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    BLACK LIVES MATTER - DON'T LET YOURSELVES BE PLAYED AND MISS THE BIG PICTURE

    Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

     
    BLACK LIVES MATTER - DON'T LET YOURSELVES BE PLAYED AND MISS THE BIG PICTURE
     

    RM,
    .
    I know you're a big supporter of the "Black Lives Matter" movement, and as a Black man myself, it's easy to understand why. They reflect our frustration at repeatedly seeing Black people shot down, beaten, choked to death, and possibly even lynched while in police custody. And then if that's not bad enough, we're being forced to endure juries and agencies across this country treating these heinous crimes as though the alleged perpetrators are performing a public service. It's unconscionable and almost more than one can stand. So I'm definitely in full support of BLM's "professed" agenda.
    .
    But I'm also quite concerned about how BLM is going about trying to achieve their objectives, and whether or not they've been infiltrated by right-wing operatives who are instigating a level of stupidity that's not only sabotaging BLM's professed agenda, but is allowing the organization to be used to undermine other progressive activists - So far, Bernie Sanders, Al Sharpton, and Mike Malloy - activists who should be considered allies. They settled for a quiet little chat, behind the scenes, with Hillary Clinton. Hmmmmm . . .
    .
    Writer and political commentator,  , describes the the BLM takerover of Bernie Sanders' Seattle event as follows:
    .
    "We'd been waiting for nearly two hours by the time he finally took the stage. We'd been approached by a few dozen petition-circulators, button-sellers, pamphlet-distributors and sign-holders. We'd heard a few songs by a group called the "Raging Grannies." And we'd listened to the usual array of warm-up speakers, local candidates and activists gathered for this event at Westlake Center in Seattle. Now, it was finally time for the man of the hour--or the two hours, actually. Until all of a sudden it wasn't.
    .
    "Just as Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was beginning his speech, protestors representing "Black Lives Matter" took the stage, screamed at Sanders and commandeered the podium at what was supposed to be a celebration of the birthdays of Social Security and Medicare. I watched all this occur in real-time, but I was also capturing it on video. And I am glad I did, because not enough has been said of the insulting manner by which these individuals addressed everyone within earshot.
    .
    "Demanding to speak, and to do so before Senator Sanders, Marissa Janae Johnson, a self-described co-founder of the Seattle group, began by telling us all "You guys are full of bullshit with your black lives matter!" Even though the crowd had cheered earlier speakers who'd mentioned the movement, Ms. Johnson seemed distraught that some people were chanting "Bernie!, Bernie!" after she'd taken over the stage.
    .
    "Why was the crowd chanting "Bernie! Bernie!"? you might ask.Because they came to see Bernie Sanders speak about Social Security and Medicare.
    .
    "This was when Ms. Johnson reprimanded the crowd even more--a crowd whose average age was easily more than twice that of her own--by announcing "You're never going to hear Bernie speak unless I get silence here now." Yes, she was scolding people of her parents' and grandparents' generations who had come to hear about how we might make lives better for the poor and elderly. And now she was also holding Senator Bernie Sanders for ransom." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-k-pinaire-phd/feel-the-bern_b_796368...)
    .
    So again, while I share your frustration, I'm greatly concerned over BLM's behavior, because nobody can be as stupid as they've been by accident, and  as a child of the sixties, I learned very early in life to never allow myself to be blinded by circumstances. No matter how frustrating and unconscionable the situation, we must always remain vigilant for hyper-ideologues engaged in reckless and unnecessary stupidity.  CointelPro 101.
    .
    The minute I witnessed what BLM did to Al Sharpton and Bernie Sanders I cringed, because it was like "deja vu all over again." It was immediately clear to me that behavior such as that is the primary reason we're still fighting the very same battle 50 years later.
    .
    Both Sharpton and Sanders were on the right page and using the perfect tactic - educating the people and gaining their empathy and support. Then hot-heads professing to be from BLM jumped on stage using exactly the wrong tactic - snatching the mic and shaking their fist at the very people who they should be trying to recruit as allies. They weren't scaring nobody; they just pissed people off - including me, and I'm an old-school revolutionary. 
    .

