"Ferguson and the Racial Divide" was the
headline for today's lead story on "Meet The Press," with Andrea
Mitchell as the moderator, which is a clear reminder of what the state's
governor Jay Nixon (D) called during his interview 'deep wounds' that still
exist in these communities. These deep wounds the governor was referring
to, of course, stem from the racial injustice that still flagrantly exists in
the United States 150 years after the most bloody war in American history that
decided that all men in this country are indeed created equal. However,
while Fergurson, Missouri is illustrating the continued presence of an old
national ugliness, it's also shown us the phenomenon of a new ugliness - the
militarization of our police departments.
Before we get more into that, we're compelled to call
out the governor for not answering Andrea Mitchell's question as to why Chief
Jackson hasn't been fired. The governor said that Mr. Jackson has
subverted the chain of command and, disparaged a man's character when he
released a video tape of an incident involving Michael Brown in a convenient
store before he was shot multiple times by Officer Darren Wilson. The
police department released this video tape without having released any details
of what happened during the shooting - obstructing public justice. No
longer is Chief Thomas Jackson qualified, due to his actions, to act in the
best interest of the community he serves. And the governor hasn't
stripped him of all authority.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editor-in-Chief Gilbert Bailon
commented that there is a deep distrust of the police department by the
community and given the above, that's stupidly easy to understand. Why
wouldn't they be distrustful and
suspicious? Let's not to forget to mention that journalists have also
been arrested, with open hostility from the police as The Washington Post's Wesley Lowery phrased it, for reporting on
what's been happening in Ferguson.
The governor explained that there are dual
investigations going on into what happening - one by the local district
prosecutor and the other by the Justice Department. Well, the JOD needs
to scrutinize the Ferguson Police Department because their actions have been at
the least a public disgrace if not criminal in some regard with their delays in
releasing information.
Speaking of criminal, as Harvard Law Professor Charles
Ogletree said, the officer should be arrested. He shot an unarmed Michael Brown
to death and he hasn't been at least arrested? When you consider all this,
it even angers one who just sitting and writing about it, to say nothing for
the citizens in Ferguson.
What we found striking is the juxtaposition of how the
governor and Civil Rights hero John Lewis (D-GA) outlined the desired goal for
the town of Ferguson. The governor said that "to have justice, we
need peace,' while later in the program Mr. Lewis said 'we cannot have peace
and order without justice.' We found this very telling about the deep
differences in the psyche of our individuals from different backgrounds think
of how to achieve the same goal. What the governor said implied that
peace, in this case calm through suppression, needs to be achieved first before
you can start talking about justice. Conversely, Mr. Lewis was saying
that until justice is served, there can be no peace - his phrasing coming from
a deep understanding of what it means to be oppressed. The governor, not
so much. Just something to think about.
Moving forward, as Los Angeles City Council member,
Bernard Parks and Representative and Mr. Lewis explained, there must be a
dialogue between the authorities and the community so that the common good can
progress, but we have to be honest, that's going to take a while and progress
will be slow because the specter of what we've seen, this glimpse through the
window of the future in how authorities will trample the Constitution to
protect their actions will still be hanging above it all.
The pictures of assault vehicles, smoke bombs, sniper
rifles all trained on citizens of an American town are truly eye-opening, which
is now fact and becoming standard operating procedure. But just like in Iraq,
if you have all these surplus weapons and vehicles and munitions someone is
going to pick them and want to use them. Well, the military had a surplus
laying around here at home so why not get something back for all this money
spent and sold everything to local municipalities dirt cheap. Then the
notion of 'we have them, why not use them' sets in.
***
This brings us to the second half topic - ISIS in Iraq, who is definitely using U.S. weapons in the effort and so far success in establishing an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East - where we'll try and be brief this week.
We neither agree with Ms. Harman's assessments that
President Obama has made all the right decisions on Iraq nor do we agree with
Rep. Turner's complete condemnation of Mr. Obama's policies toward the Middle
East. However, to answer Andrea Mitchell's central question as to weather
we're in the middle of a war in Iraq, the answer is yes. And because the
United States is obligated to act, the president is at the moment showing the
right measure of participation. Jason Riley of The Wall Street Journal said that the key is for the United States
to eliminate ISIS. We agree but he seemed to be advocating U.S. troops on
the ground which is not a good idea, and if it ever came to that again, no
allies would go with us.
But what really stuck with us from the round table
discussion on the Middle East was what Jane Harman said in outlining a truth
about said caliphate, which was that the center of control will be in Saudi
Arabia; let's face it - a false ally of the United States who has actively
funded other Sunnis motivated to kill Americans. Yet, American political
leaders - Democrat and Republican alike - have to continue to call them
friends. Two words to explain that - cheaper gasoline.
Round Table 1: Wesley Lowery, The Washington Post; Gilbert Bailon, Editor-In-Chief St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Baltimore Mayor
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School Professor; and
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
Round Table 2: Anne Gearan, diplomatic correspondent
for The Washington Post; Jason Riley, member of The Wall Street Journal's
editorial board; Jane Harman, the president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars; and Republican Congressman Michael Turner
from Ohio.
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