Why do we as Americans place so much faith in the "official account" of events?
Without a doubt, every American citizen believes government officials in all capacities lie. If you're a conservative, the liberals lie. If you're a liberal, the conservatives lie. If you're a regular citizen who has liberal and conservative leanings, everybody and they momma lies.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, believes public officials tell the truth all the time.
Yet, when controversies emerge, particularly those involving matters of race, I see folks rush to embrace the "official account." Of course, the most recent example of this was the Skip Gates incident, but there are so many more examples: Oscar Grant's murder, the case of the Atlanta grandmother, the abuses of that Tulia, Texas police officer. It doesn't even have to be about race. What about the Bush account of Sadaam Hussein's war chest, or the military account of Pat Tillman's death?
It's a paradox. Many, many Americans would claim not to trust the government, or to have mixed views about law enforcement, but when controversy erupts, those are the people they wholeheartedly trust. Americans cling to the "official account" like Titanic passengers clung to the hulls of their lifeboats.
All while the big ship continues to sink.
Why do so many of us have so much faith in the official account? I was struck by how readily people assumed that the facts in the Cambridge police department's report were what actually happened that day, even as several other accounts of the events were released. In fact, even as portions of the report have been debunked, people are still giving the officer the benefit of the doubt.
This is despite the fact that his own police department refused to pursue the arrest he so "lawfully" made. That means that either the arrest was a bad bust, or the police department threw out a good arrest to appease a Harvard professor and his supporters.
Troubling thought, ain't it?
I've decided that people trust the official report for many of the same reasons Christians trust the Bible. Everyone wants to feel like there is something in the world that is true and pure and infallible. For some folks it's the word of God, for others it's the reports filed by Officer Friendly or the Secretary of Defense.
While I understand the impulse, it seems idiotic when it comes to fallible, flawed human beings. Why trust people who place themselves on a pedestal when it is convenient, only to be asked to be treated like everyone else when the going gets tough? At least with God you have consistency, with authority figures you have track record of deception. How can you truly trust the word and oaths of people who would stoop to something like this?
Officially speaking, that is.
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Watch Your Company
During the presidential election, I watched a lot of MSNBC.
Channel 356 was on so much in my house that I knew instantly when they changed Olbermann's hair helmet, and speculated on why they decided to add a little more blush to Rachel Maddow's makeup. Given the choice between the three major cable news stations, MSNBC, despite their ridiculous liberal bias, was the clear winner over the drivel on CNN and the vile hatred on Fox News.
Anyway, one of the frequent commenters on MSNBC is Pat Buchanan. For those of you unaware, Buchanan is an old school racist. He and Strom Thurmond probably exchanged trade secrets back in the day, and Buchanan's never been shy about letting everybody know the world is a better place when white men are in charge.
He recently caught some flack for tossing some red meat to the Republican base and letting them know that it's white folks who have kept the world, or rather America, safe for all these years. He pretty much said that you inferior races, that is everybody who is not white, have been freeloading on the white man's back since they got here. It was typical Buchanan fare, only he made it a little more plain than usual. Check out this article at Racialicious for more details.
I've bristled at Uncle Pat's shtick for quite some time. His entire attitude reminds of just how close we are to the white sheets and snarling German Shepherds. But, what's bothered me the most is the topic touched on in the article. Mainly, why are other white folks so convinced that Uncle Pat is harmless?
One of things I noticed watching Buchanan is that while he may sometimes forget himself, often he's in control of his emotions and his tongue. Basically, when he says some hateful, racist stuff, he knows EXACTLY what he's doing. It typically ain't a slip up.
Yet, I've found that his white colleagues tend to brush off his comments as just "Uncle Pat being Uncle Pat." He's minimized, while at the same time given a national platform. We're told what he has to say isn't important, but he's allowed to spew it to the masses.
But that's not the worst thing. Nah, what's really bad is that the public is fed the ridiculous argument that Uncle Pat is really a swell guy. Several times I've heard Maddow and others talking about having a drink with Pat and enjoying themselves. About how he's really a nice guy behind the gruff, racist exterior.
That is getting old.
Like Bill Parcells, I'm a firm believer in the idea that you are what your record says you are. You can't convince me that when the camera is off, Uncle Pat is a jolly character who doesn't think niggers should keep their mouths shut. No matter how many times you say he's a hoot, it's not going to convince me that he would have no problem reinstating the Fugitive Slave Law and the institution that went along with it.
Honestly, I don't think most of those white folks believe that themselves, at least not deep in their hearts. They know Buchanan ain't right, they just don't want to admit it because that would raise the question of why are they hanging out with a racist prick. Since Uncle Pat actually does remind them of their uncles, and grandparents and even their parents, they don't want to admit that he probably gave Bull Connor tips on how to run the Birmingham Police Department.
We all know that the company you keep reflects your personal values. The people you spend time with influence you, and are a representation of what type of crap you're willing to put up with on a regular basis. So, if you don't mind shooting the breeze with Uncle Pat, what does that say about you?
Well?
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Channel 356 was on so much in my house that I knew instantly when they changed Olbermann's hair helmet, and speculated on why they decided to add a little more blush to Rachel Maddow's makeup. Given the choice between the three major cable news stations, MSNBC, despite their ridiculous liberal bias, was the clear winner over the drivel on CNN and the vile hatred on Fox News.
