Damn Nation

You are here.

No closer.

I keep paying attention to this.

I keep pointing it out.

There is just enough to keep the women and kids all fired up.  Just enough to make us all afraid of things we don’t understand.  Things they aren’t about to explain.

We can dance to it but we absolutely hate the beat.

At least the American impetus is often enough about race exclusively.  Spectacularly.  Race on the most granular level.  Not only its institutionalization but the  bones of the implementation.   The talking points of bigotry.  Calves the size of cantaloupes on drug mules threatening our way of life and diseases like Ebola flooding our borders every minute.  Stealing our jobs and all like that.

It’s a goddamn political discipline.

The indiscriminate killing of young black men because they are young and black and because entire swaths of America have decided that they are a problem before figuring out they are human.

You know, the fundamentals.

White cop shoots unarmed black kid to death from like twenty feet away.  Unarmed. With extreme prejudice.  At least six times.  Twenty feet away.  Broad daylight.  Almost two weeks ago.  Eyewitnesses.  No tazer.  No backup.  Walked around the body for awhile.   Hasn’t even been charged. You gotta be kidding me.  They need a grand jury.  Might take until mid October.  That’s some bullshit.  Everybody knows who did it and it’s murder.

The cop never even filed a report.  Think about that.  He never filed a real goddamn report.  Who’s kidding who here?

5th amendment about to become  an eight hundred pound pain in the ass.

Everybody knows.

The local powers think it’s a secret.  Really.  They think they are keeping a secret from the world.  Kinda like they believe they have superhuman abilities of deception and obfuscation and no one suspects anything at all.  It’s like they don’t know that we can see.   What kind of bubble are these abominable white men living in?  They leak unrelated information, video, toxicology, they invent blunt force trauma injuries nearly two weeks after the fact.

What we have here is an entire municipality with lungs that turn oxygen into shit.

More than anything else,  I’m fascinated by this dance in particular.

He was gunned down in the street for no good reason.  He wasn’t armed with anything.  We actually know who did it.  And the dance is awesome.  Damn near overwhelming.  Everyone with a microphone keeps playing along.  Everyone in front of a camera sways to one version or another.  To keep the peace.  To preserve some semblance of order.

Like if they stopped dancing and admitted that a kid was shot full of holes and the cop who did it was allowed to flee the state, we’d all go fucking nuts.

We might.

We should.

Because that’s exactly what happened.

They tell us he shoplifted.  They called it burglary.  Not true.  Didn’t happen.  Store owner and video. They call him a “thug”. Racist code for “nigger”. Fuck me I hate that word.  Both of them.

But no, goddamnit, no.  We breathe a sigh of relief and maybe exhale some gratitude and focus a little more on the problems at hand.  We’re able to do that because the media is waltzing to insipid disco and refuses to belly up to the bar.  Our cue to have another. See?

If only they could join us in our disgust.

Instead they relieve us of it.

What we have now is a pointless debate where none is necessary.  There is nothing to argue here.  A dirty cop executed a man in the street for no reason and we jump around pretending to figure out what happened and what to do.

Pathetic.

We know what happened and we know what should happen.  We know what is right.  We know what to say about it.  We know what to do about it.   There is no religion here. We kneel at the altar of a certain convenience of views. We recognize the folly of too much courage and too little.

One only feels respect when it’s mutual.

Or all we have to do is dance.

Drinks for my friends.

 

 

34 Responses to “Damn Nation”

  • Celiene:

    They are doing the usual two step. Delay, delay, until the notoriously short American attention span focuses on the next big thing. The kid who was shot three times in the back, while laying prone on the ground in L.A., 3-4 days later, barely even made the news. The march they had last Sunday. Nothing. And so it goes on, the slaughter of citizens by cops. And there isn’t even a national data base tracking these murders.

  • reiya:

    WORD…WOW… I’M TINGLING ALL
    OVER,YOUR A SHAMAN; WORDS OF CLARITY AND WISDOM, CREATE ENLIGHTENMENT. DISCRIMINATION IS AN INFECTION MANY OF US JUST ACCEPT, ESPECIALLY IF WE OURSELVES ARE LIVING COMFORTABLY.
    It seems obvious, that a “system of hate” still exist,courtesy of the state,but not only in MO. This is nearly a global mind set.
    We’ve had several young under18 years old unarmed males of color killed by police up here
    north of s.f..

