Sunday, August 17, 2014

Deja Vu

What's going on in Ferguson is nothing new, it's an old story. Shooting unarmed black men, tear gas, tanks. These were used during the 1967 Detroit riot. This was when Governor George Romney (name sound familiar?)  sent in the National Guard and then President Johnson sent in the army. Using the military and military weapons against the citizenry isn't anything new. More recently, the 1992 Los Angelos riots, caused by police brutality. Rodney King was beaten by police and the excuse was that he was on PCP, which later drug tests proved negative. So far what I have read about the shooting of Michael Brown;
" Brown and a friend were walking in the street and “blocking traffic.”
Brown went after the police officers gun.
 Michael Brown stole a box of cigars.
"officer was treated at a hospital for swelling on the side of his face " the implication being Michael Brown had it coming, if he caused that swelling.
What is really crazy is what I read in Al Jazeera
"certain facts are undisputed: Brown, unarmed, was shot multiple times and killed 35 feet from a police car. Shell casings found at the scene were all fired from the officer’s gun". and this; "Residents of Ferguson gathered for a vigil near Brown’s body as it lay sprawled in the street where he was killed, left uncovered for hours."
That is pretty brutal. So brutal that Anonymous got involved.
What is eerily familiar to me is that Missouri state police are sent in and Ron Johnson is the "man for the job"
Kind of like after Hurricane Katrina, when Russel Honore was sent to calm the chaos in New Orleans. I don't know for sure if it's some kind of freaky coincidence that both these men are African-American or not. What I do know is that it looks like "Whiteys On The Moon" (see GSH)  meaning, white people do all manner of things, in order to avoid dealing with very real and oppressive problems in our society. The thing is that this isn't just going down in Missouri, it's everywhere.
I have an African- American friend who is constantly being pulled over by the cops. He is used to it. He calls in late to work on occasion because he has been pulled over, yet again, for no damn reason. Except the reason that no one really wants to talk about.
I don't know if racism had anything to do with this shooting, hopefully the investigation will clear things up or cover things up. Who knows?
Picture from RT
Just to add to the crazy, the whole controversy of the police and the military toys they now have thanks to Homeland Security, because, TERRORISM, now used on our own people. Which gets me thinking about gun nuts and the right to bear arms and being a well armed militia, I am not sure how these people think they will take back their government, when they are up against tanks and drones. Good luck with that, but I digress. I am sure things got out of control in Ferguson. So they rolled out the paramilitary gear. But an out of touch police force, who either are clueless or just plain don't care allowed a situation to devolve into chaos until the State Police had to take over, seems to be the cause of making a bad situation worse. You have to wonder if all that money spent on all that fancy equipment could have been invested in the people. I'm not sure why this situation couldn't have been diffused in the beginning with negotiations involving citizens in the neighborhood and leaders in their community, I guess investing in riot gear instead of people is more important. The whole thing is just really sad. That picture looks like something that could have happened in Iraq or Afghanistan. Sad to say it's in the streets of my own country and could be coming to a neighborhood near you.

3 comments:

  1. "... not sure how these people think they will take back their government, when they are up against tanks and drones. Good luck with that, but I digress."

    No, that's not a digression, that's the nub of things, unless each citizen is permitted to keep one thermonuclear device in the trunk of his or her car.

    However,adequate civilian armaments really don't matter because the people who are bearing arms don't think the tanks and helicopters will ever actually get used against them. Those things are for some other kind of person. Those of us who are old enough to remember may recall Eldridge Cleaver declaring that "Violence is as American as apple pie," and Malcolm X advising his followers to get a gun.

    White America was horrified. The Second Amendment? What was that? It certainly didn't apply to "those people."

    Human rights and freedom and the abrogation thereof all depend on whose ox is getting gored.

    Yours very crankily,
    The New York Crank

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  2. Why wasn't the situation diffused sooner? Probably because it happened too quickly. I guess that might seem to easy an answer, but I think a decent guess. I'm rather baffled or have mixed emotions on the whole matter over Brown and R. King. Brown from robbing the store (I know the two incidents aren't related, but past behavior is a good prediction for future behavior), and King's continued run-ins with the law after his initial incident.

    I saw a video by Chris Rock, granted, it was meant as humor, but sort of got to the heart of the matter, which basically said: Brothers, if you don't want an ass whipping: a.) don't carry drugs, b.) pull over when you see police lights behind you, c.) don't carry unlawful weapons, etc. I guess my point being, when confronted by the police I would throw my hands up, pull over, etc. in a non-confrontational manner, or whatever else needs to be done as a law abiding citizen. Not to side with the police, but I'd hate to have their job.

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  3. I love Chris Rock he is really clever. I get what you are saying. First of all the store robbery. Which many believe is nothing more than character assassination. You might want to go here for the footage. Crooks and Liars: Brown appears to have paid for those cigars.
    It appears in this country, you are guilty before proven innocent. If you would like to know about Mr. Browns past behavior,
    Shooting of Michael Brown - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Brown had no criminal record" Just so you know how powerful the mainstream media is. We know he was shot six times and left in full view for hours. We know that the police decided to get out their paramilitary gear and harass an already stressed citizenry. Yes, policing is hard work. However something has happened to what used to be our public servants. Why and unarmed man was shot that many times, when to my knowledge, someone who is being aggressive could have been dealt with by other means. We do not know if he was being aggressive. Did you know in other countries if a police officer does use a gun, he shoots to injure, not to kill? Armed police: Trigger happy | The Economist
    We also know that Officer Wilson was fired from his last gig as a cop, along with everyone else in his department for corruption and racial profiling. Darren Wilson’s first job was on a troubled police force disbanded by authorities - The Washington Post
    Does that make him guilty? Did that video of Michael Brown make him guilty? Things get twisted in this distorted culture we live in. Look deeper. There is more to this story we will never find out. Whatever happened that day, I doubt Officer Wilson wanted Mr. Brown to live to tell the tale.

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