Day: June 12, 2020

“My Bad…….”

Closing Thought–12Jun20

We all have seen the images of the Head of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff….walking with the president after the suppression of protests so Trump could have a Bible moment in front of a church.

Now the General has said that he should not have been part of the photo op…….

The fallout from President Trump’s now-famous walk from the White House to St. John’s Church continues: On Thursday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff apologized for joining the president on that June 1 walk in military fatigues, reports CNN. “I should not have been there,” said Army Gen. Mark Milley in commencement remarks at the National Defense University. “My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.”

  • Defense chief: Esper, who also joined the walk, wrote a letter to Congress with Milley reiterating they did not realize the walk would be used for a photo op, reports the Washington Post. “We participated in the walk with the aim of observing damage in Lafayette Square and at (St. John’s) Church, and meeting with and thanking the National Guard members who were on duty,” they wrote.
  • More on the letter: Esper and Milley also sought to clarify the military’s role in the response to the protests, saying that National Guard troops in DC were there only in a supporting role and “were not ever in the District for purposes of civilian law enforcement.” Previously, Esper publicly disagreed with Trump on invoking the Insurrection Act—using the military in more of a domestic policing role—to quell protests.

I think the general has one the right thing by apologizing for his participation in the presidential theater…..

But I ask after a long distinguished career in the military and he did not think that would be an issue of him in combat fatigues while the population was in protests……what message did he think it would send?

He has done (I reiterate for those that cannot find the time to read my post) in my opinion the right think and he should have resigned over the issue to make it with an exclamation point.

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What About White People?

How many have heard the tale that the media is ignoring the violence committed by police towards white people?

I have heard….and of course the old reliable “All Lives Matter”….I would have been disappointed if that had not shown up…..sorry but to me that is the same as saying “I have black friends”…..a racist response.

But let’s look at the accusation that the media is ignoring voilence against white people……

The ongoing national protests against police brutality have focused for the most part on black victims, for the obvious reason that black Americans are disproportionately abused by police. The horrifying video of George Floyd being slowly strangled to death hit a raw nerve in the black community, which has endured decades of these kinds of atrocities, as well as an exponentially greater amount of less-lethal abuses.

This has led some conservatives to claim that the protesters are deliberately ignoring white victims. Commentator Matt Walsh pointed to videos of two white men, Tony Timpa and Daniel Shaver, being brutally killed by police as evidence that only black killings get attention and that police brutality is not a reflection of systemic racism. At Townhall, Mike Adams wrote an article entitled “White Man Can’t Breathe,” noting that there had not been “George Soros-funded protests” or “Antifa riots” in response to the Timpa killing, and implied a lack of them would show “political opportunism.”

These are disingenuous arguments.

https://theweek.com/articles/918849/what-about-police-violence-against-white-people

There is NO substance to the claims.

But that will not let disinformation go to waste….social media is full of bullshit waiting to be spread.

Let’s now look at those racists we all know……the ones I know think they are not hardly racist at all…they just think they are spouting truth……

New research indicates that the Dunning-Kruger effect — meaning the tendency for less competent individuals to overestimate their competence — can be applied to prejudicial attitudes. The study, which appears in Personality and Individual Differences, found that the least egalitarian individuals tended to be those who overestimated their levels of egalitarianism the most.

“I’m generally interested in how prejudice works and in why it’s sometimes difficult to get people to become less prejudiced. This study opened a window into understanding why some people don’t know that they’re prejudiced, and why those people might be particularly difficult to reach,” said study author Keon West, an associate professor of social psychology and the director of Equalab at Goldsmiths, University of London.

The researchers examined who was the most likely to overestimate their level of egalitarianism in two studies with 307 participants.

https://www.psypost.org/2020/06/study-finds-the-most-racially-prejudiced-people-tend-to-think-that-they-are-less-racist-than-the-average-person-56991

Racism will always exist….the thing to do is make it as unattractive as possible…..no one should have to face discrimination because of the skin color or for their birth place…..

Sorry renaming military bases is not going to help stem the rise of racism at all…..pulling down statues does little to change prejudices….https://www.upworthy.com/to-all-my-fellow-white-folks-trying-to-get-a-quick-anti-racism-education

Lots a work ahead….stay in the streets and make a difference…..just a thought……

Be Well…Be Safe….Be Heard……

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Date For Acceptance

Since Trump has tuck tail and ran from North Carolina for the GOP convention…..a city has won the sweepstakes to be the place for his, Trump, acceptance speech and the place for more virus….Jacksonville, Florida…..

Jacksonville, Florida, has been selected to host the celebration marking President Trump’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for reelection, the Republican National Committee chairwoman said Thursday. Ronna McDaniel made the announcement a day after saying that Jacksonville was a front-runner to hold the event. The governor of North Carolina, the official host of this summer’s Republican National Convention, had balked at promising Trump a full-blown convention in Charlotte free from social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic. “We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous occasion in the great city of Jacksonville,” McDaniel said, per the AP. “Not only does Florida hold a special place in President Trump’s heart as his home state, but it is crucial in the path to victory in 2020. We look forward to bringing this great celebration and economic boon to the Sunshine State in just a few short months.”

