Here’s the thing: we get that people are impassioned about what’s going on in Baltimore. But just because you have feelings doesn’t mean you need a public forum. Take former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis who posted a plea on Facebook:
“No way this can happen in our city!” He implored the “kids” responsible for the rioting to “go home,” saying they had “no right to do what you’re doing to this city.” Lewis said that he and the people “who built the city, who put it on their backs,” know that Freddie Gray’s death was unjust and symptomatic of larger issues. “We know there’s injustice,” he said, “but rioting in our streets is wrong!” He concluded by noting that in no way should the people of Baltimore allow the protesters to “dictate” what happens to “our city,” then reached out last time to those he believes responsible for the night’s events to “go home,” because he’s “not going to allow this to happen on [his] clock.”
This is coming from a man who was once charged with murder stemming from a Superbowl brawl. Also, specifics would be helpful.
Team Blackness also discussed more reactions to #BaltimoreUprising and their upcoming planned trip to the city, updates on Nigeria and Boko Haram, and more words of ignorance from Donald Trump.
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raven
Nina Simone – Backlash Blues
Betty Cracker
I’m about as interested in hearing Donald Trump’s hair care tips or attending Bill Kristol’s prognostication seminar as I am in listening to Ray Fucking Lewis opine on the topic of violence.
Knowbody
Between this and the previous thread can we actually get something worth discussing in here?
Jamey
Ray Lewis’s “Shut the Fuck Up, Boss” coordinator must have called in sick that day.
raven
@Knowbody: How about we discuss what dickhead you are?
Betty Cracker
@Knowbody: Let’s discuss how small the portions are!
BethanyAnne
This interview with David Simon about Baltimore is great. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/04/29/david-simon-on-baltimore-s-anguish?ref=hp-1-111
Mandalay
@Knowbody:
What part of OPEN THREAD don’t you understand?
Roger Moore
@Mandalay:
The part where you aren’t allowed to whine about the topic. SATSQ.
sukabi
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/youd-be-surprised-who-the-outside-agitators-in-baltimore-really-are/
Outside agitators identified.
srv
@Knowbody: What’s there to say? Ray has said everything white people wanted to say.
Betty Cracker
@BethanyAnne: Wow, he slams O’Malley pretty hard!
sukabi
And from the above article, its bad enough that the majority of the police force has no ties to the community, I guess the training in Isreal is just icing on the cake…
BethanyAnne
@Betty Cracker: Yeah. O’Malley comes across pretty great on the shows I’ve seen him on. Good to hear from folk that have actually dealt with him.
gian
Did he say to limit the violence to Miami and Atlanta?
That and to dispose of any bloody clothing?
Origuy
Various conservative sources have been claiming that Freddie Gray had recently been in an auto accident and had received spinal surgery. A little while ago, Snopes had it as Unconfirmed. They have now updated that claim to FALSE.
Apparently, there was a lawsuit filed by a person named Freddie Gray that was dismissed a week before his death. However, that was related to lead paint. How that became an auto accident with a spinal injury is unclear. I suspect it was from the investigative firm Outtamy Associates.
Amir Khalid
Are you thinking about getting an Apple Watch? If your wrist is tattooed, you might want to think some more.
flukebucket
@Origuy:
Probably the same way those pictures of not Darren Wilson got passed around showing how Michael Brown had crushed his eye socket.
scav
Knowbody’s so passive that they can’t talk without a set subject and opinion pre-installed and on speed-dial and auto-pilot. Hop to Minions!
sy
Pot, meet kettle.
scav
@raven: Ouf she is the playlist recently, and that snuck me into Dakota Staton’s Cry Me a River. o wow.
Patricia Kayden
“This is coming from a man who was once charged with murder”
DANG!! Speechless.
Jonny Scrum-half
Not sure what Ray Lewis’s prior actions (however reprehensible) have to do with whether what he said made sense or not. It sounds to me like he gave some decent advice – I don’t know what good can come out of further destruction.
Bobby B
@Patricia Kayden: And once shot a man just for snoring!
Brachiator
It is fundamentally idiotic to get into nonsense about who should be “allowed” to post their sentiments about public events.
Paul in KY
@BethanyAnne: Thanks for posting that. Agree with Betty that Gov. O’Malley comes of very badly in this article.
WaterGirl
@sukabi: I read the story. It was most excellent!
Belafon
Did anyone else see the footage of Joseph Kent being arrested by Baltimore police last night? Where they slow rolled a humvee up, and National Guard troops disappeared him movie style?
Paul in KY
@Jonny Scrum-half: I think he could have given a sentence or two more to Mr. Gray’s senseless death.
