Tag Archives: Black Lives Matter

national news

Hey, Mr. VPOTUS, black lives do matter

Vice President Mike Pence had a chance Friday to say the words “black lives matter.”

He chose to avoid saying them. Maybe he thinks he’ll be struck by lightning, or will ignite in some form of spontaneous combustion simply by uttering the words. Instead, he told a TV interviewer:

“Let me just say that what happened to George Floyd was a tragedy,” Pence said Friday. “And in this nation, especially on Juneteenth, we celebrate the fact that from the founding of this nation, we cherish the ideal that all of us are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. And so all lives matter in a very real sense.”

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has given the Black Lives Matter movement additional impetus. Floyd’s death at the hands of white police officers has spawned protests.

As it has happened in the past when Black Lives Matter becomes part of the national dialogue, those who take umbrage at the term pervert it, suggesting that Black Lives Matter devalues everyone else’s lives. It does no such thing, which I sense is what kept the VP from saying the words.

If I could prepared his response, I might have him say something like this: “Yes, black lives matter just as much as white lives matter, Latino lives matter, Asian lives matter, native American lives matter. We are created equal in the eyes of our Creator.”

See? That’s not so bad. Mr. Vice President, you and the Racist in Chief need to say the words.

national news

Way to go, Mitt

I am developing a sort of vicarious relationship with a man I opposed when he ran for president of the United States, but whose conduct as a U.S. senator is making me quite proud of his courage.

That’s you, Mitt Romney, a Republican senator from Utah.

I voted proudly for President Obama in 2012 when he ran for re-election against Mitt Romney. I would do so again were the two men to seek that office against each other.

However, Sen. Romney is exhibiting the sort of spine that has been undiscovered among almost all of his Republican Senate colleagues. He is challenging Donald Trump openly and with vigor.

I will not forget that memorable speech Sen. Romney delivered on the Senate floor when he declared his intention to vote to convict Donald Trump on abuse of power during the president’s impeachment trial. He was the lone GOP senator to break ranks from the cult that has developed on Capitol Hill that seeks to protect Trump against those who seek political justice to be delivered to a man who is unfit to serve as president.

He has been excoriated for his vote. Trump has threatened him via Twitter. Mitt has stood his ground.

And now he is marching with “Black Lives Matter” protesters who are demonstrating against the kind of police brutality that killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. He is standing with those who are shocked and dismayed at Floyd’s death. He is one of distressingly few GOP public officials willing to stand on the right side of history.

Trump’s reaction to Mitt Romney has been to skewer him for acting on his own conscience and for doing what he believes is right.

I will stand proudly with Mitt Romney. If only others within his party would exhibit the level of courage that Sen. Romney continues to put on display.

entertainment news, medical news, national news, political news

Former congressional loudmouth pops off

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Joe Walsh once was known as a loudmouth politician from Illinois.

Now he’s just a former loudmouth pol, who has entered the discussion about health care reform in a most undignified and ironic manner.

Late-night TV comedian Jimmy Kimmel went on the air Monday night and revealed that his newborn son was born with a heart ailment. Nurses detected a problem with the baby, a renowned cardiac surgeon was summoned and he repaired the infant’s heart.

Kimmel gave a heartfelt and tearful testimony that saluted the medical staff at the hospital where little Billy was born — and argued on behalf of efforts to guarantee health insurance for all Americans.

Then came Joe Walsh, who tweeted, “Sorry Jimmy Kimmel: your sad story doesn’t obligate me or anybody else to pay for somebody else’s health care.”

Social media erupted with outrage at Walsh’s insensitive reaction. Walsh is a former Republican lawmaker who once popped off with remarks about Black Lives Matter and President Barack Obama that some folks had interpreted as a threat. Walsh, who’s now a TEA Party activist and a talk-radio host (imagine that), was defeated for re-election.

There’s more — of course.

Walsh also once was caught failing to pay child support for his own children; he reportedly owed about $117,000 in support payments.