    People are tired of publicity-seeking fist-shakers creating public distractions and wasting our time. Fist-shakers are generally just looking for applause, so they should go somewhere and learn to tap dance and get it legitimately. We're looking for thinkers who can seriously, and effectively, address our problems, not overbearing and obnoxious, "look-at-what-I'm-doing" type entertainers. This situation is much too serious for such self-serving and childish behavior. All they've done is become a distraction. Instead of talking about how Black lives truly do matter, all we're discussing is BLM's childishly disgusting behavior; and instead of promoting the perfect declaration - again, that Black lives matter - whenever thousands of people hear the phrase, the first thing they'll experience is their anger over BLM's silly antics. Our enemies are dead serious, so this is no time to jump on stage auditioning for fame.
    .
    In response you said, "Since the NYPD is using COINTELPRO against BLM, doesn't that make BLM legit? If BLM is COINTELPRO,  did Obama authorize the operation?"
    .
    You're missing the point. When CointelPro is mentioned, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is the exact same government-initiated program that it was during the Civil Rights Movement; what I'm suggesting is BLM's attack on Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rev. Sharpton (both allies) struck me as CointelPro-LIKE.  During the sixties Howard Hughes was world famous for being considered one of the riches men on Earth as a result of his $2.5 billion fortune. But today's billionaires could leave that kind of chump-change as a tip. So today the Koch Bros., ALEC, and their billionaire friends can finance programs that not only rival CointelPro, but more - and they often do.
    .
    In today's world there is no such thing as a group being "legit" or "illegit".  I'm sure that the 99% of the people involved in BLM are perfectly legitimate and their primary concern is protecting Black lives, but how can we prevent the Corporate/GOP Alliance, with all of their vast wealth and resources, from sprinkling illegitimate infiltrators among BLM's ranks to instigate ill-advised - in fact, stupid - behavior that not only sabotages BLM's agenda, but also undermines other progressive activists and/or candidates?  The fact is, we can't. So again, all we can do is remain vigilant for inappropriate behavior and be discrete, but thorough, in monitoring and looking into the background of people who are over-the-top and who suggest such behavior. People like that are either Judas goats, or not level-headed enough to be in positions of responsibility.

    That's why it's so important for the the working class to come together and pool our political resources instead of going our separate ways as single-issue, fanatic-prone, factions. We cannot win this CLASS WAR by trying to fight it as single-issue factions. Black people, at 13% of the population, are going to be crushed trying to fight injustice by themselves. The same is true of union workers, women, gays, or undocumented immigrants, because the Corporate/GOP Alliance is going to use their vast wealth to manipulate us and turn us against one another. They're going to turn Blacks against immigrants, union workers against non-union workers, and Christians against anybody who doesn't look, think, and act like their particular denomination.  In short, we're going to continue to see repeat performances of the way BLM turn on Bernie Sanders while he wasTRYING to tell us what we were up against: "Aw man, Get off the stage! We don't want to hear all of that. We want to know what you're going to do about Black injustice!!!" The fact was, he was trying to tell 'em, but the hot-heads among them weren't listening - or thinking. They didn't understand what any mildly competent chess player knows - sometimes you have to address an issue through a circuitous route.
    .
    You see, many people tend to be so blinded by anger over their single issue that they fail to see the big picture. So the Corporate/GOP Alliance will stirrup anger among Black people, and then do the same thing with other factions - women, gays, workers, immigrants, etc - to keep us so focused on, and fighting over, whose single issue is going to be given priority that we're completely oblivious to the fact that they're hard at work cutting ALL of our throats.
    .
    Factional injustice is merely a distraction to keep us angry, frustrated, and divided. The end-game is actually about abolishing Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, The Fair Labor Standards Act, etc.  In short, they're trying to lower the standard of living of the American middle class to a level that coincides with third world countries of the new global economy, where many workers make less a week than many middle-class Americans spend on lunch per day.
    .
    Thus, it is absolutely essential that we wake up and stop being so blind and single-issue oriented. Yes, absolutely, we should continue to be aggressive in addressing issues of injustice, but we must organize and address all  matters of  injustice AS A CLASS, and not as a multitude of fractious and undisciplined factions. Currently we're trying to fight a class war against the most insidious domestic enemy in the history of the United States as a multitude of clueless platoons, each headed up by a corporal, and without sufficient resources. The Corporate/GOP Alliance, on the other hand, is a well funded and organized army headed by a four star general - and he has a bird's eye-view of the entire field of battle. That's unacceptable, and it's political suicide.
    .
    Eric L. Wattree
    http://wattree.blogspot.com/
    [email protected]
    Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
    .
    Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

    Comments

    Eric

    The 2016 election will be decided by people voting for the candidate who best addresses their issues. Democrats have the edge on electoral votes. Democrats have enough white voters to win the election, enough men to win the election, enough women to win the election, enough blacks to win, enough Latinos to win, and enough Asians to win. Democrats won't win the South, but we have the electoral votes.

    Republicans have already done enough to tick off enough of the above voters that the GOP haS already lost the election. They are dead and they know it. Donald Trump is just having fun. He has created turmoil between Fox and the RNC. He has Republicans looking like the true misogynistic racists that form the reason for their party's existence.

    The Republicans have forced all the more Progressive so-called single issue voters together. Environmentalists, feminists, immigrant's rights activists, women's right's activists, etc are all voting Democratic. All hail single issue voters. Thank the GOP for bringing them together.

