Rand Paul Op-Ed: The Politicians Are To Blame in Ferguson

[Brett85]

LOL @ "tea party types", whatever do you mean by that? Hmmm....

More or less rank and file Republicans.

 

[Brett85]

Screw the tea party if they are not on board with doing something about police violence on the citizenry more and more I distance myself from them.

But the issue here is that Rand is kind of making it sound like police brutality affects blacks more than whites, and that isn't necessarily the case. You see stories every day of the cops abusing white people as well as black people. I just don't believe in dividing people like this. It's the Al Sharpton's and Jesse Jackson's of the world who wish to divide people.

 

[twomp]

Screw the tea party if they are not on board with doing something about police violence on the citizenry more and more I distance myself from them.

"Tea Party types" just like the "evangelical types" only care about big government when it comes to them. If the government puts their boots on the necks of "other types" of people, they will gladly cheer them on. As witnessed throughout RPF in the past 24 hours.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Listen to what Ben says from at the 3:15-4:30 mark. I think junior is maybe grandstanding a bit here in order to have his war on drugs meme heard above the intricates but that is expected, I suppose. Ben explains what is happening there in Ferguson a bit differently. Perhaps a little more realistically.

"Police State" Brewing in Ferguson...

 

[NewRightLibertarian]

I guess, but it just seems like by doing that, he's alienating a lot of tea party types.

I think Rand is trying to build the narrative that he's the most electable Republican in 2016 with a lot of his behavior.

 

[Occam's Banana]

But the issue here is that Rand is kind of making it sound like police brutality affects blacks more than whites, and that isn't necessarily the case.

Rand isn't "making it sound" that way. He is flat-out saying it. And he's right.

FTA (emphasis added):

African Americans perceive as true that their kids are more likely to be killed. ProPublica examined 33 years of FBI data on police shootings, accounted for the racial make-up of the country, and determined that: “Young black males in recent years were at a far greater risk of being shot dead by police than their white counterparts – 21 times greater.”

Can some of the disparity be blamed on a higher rate of crime in the black community? Yes, but there is a gnawing feeling that simply being black in a high-crime area increases your risk for a deadly altercation with police.

Does bad behavior account for some of the interactions with law enforcement? Yes, but surely there must be ways that we can work to prevent the violence from escalating.

I just don't believe in dividing people like this. It's the Al Sharpton's and Jesse Jackson's of the world who wish to divide people.

Rand isn't dividing anyone. Unaccountable police are out of control. Everyone - black or white - is affected by this and should be united in opposing the problem. The black community, however, bears the brunt of the problem. There is nothing wrong or "divisive" about acknowledging that fact.

Those who say that race has NOTHING to do with any of this are every bit as wrong as those who say that race has EVERYTHING to do with this (to the exclusion of all else). The "racism deniers" are just as bad as the "race hucksters" - and they are every bit as responsible for keeping people divided as the Sharpton and Jackson types are ...

 

[Occam's Banana]

I think the message was crafted pretty well, except for this glaring error:

In Ferguson, the precipitating crime was not drugs, but theft.

Actually, it was jaywalking.

Another (minor) error:

One need only witness the baby in Georgia, who had a concussive grenade explode in her face [...]

Bounkham Phonesavanh (aka "Baby Bou Bou") is a boy.

/quibble

 

[jjdoyle]

It was both. The testimony of the officer was that he say the box of Swisher Sweets. He had heard the alert on the radio. I know there were conflicting reports about that initially, but the good money is that he (correctly) pegged Brown and his friend as robbery suspects. That alone doesn't justify the killing but facts are facts.

Except, the box of Swisher Sweets wasn't recovered at the scene were they? None were recovered from the police car either, right? Or, was that information incorrect? And, we apparently have another citizen recording Darren Wilson arresting him when video taping Wilson arriving for something, then Wilson LYING about the reason for arrest on the police report:
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/11/ferguson-darren-wilson/

Once a liar, always a liar? Or, maybe that's just being a corrupt cop?

Apparent video of Officer Wilson making arrest, after threatening the citizen with arrest if he didn't stop recording/photographing:

 

[XNavyNuke]

I agree with you on both points here. Too many white people, especially white Republicans, kiss cop ass.

And too many white urban leaders keep sucking up to their police unions.

XNN

 

[XNavyNuke]

Rand isn't dividing anyone. Unaccountable police are out of control. Everyone - black or white - is affected by this and should be united in opposing the problem. The black community, however, bears the brunt of the problem. There is nothing wrong or "divisive" about acknowledging that fact.

+1

The system is operating as designed.
. The Militarization of American Police Has Long Historical Roots

And their is yet the desire to change it even if the tools to do so were in place.
. Why It's Impossible to Indict a Cop

I have no delusions that even Rand could devolve the police state overnight. Way too many people vested in it.

XNN

 

[jmdrake]

Except, the box of Swisher Sweets wasn't recovered at the scene were they? None were recovered from the police car either, right? Or, was that information incorrect? And, we apparently have another citizen recording Darren Wilson arresting him when video taping Wilson arriving for something, then Wilson LYING about the reason for arrest on the police report:
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/11/ferguson-darren-wilson/

Once a liar, always a liar? Or, maybe that's just being a corrupt cop?

Link to credible source that no swisher sweets were found please.

Apparent video of Officer Wilson making arrest, after threatening the citizen with arrest if he didn't stop recording/photographing:

^That really has nothing to do with anything I said. I'm not saying the officer was a saint. Brown wasn't either. Back off your goal line defense of everything Mike Brown long enough to make critical evaluations of what happened. Even if the officer never saw the cigars, and right now you've given me nothing but your comments regarding that, the robbery did happen, Brown and his buddy did perpetrate it, and the perpetration of that robbery did have police on a higher than average alert. The good money is on the bet that if Brown and his buddy hadn't robbed the store, Brown would be alive. That doesn't mean Brown deserved to die any more than someone deserves to die for not wearing a seatbelt or for swimming in water infested with venomous snakes.

Edit: I will say this though. Guilty or not, the officer shouldn't have been trying to stop the video. That said, it is odd that nobody caught any video of the shooting itself. Maybe people just need to think about this before hand, but as soon as you see someone scuffling with the cops the cameras should come out. That and all police should be required to at least have dashcams.

Edit two: Okay. I followed your link. It said NOTHING about the Swisher Sweets! And the video you posted was not from the day of the shooting. I am not sure if the officer was guilty or not, but the antics of presenting "evidence" that has nothing to do with the particular point being discussed does not help your cause. The officer was a dick. I get it. But that doesn't change the fact that the robbery did precipitate the shooting. And Rand needed to make that point since he was making a comparison between the Mike Brown shooting and the Baby Bou flash bang tragedy. The answer to preventing Baby Bou incidents is ending the war on drugs. Stopping more Mike Brown shootings? Maybe dashcams.