  • Kenny Williams:

    After 9-11 we willingly gave the police, congress and 1% unlimited powers to do whatever they wanted for truth, justice and the American Way.

  • Would you ever consider a run for office?

  • Ken E:

    Shaman is perfect word for this scribe. ‘We kneel at the altar of a certain convenience of views.’ Omg

  • Ken E:

    He should run for office…I’m on the campaign day one!

  • L. Henderson:

    Great rant. If only…

  • Svukic1:

    More people need to stand up and speak from the heart publicly like you do. More people need to stop obfuscating.
    Great piece. Said exactly what I was thinking…now I’ll go out and say it too.

  • Theresa:

    “It’s like they don’t know we can see.” It’s exactly like that, and we, as a society, are not letting them down, unfortunately.

  • Debbie:

    Every word you wrote is true! Like Theresa said “Its like they don’t know we can see”! I pray this stays in the news and there is justice! Please, not another Newtown… I agree with Peggy, you should consider running for office!

  • Joanne:

    One way or another, racism is going to destroy this country. Too bad racism is promoted–and then its existence denied–by Fox and relied upon by the republican party to survive. It’s skin. It’s just the color of our damn skin. Why does that give white police the seeming right to kill those with black skin at will? Why do the white police NEED to do this over and over and over again? How long are we going to put up with it?

    All of us, at one point or another, have been discriminated against, humiliated, been fearful for our safety and security, and held back in our lives because of something about us. Maybe it’s being a woman (or a man), maybe it’s being gay, maybe it’s being ugly or fat, maybe it’s being too old (or too young). It could be anything, but we all know how it feels. Imagine living like that every minute of your lives. That’s what African-Americans (and other minorities) have to live with on a daily basis. Fear for their very lives. How would you cope with that? How could you live with that? How do they?

    Are we ever going to do something about this? Is it ever going to end?

  • Shelley-Laysi P.:

    You got it right and I have to say I do agree with all you are speaking here. Still the solutions are not going to be fast and exactly on time or target.. Unfortunately we are still going to have to suffer some more major injustices through the trail and era politics of it. However, hopefully this time will create and maintain the major movement across the country that is required to really make a difference going forward. And one thing I am certain of in all of this, is that It Will Never Ever Be Done By A Republican Party in Power…and No one can convince me otherwise I don’t care who runs under that party!! I will Never trust it!!

  • Tigerbill:

    Very well spoken/typed/written! Don’t see a damn thing I disagree with! Rock/Right On!

  • you hit so many nerves that are still very raw in me.i am waiting for that racist cop to be charged with murder,but i have no faith in the system.seeing those tanks with the cops with guns on top ready to shoot more innocent black folk made me so embarrassed to be a white person.how disgusting…how sickening.one young innocent black man already laid dead on the street for around 5 hours.there were 607 murders by cops in 2011,out of 1146 police shootings.i do not know how many were black or folks of color,but i am guessing that the number was high.when they called in the National Guard,i foresee another Kent State.this is all so sickening,and i am horrified that this happened.we need to let our voices be heard,as this is going to continue for sure.

  • Michael:

    Every white man who killed a black man for the last six years is surreptitiously killing President Obama, sadly. I am a stranger in my own land.

  • Gary:

    Where oh where is the outcry from the civil rights leaders, the press, and the government in response to the mass of black on black, hispanic on hispanic everyday violence? Where is the out pour of voiced and published discontent from them when groups of minorities brutalize others in “knock-out games”? The media’s rush to publish the accounts in Ferguson was to blame for the riots there, as they were not privy to all the facts which were provided by non-credible sources. What the mass media has yet to print is that that town and those that surround it is plagued by 2 waring extremely violent gangs, the Bloods, and the Crips, the latter being the one to which the deceased belonged. You too have rushed to judgement as to race being the issue here. Had it been a black cop and a white man this would have been a non-issue as it serves no furtherance of our status quo of guilting ole whitey. My thanks to my friend who told me about your blogs…

    • Michael Douglass:

      Ask yourself why there is little or no outrage with black on black crime genius. Nobody cares. Ask yourself why genius? The knock out game was pretty thoroughly debunked and panic was primarily fomented by FOX news. Tell us the facts genius. The civil unrest was the fault of the media? There was hardly any riots, asshat. You have a town that is 68% African American and is barely represented AT ALL, this shit happens all the time and they are fed the fuck up. What the fuck does this have to do with gangs rain man? I urge you to read the previous blog “Ferguson” , those are all the facts you need. Perhaps I can disabuse you of your rather bigoted perspective. TURN OFF FOX.