    Let's also thank the mastermind behind the greatest COINTELPRO operation ever, Bill Clinton. Bill got the narcissist Donald Trump to run for President as a Republican. We should all acknowledge the political genius that is William Jefferson Clinton. Go COINTELPRO Go.


    A major reason that Big money could not elect McCain or Romney is one man or woman concerned about their own issues and possessing one vote. The GOP has gone so crazy all the rational voters with their rational issues each have a vote that will not be cast for the GOP. A uni-cause, single group would be open to infighting. Separate, individual voters are harder to control. Vote jobs, education, justice, immigration, etc and vote Democratic. 

    E pluribus unum


    Wow!!! I didn't know that about Bill, RM.  I'm going to have Google that information. I got fed up and stopped watching television about a year and a half ago, so sometimes I miss a few things. So I think I'm going to have to cave in and go back to it, because I'm beginning to recognize that monitoring idiocy can also be informative.  But I predicted the GOP's plight months ago:
    .

    Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree
    PREDICTION: GOP TO STUMBLE BADLY IN 2016 ELECTION
     

    As I’m sure most of you know, the GOP is far from a bastion of intellectual giants. So winning the 2014's midterm election could be the worst thing that’s happened to the GOP in the past six years, and it could be the best thing that’s happened to the Democrats since Barack Obama’s 2008 election.
    .
    Now that the GOP has taken over congress, I suspect that they’re already beginning to recognize that their new role of congressional leadership is not quite as easy as their old role of irresponsible obstructionists. In the last congress, all Republicans had to do was sit back and come up with a pretext for saying no to everything. Then when things began to fall apart as a result of their irresponsible behavior, the American people blamed it on President Obama and the Democrats. But now, they have a responsibility to perform, and to initiate legislation to help move the country forward. That’s an entirely different ball game. Now they're going to be held accountable.
    .
    The GOP is also going to have to deal with the fact that their corporate supporters are now going to fully expect tons of favorable legislation heaped their way in return for the tons of cash they funneled into the GOP. Then, when you add to that, the virulent, and still growing, antipathy of the American people toward corporate greed, and the GOP’s long tradition - and what's become a conservative obligation - of trying to undermine every program designed to protect the average citizen, they’re between a rock and a hard place.    
    .
    In addition, conservatives tend to lack a sense of limits, in any event. So it’s not even a gamble to predict that they’re going to overreach and incur the wrath of the American people with their excesses, just like they did during the Civil Rights movement when they attacked civil rights marchers with dogs, brutality, and fire hoses on the street. I predict they’re going to repeat that mistake, but this time, instead of hosing down marchers in the street, they’re going to attempt to hose down the American people as a whole by unleashing the conservative dogs of greed and brutality attack the American middle-class safety net . . . (MORE)

    http://wattree.blogspot.com/2015/01/prediction-dop-to-stumble-badly-in-2...



    Here is one analysis of the negative impact Trump has on the GOP and the implications for 2016

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/henry-fernandez/donald-trump-is-killing-th...


    This is almost as stupid as your conspiracy theory that Hillary spent 50 years as a republican mole in the democratic party because she worked for Goldwater as a teenager.

     I'm sure that the 99% of the people involved in BLM are perfectly legitimate, and their primary concern is protecting Black lives

    Your conspiracy theory is based on the premise that those 99% are so stupid and gullible that they could be fooled into counter-productive behavior by a couple of plants. I understand why you make that error since your posts presuppose stupid and gullible readers. Unfortunately, for you, most see through your nonsense.


    Eric

    The bad guys are operating in the open, Voter suppression is an active part of their program. Anti-Hispanic rhetoric is out in the open. Their misogyny is out in the open. Billionaire funding of the GOP is out in the open. They are not hiding.

    There is no logical path that the GOP can follow to keep Democrats from voting for the candidate of their choosing by using BLM. This is precisely because individual Democratic voters vote for the candidate who addresses their individual issues. 

    Sanders supporters may be angry at BLM. These voters are not going to stay home and not vote for Sanders because of BLM. They may hate BLM, but they will vote Sanders. 

    If BLM grabs the microphone from Sharpton, most Sharpton supporters are going to vote for Sanders, if he is the candidate. BLM would be considered spoiled children.

    I know the corporations and billionaires are out there, please explain to me how BLM is going to create dissension among black voters. What is BLM going to do to create this friction. I think most people expect many folks in BLM to stay at home during the election. I'd be surprised if they pick a specific candidate.

    What exactly is BLM going to do? 


    I stand rapidly corrected. As noted by Hal Ginsberg in his Dagblog today, Bernie is rated 8 and Hillary a 2 on BLM's rankings of Presidential candidates on their website. They join with Cornel West in rating Bernie Sanders highly.