D58826
OT I’ve heard of trying to thread a needle with a camel but this opinion but Justice Robersts is absurd. He tries to make a distinction that the public has an interest in judges not being corrupted by campaign money but politicans are different. FDrom Huffington
SO at least in political corruption trials the judge will be ‘honest’. Of course Roberts could have gone the Citizens United route so I guess that is some consolation
gene108
@BethanyAnne:
EDIT: From your link
I have family in Maryland. Their opinion of some of the things he did as governor was they were set up to draw national attention, so he could run for President.
Tree With Water
@Jonny Scrum-half: For any NFL fan, it’s impossible not to picture Lewis sounding deranged addressing this situation, simply because he was such an over the top rah-rah showboat and super jock caricature of a player. It’s also a persona he’s continued to cultivate in his new career as a knowledgable talking head sports guy. Though to be sure, his youthful scrape with the law also distorts whatever he might have to say about lawn order, too.
Keith G
@Brachiator:
And doing so as part of a blog post at this location nearly breaks the irony meter.
Bobby Thomson
@Jonny Scrum-half: ad hominem is a proud internet tradition. But it is ironic, and not in the sense of raaaaaaaain on your wedding day.
Bobby Thomson
@gene108: fuckin Carcetti. And he betrayed Ned Stark, too.
Betty Cracker
@Paul in KY: I like that Simon admits he’ll vote for O’Malley if he’s the Democratic nominee. Loyal Dem, Mr. Simon is. I like just about everything I’ve heard from O’Malley since he began running (well, unofficially). I’d heard some criticism about how he ran the city, but Simon’s is the most damning account I’ve read of it.
Punchy
Now these clowns want the liberal SCOTUS justices recused from the SSM debate because gay reasons.
Also…didn’t know The Hill had such vile, incredibly horrific commenters. Just abhorent.
Brachiator
@D58826:
Are there any concurring opinions? Do they agree or disagree with Roberts?
It is interesting that Roberts was joined by the liberal justices. I wonder if they could be setting him up for a revisit of Citizens United or a similar case.
Brachiator
@Keith G:
And the faux outrage meter, as well.
Keith G
@Paul in KY: Why would that be a necessary condition for his statement to be more acceptable?
Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume a little bit of benefit of the doubt in that Mr Rice probably feels that the injustice done to Mr Grey was extraordinarily horrific – and in parallel, assume that the vast majority of those in Rice’s audience understand the likelihood of his feelings on that episode of extreme police brutality.
SatanicPanic
@Brachiator: I didn’t read it as a lament about him having a forum so much as him suggesting Ray Lewis would be wise not to comment on a public forum
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: Yup. Pretty damning (especially if you are one of the poor people he unleashed the police force on). Like Mr. Simon, if Gov. O’Malley is the nominee, I will proudly vote for him.
Do you think the Governor needs to address this or should he just ignore it? I think he needs to address it at some point (whether he gets the nomination or not).
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: Based on the killing and harassment of black people in this country, I am not sure I can think of one person in office, including Barack Obama, whose administration hasn’t at least continued to contribute to this problem.
I am not a big fan of “look forward, not back”, but in this particular instance our entire country has been a complete failure, so I’m a lot more concerned about what happens from this moment in time.
Except for the use of the word “thug” – dammit, why did you have to use the word thug??? – I really liked what the president had to say yesterday.
Every single potential candidate will have sucked on this issue in the past, so what I want to see is what O’Malley says and does from this point on.
Paul in KY
@Keith G: Because that’s the reason (along with some other egregious police malpractice) that they are out there protesting. Don’t assume that only the brothers read/re-send Mr. Lewis’s comments. He has a chance to get some ignorant white people (who follow his comments) educated on what it is like for poor black people in Baltimore. IMO, he has failed so far.
Brachiator
@SatanicPanic:
Either way, who cares?
What does this have to do with the events in Baltimore or the causes of the eruptions?
And by what right do these fools have to consider the “wisdom” of Lewis’ decision to comment?
I really don’t give a rat’s ass about Lewis one way or another, but I don’t see how focusing on him for even a nanosecond means a goddam thing.
WaterGirl
@Paul in KY: You didn’t ask me, but I completely think O’Malley has to address it.
If he fucked up and contributed to the problem, and it sounds like he did (I have not read the article yet, but I have it open in another tab for reading later today) then I hope he can look back and realize that and say it out loud. He had also better talk about what/how he thinks we can move forward from here.
And I”m not talking about something like changing pollution standards effective in 2018 – as a country, we have blood on our hands and we need to turn the ship around NOW. People are dying – three or five more years where (mostly) black men are being murdered by the police and entire communities of black/poor people are screwed over by the police and city governments every single day should just not be acceptable.
Mandalay
@SatanicPanic:
That was exactly my reading as well. I think some folks here are being a bit tough on Elon, but evidently his wording is open to multiple interpretations.
Quaker in a Basement
Mr. Lewis is entitled to his passions, opinions, and social media presence. All the best to him. If he wants to influence people and events, on the other hand, Facebook might not be the most effective forum. Sometimes actually showing up is required.