      “At this point what we don’t know is not important but what we do know is of awesome relevance. We know that a white police officer pumped at least six rounds into an unarmed black male who witnesses say was earnestly trying to surrender. That police officer had only foreknowledge of one rather innocuous crime upon initiating the confrontation.

      That crime was jaywalking.

      What we know is that the killing occurred in a city with a rather notorious and insidious culture of racial animus. A consistent and verifiable history of prejudice, persecution and prosecution against the majority of it’s citizens who are black. What we know is the majority of the residents of Ferguson Missouri are fed the fuck up.

      Here’s another thing we know, in any other scenario, with any of the finite number of variables altered or reversed, the shooter would be in jail, in custody, charged with murder.”

  • Gary:

    Nobody cares? Wow, that’s quite racist. Black youths hitting whites without provocation was on all of the news stations. I don’t watch FOX. Debunked by what? he witnesses also said the victim was shot in the back…witness testimony to the media is biased on both sides. In your last paragraph you say any other situation would have been different, but you are sadly wrong… http://twitchy.com/2014/08/22/wheres-the-media-outcry-unarmed-white-man-shot-by-black-police-officer-in-utah/

  • Michael Douglass:

    You just don’t get it.

    “Ask yourself why there is little or no outrage with black on black crime genius. Nobody cares. Ask yourself why genius?”

    Look up the knockout game Gary, don’t just tell me what you saw on TV rain man.

    “At this point what we don’t know is not important but what we do know is of awesome relevance. We know that a white police officer pumped at least six rounds into an unarmed black male who witnesses say was earnestly trying to surrender. That police officer had only foreknowledge of one rather innocuous crime upon initiating the confrontation.

    That crime was jaywalking.

    What we know is that the killing occurred in a city with a rather notorious and insidious culture of racial animus. A consistent and verifiable history of prejudice, persecution and prosecution against the majority of it’s citizens who are black. What we know is the majority of the residents of Ferguson Missouri are fed the fuck up.

    Here’s another thing we know, in any other scenario, with any of the finite number of variables altered or reversed, the shooter would be in jail, in custody, charged with murder.”

    Are you really going to run with the false equivalency bullshit? Try harder.

  • Gary:

    Oh, and I did read Ferguson. You must get all of your information from CNN (oh my gosh, are these ear plugs rubber bullets?). If all you watch is MSNBC/CNN HBO, and the comedy channel it’s no wonder why you are so brainwashed. Hey Michael Wade Douglas, you should call your paged brainwashed instead of spanked.

  • Michael Douglass:

    Read the above link Gary and just keep talking. Just keep talking. Why don’t you enlighten us? Why don’t you tell us what happened Gary?

    A police officer unloaded his weapon into an unarmed kid from twenty five feet away. How is that anything other than fucking Murder? Tell what I’ve said in either piece that isn’t accurate Gary. Tell me.

    Keep talking.

  • Gary:

    And I forgot one more of what is a very likely source for you, that trash of a news source Huffington Post. Obviously as biased reporting as FOX would ever do. They must do a lot of huffing to post crap like that. But hey, they have a big following. Did you know that the average IQ is on the decline all around the world?

    • Michael Douglass:

      Can’t you do any better than guess where I get my news? Is that all you’ve got?

      Read the above link Gary and just keep talking. Just keep talking. Why don’t you enlighten us? Why don’t you tell us what happened Gary?

      A police officer unloaded his weapon into an unarmed kid from twenty five feet away. How is that anything other than fucking Murder? Tell what I’ve said in either piece that isn’t accurate Gary. Tell me.

      Keep talking.

      • Michael Douglass:

        Go back to the Ferguson blog Gary and scroll down to the comments. Look for Dave, you and he would get along great. He displays the same breathtaking level of ignorance and bigotry as you.

  • Christopher:

    (chuckle) Officer Wilson is toast. The Ferguson Police Dept., along with the concepts and tactics involved in Community Law Enforcement in general, is in for some past-due changes.
    Michael Brown’s death is going to prove to-have actually Meant Something.
    Ignore the Troll. Aside from his pretzel-logic and meaningless, silly conclusions, he represents the lowest common-denominator of pointless, counter-productive, status-quo droning.
    Feh. Take note, spit, dismiss.

