Well, this Hillary Clinton comment about the unrest in Milwaukee seemed harmless enough...
Clinton said that the shooting and riots in Milwaukee demonstrated that police and communities need to "rebuild trust," so that "everyone has respect for the law and is respected by the law."
And yet Scott Walker - after having once compared Wisconsin protesters with ISIS - thought Clinton's comments just made matters worse? Seeing a chance to exploit a bad situation....Business Insider:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday morning that Hillary Clinton is inflaming tensions in Milwaukee following riots in the city over the death of a black man shot by police last week ... both Clinton and Obama of making the situation in the city worse, though he did not specify how.
"I think comments like that are just inflaming the situation. I think people understand in that neighborhood, in Sherman Park and Milwaukee, they want the law enforcement to step up and protect them. The people who live in that neighborhood want police in Milwaukee and the sheriff's department to step up and protect them. They don't want the criminals who are doing those actions against those businesses to do that. I think statements like that and the lack of leadership we've had from the president on this issue only inflames the situation."
Someone's going to have to explain to me how "rebuild trust," and hope "everyone has respect for the law and is respected by the law" "inflames the situation?"
Is America Starting to Target Thought Crime? Last week,
Michelle Obama made headlines when
she exhorted graduating high schoolers in a commencement address to monitor
their families for politically incorrect thoughts and behaviors. "First lady
Michelle Obama is encouraging students to monitor their older relatives,
friends and co-workers for any racially insensitive comments they might make,
and to challenge those comments whenever they’re made."
“Comments,” not "thoughts," right? But conservatives don't see a difference…
Oh, if only we could control what other people think and
feel. But until that magic day arrives, all we can do is set people against
each other based on race, under the guise of “fighting racism.”
Don’t fight racism. It only divides people.
Scott Walker is a Racist: Let's just be honest about Walker and not sugar coat this or give him the benefit of the doubt. You don't try to leave racism alone or act like it doesn't exist if you're not okay with it. As I blogged back in September:
Walker is fixated on banning dissent, which he sees as a divisive “tone,” and wants to replace it with positive messaging and happy talk. In other words, ignore the problem.
“Instead of focusing on what divides us, we need to concentrate on what brings us together. We need to change the tone in America from chants and rallies that fixate on racial division." -Scott Walker
We can only unite the nation if we don't make racists angry. Michelle Obama, not like Laura Bush…who’s white.
Michelle Obama just disgraced America once again by
complaining about unnecessary issues as the First Lady. Laura Bush
would’ve never done this!
This is racist reporting. And our great defenders of the Constitution and free speech don’t
like some free speech, especially a black person denouncing racism:
Look who's now calling people racist.
Michelle recently spoke at the Tuskegee University
graduation in Alabama and instead of focusing on an inspirational message, she
took the time to vent out her frustrations as the First Lady. She took the
trendy route of racism as the root of the criticism she received during Obama’s
2008 campaign.
“As the first African-American First Lady, I was also the
focus of another set of questions and speculations; conversations sometimes
rooted in the fears and misperceptions of others. Was I too loud, or too angry,
or too emasculating? Or was I too soft, too much of a mom, not enough of a
career woman?”
With all of the tragedies our society is facing today, you
would think our First Lady wouldn’t perpetuate racism- especially not when
speaking at a graduation to individuals full of so much potential. Look at the
crowd listening to her—it is predominantly young, impressionable African
Americans who are about to embark on their new careers and contributions to
society.
When will black people like Michelle Obama be grateful and
know their place:
Our First Lady should appreciate the honorable role she has
received and not constantly complain about petty issues or create a stronger
divide in America racially. If you’re tired of Michelle’s unnecessary
complaints, share this article!
Logic and common sense tells us that when racial tensions increase under a
black president, it’s because racists are not happy about who they see in the White
House.
But turning that logic on its head, Scott Walker is peddling the
idea that Obama is one drumming up racial tensions against whites. This isn’t
even dog-whistle stuff anymore, folks. Since Obama became president,
Republicans like Walker have successfully rationalized away racism as a device
used against them by racist minorities trying to divide the country.
Exploitation to Divide Americans? Ya think?
It’s ironic really, since it was Scott Walker who was caughton video saying his goal was to divide and conquer his opponents.
