Politiks As Usual: In The News 2/16/14

John Kerry Belittles Climate Questioners: ‘Flat Earth Society’ 

Can "Privatized" Marriage Work?

The First Black President, Really?
 
Accused Pa. Craigslist Killer Claims 22 Satanic Cult Murders

Miley Cyrus Kneels Before Untucked Fake Bill Clinton On Stage

CBS Blames Global Warming for Harsh Winter Weather

9 Minutes of Shocking Bible Facts

Cruz: Don’t ‘Turn Texas Into a Liberal Swamp’

The Best and Worst Fictional Presidents From TV and Film

USDA Gave $303,890 in Wool Loans to Couple Who ‘Owned No Sheep’

Romney: Bill Clinton ‘Embarrassed the Nation,’ Shirked His Adult Responsibilities

Ugandan President Says He Will Sign Tough Antigay Measure

Pretty White Girl Amanda Knox Gound Guilty (Again) of Murdering Meredith Kercher

You think Amanda Knox would've gotten all this attention from the mainstream media over the years if she didn't look the way she looked? Well, thank goodness some people in this world can recognize a murderer for being a murderer regardless of what the monster shows on the outside:

An appeals court in Florence convicted Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend  Thursday of murder for the second time in the 2007 death of Knox’s British roommate in the Italian university town of Perugia.

Knox was sentenced to 28 years and six months in prison. Raffaele Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years.
This was Knox and Raffaele Sollecito’s third trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher and it spanned four months. Deliberations lasted more than 11 hours.

Sollecito, 29, was present along with his father and other relatives when the verdict was read.

Knox, 26, was awaiting the verdict half a world away in Seattle, where she returned after spending four years in an Italian jail and then being acquitted of the murder on appeal in 2011. In Italy, defendants are not required to appear at their trials.

RELATED:  Good Looks On Trial: The Amanda Knox Case

‘Fast and Furious’ Guns Still Showing Up at Murder Scenes in Mexico

Mediate.com:

A CNN report broadcast on Tuesday revealed that gun released to Mexican gangs as part of the Fast and Furious “gun-walking” operation are continuing to show up at scenes of violence sound of the American border. According to the CNN report, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives acknowledged that more weapons released into Mexico are likely to continue surfacing in the coming years.


The latest Fast and Furious weapon to be acquired by authorities was used in a December 18 shootout in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. 

CNN acquired video of the shootout, posted to YouTube, which featured audio of the violent gun battle between Mexican gangs and authorities. Five people were killed in the shootout, including a “senior member” of a Mexican drug cartel, CNN’s Evan Perez reported.

“The ATF has accepted responsibility for the mistakes made in the Fast and Furious investigation,” an ATF statement obtained by CNN read, “and, at the Attorney General’s direction, we have taken appropriate and decisive action to ensure that these errors will not be repeated.”

“And we acknowledge that, regrettably, firearms related to Fast and Furious investigation will likely continue to be recovered at future crime scenes,” the statement concluded. 

RELATED:  Rep. Issa Asked If He Is ‘Showboating’ With Fast And Furious On Face The Nation

George Zimmerman Joins Twitter

The racist, misogynist a-hole that won't go away:

Now that George Zimmerman is transitioning from accused murderer to famous painter, he must have thought it was the right time to join Twitter under the name @TherealGeorgeZ. Since Monday, when he first posted a link to the eBay page where bidding on his first painting has reached more than $100,000, Zimmerman has amassed a whopping 758 followers and counting. 

The account, which was confirmed to be authentic by the former defendant’s brother, Robert Zimmerman, Jr., has mostly focused on Zimmerman’s burgeoning art career, along with retweets of supporters and Fox News’ Sean Hannity. 

But over the last few days, Zimmerman has started sharing more of his opinions about the paparazzi-style news operations that have been following him around Florida. One the one hand, he’s grateful for his unlikely fame:

RELATED: George Zimmerman's Estranged Wife: He's 'Like A Ticking Time Bomb'

Teen Who Killed Four People In Drunk-Driving Accident Gets Probation Due To … “Affluenza”

Only in Obama's America. In the meantime be on the lookout for "Affluenzaphobia":

To the families of the victims, Ethan Couch was a killer on the road, a drunken teenage driver who caused a crash that left four people dead.

To the defense, the youth is himself a victim -- of "affluenza," according to one psychologist -- the product of wealthy, privileged parents who never set limits for the boy.

To a judge, who sentenced Couch to 10 years' probation but no jail time, he's a defendant in need of treatment.

The decision disappointed prosecutors and stunned victims' family members, who say they feel that Couch got off too easy. Prosecutors had asked for the maximum of 20 years behind bars.

"Let's face it. ... There needs to be some justice here," Eric Boyles, who lost his wife and daughter, told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" on Wednesday night.

"For 25 weeks, I've been going through a healing process. And so when the verdict came out, I mean, my immediate reaction is -- I'm back to week 1. We have accomplished nothing here. My healing process is out the window," he said.

