Who’s Inciting Violence?

There’s lots of talk about coarse rhetoric inciting violence in this election.  Most of it directed at Donald Trump.  He’s been bluntly critical of those disrupting his rallies, he's offered to pay the legal fees of those who are charged after confronting disrupters, he praised a man who punched a disrupter, and he's said and done a number of insensitive things regarding his detractors.  

Pretty bad stuff, I agree.  But if you are looking for a real villain inciting actual violence, which has resulted in actual death, destruction, and civil unrest, I contend you are looking in the wrong place.  The real inciter of violence is not at Mar-a-Lago; he’s in the White House. 

By now everyone knows that “hands up, don’t shoot”, the narrative after Michael Brown’s shooting, was a lie.  What everyone seems to forget is that Trayvon Martin, and later Michael Brown, were the sparks for Black Lives Matter, which in turn began a war on police, which in turn spawned an unprecedented spike in the assasination style murders of police around the country along with widespread riots in numerous cities.

Do a Google search of “Obama speaks out against Black Lives Matter” or “Obama speaks out against hands up, don’t shoot”, or “Obama speaks out in support of the judicial system after Trayvon Martin.”  You’ll get crickets.  In fact, you’ll get the opposite.  Obama spoke out and offered tacit support to those calling for violence in all cases.  These movements have openly called for murder.  They have chanted things like, "What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want it?  Now!" and, “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon!”.  Actual deaths have resulted.  Actual riots have resulted.  Millions in property damage has resulted.  And Obama tacitly supported it all. 

Moreover, Obama has used violent rhetoric throughout his political life.  In 2008 in Philadelphia he told supporters:  “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun, because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl.”  He was given a pass.  He has subtly, but obviously, given his detractors the middle finger.  Not figuratively, but literally.  His supporters laughed and applauded.  He turned the IRS into a Gestapo to harass his opponents.   His supporters looked the other way. 

So you tell me, who has actually incited violence?  Who has actually incited murder?  Who has actually divided this country? 

If you are of the opinion that Donald Trump cannot be forgiven for his failure to set a tone of reconciliation, that's your right.  I am not defending Trump here.  What I am doing is pointing out hypocrisy.  In other words, show me where you spoke out against Barack Obama's more serious transgressions, which resulted in actual violence and death, or I gotta call BS on your selective outrage.

(Update:  Trumps critics on both sides are accusing him of calling for riots if he is denied the nomination despite being the clear leader.  He did no such thing.  I myself have speculated the equivalent for either side if a clear leader were denied at either convention.  This is just common sense.  Trump was clear to say he would have no part in such nonsense, but this is ignored by his detractors.  Anyone who thinks millions of Sanders supporters, or Trump supporters, would quietly accept their votes being nullified is seriously delusional.)        

Why Were Cops Shot in Ferguson?

There is new blood on Barack Obama's hands as two officers were shot in Ferguson, MO last night.   Pretty harsh, right?  Does Barack Obama deserve blame for every act of violence against cops in the wake of Michael Brown's death?  Here's a brief history.  You can draw your own conclusions.    

(I put the above images together because you will not see them in the pop media.  But they are real and should be part of the record.  What they mean is up to you to decide.  Of note: neither was raised by his father, and all seem to have issues with authority.)

On 8/15/14, after Barack Obama made his first comments in the wake of the Ferguson riots, I wrote:

I have no idea what happened in Ferguson, MO, and neither do you.  And we all agree any unnecessary death is a tragedy.  But we have a judicial system to deal with bad cops, if that turns out to be the case.  Rioting, looting, Molotov cocktails, death threats, and the like, should be singled-out as inexcusable no matter what the facts turn out to be.  Justice can only be served through our judicial system and that takes time, patience, civility, and wisdom.  Instead of making that case convincingly and emphatically, as a president should,  Barack Obama spoke to the nation in bland platitudes and equivocated.
America, we have a problem.

Four days later, after he commented again, I wrote:

Obama spoke to the nation again yesterday (8/18) and again equivocated.  If he wanted to avoid further violence, looting, anger, and hate, he could have explained to those calling for "death to Darren Wilson!" that we have a judicial system and that the facts will come out as they do in every public case, especially when there are dozens of eye witnesses as there are in this case.  But this case should not be tried on TV, or in the streets,  or from the pulpit, or with molotov cocktails.  Instead he drew a moral equivalence between our judicial system and looting rioters.  Think about this America -- The President of the United States, for political reasons, does not want to prevent further violence, looting, anger, and hate.

Then on 11/24/14, the grand jury spoke and the case was closed.   The officer, Darren Wilson, was not charged with any crime because the jury believed he acted with justifiable use of force.  I wrote:

Again the president spoke and again mistook his role for that of agitator.  He accused the judicial system of racism.  He made no mention of the fact that Michael Brown would be alive today if he had obeyed officer Wilson.  He made no mention of his faith in the grand jury or the public servants who worked this case according to the law.  He made no mention of the officer whose life has also been upended by Michael Brown's belligerence.  He made no mention of the fact that moments before the incident officer Wilson had helped save the life of an infant.  And finally, he made only bland equivocal calls for peace and non-violence.

It's a shame this isn't baseball, because on Ferguson alone I count three strikes.

Finally, Obama's DOJ recently released two reports regarding Michael Brown.  The first one exonerated Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown.  There was no violation of civil rights, no racism, and certainly no crime.  Michael Brown was not surrendering, "Hands Up Don't Shoot" was a myth, and the shooting was self-defense.  The second report nevertheless, indicted the entire police force as racists.  Based on the discredited notion of "disparate impact" and some racist joke emails which were forwarded by three specific employees, the Obama administration tainted the entire Ferguson PD and stirred the anger of the community once again.

