard (We have a high school named for a confederate general, FFS) alot of the buried stuff is rising to the surface.

    Ain’t that the truth? With all my white privilege blindness I grew up with, the last year has been very eye opening. It’s hard to look at some of my family members, friends, and community members the same way. And I don’t want to look at them the same way. I grew up being told platitudes about racism being wrong from the same people spouting such vileness today. I’m just so, so sorry that it took this ugliness to get me to see how deeply entrenched racism is at every level of society and government. Here’s to keeping my eyes and ears open.

  32. anteprepro says

    Read that teacher’s tweet linked by rq at 29. Hundreds of cops stopping buses, forcing students out in the open without transportation, and harassing any groups of students they found suspicious. It suddenly makes sense: This is how riots started almost immediately after school. This is how the shutting down transportation that day was an issue, and why they shut down school today. It was all about that “purge” threat. The cops went the Full Ferguson, full force, massive number, decked out in riot gear, prepared for a massive attack that probably didn’t exist. But they attacked their invisible foe, angrily, sloppily, and by doing so they conjured up a real one.

  33. Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says

    @rq:

    I’m glad you’re familiar with PINAC, that’s a great source.

    As for cops throwing rocks, I’ve seen multiple sources saying that “cops” (plural) threw rocks/bricks/concrete, but I’ve only seen video of the one. It’s entirely possible that “cops” is without a first-hand source and is merely repetition of an accidental plural. But even if that’s true for some sources (or even for all of the sources I’ve seen) that doesn’t mean only one cop did it.

    If I hadn’t seen the video of the one doing it, I wouldn’t have suspected any – they’ve got their own weapons, why use rocks?

    But if Baltimore PD is so unprofessional as to have ONE officer throwing what clearly looked like a hunk of concrete, then I have literally no problems believing that more than one officer did. That’s not evidence, but it’s a statement about the standard of evidence: the cops would like us to believe that thoughtless, raging, retributive rock throwing is something we should consider an exceptional claim, requiring exceptional evidence.

    It’s a mundane claim now.

  34. Pteryxx says

    Transcript of the teacher’s account from #29, originally from a Facebook post:

    A clear narration of what my students and I just saw (and please SHARE this so people know the story): we drove into Mondawmin, knowing it was going to be a mess. I was trying to get them home before anything insane happened. The students were JUST getting out of Douglas, but before that could even happen, the police were forcing busses to stop and unload all their passengers. Then, Douglas students, in huge herds, were trying to leave on various busses but couldn’t catch any because they were all shut down. No kids were yet around except about 20, who looked like they were waiting for police to do something. The cops, on the other hand, were in full riot gear marching toward any small social clique of students who looked as if they were just milling about. It looked as if there were hundreds of cops. So, me, personally, if I were a Douglas student that just got trapped in the middle of a minefield BY cops without any way to get home and completely in harm’s way, I’d be ready to pop off, too.

    I hope everyone’s kids are getting home to them safely tonight.

    It’s posted with what looks like her full name. I hope she doesn’t get punished for being a witness.

  35. anteprepro says

    More from the mayor:

    In which she talks about “thugs” tearing down the city, with a photo of herself next to a prominently displayed officer in uniform
    https://twitter.com/MayorSRB/status/592843763178942464

    In which she talks about the “evil we see tonight”. Yes, she calls the rioters fucking “evil”.
    https://twitter.com/MayorSRB/status/592885093561192449

    “Deplorable and cowardly acts”. This is like Baltimore’s 9/11 apparently.
    https://twitter.com/MayorSRB/status/593029310627340288

  36. llamaherder says

    These are the same people who think a reasonable response to shoplifting is summary execution.

  37. slithey tove (twas brillig (stevem)) says

    The last “riot” that achieved anything useful was the Boston Tea Party.
    Oh yes, thanks for the reminder: the War that resulted (from the Tea Party) was really _useful_. Killed 1000’s of people, sank many ships, blah blah blah, BUT it gave us our Freedom from those disgusting Royals, eh? And the Party didn’t burn anything, just threw some tea barrels into the Bay, what harm resulted. Police killing a young man is too minor to riot over, but getting taxed over tea is justifiably riotous. Good to know. Burning buildings is too extreme a response for that minor incident, but causing a war is appropriate for being taxed more than you think you should be?

    cognitive dissonance is rattling my brain.
    The guy, that I quoted above, seems to have his priorities a little askew.

  38. says

    Rand Paul says a bunch of stupid stuff:

    During an interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday, the Kentucky senator blamed the turmoil not on the police brutality that resulted in the death of Freddie Gray, but on absentee fathers and a breakdown in families.

    “It’s depressing, it’s sad, it’s scary. I came through the train on Baltimore last night, I’m glad the train didn’t stop,” Paul said, laughing at his own unfunny joke. He then pontificated of the unrest: “The thing is that really there’s so many things we can talk about, it’s something we talk about not in the immediate aftermath but over time: the breakdown of the family structure, the lack of fathers, the lack of sort of a moral code in our society. And this isn’t just a racial thing, it goes across racial boundaries, but we do have problems in our country.” […]

    This is the same Rand Paul whose son was recently arrested for drunk driving.

    http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/04/rand-paul-baltimore-riots-absentee-fathers

  39. says

    merely because of something that some cop may or may not have done, which has nothing to do with you . . .