    BLM is on your side regarding Bernie Sanders.

    Edit to add:

    Fox and Trump are having a cat fight right now

    BLM likes Bernie

    I'm gonna be shopping for a WiFi enabled popcorn popper for the 2016 election. I can have the popcorn already popped and warm when I get home from work to watch the news and debates.


    RM,
    .
    Thank you so much for your link.  I can only say once again - Wow!!!  This is explosive!  The ramifications of this is so mind-blowing that it's going to take me a couple of days to think it through. But it does go to show one thing - we're no longer talking about liberals against conservatives; we're talking about the rich against the working class. It suggests to me that Bernie Sanders is the only horse that the working class has in this race. You won't see him hobnobbing with the enemy - and Trump IS the enemy.

    Bill Clinton Advises Trump On Presidential Run


    Trump was probably going to run anyway. Bill likely stroked Trump's ego.

    Yesterday, Trump kicked the best known Latino reporter, Jorge Ramos, out of a press conference. Trump claimed he didn't know the reporter. Trump said that security removed the roster and that he didn't know the security people. The security person was Trump's personal bodyguard who Trump signaled to have the reporter removed. Ramos was from Univision. Trump knew this was the case and knew Ramos. When security allowed Ramos back in the room, Trump verified he knew Ramos by asking Ramos if he knew the amount of Trump's lawsuit against Univision.

    In short order Trump had a temper tantrum and had his personal bodyguard remove Ramos from the press conference. Trump  lied about not knowing Ramos and he lied about not knowing his own bodyguard. This happened in front of television cameras. We know who and what Trump is. Trump still has significant GOP support.


    Campaign Zero is four people, three of whom are loosely associated with BLM but they do not represent BLM and they state that fact at their slick blog. Their reform program is Obama's commission program and while it is a detailed program it is still a fantasy reform PR document with no community control or power over the Occupying Forces even mentioned, no less offered.

    BLM published some demands earlier with the most interesting being cutting funding to police departments and using the money to improve conditions in inner cities, you will never see that demand included in Bernie's platform or any other politician's  platform.


    Campaign Zero is four people.

    You've got just you.

    What's the problem?


    According to you Hillary is no good, Bernie is no good, and Black Lives Matter is no good. What is your proposal to address what needs to be done? All we have heard before is crickets. What would you like to see happen? 

     


    What is your proposal to address what needs to be done?

    First: Place the blame for another act of violence, squarely on the selfish ideology of the  “Black Lives Matter| movement

    Selfish, because the Ideology behind the movement is; that it is All about Blacks lives and to hell with everyone else.

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/26/us/virginia-shooting-wdbj/index.html

    If someone should question the selfishness of the movement, all hell breaks lose

    O'Malley apologizes for saying 'all lives matter' - CNNPolitics ...

    Because according to the movement, ALL that matters, is Black lives 


    Thanks for this obviously well thought out analysis Anonymous (not verified). You have convinced me that is all BLM's fault.

    The fact that your link says that he admired the Columbine shooters and the Virginia Tech shooter support deep BLM influence. The fact that he was told to act by the voice of Jehovah definitely has BLM's fingerprints all over these murders. 

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/shooting-alleged-gunman-details-grievances-suic...

    Once again thank you for sharing your intellectual prowess and skills of objective analysis with us Anonymous (not verified)


    Alison Parker's father seems to place the blame on the absence of background checks and the need for stricter gun control laws.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/08/26/vicitim-s-father-to-fight...


    Wow !  Will this be a typical response from supporters of the BLM ? 

    You want to use a grieving fathers opinion, to push an agenda, rather than focus on the real cause; the mind of a deranged person? 

    Maybe next year people will celebrate the death of this perp, because the BLM will claim the shooter had justification for his actions, because  he was mad as hell and he couldn't take it anymore?  


    The father wants changes to include keeping guns out of the hands of mentally ill people. You should read before you post. You sound ridiculous and incoherent. Signing off from you.

     


    So now you're making 'demands' for proposals and I'm not even a candidate or a demonstrator.. Projecting your confusion about  BLM and Campaign Zero being separate entities won't fly, I have supported and defended BLM from attacks since its inception and will continue to do so.

    Many people are already conflating Campaign Zero with BLM and this is how cooptation begins.and movements can end.

    One thing i won't do is dictate to them or any other young movement what they need to do or how they should proceed, they have the right to their own victories and mistakes.


    Nope 

    No demands

    Just wanted to see if you had a clue about anything.

    Edit to add:

    http://www.npr.org/2015/08/26/434975505/black-lives-matter-publishes-cam...