McDaniel said the event would be held at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which holds 15,000 people. She said more details would be released in the coming weeks. The party’s more mundane business, including discussions over the platform, will still be held in Charlotte because of contractual obligations. The RNC had spent the last week scouting locations after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper rejected Trump’s demand that the convention be allowed to take place Aug. 24-27 without social distancing measures. “Florida is honored to host this special event where we will celebrate the re-nomination of President Donald J. Trump,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Jacksonville is a great city that will showcase Florida’s energy, facilities, entrepreneurship and commitment to bring together the delegates of the Republican Party at a historic time in our nation’s history.”

Trump’s speech should be on 27August and yet that date in Jacksonville is nothing to be proud of…..violence in 1960…….ever heard of “Axe Handle Saturday”?

On a sweltering summer day 50 years ago, the street outside was shattered with screams and spattered with blood.

Black youth, attempting to sit down at a whites-only lunch counter for hamburgers and egg salad sandwiches, were accosted by an angry mob wielding ax handles.

And suddenly, all of downtown became a melee, leaving dozens of bystanders wounded – and giving Jacksonville a national reputation for violence.

Aug. 27, 1960, now known as Ax Handle Saturday, became a turning point in the city’s race relations. Half a century later, some are hoping it again will be a rallying cry.

https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20100822/NEWS/801246165

(More on this historic event on the day…stay tuned)

The lack of empathy by Trump and the governor is illustrates and strengthen the narrative that the GOP is a racist group that holds NO care for the black population.

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How Will This Help?

Everybody in Washington is scrambling to find a way to counter the protests and the issue of race.

The military has their idea….rename bases that are named for Confederate generals……

The death of George Floyd in police custody and the ensuing protests are sparking changes in law enforcement, media, and business—and now the US armed forces. Earlier this year, the US Army said it had no plans to scrap the names of any of its 10 bases named after Confederate leaders—ie, Fort Bragg, Fort Lee, and Fort Hood, to name a few—even though at the time it was announcing it would no longer allow images of Confederate flags at these sites. Now, however, in the wake of Floyd’s killing, military bigwigs say they’ll entertain a conversation on a possible renaming. “The secretary of defense and secretary of the Army are open to a bipartisan discussion on the topic,” an Army spokesperson said in a statement Monday for Mark Esper and Ryan McCarthy, per Politico.

The statement added, however, that “each Army installation is named for a soldier who holds a significant place in our military history. Accordingly, the historic names represent individuals, not causes or ideologies.” Still, as Politico points out, even these individual histories aren’t stellar: As an example, it cites Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, “a major slave-owner and … largely considered to be one of the most incompetent generals of the Civil War.” One person who agrees the military sites should be renamed: former CIA chief and retired Gen. David Petraeus, who resigned in 2012 amid an affair scandal. “We do not live in a country to which Braxton Bragg, Henry L. Benning, or Robert E. Lee can serve as an inspiration,” he writes in an op-ed in the Atlantic. “Acknowledging this fact is imperative.” More from him here.

Confederate monuments have reemerged as a national flash point since the death of George Floyd. Protesters decrying racism have targeted Confederate monuments in multiple cities, and some state officials are considering taking them down. Pelosi lacks the authority to order the removal of the 11 Capitol statues honoring Confederates but is urging the little-noticed Joint Committee on the Library to vote to remove them. Senate Republicans share jurisdiction. The presence of statues of generals and other figures of the Confederacy in Capitol locations such as Statuary Hall—the original House chamber—has been offensive to African American lawmakers for many years. But the chairman of the Library Committee noted, “the law does not permit the Architect of the Capitol or the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove a statue from the Capitol once it has been received.” States determine which of their historical figures to display at the Capitol.

I agree that these changes should occur but why now?

They have needed addressing for many decades and now they are important….why?

Could it be the new bill the Dems are offering for consideration?

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/09/dems-j09.html

They, Dems, realize this piece of theater will go nowhere once it gets to the Senate it will die……so as usual the powers will do the “DC two step”…look like they are doing something when they are doing nothing.

I say do not accept this ‘compromise’ stay in the streets where changes will occur……

Stay in the streets…..it is working…do not accept anything but change……https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/08/stay-streets-its-working-two-weeks-racial-justice-protests-new-york-state-classifies

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Troops And Iraq

Trump is determined to bring our troops home from our longest war and now he is working on reducing our military footprint in Iraq as well.

Yes this is one of those promises Trump made back in 2016…..and now he may be holding to it…..

Many months after the Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to expel US forces, the question of future troop levels is finally up for discussion at this weeks talks.

Iraq is driven by trying to avoid hosting a US-Iran proxy war, and sees not hosting US troops as the path of least resistance. US officials took permanent basing in Iraq as a given and are willing to do anything to Iraq to protect that.

This was why Trump threatened sanctions worse than Iran for the very suggestion the US should pullout. Even then, there was no consideration of leaving.

This is also why these talks cover the full US-Iraq relationship and not just troop levels. This allows the US to threaten cuts everywhere else if they don’t get what they want.

Pentagon officials say they expect Iraq will at least let them stay through the “final final victory” over ISIS. But again, there is no suggestion the US might actually leave after that.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/06/11/a_moment_of_truth_for_us-iraq_relations_115369.html

Contrary to popular belief….I give credit when it is due…..and Trump gets credit if he is entering into these negotiations honestly and not just trying to gain a few points for the election.

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“lego ergo scribo”