  • Gary:

    Troll? Ok I read your little friends blog. That’s nice. I take it I was spot on re: my guesses as to where you get your news. Hey I’m not arguing about the cop shooting the guy, just that it was in fact the media that made the situation worse by reporting erroneously. Kinda like where in one post you say he was twenty feet away, in another 25 . Pretty soon he’ll be down the block after leaving church where he just helped an elderly lady cross the street. Sheez,

  • Michael Douglass:

    Again, what about my sources? Again what “erroneous” reporting Gary? 20 or 25 feet, what’s the difference? He was unarmed, far from arms length and he was shot at least six fucking times. Murder Gary. Murder. Do you actually have a point? Try harder. Keep talking Gary, keep talking.

  • Gary:

    My point is you don’t “know” anything. You just spout off the talking points from your mass media perspective. Anyone with a opinion that is not of your own must be a fricken moron, right? Twenty feet, twenty five feet, hell make it a city block. My point is your “facts’ are likely wrong since you weren’t there to see what happened. You don’t KNOW dick. If you were there, and Brown turns out to be a banger, then his gangster friends would make sure you tell the story in a different light. My point is none of this would have made big headlines had the races been reversed. My point is that the media paints racism as belonging only to whites. It exists in all cultures and races. I refuse to feel guilty about being white… I treat everyone the same. Yup, I hit on the points your friend writes about because that’s what a critique involves. You call it trolling, I call it critique of your position. Whatever, I can see you are one of those incredibly narcissistic folks who can’t stand to be critiqued. I bet you turn all red and start cursing out loud, little baby having a tantrum. Hey, this is fun

  • Michael Douglass:

    “Again, what about my sources? Again what “erroneous” reporting Gary? 20 or 25 feet, what’s the difference? He was unarmed, far from arms length and he was shot at least six fucking times. Murder Gary. Murder. Do you actually have a point? Try harder. Keep talking Gary, keep talking.”

    “A police officer unloaded his weapon into an unarmed kid from twenty five feet away. How is that anything other than fucking Murder? Tell what I’ve said in either piece that isn’t accurate Gary. Tell me.”

    Can’t do it can you Gary? Can’t actually answer my question can you Gary?

    NONE of that is being disputed by ANYONE Gary.

    Sheez Gary, it’s like you actually know me…..I’m turning all red and everything. Stop flattering yourself fuckstick. You’re not being critical, you’re just showing us all your ass.

    Keep talking Gary, Keep talking.

  • Gary:

    It’s all being disputed you tard. It’s called an investigation. Apparently your one of those guys who hates the Constitutional mandates of assuming people are innocent until PROVEN guilty. Oh, that’s right, you’re a socialist loving liberal, they hate the the basic laws when they don’t fit their agenda. Yup, I know you from the way you write. Your sources are evident and as transparent as the president’s love for the Muslim Brotherhood, and Valerie Jarrett’s love of Iran.

    • Michael Douglass:

      There it is, now we’re really getting to see Gary’s true colors. Now the president is a Muslim. This just keeps getting better. Keep talking Gary. Keep talking.

      The fact that a white cop shot a black unarmed kid from aprox 25 five feet away is NOT being disputed by ANYONE genius. Not the police dept, not witnesses, NO ONE. That is all I need to conclude murder. You were more than willing to convict the kid for being a gang banger a thug etc weren’t you though Gary?

      Why can’t Gary read?

      “Again, what about my sources? Again what “erroneous” reporting Gary? 20 or 25 feet, what’s the difference? He was unarmed, far from arms length and he was shot at least six fucking times. Murder Gary. Murder. Do you actually have a point? Try harder. Keep talking Gary, keep talking.”

      “A police officer unloaded his weapon into an unarmed kid from twenty five feet away. How is that anything other than fucking Murder? Tell what I’ve said in either piece that isn’t accurate Gary. Tell me.”

      Can’t do it can you Gary? Can’t actually answer my question can you Gary?

      NONE of that is being disputed by ANYONE Gary.”

      Keep talking Gary. KEEP TALKING.

  • Will Remy:

    Michael,

    Spot on again my friend. You do it so well. Hope someday you will read my novels with my brand of social criticism…A glass of California Merlot to you! Keep up the good work.

    Will

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