Anyway, one of the frequent commenters on MSNBC is Pat Buchanan. For those of you unaware, Buchanan is an old school racist. He and Strom Thurmond probably exchanged trade secrets back in the day, and Buchanan's never been shy about letting everybody know the world is a better place when white men are in charge.
He recently caught some flack for tossing some red meat to the Republican base and letting them know that it's white folks who have kept the world, or rather America, safe for all these years. He pretty much said that you inferior races, that is everybody who is not white, have been freeloading on the white man's back since they got here. It was typical Buchanan fare, only he made it a little more plain than usual. Check out this article at Racialicious for more details.
I've bristled at Uncle Pat's shtick for quite some time. His entire attitude reminds of just how close we are to the white sheets and snarling German Shepherds. But, what's bothered me the most is the topic touched on in the article. Mainly, why are other white folks so convinced that Uncle Pat is harmless?
One of things I noticed watching Buchanan is that while he may sometimes forget himself, often he's in control of his emotions and his tongue. Basically, when he says some hateful, racist stuff, he knows EXACTLY what he's doing. It typically ain't a slip up.
Yet, I've found that his white colleagues tend to brush off his comments as just "Uncle Pat being Uncle Pat." He's minimized, while at the same time given a national platform. We're told what he has to say isn't important, but he's allowed to spew it to the masses.
But that's not the worst thing. Nah, what's really bad is that the public is fed the ridiculous argument that Uncle Pat is really a swell guy. Several times I've heard Maddow and others talking about having a drink with Pat and enjoying themselves. About how he's really a nice guy behind the gruff, racist exterior.
That is getting old.
Like Bill Parcells, I'm a firm believer in the idea that you are what your record says you are. You can't convince me that when the camera is off, Uncle Pat is a jolly character who doesn't think niggers should keep their mouths shut. No matter how many times you say he's a hoot, it's not going to convince me that he would have no problem reinstating the Fugitive Slave Law and the institution that went along with it.
Honestly, I don't think most of those white folks believe that themselves, at least not deep in their hearts. They know Buchanan ain't right, they just don't want to admit it because that would raise the question of why are they hanging out with a racist prick. Since Uncle Pat actually does remind them of their uncles, and grandparents and even their parents, they don't want to admit that he probably gave Bull Connor tips on how to run the Birmingham Police Department.
We all know that the company you keep reflects your personal values. The people you spend time with influence you, and are a representation of what type of crap you're willing to put up with on a regular basis. So, if you don't mind shooting the breeze with Uncle Pat, what does that say about you?
Well?
Share
Tangled Web
As I discussed in my most recent post, it appears that the Cambridge Police have "remixed" the report related to Skip Gates.
Now comes the news that the woman who sparked this entire incident, an incident that resulted in a presidential apology, has some problems of her own with the police account.
Check out the link. Apparently, the lady who made the original 911 call claims she never described the race of the alleged suspects. If y'all remember correctly, the officer said he'd been told to be on the lookout for two black men with backpacks trying to break into a house. The lady says she never told anybody the suspect's race.
But, in a much more serious allegation, the woman states that she was never interviewed at the scene by the officer. If y'all remember, the officer described talking across the hedges with a distraught and frightened woman who urged him to take action. Now either this woman is a liar, or the Officer Racial Profiling likes to write fiction.
I don't know abut y'all, but given the good scrubbing the police report has already received, plus the officer's accusation that Skip Gates likes to say "yo momma," I'm riding with the neighbor. That's just me.
Oh yeah, the woman says that contrary to the officer's claim, she ain't white. She's Portuguese. Guess it was a little dark outside when Officer Lies A Lot came through.
One final note, in her 911 call, the woman told police she wasn't even sure it was a break in because she saw suitcases on the front porch. Read about it here.
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Now comes the news that the woman who sparked this entire incident, an incident that resulted in a presidential apology, has some problems of her own with the police account.
Check out the link. Apparently, the lady who made the original 911 call claims she never described the race of the alleged suspects. If y'all remember correctly, the officer said he'd been told to be on the lookout for two black men with backpacks trying to break into a house. The lady says she never told anybody the suspect's race.
But, in a much more serious allegation, the woman states that she was never interviewed at the scene by the officer. If y'all remember, the officer described talking across the hedges with a distraught and frightened woman who urged him to take action. Now either this woman is a liar, or the Officer Racial Profiling likes to write fiction.
I don't know abut y'all, but given the good scrubbing the police report has already received, plus the officer's accusation that Skip Gates likes to say "yo momma," I'm riding with the neighbor. That's just me.
Oh yeah, the woman says that contrary to the officer's claim, she ain't white. She's Portuguese. Guess it was a little dark outside when Officer Lies A Lot came through.
One final note, in her 911 call, the woman told police she wasn't even sure it was a break in because she saw suitcases on the front porch. Read about it here.
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Friday, July 24, 2009
Crazy Stuff
Just want to noted that the police report detailing what happened in the Gates incident has been "modified" from it's original form. It now features new information that paints the officer in an even better light and paints Gates in a worse light.
This whole issue is sickening and is a stark reminder of how easily all Americans rights can be violated and how efficient the cops are at covering their abuses up.
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This whole issue is sickening and is a stark reminder of how easily all Americans rights can be violated and how efficient the cops are at covering their abuses up.
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