Tsk, tsk, tsk …

For this clown to interject himself into a heartwarming story involving an entertainment personality and his family speaks pretty graphically about this individual’s profound lack of character and compassion.

The word “hypocrite” also comes to mind.

national news, political news

All lives matter, including black lives

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Pastor Mark Burns did that thing this week that makes me crazy.

He stood before the Republican National Convention delegates and hollered at the top of his lungs that “all lives matter!” as if to suggest that the Black Lives Matter movement means that only black lives deserve to be protected.

Burns, an African-American clergyman — and no doubt a dedicated Republican — brought the house down with his spirited rant.

But he did what so many anti-Black Lives Matter individuals and groups do: He demonized the movement’s message, which isn’t nearly as it’s being characterized by its critics.

The notion that black lives matter doesn’t preclude anyone else. The intent of the movement — which became known after the deaths of young black men who were killed by white police officers — is merely to suggest that the lives of African-Americans count right along with everyone else.

Have some of those Black Lives Matter protestors gotten out of hand in their demonstrations against the cops? Sure they have, the massacre of those five Dallas police officers being the most egregious example. They also have been condemned by politicians of all stripes and all affiliations — and that includes the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Burns cried out Thursday night on the GOP convention’s last day: “The only colors that matter are the colors of the red, white, and blue!”

Fair enough. But how about ending the demonization of a movement whose message has been distorted beyond recognition?

national news

As if police work isn’t dangerous enough …

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Do we need any more examples of the deadly hazards that await police officers every single day they report for work?

Five Dallas officers died the other night while they were patrolling a peaceful demonstration in the city’s downtown. Then a gunman opens fire on them.

Then today, Baton Rouge police respond to a 9-1-1 call. They show up to determine the nature of the call and someone ambushes them.

Three of them died today in yet another horrifying example of senseless violence being brought to police officers.

My response when I heard the horrible news? Good bleeping grief!

Baton Rouge police killed the gunman today. He has been identified and authorities say he lived in Kansas City, Mo. His motivation has not yet been determined. That will come in due course.

But today we mourn yet more police officers who have died in the line of duty.

I’ll be honest about this point: My first fear was that the gunman who opened fire today had targeted white police officers in the manner that the Dallas shooter did in response to earlier incidents involving the deaths of black men at the hands of white officers.

Then came word that one of the victims today has been identified as Montrell Jackson, a black officer — and the father of a small child.

We toss the word “hero” around much too loosely. The men and women who take the oath to serve and protect us do so with honor, with bravery and with dedication to the public they serve.

Yes, I know that not every one of those officers is honorable.

Then again, every profession has its bad actors. You hear about bad doctors, bad lawyers, bad civil engineers, bad reporters and editors.

Do we tar all those professions because some of their practitioners don’t measure up?

Today I am honoring the work that our law enforcement officers perform for their communities — for my community. My heart is broken over the loss they have suffered yet again.

national news

Not a perfect speech, but still pretty darn good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5IcMdwV6Hg

This video is 30-something minutes long.

It is President Barack Obama paying tribute to the five slain Dallas police officers, the men who were gunned down in that spasm of violence at the end of the Black Lives Matter march through downtown Dallas.

If he had asked me what he should say, I would have counseled him to keep the politics out of it. He didn’t ask.

It isn’t the perfect speech, but it is still heartfelt and sincere and I am quite certain the president — as did former President Bush — delivered some measure of comfort to the men’s grieving families and to the heartbroken community they all served.

It was a damn good one nevertheless.

Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring these men’s service.

national news, political news, State news

Welcome, Mr. President, but please … no politics

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President Barack Obama isn’t likely to get the message I’m about to deliver — but I’m going to deliver it anyway.

The president is coming to Dallas on Tuesday to attend an interfaith memorial service in honor of the five law enforcement officers who were slain this past week by the gunman who opened fire at the end of a Black Lives Matter-sponsored march downtown.