Scott Walker is now leading the victimized white man’s attack
against black racists who are demanding that their lives matter too, at the
same time denouncing protesters redressing their government. He's vilified similar protesters in Wisconsin who turned out by the hundreds of thousands when he attacked labor, even comparing them to ISIS. Nice campaign
strategy:
Scott Walker alleges ‘a rise in anti-police rhetoric’ under
President Obama: Walker said Wednesday he was alarmed by the
"disturbing trend of police officers being murdered on the job"
and by the "rise in anti-police rhetoric" that has accompanied
President Obama's time in office.
"Instead of hope and change, we’ve seen racial tensions
worsen and a tendency to use law enforcement as a scapegoat. This kind of
attitude has created a culture in which we all too often see demonstrations and
chants where people describe police as 'pigs' and call for them to be 'fried
like bacon.' This inflammatory and disgusting rhetoric has real consequences
for the safety of officers who put their lives on the line for us and hampers
their ability to serve the communities that need their help. We need to change
the tone in America from chants and rallies that fixate on racial division."
Walker is fixated on banning dissent, which he sees as a divisive
“tone,” and wants to replace it with positive messaging and happy talk. In other words, ignore the problem.
“Instead of focusing on what divides us, we need to
concentrate on what brings us together."
Remember this Walker comment, that should have been a campaign killer, but wasn't:
On Aug. 21, Walker was asked if he would meet with
representatives of the Black Lives Matter movement, and he answered: "Who
knows who that is? I meet with voters. Who knows who that is. That is a
ridiculous question. I'm going to talk to voters. It's a ridiculous
question."
Giving America a clean slate, free of the racial struggle’s
that brought us the Civil War and 60’s civil rights movement, Walker wrote this
jaw dropping statement:
"This isn’t the America I grew up in or that I want my
children to grow up in."
Walker’s strategy is similar to his party’s strategy; build
on GOP misinformation that makes people “believe” what isn’t true:
AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for Walker’s presidential
campaign, said “We’re drawing attention to a problem that needs to be
addressed. When police are being targeted because of the uniform they wear,
that’s a problem that needs to be dealt with. This is an issue that Americans
believe is getting worse, not better.” According to the National Law
Enforcement Memorial Fund, 107 police officers were killed in the line of duty
in 2013 — the lowest number since 1949.
Since when does a career politician have time to spend on solving the nations race relation problems?
Remember, just talking about police
shootings and the mounting number of black victims will only make things worse:
"One, I think in general if anyone focuses on racial discord we’re going to get more. If we focus on unity we’re going to get more of
that. The families of the massacre in Charleston showed us the way. I
think it’s a prime example if we focus on things that unite us, ways to share
the American dream."
Even after all the press and interrupting a Bernie Sanders event, Walker never heard of the Black Lives Matter movement:
CNN: Gov. Scott Walker stumbled through a question Friday about whether he would meet with representatives of the Black Lives Matter movement.
"I meet with voters. Who knows who that is," Walker said, apparently referring to Black Lives Matter activists. "I'm going to talk to American voters, period." "It's the same way as saying we meet with the tea party. Who is the tea party? There's hundreds of thousands of people ... It's a ridiculous question. I'm going to talk to voters. This is a ridiculous question."
These are the kinds of disjointed answers Walker is known to give when presented with something he hasn't already rehearsed for weeks. The comments section offered up these insights:
1. It's "rudiculous" to expect Walker to answer intelligently. 2. oh no, someone asked him questions he was not prepared to answer. Didn't have that one in the script. He gave a totally off the wall answer - I'd call it more than stumbling. Followed up by the tea party reference?? incoherent. Bet he was received real well. No wonder he is dropping in the polls. 3. should be; walker stated " I meet with campaign donors"
I thought it was odd that those “big Washington
special interests” Scott Walker is always talking about were only made up of unions, and not the multitude of GOP special
interests, like big energy, big banks and big corporate special interests. And that's by design. Since business is the magical cure for what ails the country, Walker thinks focusing on real solutions will only make our problems worse.
For Walker and every other Republican, self worth is derived from serving an employer and being employed. But if you're at home taking care of a family, between jobs or even just working a minimum wage job, you're not included in Walker's grand plan.
Walker's recent comment about racial tensions highlights his attitude about every problem tearing this nation apart:
"One, I think in general if anyone focuses on racial discord we’re going to get more."