    The fact that the list was comprised of BLM members is noted

    Activists in the Black Lives Matter movement have answered critics who have asked for specific policy proposals. A group in the movement published a 10-point agenda to reduce police violence in this country. The plan is called "Campaign Zero." It calls for stronger guidelines limiting the use of force and banning police quotas for tickets and arrests. Brittany Packnett is one of the people behind the proposals, and we reached her today in St. Louis.

    The 4 people ID themselves with pictures on their website.

    http://www.joincampaignzero.org/about/

    No super secret stuff


    My original question was out of curiosity. You had a negative reaction to most things, I just wondered what system would satisfy your needs. Nothing more than a question.


    RM,

    Here's my response to a very intelligent Facebook friend (a University professor) and one of the originators of BLM. She indicated that she was disappointed in my point of view, wanted to know if I thought she was a "snitchjacket," and wondered out loud if it would have been better to address my concerns through conversation instead of publication.  I used much of the same response that I sent you:
    .

    I'm not trying to place a "snitchjacket" on BLM, nor am I claiming that the entire organization is a tool, but it wouldn't take but a few strategically placed people for the organization to be manipulated like one. Again, "When CointelPro is mentioned, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is the exact same government-initiated program that it was during the Civil Rights Movement; what I'm suggesting is BLM's attack on Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rev. Sharpton (both allies) struck me as CointelPro-LIKE. During the sixties Howard Hughes was world famous for being considered one of the riches men on Earth as a result of his $2.5 billion fortune. But today's billionaires could leave that kind of chump change as a tip. So today, the Koch Bros., ALEC, and their billionaire friends can finance programs that not only rival CointelPro, but more - and they often do."
    .
    So, "in today's world there is no such thing as a group being 'legit' or 'illegit'. I'm sure that the 99% of the people involved in BLM [including yourself] are perfectly legitimate and their primary concern is protecting Black lives, but how can we prevent the Corporate/GOP Alliance, with all of their vast wealth and resources, from sprinkling illegitimate infiltrators among BLM's ranks to instigate ill-advised - in fact, stupid - behavior that not only sabotages BLM's agenda, but also undermines other progressive activists and/or candidates? The fact is, we can't. So again, all we can do is remain vigilant for inappropriate behavior and be discrete, but thorough, in monitoring and looking into the background of people who are over-the-top and who suggest such behavior. People like that are either Judas goats, or not level-headed enough to be in positions of responsibility."
    .
    It is true, BLM is a young movement, but people like Bev and myself are from a generation that has been here and done this, so BLM should listen instead of being carried away on a wave of adrenaline and having to relive a counterproductive and destructive past. The minute I witnessed what BLM did to Al Sharpton and Bernie Sanders I cringed, because it was like "deja vu all over again." It was immediately clear to me that behavior such as that is the primary reason we're still fighting the very same battle 50 years later. 
    .
    Both Sharpton and Sanders were on the right page and using the perfect tactic - educating the people and gaining their empathy and support. Then hot-heads professing to be from BLM jumped on stage using exactly the wrong tactic - snatching the mic and shaking their fist at the very people who they should be trying to recruit as allies. They weren't scaring nobody; they just pissed people off - including me, and I'm an old-school revolutionary. People are tired of publicity-seeking fist-shakers creating public distractions and wasting our time. Such people are generally just looking for applause, so they should go somewhere and learn to tap dance. We're looking for thinkers who can seriously, and effectively, address the problem.
    .
    With regard to constructive criticism being made through "conversation not publication," I completely disagree with that. This knowledge of history is much too important to be whispered. This is a teaching moment, so this is not information that should be disseminated among a select few; this is knowledge that should be shouted to the masses with a megaphone to prevent them from being unduly influenced into repeating the ill-advised behavior of the past. So we should never go out of our way to shield stupidity. On the contrary, we should always put it on Front Street, because when we do that, it'll cause people to think before they act.
     


    How exactly IS BLM going to kee p people from voting?


    Your original demand/question was certainly 'curious' and the lie you projected that i thought BLM was 'no good' was even, more curious. I didn't even say anything negative about Campaign Zero only that they stated they did not represent BLM and that their reform proposals were from Obama's commission, on which one of CZ organizers sat.

    At least two of CZ's members are minor celebrities from their activism in Ferguson and Baltimore and they have been promoted as acceptable young Leaders by the media because they pose no threat to the system and are models to attract people back to the political Veal Pens and away from the Radical core of BLM. I haven't seen any feedback from BLM on the CZ reform proposals and they may see them as Useful Fools who will keep the media and other rubes chasing their tails around the election's black hole while the Radical Anarchists continue to train and educate their followers.

    What would satisfy my needs is another strange deflection because I'm not a victim of White privilege and Ruling Class maintained institutional racism,  perpetuated by their lackeys in the Democrat and Republican parties.