I want him to steer away from politics. By that I mean I hope the president speaks exclusively about the officers’ lives, their heroism, their dedication to duty and to their community and to the love of their grieving families.

He might be tempted to veer — if only briefly — into the realm of gun violence and the lethality of the weapon used by the shooter. He might be drawn to say something about the need to tighten rules and laws that allow people to obtain these weapons.

My wish is for the president to save that speech for another time, another venue, another context.

Dallas is hurting. The nation is hurting over the senseless loss of life.

A memorial service by definition is designed to pay tribute to the fallen and, if possible, to celebrate the contributions they brought to this earthly world.

I share the desire to welcome the president to Texas. I’m glad he cut short his NATO summit to come here.

Barack Obama is a wise man who will be guided by his conscience — not to mention by his team of political advisers. I hope they tell him: Mr. President, stick to the matter at hand, which as we see it is to help this community heal its grievous emotional wounds.

national news

Black Lives Matter? Yes, but no more than any other

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We’ve been getting bombarded lately with commentary about Black Lives Matter, a movement born out of a spate of deaths of young black men at the hands of police officers.

I don’t intend here to debate each case, but I do want to call attention briefly to what I believe has been something of a perversion of what the message “Black Lives Matter” is intended to convey.

Critics of the movement contend — wrongly, in my view — that its name suggests that Black Lives Matter more than others’ lives. They have formed a kind of counter-movement, calling it All Lives Matter.

Certainly, all lives do matter. The loss of anyone’s life unjustly is a shame and should be mourned.

Black Lives Matter’s intent, as I understand, is to suggest that Black Lives Matter as much as anyone else’s life.

But as we’ve seen in recent days, with the shooting in Dallas of those five law enforcement officers at the end of a Black Lives Matter march, critics of the movement have actually sought to blame its organizers for the violence that erupted.

The young man who opened fire on the officers was seeking precisely to undo the intent of the march. He didn’t speak for the movement with his weapon. He spoke only for himself, but the critics of the movement have sought to conflate the individual’s evil intent with what — until the gunfire erupted — had been a peaceful march through downtown Dallas.

The perversion of Black Lives Matter’s name is a bit reminiscent of what has happened to the Don’t Mess With Texas slogan that was adopted in the 1980s — as a statewide anti-littering motto. Some groups around the state have morphed that slogan into a kind of macho mantra that speaks to Texas pride, Texas individualism and Texas bravado.

Do black lives matter? They damn sure do. Let’s not presume, though, to suggest it means that black lives matter more than anyone else’s life.

It also would do us all good to stop seeking to find blame for what happened the other night in Dallas. Let us devote our energy into healing a stricken community and nation.

State news

Shooting statement falls far short

cop vigil

President Obama isn’t tone deaf. He can’t be. He’s been elected twice to the highest office in the land and he did it with profound political savvy and insight.

Why, then, has he fallen woefully short in condemning the horrifying murder the other night of a Harris County sheriff’s deputy?

Darren Goforth was shot in the back as he pumped gas in his patrol car in Houston. He fell and the gunman then emptied his pistol into Goforth’s body.

A 30-year-old man, Shannon Miles, was apprehended a short time later and charged with capital murder.

That’s not the whole story.

Goforth was white. Miles is black. The president has been hair-trigger quick to condemn the shooting of young black men by white officers — as he should be. However, his statement on Goforth’s murder doesn’t measure up to the outrage he has expressed when police officers do the shooting.

The president needs to call for a federal investigation into whether the suspect — whose action was videotaped by surveillance cameras — was acting in response to the protests that have occurred in recent weeks by those condemning police activity. They’ve chanted “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em in bacon!”

The president did call Deputy Goforth’s wife to express his sympathy. He said in a statement that Goforth’s death is “unacceptable.” Gee, do ya think?

Come on, Mr. President. Re-dial your political radar. You need to use the bully pulpit of your high office to call attention to attacks on police officers who take an oath to protect and defend communities against the very people who would shoot them in the back.