Lawyers for Couch, 16, had argued that the teen's parents should share part of the blame for the crash because they never set limits for the boy and gave him everything he wanted.

According to CNN affiliate WFAA, a psychologist called by the defense described Couch as a product of "affluenza."

He reportedly testified that the teen's family felt wealth bought privilege, and that Couch's life could be turned around with one to two years of treatment and no contact with his parents.

Couch was sentenced by a juvenile court judge Tuesday. If he violates the terms of his probation, he could face up to 10 years of incarceration, according to a statement from the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office.

RELATED: Teen who killed four people in drunk-driving accident gets probation due to … “affluenza”

George Zimmerman Arrested After Threatening His Girlfriend with a Shotgun.

Making it harder and harder for far-Right conservatives who don't believe racism still exists to defend this guy:

George Zimmerman is being held without bail on charges that he threatened his girlfriend with a shotgun.

Zimmerman, 30, was taken into custody Monday afternoon following a disturbance call at a home in Apopka, Fla., about 15 miles from Orlando, according to Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma of the Seminole County Sheriff's office.

In July, Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

In a 911 call released later Monday, Samantha Scheibe told police that Zimmerman had smashed a glass table, broken her sunglasses and pointed a shotgun in her face.

"You put your gun in my freaking face," Scheibe is heard telling Zimmerman on the call. "Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. Please get out of my house."

Seconds later, she can be heard telling the dispatcher, "He pushed me out of my house and locked me out. ... He knows how to do this. He knows how to play this game."

After police arrived on the scene, Zimmerman placed his own 911 call. 

"I have a girlfriend, who for lack of a better word, has gone crazy on me," Zimmerman said.

He said that he never pulled a gun on his girlfriend, and that it was Scheibe who smashed a table at the home.

He also told the dispatcher that Scheibe was pregnant with their child and that she had decided she would raise the child on her own. When Zimmerman started to leave, "she got mad," he said.

When the dispatcher asked why Zimmerman had called 911 instead of talking to the police officers who were outside the home, he said, "I just want everyone to know the truth."

Lemma told reporters that the girlfriend told police she is not pregnant.

CNN’s Don Lemon on ‘Stop and Frisk’: ‘Would You Rather Be Politically Correct or Safe and Alive?’

Mediaite.com:

During his radio commentary on Tuesday, CNN anchor Don Lemon partially defended the controversial NYPD policy of “stop-and-frisk,” asking its critics whether they’d rather put “political correctness” above safety.

Lemon branded today’s New York mayoral election as “one of the most important races in the world” because it could mean the elimination of the controversial police procedure. He added that the policy should normally be called “stop-question-and-frisk,” but the “question” part often gets left out.

“[I]f you question many people in New York City, even some black and Hispanic people,” Lemon claimed, “they will tell you that on the surface they don’t really have an issue with stop-question-and-frisk. Not the idea of it, at least. Not if the controversial policy was conducted like the occasional, random airport screening.”

Lemon noted that minorities want to believe that officers would stop someone and “politiely” say, “Sir, I’m sorry, but I need to check your bag and your person,” but, he lamented, “they know that that’s not the reality of things on the street.”

“They know that in reality they will probably be ordered to put their hands up, spread their legs, or lay on the ground and be handcuffed while an officer or officers have their ways with them,” the CNN host said, “touching them wherever they’d like or handling them however they’d like.”

Lemon asserted that there are many among the minority community who believe “in theory” that “we’d rather be inconvenienced by being stopped by police than shot by gun-wielding criminals on the street.” However, he said, it’s become too easy for police to become “so drunk with power that they abuse it.”

“So goes New York City, so goes the rest of the country,” he said of stop-and-frisk, adding his suggestion that if a new mayor “alters the equation of the formula that has reduced crime in New York City to its lowest in decades,” it could result in the “creeping back up” of crime rates, the reduction in tourism, and the suffering of “international consequences.” He posited that other major cities could follow suit.

“Whatever the mayor here decides will be reflected in your city, reflected in your crime rate, and in your economy,” Lemon concluded. “So the question is: would you rather be politically correct or safe and alive? That’s the real issue facing the citizens of New York and, pretty soon, ultimately you.”

RELATED:  Appeals Court Offers a Golden Opportunity on Stop and Frisk

Federal Appeals Court Halts Reform of NYPD's "Controversial" Stop-and-Frisk Policy

Stop-and-frisk, a law enforcement policy that works while helping law-abiding citizens with crime, has been labeled "controversial" by white liberals with no real interest in helping minorities overall welfare. Thankfully, common sense has prevailed over liberal terrorism and the policy been reinstated by a federal appeals court:

NBCNews.com:

A federal appeals court on Thursday put the brakes on a judge’s ruling that ordered New York City’s police department to reform its controversial stop-and-frisk policy — and even assigned the case to a different judge.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — postponing the lower court's ruling pending an appeal — agreed with New York City's bid to delay any reforms to the policy, which U.S. Judge Shira Scheindlin's ruled in August unconstitutionally violated the rights of minorities.  