Did Obama say anything to calm tensions in Ferguson?  Did he say anything to remind people that the shooting was justified?  Did he talk about how "hands up don't shoot" was a false narrative?  Did he point out how the system worked, and justice was done?  No.  Instead, he stoked anger, hate, resentment, and reprisals by calling the Ferguson PD's alleged racism "not an isolated incident".

Why would Obama do this and risk inciting violence?   I hate to go all "Godwin" on y'all, but this has happened before.  (Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies states that any heated online discussion will eventually lead to someone making a Nazi analogy.)

The race industry and the Democrat Party need division, passion, anger, hatred, and the threat of violence to continue enacting their agenda. 

Consider the following quotes:  

All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.

All great movements are popular movements. They are the volcanic eruptions of human passions and emotions, stirred into activity by... distress or by the torch of the spoken word cast into the midst of the people.

Hate is more lasting than dislike.

It is not truth that matters, but victory.

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.

If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.

Great liars are also great magicians.

The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.

Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.

All of the above quotes are from Adolf Hitler.

No, I'm not suggesting Barack Obama is about to annex territory, build gas chambers, kill Jews and Gypsies, or launch a World War like Adolf Hitler.   But looking back on his embrace of the politics of deception and division as personified by ACORN, Alinsky Community Organizing, Occupy Wall Street, disingenuously crying racism,  stirring hatred and violence, etc., it is hard to discern any tactical differences.   

America, We Have a Problem

I have no idea what happened in Ferguson, MO, and neither do you.  And we all agree any unnecessary death is a tragedy.  But we have a judicial system to deal with bad cops, if that turns out to be the case.  Rioting, looting, Molotov cocktails, death threats, and the like, should be singled-out as inexcusable no matter what the facts turn out to be.  Justice can only be served through our judicial system and that takes time, patience, civility, and wisdom.  Instead of making that case convincingly and emphatically, as a president should,  Barack Obama spoke to the nation in bland platitudes and equivocated.  

America, we have a problem.

(Update:  Obama spoke to the nation again yesterday (8/18) and again equivocated.  If he wanted to avoid further violence, looting, anger, and hate, he could have explained to those calling for "death to Darren Wilson!" that we have a judicial system and that the facts will come out as they do in every public case, especially when there are dozens of eye witnesses as there are in this case.  But this case should not be tried on TV, or in the streets,  or from the pulpit, or with molotov cocktails.  Instead he drew a moral equivalence between our judicial system and looting rioters.  Think about this America --  The President of the United States, for political reasons, does not want to prevent further violence, looting, anger, and hate.)

Trayvon Media Memes

 The media is playing a dangerous game of expectations in this case.  Why?  

This Piece is not about Race or Racism

I thought about writing a piece about race and racism, but decided against it.  It’s just too hot.

If I had, I’d have written about the race prism through which Blacks and Whites can see the same event, like OJ Simpson and the Trayvon Martin shooting, in such different ways.

I thought I’d start by talking about my experience during the OJ Simpson trial:  Back then, I ran a company of about 100 employees split evenly between Blacks and Whites.  On the day of the OJ verdict, we put televisions in the lunchroom so that everyone could watch it live.  When the not-guilty verdict was read, the Blacks unanimously cheered and celebrated, while the Whites were unanimously depressed.  Then we all went back to work as if nothing had happened.  But, it forever changed my perspective on the racial divide. 

 

I thought about writing about that continuing dichotomy and the Trayvon Martin case.  How could the races see the same circumstances and come up with such disparate and unanimous conclusions?  (The Trayvon Martin case is mostly conjecture at this point, but nothing will change once the facts come out.  Trust me.)

If I had written about race, I’d have talked about how “culture” is the sum total of all the experiences of a group going back in time.  For instance, in the case of Blacks and Whites, I would have obviously pointed to slavery as the main cultural  point of departure in America. 

With that in mind, here’re some relevant facts from 1860, just prior to the Civil War:

• Virtually all Blacks in 1860 were either slaves, recently freed, or had slavery in their immediate ancestry.
• According to the US census, only 2% of Whites owned slaves nationwide in 1860.

It’s safe to say 150 years later, after multiple waves of immigration, and the civil rights gains of the 1960s, the cultures have not merged:

• Black culture, attitudes, and world-view in America are still 99% affected by a direct lineage to slavery.
• White culture, attitudes, and world-view in America are 99% detached from any direct lineage to slavery.

In other words, 99% of Blacks in America are the cultural descendents of slaves, and 99% of Whites are the cultural descendents of people who never owned slaves!   That does not put Blacks and Whites at opposite ends.  That puts them 200% apart; they occupy two different planes!

So what about discrimination, something Blacks have always dealt with in America? 

Unfortunately, discrimination is a human constant and not limited to White or Black Americans:

• Within African cultures, where virtually everyone is of shared ancestry, there is widespread discrimination and a caste structure.  
• In China, where virtually everyone is of shared ancestry, there is widespread discrimination and a caste structure.   
• In India, where virtually everyone is of shared ancestry, there is widespread discrimination and a caste structure.  
• I could go on about every single culture throughout history.

In other words, discrimination is a human constant and cannot be explained as racism.  That doesn’t make it any less real, but it does suggest that blaming it on race is intellectually lazy.

  

Why, I would have asked, had I written about this, did Barack Obama get a higher percent of the vote than recent White Democrats Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry?  Perhaps discrimination here is based on something other than race, just as it is around the world?  Perhaps we are similar to other cultures, only exceptional perhaps in that discrimination here can be overcome by ability and achievement?

      

I thought I’d write about all this, but then I decided not to.  This message is probably just too hopeful and too controversial, all at the same time.      

Photo Journalism

Trayvon in a Hoodie...According to the Pop Media