     

     


    Thanks Wattree.  This is a very good blog as per usual.  I wish very much BLM would follow the template set by Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement which included building (not burning) bridges with white allies, such as a formerly poor white Texan, and organizing communities of color to register to vote en masse and then to vote in every election for candidates working for racial and economic justice.


    Hal, tell the full story of the relationship between MLK and LBJ. Earlier in the relationship, LBJ despised the March MLK was planning in Selma. LBJ did not approve of the march. 

    http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/386962/what-lbj-really-said-about...

    LBJ also worked to thwart the efforts of Fannie Lou Hamer in seeking justice for the black delegation from Mississippi 

    http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/386962/what-lbj-really-said-about...

    Let's not sugar coat the truth. The relationship was not without disagreements. 

    Would you have told King to hold back in Selma?


    Black Lives Matter was created to address injustice in the legal system focusing on policing. Previous civil rights organizations challenged politicians and Presidents. BLM does not have to please politicians. Hillary maintains high support in the black community despite being challenged by BLM.Tthe Sanders campaign continues without obstruction. 

    The grassroots organizations that have get out the vote prams have not gone out of existence. Continued homicides by police and the Donald Trump campaign provide the Sparks needed to encourage minority turnout.  GOTV already exists.

    BLM was not created to address the fantasy if black in black crime. The black community is already protested the impact if poverty, a failed education system, and crime. 

    Given that there is no observable impact of BLM on any Democratic campaign, why is there a fixation and delusion about the harm BLM is doing?

    The problem for Hillary is the email snipe hunt orchestrated by the GOP. The problem for Bernie is convincing the nation that Socialism is something Americans enjoy already. If either campaign focuses on BLM as the biggest threat, they will lose.


    When 53 are wounded and 9 are dead over one 4th of July weekend in Chicago, 2015, it cannot be written off as solely the result of poverty or lack of good public schools.

    And it's not a fantasy to recognize there are other intrinsic problems present in those communities that matter, must be admitted to, and for which hard work needs be done to remedy.


    You work on the "intrinsic" problems. The murder rate in Chicago had decreased from even higher levels. So the "intrinsic" factors must not be genetic.

    http://theweek.com/articles/463353/chicagos-murder-rate-isnt-nearly-bad-...

    You cannot accept the fact that homicides were lower before the recent exposure of police abuse by one of the city's officers. People nationwide have lost respect for law enforcement. In Chicago, like in Baltimore, there is a fund to pay citizens for abuse at the hands of police. The Chicago police maintained a secret jail where citizen where held in secret and physically abused. There is no respect for law enforcement in Chicago because of abuses committed by the police department. That disrespect for the law by the police is the "intrinsic factor" you place in the black community.

    I can't talk you down from looking for pathology in the black community, and I'm not going to try. I will show you what the black community has faced in silence for years.When corruption was exposed and acknowledged, anger and frustration resulted in a higher crime rate. Little attention paid to education, jobs, and poverty along with suspicion and fear of the police department yields a not unexpected result.

    Right now, intrinsic factors in Chicago has led citizens in minority communities to conduct a hunger strike to object to the closing of schools in their neighborhoods. The people in the feel that they are under siege by the Mayor and the police. Who do you call to control crime when the police are criminals?


    RM, you asked, "Who do you call to control crime when the police are criminals?"

    The answer is, we must call on one another.  The biggest problem that we have in the Black community is that we're failing to come together to address our own problems. Police abuse, crime, poor schools, poverty and a lack of jobs, etc. all stem from the very same source - the black community's tendency to wait around for someone else to solve our problems.  That's a fact that we're going to have to confront sooner or later. We're going to have to begin to realize, as a community, that we will never obtain the justice we seek until we become strong enough to demand it, and wise and resolute enough hold on to it. The bottom line is, nobody's going to GIVE us anything, so we might as well become comfortable with that fact, and begin to carry ourselves in a manner that will compensate for it. We can neither ask the police to "be nice," nor throw tantrums when they're not. Neither of those tactics will be effective. We must turn off BET, MTV, and ESPN; take off our party hats, and come together to develop enough political clout where it BEHOOVES  them to treat us with dignity and respect when they come into our communities. That's the ONLY tactic that has ever worked in the history of humanity, because the weak are ALWAYS rendered victims. That's their assigned role in society, so it's our role not to be placed in that position.


    Eric

    You have swallowed the okey-doke. Since the creation of the country we have had a meme of black pathology. We were fed images of happy slaves until slave narratives and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" made the country face the brutality of slavery. We were even told stories of non-existent black Confederates. After the Civil War, we were fed stories of lay blacks and money grubbing whites during Reconstruction. The stories of Klan attacks on blacks and terrorizing of carpetbaggers who were doing great work were hidden from view. Black Congressmen were going good works and the country turned its back on them.