Betty Cracker
@Paul in KY: I’d sure love to hear what he says, and as a potential supporter, it could be a factor in my vote. I admire Simon a great deal, but there are two sides to every story, and I’m interested in O’Malley’s view.
Paul in KY
@WaterGirl: Appreciate your opinion. Thanks!
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: It also could factor in my Primary vote. I would assume he will respond within next month.
sukabi
@WaterGirl: yeah, what could possibly go wrong…. police force with minimal ties to the community, different demographic makeup, and militarily trained to keep ‘those people’ contained… when folks talk about the militarism of the police, I’m not sure they realize that it’s being done with forethought… fwiw, if you’re not within the ‘protected class’ you’re one of ‘ those people’.
Tree With Water
@WaterGirl: It took a couple of post WW2 generations to get there, but today even the Germans deal with their history in a more enlightened manner than we here on the shiny house on the hill. After all, the abject failure of Americans to take a bead on Vietnam was a primary factor in Bush-Cheney (et.al.) successfully plotting war.
The interjection of “thug” into the discussion is no more than another attempt to suborn popular vernacular, as was brilliantly accomplished post-1980 with the word ‘liberal’ being driven to ground, and less so with the heavy handed use of ‘democrat’ rather than ‘democratic’ (the “democrat” party). And while Lee Atwater would recognize the ploy, as Baltimore citizen pointed out last night while crossing swords with a talking head (“might as well call them n******”), said ploy will be loudly and cogently rebutted by any democratic party official worth their keep.
BethanyAnne
@gene108: From memory, from Tom Robbin’s “Skinny Legs and All” “He ain’t a bad man. But he’s got ambition.”
Tree With Water
The Presidnt may not be able to federalize every police department in the country, but I think his hand was just forced where Baltimore is concerned. The Guardian is reporting:
“Baltimore’s under-fire criminal justice system risked antagonising its already seething local community on Wednesday by suspending legal procedures and imposing bail bonds of up to half a million dollars on the city’s most impoverished residents…”.
schrodinger's cat
The folks over at KLo’s house of crazy are busy blaming the Democrats for what is happening in Baltimore since they are the ones in charge.
I have a serious question, why has Baltimore been such a basket case?
Tree With Water
@schrodinger’s cat: I would begin that conversation by pointing to the Defense Department budget of the United States. I would incidentally advise renaming it, back to its original moniker of the War Department.
kc
“Shut up, but give us specifics.”
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
It’s fair to hold the party in power the responsibility for solving the problem. It’s ridiculous to hold them accountable for the long history that led to the problem.
Ever watch “The Wire?” Doesn’t totally answer your question, but provides a glimpse into the depth of aspects of a much greater issue.
Matt McIrvin
@Tree With Water: The motivation to learn from Vietnam got interpreted as a mental disorder, “Vietnam syndrome”. Poppy Bush crowed about how we’d kicked it when he fought the first Iraq war.
BethanyAnne
@schrodinger’s cat: Between the article I linked above, and Ta Nahisi’s take on it, you have some of why. I’d guess that the poverty / hopelessness / white flight / companies fleeing is all a vicious cycle, too.
MomSense
@raven:
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
I think Bill Clinton just recently made comments about the drug war and incarceration and HRC gave a speech today on policing so I’ll try to read it or watch it later. I hope she comes out strong on this issue.
O’Malley does need to address the issue and I hope he does so as well.
Tree With Water
@Matt McIrvin: As did Colin Powell, in another infamous bit of theatre in which he described a pilot reporting a air strike. Powell spoke of his report as though it were an absolution of our tragic blundering in Vietnam, indeed, as though the air strike erased the scale of the war crimes we committed there during those terrible years. Like I said, we didn’t study the war as “philosophy to learn wisdom from”, as Lincoln counseled the American people do even as our Civil War raged. A personal relationship with American history, invariably coupled with an attendant comprehension beyond the fairy tales, scares the hell out of a lot of people (across the political spectrum, too).
WaterGirl
@MomSense: All of this makes it double-interesting that the president interviewed David Simon a few weeks ago.
A few of us speculated at the time that the interview was likely part of a bigger plan by the president, we just had no idea what that plan was. Still don’t!
burnspbesq
As i understand it, all “the kids” (mostly from Douglass HS) wanted to do was “go home,” but the BPD made it impossible by deverting and/or stopping buses and closing the subway.
Seems like the BPD manufactured this “riot” all by its wownself.
MomSense
@burnspbesq:
Exactly. The riot was manufactured as was the supposed threat of gang violence.
If I were a parent of one of the children left stranded and unable to get home from school I would be furious and would expect school, police, and city officials to be fired over this.
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
The president is definitely working something. I hope we will see some proposals for legislation based on the task force recommendations.