To those who understand and or subscribe to 'trickle down' theory know that it all starts at the top. Chuck Todd rattled off a series of statistics regarding Congressional wealth: annual salary $174,000 (average American $54K), income growth of 15.4% (average American 3.7%), average net worth without real estate $1,000,000 (average American with real estate $166,000) so when he said that 50.2 percent of Congress consisted of millionaires, we were surprised it was that low.
It's no wonder that 81 percent of Americans think Congresspeople are out of touch. Let's face it, for most of Congress if it isn't about the money, it's about the power, but for more than half it's both. Not only does Congress NOT reflect the American people politically as Amy Walter correctly pointed out, they for the most part definitely don't understand the economic struggles of the populace that they created.
But getting into Congress is a golden ticket, and once you're in you feel like you have a license to do anything. Just like some individuals feel when they have say... a badge.
And these inexplicable grand jury decisions not to indict either police officer in Ferguson or Staten Island perpetuate that sense of license. As to whether or not it's a question of race or poor policing, the answer is both in both cases though we thought it profound that the widow Mrs. Esaw Garner said that she felt like her husband was murdered (by officer Daniel Pantaleo) and that it didn't have that much to do with race.
Mrs. Garner, showing herself to be a genuine person, did not sugar coat the description of her husband in the slightest saying that he 'had a past' referring to past trouble with the law and that he was lazy, but he didn't deserve any of the treatment you see on the video footage. Whether or not Eric Garner was selling loose cigarettes or not, the Garners didn't deserve to be harassed by police being called 'cigarette man' and 'cigarette man wife.' Mr. Garner's civil rights were clearly violated and Mrs. Garner deserves her day in court - it's that clear.
Mrs. Garner, referring to police in a familial way - 1-2-O, said she was afraid of them; she fears for her children in the face of the police because they now know who they are. If our nation's police departments can't change that perception for ordinary citizens [not dangerous criminals] then ultimately equal justice in the United States will collapse - it's failing right now. What ever happened to the notion of "protect and serve?" Unfortunately, it seems quaint now. It's certainly not what Patrick Lynch, President of the New York Police Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, is focused on when he despicably blamed Mr. Garner for resisting arrest, which Mr. Garner didn't do.
The American people have a serious lack of trust and confidence in their law enforcement and the justice system, from the Supreme Court with it's idiot 'corporations are people' type decisions on down the line, and frankly, Americans are tired of feeling at the mercy of a system that they increasing perceive as unfair.
Chuck Canterbury of the Fraternal Brotherhood of Police came off a little too defensive when it came to holding officers responsible, but one valid point that he made was that it all starts with poverty or eliminating it as the case may be. It's something the Reverend Al Sharpton also touch on the same point saying that infrastructure investment could lead to jobs and training for those on the low end of the economic scale.
Does the connection between these tragic incidents and economic hardship even register with most Congresspeople? The focal point of 'service' seems out of their focus so obviously not.
Panel: Rick Santelli, CNBC; Kaseem Reed (D), Mayor of Atlanta; Amy Walter, Cook Political Report; John Stanton, "Buzzfeed" Washington Bureau Chief
Mr. Todd noted the 73rd Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, the day that entered the United States into WWII, and he said that if you haven't been to the memorial in Hawaii, it's worth seeing. It is, but it's not so easy to get there so here you are... (our tribute)...
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