    Blacks had to fight for participation in both political parties. Republicans had the Blacks and Tans versus the Lily-Whites era, the GOP of today is openly racist. The Democrats made up the membership of the Klan in the past. Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party had to fight for a seat at the table. When a black group today wants to force discussion about police abuse, they are told to shut up. They are told that their demands do not serve some nebulous greater good. They are told to fall in line and not to demand what they think is appropriate.

    Blacks in Chicago, blacks are protesting the closing of black schools in black neighborhoods. Most blacks are not watching BET. Black are demanding respect they are protesting and demanding respect.

    I can't talk you down from viewing BLM as an evil harming Democrats, even as Bernie Sanders climbs in the polls. They are scapegoats. When two NYPD officers were gunned down by a deranged black man, the head of an NYPD police union blamed black protestor. The man was turned into local police by his black ex-girlfriend who stopped watching BET long enough to warn local authorities. When a black man ambushed a Sheriff in Texas, he was turned in by his mother. The head Sheriff blamed BLM for setting the atmosphere for the ambush. In each homicide of police officers, black citizens acted responsibly and identified criminals to law enforcement. In each case blacks making demands on law enforcement was blamed for the crime.

    Violent crime among blacks had decreased for decades and blacks were still viewed as pathologic. Blacks pay taxes and demand better schools and jobs. The image that people are sitting home watching ESPN is a slander. When blacks make demands to address crime in black neighborhood, they are told to shut up. When blacks want schools to remain open or improved, they are told to shut up.

    The desired solution seems to be to follow the white guy who is friends with Jesse Jackson and Cornel West. Don't make waves. Just go along to get along. Think police abuse is important? Shut up and wait until the decades that it will take Sanders' economic plan to kick in. Just shut up in the meantime.

    Blacks are working on issues. Change is slow.

    Immigration has not been solved despite decades of debate.

    The country was ready for something as simple as background checks for guns after Sandy Hook. The movement failed. Are gun control advocates lazy? No!

    There is crime in clustered enclaves of urban poverty. This is not a surprise. The issue has not been solved, but that does not mean that televisions are blaring BET and ESPN night and day in black households.

     


    Hillary has a high unfavorability rating yet she did nothing wrong in Benghazi. The GOP is now going after emails. If an opponent spent years saying that you did something wrong without proof, You would have high negatives as well. It's the okey-dole.

    CNN postponed a documentary on the tenth anniversary of Katrina so we could hear another rambling ad lib speech by Donald Trump. Is it any wonder that he has a following given that the media spends a great deal of time marveling at his campaign. It s the okey-doke.

    Dick Cheney's comments about Iran are taken seriously enough to be broadcast on television. It is the okey-doke

    GW Bush was treated cordially when he went back to New Orleans. He took no personal responsibility..Hillary is a liar? Cheney is a reliable commenter on the Middle East and GW can talk to any audience in New Orleans. It is the okey-doke.

    Enclaves of black poverty in crowded areas resulting in surprise about crime is the okey-doke


    So. even though LBJ was at times a reluctant at best ally, MLK worked with him and the two did great things together.  OTH, Bernie has always been an enthusiastic supporter of civil and voting rights and ending racial injustice, yet BLM confronts and embarrasses him.


    BLM wanted police abuse at the forefront of the discussion. MLK wanted the Edmund Pettus march to occur. Both BLM and MLK disagreed with the politicians. 

    Your most recent post boasts of Sanders gains in the polls. BLM had no negative effect. BLM rated Sanders at 8/10 and Hillary at 2/10.

    The continued focus on BLM's attack on Sanders makes no sense. Fortunately, the Sanders campaign has moved on.


    The continued focus on BLM's attack on Sanders makes no sense. 

    Take off the blinders, the nation saw another example of the selfish nature of a special interest group, who has no respect for order.

    It was clear to many, the BLM has already decided who should be the Democrat Party presidential candidate and Bernie Sanders isn't their choice.

    Jorge, "Order? We don't need no  order" 

    Rules don't apply to them, they only apply to the rest. 

    ALL LIVES MATTER


    Eric 

    In Chicago, there are payouts to citizens for abuse committed by a police officer. There is also  a secret jail that is used to disappear black citizens of Chicago. No one is simply asking Chicago police to be "nice" they are being asked not to be criminal. Cities create poverty reservations complete with food deserts where citizens who can't escape are labeled as morally deficient because of the activity of criminal who are deliberately placed on the reservation. They are closing schools in black neighborhoods and people are protesting, not watching BET.