So ignore the problem, don't bring it up, and it will disappear automatically under Walker's more positive message, which is to demand unity. Oddly, as I've point out in the video clip below, he must first unite us by carry out his master plan to divide and conquer us:
Huffington Post-Don't Focus On 'Racial Discord' Or You'll Only Create More: "If we focus on unity we’re going to get more of that. The families of the massacre in Charleston showed us the way. I think it’s a prime example if we focus on things that unite us, ways to share the American dream."
Walker's determination to roll out his purely ideological vision, with no real world solutions, goes even further than his wacky GOP opponents and corporate billionaires:
Other presidential candidates -- Republican and Democrat -- have called for a broader conversation about systemic racism in the nation's justice system in the wake of high-profile shootings of unarmed black men across the country. Bipartisan calls for criminal justice reform have also grown in and out of Washington, with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the conservative billionaires David and Charles Koch joining in.
Walker's vision of accountability and a government in the hands of hard working Americans, can only be attained through the benevolence of big business. But business now has the ability to force us live a "healthy lifestyle," make religious decisions in our personal lives, and uses their corporate size against us to push their agenda in Washington.
Knowing all this, here are a few Walker quotes (lies) meant to distract voters from his real and frightening agenda:
Gov. Scott Walker has said the GAB should be dismantled,
replaced with “something completely new that is truly accountable to the people
of the state of Wisconsin.” "We’re bringing new and bold leadership from outside of
Washington that takes power away from big government bureaucrats and union
bosses and puts it back where it belongs: in the hands of hard-working
Americans." "Common sense reforms to create a government that is limited
in scope and—ultimately—more effective, more efficient, and more accountable to
the public."
Milwaukee's 11th District Rep. Mandela Barnes was asked to leave the premises before Scott Walker's announced presidential run at the Waukesha County Expo Center. Why?
None of the possible reasons are good, that's for sure.
1. Was it because he was black? 2. Or was it because he was a Marxist Democrat spying on the paranoids that make up the Republican Party?
Barnes just wanted to see the announcement, not make a scene or cause a little mischief accepting an invitation to stand on stage with Walker for the event (which he turned down). After all, he is a sitting lawmaker in the Assembly, that's gotta count for something right?
This should have been the media focus, and we should have gotten an answer from Walker's campaign. How could something like this have happened? The Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice did mention it, but didn't pursue it:
Barnes said he was asked to leave the event once Walker's
staff realized who he was. He complained that he had gone "from the top to
the bottom before I even knew it." Barnes said he offered a minor protest
before agreeing to exit.
For Walker and his crew of partisan authoritarian brownshirts, I guess being black - or heaven forbid, a member of the Democratic Party - will not be tolerated in Walker's America.
Barnes may be letting this go, but I'm not, and the party shouldn't sit back and take this abuse either. From the Devil's Advocate's Radio Network podcast, here's how Rep. Mandela Barnes described what happened:
The master of the overstatement and party wacko Rep. Brett Hulsey
must think that if the hat fits, wear it:
Hulsey, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate … called the
hoods, which are generally regarded as a racist symbol akin to a Nazi swastika,
"Republican Party hats."
“Generally regarded?” Well that’s a ridiculous media neutral
description. Hulsey listed a few odd coincidences that hinted at his only logical conclusion:
wsj: Asked whether handing out the hoods would be viewed as
offensive, Hulsey said, "What I find offensive is Gov. Walker and the
Republicans' racist record. They’re the ones considering the resolution to
leave the United States" … he takes issue with Republicans discontinuing
record-keeping on racial profiling by police agencies, scaling back the income
eligibility limits for Medicaid and making changes to voting policies that critics
say could suppress minority turnout … A vote on a resolution affirming the
state's right to secede from the union, an issue that sparked the American Civil
War … he plans to hold a rally outside a Walker speech Friday with participants
dressed as Confederate soldiers.
The GOP record is pretty clear isn't it? Repugnant to be sure. The party in denial's official statement?
State GOP executive director Joe Fadness said: "If true, Brett Hulsey's actions amount to nothing more than a reprehensible, vile stunt and everyone should be outraged."
In fact, if you were to look real hard, you might find racism in the GOP leader class, but not in the rank-and-file:
Two examples of conservative stupidity in one week!!! What a Christmas gift.
Both Scott Walker and Sarah Palin blew all their credibility (let's pretend they had some) as "constitutional conservatives" over the most pointless issues.