    Right. If you’re a straight, white male with money and no inconvenient empathy, then killer cops don’t concern you. Everyone else has to worry about dodging bullets.

    What a despicable creature.

  40. says

    Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) said stupid stuff. He tweeted: “Want to blame someone for Baltimore besides the thugs? Blame Democrats who have purposely turned blacks into uneducated government slaves.”

    He later added: “50 yrs of Democrat [sic] policies destroyed the black family, created dependency & ruined public schools. Democrats did that. Not the Tea Party.”

  41. says

    Dr. Ben Carson said some stupid stuff:

    […] But the larger issue here is, how do you react when something is wrong? If you have an unpleasant experience with a plumber, do you go out and declare a war on all plumbers? Or teachers or doctors? Of course not. And it makes no sense to do that with police either. […]

    Wonkette link

  42. gog says

    I saw a Facebook post from somebody I ordinarily don’t associate with racism refer to rioters as “animals.” I don’t understand how somebody can phrase it in those terms and not see that it’s racially charged. It’s frustrating and sickening.

  43. numerobis says

    Giliell:

    They dislike riots? I guess they’re going to ban sports for white people now.

    These are right-wing authoritarians. They believe banning the bad thing, and tut-tutting when it happens anyway, is all you need to do. I haven’t seen any evidence at all that eliminating the bad thing is the goal; if anything, tut-tutting is the goal.

  44. karmacat says

    There is a good article in the NY Times about all the missing black men, a lot of whom are incarcerated. Rand Paul complains about there being no black fathers. Well, that’s because of the drug wars and because black men are targeted more often. Black men don’t have access to healthcare so they die earlier
    These white politicians need to shut up and listen to those are living through injustice. If they don’t want riots, then they need to work on justice and equality.

    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/20/upshot/missing-black-men.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

  45. says

    numerobis @53:

    These are right-wing authoritarians. They believe banning the bad thing, and tut-tutting when it happens anyway, is all you need to do. I haven’t seen any evidence at all that eliminating the bad thing is the goal; if anything, tut-tutting is the goal.

    Oh, eliminating the bad thing is most definitely not the goal. Doing so would upset the well-oiled engine of white supremacy.

  46. Trebuchet says

    @38, rq:

    She also called protestors ‘thugs’ in one of her tweets.

    As did Obama, in a press conference with the Japanese PM. Very disappointing.

  47. mesh says

    @54, karmacat

    If they don’t want riots, then they need to work on justice and equality.

    Or they just need to dehumanize protesters to the point where any armed response from the police becomes justifiable.

  48. mickll says

    @ anteprepro

    merely because of something that some cop may or may not have done, which has nothing to do with you

    Didn’t people support the invasion of two sovereign countries by the USA and its allies for pretty much this justification some time this century?

  49. says

    Valid reason for riot:

    * taxes you don’t like
    * your team losing at sports
    * your team winning at sports

    Invalid reason for riot:

    * Murder committed by an officer of the state

  50. mildlymagnificent says

    ogvorbis

    He does not seem to comprehend that an act of violence during a protest does not in any way, shape or form, invalidate the reason for the protest.

    He mist have forgotten JFK’s neat little sentence.

    “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable”.

    And MLK’s very clear statement about riots.

    It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard.

    I pinched these from comments and the OP where Greg Laden does a neat step by step, line by line parallel between these (and similar) riots and the Boston beginnings of the American Revolution. http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2015/04/28/reactions-to-the-baltimore-riot-2015/

    I reckon it’s quite a neat expansion of JFK’s and MLK’s core idea with a concrete, real life, politically acceptable comparison.

  51. says

    Every one of these pearl clutching conservative gasbags was super gung-ho about “liberating” Iraq with violence, as I recall, and many still think we should be there looting and killing.

  52. Great American Satan says

    I haven’t read all the comments here, but I want to communicate buzz I’ve seen on tumblr that a lot of shit that’s gone down there has been instigated by white racist bystanders. There’s good reason to believe it. I was wondering when race war fetishists outside the PD would walk the talk. Apparently now, though they don’t have the courage to do so in their sheets and swastikas.

  53. toska says

    Trebuchet @57

    @38, rq:

    She also called protestors ‘thugs’ in one of her tweets.

    As did Obama, in a press conference with the Japanese PM. Very disappointing.

    Obama has repeatedly shown that he has a serious case of Both Sides-ism when it comes to police brutality. Even if he has no integrity (a normal affliction for politicians), he should realize that right wingers are blaming the protests on him anyway and join the fold.

  54. abb3w says

    @-1, Jim Geraghty

    The last “riot” that achieved anything useful was the Boston Tea Party

    So, he admits there’s precedent, but fails to explicitly distinguish the two cases.

    Thus, parsimony implies they are morally equivalent. ¡Viva la Revolución!

  55. Grewgills says

    @mildlymagnificent #62
    The conservatives that tout Dr King (and Gandhi) whenever there is civil unrest don’t want the real Dr King (or Gandhi). They want the Disneyfied King that only exists in their collective imaginations and his example only ever seems to be invoked by them as a cudgel against the very people he was fighting for.

  56. DLC says

    Whenever the country moves too far to the right, people riot. Now, I can’t claim here that correlation equals causation, but surely someone must have gotten this idea before ?