    In New Orleans, poor people were clustered in low lying areas. When the city flooded, the low lying area was the first to go. Whites fared better because many homes were built on higher ground. When the city was being reconstructed middle class black homes tended to be in lower lying areas compared to white families with equal income. Funding received to replace homes for New Orleans was based on appraisal value, not what it cost to replace the home.it took a lawsuit to correct the discrepancy.

    Blacks are protesting. They are not sitting around watching ESPN. This stereotype is identical to the idea of happy slaves content to serve 'Massa. There were mutinies on slave ships. There were slaves mutinies. A slave commandeered a Confederate ship and turned it over to the Union. Slaves were not docile they had activists. There are activists today.

    If blacks are staying home watching ESPN, so are whites because there has been no real action on gun control. Where is the ongoing protest to send Wall Street bankers to jail. Are whites watching reality TV? 

    People of all ethnic backgrounds are protesting. Effecting change is not easy. A multi-dimensional attack is needed because there are so many issues to deal with. A single organization advocating for the working class would be too cumbersome to be of value to anyone.

    Generally, issues have to be taken to court for resolution. People protest and make demands every day.

    Neither Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton has a magic wand that will cure all ills, either one would be better than anyone the GOP puts forth.


    Regarding blacks putting themselves in a position to be murdered by police. Jon Crawford was talking on a cellphone carrying a toy gun sold by Walmart. The murder was justified. Tamar Ice was playing in a playground. The prosecutor is dragging his feet. Putting themselves in a position to be murdered is more of the okey-doke.

    Dylan Ruff slaughtered nine people and Charleston police were kind enough to feed him a hamburger.

    The reason that you protest unarmed people from being murdered by police is that the police do not differentiate between unarmed black criminals and unarmed law-abiding citizens. Trayvon Martin was gunned down by a racist in a gated community. Economics does not protect black people. Juries consider black victims responsible for their own deaths.


    RM,

    I just want to let you know that I'm not just debating you for the sake of debating.  You're a very intelligent and thoughtful person, so I often use our debates and/or discussions as teaching moments. I'm also trying to pull more people to Dagblog.  I just thought I should let you know:
    .
    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=937314102983268&set=a.1363057530...
    .
    BLACK LIVES DON'T MATTER BECAUSE WE DON'T LOVE AND SUPPORT OUR CULTURE
    .
    RM, you said,
    .
    "Want to ease the economy in poor black neighborhoods? Stop using the community as an ATM by ticketing and court costs. Want crime to go down? Have a police force that doesn't abuse the citizens it is supposed to protect. Such a police force will be trusted."
    .
    RM, If we placed as much energy into education, community affairs, voting, and supporting Black businesses as we do saggin', flo-showin' and making people like Dr. Dre billionaires, we'd be the ones running the police dept. in the black community. That would solve all of the problems that both you, and BLM, are complaining about.  You see, the problem that I have with both you, and BLM's position is, you're both demanding that SOMEONE ELSE address issues that WE should be addressing ourselves. That's the root of the problem in the Black community. If we controlled our own community we wouldn't have to march and protest, and if we controlled our own money we wouldn't always be beggin', others would be beggin' from us.
    .
    Beneath The Spin*Eric L. Wattree
    .
    The Black Community Controls $1.1 Trillion in Buying Power, Yet . . .
    .
    The African American community controls more spending power than the Gross National Product of Germany, the third richest industrial nation in the world, so why are we whining to the White man to provide for our needs?
    .
    Dr. James P. Neelankavil, a professor of marketing and international business at Hofstra University, says in his book, International Business Research, that "Since the output of a country is an indicator of its economic activity, the GNP [Gross National Product] is often used as key factor in evaluating a country’s economic strength. The five largest countries in the world based on their GNP are the United States, $7 trillion; Japan, $2.5 trillion; Germany, $1.1 Trillion; France, $873 billion; and China, $393 billion." 
    .
    So based on Professor Neelankavil’s data, the African American community’s buying power of $1.1 trillion is equal to the economy of Germany, the third largest industrial economy in the world. We control $127 billion more than France, and $607 billion more than the gross national product of China.
    .
    The following statistic says it all:
    .
    "Currently, a dollar circulates in Asian communities for a month, in Jewish communities approximately 20 days and white communities 17 days. How long does a dollar circulate in the black community? 6 hours!!! African American buying power is at 1.1 Trillion; and yet only 2 cents of every dollar an African American spends in this country goes to black owned businesses"(http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2014/02/african-americans-1-1-trillion-do...).
    .
    So let's keep it real. While the crimes being committed against Black people are unconscionable, we're letting them happen. The fact is, we're much more interested in trying to make it LOOK like we've attained the "American dream" as individuals, than we are coming together and ACTUALLY attaining it as a community. We're the only group of people in the world that I can think of who measure our worth by how far we can get away from our own culture. Instead of loving and supporting our culture, it's about "look at me!"


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