I rather here DeRay on CNN then Wolfây any day.
Itâs amazing the power of a little status quo to make something âlegitimateâ.
Had the last yearâs worth of violence occurred in a single pitched battle(doubly if it were between Hellholeistani Interior Ministry Forces and some expression of popular discontent at a safe remove from our own fair shores), it would be pretty uncontroversial that Baltimore PD crushed whatever rather nebulous group it is that they are targeting. ~160 fires, some miscellanious broken glass, and minor officer injuries vs. 7 deaths, unknown number of injuries, and an aggressive crackdown with fairly substantial mass detentions.
Just handle the violence one instance at a time, though, and suddenly it just disappears. Context, what context? Look at that thing on fire!
You exhibit similar ahistoricity as those you decry. Ask yourself: if the protests were combined into one big one, what might trigger that?
The mediaâs single-minded obsession with âpeaceful protestâ is really starting to show. Itâs like every network is reading from the same playbook which reads âShow protesters on TV who say that everyone should be peaceful. If they donât say it voluntarily, prompt them until they do. Obviously, keep anyone who says otherwise far away from all interviews. They are the objects of reporting, not subjects.â
This is its own form of activism. CNN is not trying to understand and investigate the positions and ideas of those who are rioting. And it wouldnât be hard - folks will tell you if you ask, some pretty articulately. Instead, the media very deliberately tries to marginalize and silence them, for fear that they might say something that rings true. Itâs very reminiscent of the way the US media approaches âthe terroristsâ in the War on Terror.
Blitzer needs to get off the air.
Honest to FSM, you watch this interview and you ask yourself if thereâs someone holding a carbine on Blitzer demanding that he just read the cue cards to pacify the masses. YOU WANT PEACEFUL PROTEST, RIGHT? RIGHT? HOW 'BOUT NOW? STILL AGAINST THE THUGS, RIGHT?
I would love to see Wolf interview a Baltimore Police spokesperson and ask with the same kind of persistence for the police department to clearly and unreservedly state that arrests should always be conducted with the minimum extent of force possible, and that violent retaliation against helpless captives is never acceptable and will be punished.
The point that Mr. Wolf seems to be studiously missing is that the question is of focus - why establishment media is so ubiquitously focused on protests and their consequences, rather than police violence.
With all the ârespectable black role modelâ name dropping he forgot to ask him what Huey P. Newton would have thought of as an appropriate response to the police killings.
And then he had the noive to ask about âdistraction.â
Why isnât Wolf on TV asking PDs when they are going to stop the violence? Have I missed that?
Definitely follow @deray on Twitter. Heâs a smart, courageous voice and a natural educator on matters of ongoing police brutality in Ferguson, Baltimore and everywhere else police and poor people can be found in proximity.
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