Scott Walker mistakenly believes having racist public school mascots is a free speech issue because..."there's a variety of different opinions out there." You just never know, it could be constitutional.
Walker: "I'm not a lawyer...I don't think you need a lawyer to say that free speech invokes a variety of things..."
So it's okay to deny the truth. This same theme is used to make the comments by the suspended Duck Dynasty star a constitutional violation too. First, here's Walker's embarrassing nod to the tea party, from WISC:
Ed Schultz exposed the right wing stupidity and confusion as well, as they conflated the free market with constitutional rights. Add Bobby Jindal to list of constitutionally clueless governors. Ironically, conservatives are actually railing against their beloved free market:
Howard Kurtz point blank said it wasn't a constitutional issue, but free market decision too. And yet, the Fox News host believed that if enough people are offended, it does become a free speech issue. Breathtaking:
Constitutional conservatives? Again, just the opposite. John Nichols wrote a nice piece on this in the nation.
Scott Walker apparently doesn’t read, or he would already
know how stupid he sounds uttering absolute nonsense about free speech. WISC:
Here’s
more readable material if our wondering governor can sit still long enough to educate
himself.
WSJ: The bill cuts against the grain of a decades-long movement
away from American Indian mascots. Barbara Munson, an Oneida Indian who chairs the Wisconsin
Indian Education Association's mascots and logos task force, said Walker's free
speech arguments make no sense. Government entities such as schools don't have
free speech rights, she said. "(The bill) is an example of
institutionalized racism in content and process," Munson said. "It's
a poke in the eye with a sharp stick to all Wisconsin tribes, and it is an act
of discrimination leveled directly at our children."
Walker is all about divide and conquer.
We already know about Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, who represents a portion of Mukwonago, this guy is about as racist as they get. He’s relieved he’s getting cover from the governor who "is providing moral direction to all sides" that will lead to more dialogue and a less confrontational tone.
The roving bands of Mukwonago racists are safe to taunt and demean outsiders again. What a town, what a place to avoid.
Mr. Unintimidated has decided to “punt” when it comes to
doing away with racist mascots.
That takes real courage.
If it were up to Walker, local governments in the 60’s would
have had to deal with racist policies, because racism is all about free speech.
Who’s to say “where do you draw the line” when it comes to racism.
Walker’s real colors are showing, whether he appreciates the
spot the legislature just put him in or not. We're finally seeing the weak career politician we knew was lurking underneath that empty unemotional gaze:
jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday that school districts should
drop Indian team names and mascots on their own and questioned whether the
state should force them to do so, signaling that he will sign a bill this week
making it harder for state officials to end the practice.
Walker is full of advice and supposed good intentions, but it’s
a smoke screen for a much more radically mean spirited tea party agenda, and it stinks with racism.
…he said he would prefer to see schools do that voluntarily.
He said he empathized with those who are offended by Indian team names, but
cast the ability of schools to choose their team names as a First Amendment
right. "I get the concern" of opponents, Walker said.
" But the counterbalance to that that I'm looking at is, by the same
token, from a free speech standpoint...where do you draw the line on free
speech? While I may not like or necessarily approve of others' speech, where do
you draw the line to say, 'It's OK to do things that you like but not that you
don't?' " he said.
Mascots objects and logos. But an even better, more legal point of view was offered up at Uppity Wisconsin:
Wisconsin public schools aren't businesses-- at least not yet. Public schools don't have any First Amendment rights-- they're part of a larger statewide school system and can be regulated the same way the state can dictate statewide standards such as the number of hours per week of physical education. As Milwaukee attorney Brian Pierson correctly points out, "A school district doesn't have a First Amendment right to adopt an Indian mascot any more than it has a First Amendment right to adopt the swastika as school symbol or 'white supremacy' as school slogan."
Today, ACLU of Wisconsin executive director Chris Ahmuty issued this statement:
“This is a bogus appropriation of the First Amendment. The governor apparently does not understand that the First Amendment protects citizens from government censorship. Government programs are not allowed to offend, harm or otherwise discriminate against citizens on the basis of the First Amendment. The First Amendment simply doesn't apply when it’s the government taking action. School team names, mascots, logos and all that go along with them are the responsibility of the public school district. It’s highly likely they are discriminatory. If the public school district doesn't change them, it is necessary for the Department of Public Instruction to do so. Why would a public school district want to harm some of its students? Free speech is no justification.”