The appeals court said that Scheindlin compromised the appearance of impartiality by encouraging a class-action lawsuit over the stop-and-frisk tactic and by giving media interviews in which she answered critics of her ruling, the court said.  

“Upon review of the record in these cases, we conclude that the District Judge ran afoul of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, Canon 2 ('A judge should avoid impropriety and the appearance of  impropriety in all activities.'),” the appeals court wrote (read the order here in PDF).

Scheindlin of Manhattan federal court had ruled Aug. 12 that NYPD's "stop and frisk" tactic amounted to "indirect racial profiling" and as implemented violates the constitutional rights of blacks and Hispanics. She cited the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.  

Scheindlin appointed an outside lawyer to oversee changes to the program and ordered a test in which officers would wear cameras in one precinct in each of New York’s five boroughs to record their encounters with civilians.  

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had vowed to challenge the judge's ruling, which he called dangerous, to the Supreme Court if necessary. He said that the city's police officers were following crime regardless of where it occurred.  

But Scheindlin noted that the overwhelming majority of stops in New York — 88 percent — result in no arrests or tickets. Four men had sued the city, saying that they were unfairly targeted by police.  

RELATED: NYPD's Kelly heckled off stage at Brown University over stop-and-frisk policy

Food Stamps Being Sold For Cash On Craigslist

FOXNews.com:

Food stamp recipients are turning the government handouts into quick cash with ads on Craigslist, despite efforts to stem fraud.

The federally-funded grocery assistance coupons -- which are issued by states in the form of debit cards under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- are being sold on the online bulletin board as well as auction sites like eBay. FoxNews.com found several offerings at Craigslist sites around the country, where the sellers offered the welfare benefits at large discounts from face value.

“If you need food. This is not a gimmick or game,” read one posting from Philadelphia. “Please let me know, I have food stamps for sale..... Serious Replies only!!!”

“I have $500 worth and it costs $350 cash. No I will not do half!” read another posting from the Atlanta area. “I don't need to sell. If you would like to get an extra $150 to $175 in grocery and pay no taxes and can see the benefit that you will still be saving then email me or call me and we can arrange the whole deal as soon as you like.”

Those who are desperately hungry are also taking to the website, offering cash for the stamps.

“DO YOU NEED SOME QUICK CASH?? -- $100 (atlanta),” read the title of one such post, under which the buyer offered: "If you get Food Stamps and need some extra cash then hit me asap,” reads the post.
In another posting from the Trenton, N.J., area, the seller claims that he will have a $100 EBT card available on Nov. 1 for $60.

Contacted by FoxNews.com and asked about the legality of such a transaction, the seller cryptically responded: "Lol are u serious is the govt legal of course but I hve a customer Good day [sic]."

The coupons are not supposed to be transferred, and Craigslist's policy lists them among the items that are not allowed to be sold or bartered on the site. But unless someone flags such a post, there's little the sites, which operate in small, medium and large markets around the country, can do. Critics suspect sellers either don't need them any more because they have found work, or simply want to exchange them for cash so that they can buy drugs or other items that are not permitted under the rules of the program.

RELATED:  Tepid U.S. Job Growth Could Delay Fed Tapering Plans

Killer Mom, Leatrice Brewer, Could Cash In On Dead Kids Estate

Only in America:

Leatrice Brewer could receive a portion of her dead children's estate through a loophole in a New York law referred to as the "Son of Sam" law.

In 2008 Brewer killed her three children but was not found guilty of the crime due to her documented mental illness.

"The Brewer case is a novel circumstance," Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor, told The Associated Press. "The facts do seem to place her outside the scope of the law, although that does not mean there could not be other barriers to her recovering from the estate of her children."

Brewer, 33, cut her daughter's throat and drowned her and two sons because she thought she was protecting them from a voodoo curse. Soon after the murders she attempted suicide, twice, but failed in both attempts. She was found not guilty because of mental disease and has been in a state psychiatric hospital since.

Nassau County Surrogate Court Judge Edward McCarty will preside over a hearing scheduled for next month to determine if Brewer is entitled to a portion of her children's estimated $350,000 estate.

The money is due from two lawsuits the children's fathers received after a settlement with a New York County after they claimed social workers failed to properly monitor Brewer and her children.

Repeat Drunk Driver Rose Ann Davidson Gets Life For 6th DWI

Good for the judge. Lenient drunk drivers laws are responsible for way too may deaths in this country.  

RELATED: Would special license plates discourage drunk driving?

13 Wounded as Gunmen Open Fire in Chicago Basketball Court

What folks in New York City can look forward to if they elect, soft-on-crime, anti stop-and-frisk, uber-liberal Bill de Blasio as mayor come november:

Thirteen people, including a 3-year-old boy, were hit by gunshots Thursday night as at least two gunmen opened fire on a group of people who had gathered at a basketball court on Chicago’s South Side, the police said. 

There were no fatalities, but the child was shot in the head and two other people were also hospitalized in critical condition on Friday, the authorities said. The police have not made any arrests in the shooting. 

The shooting is the latest outburst of violence in the city, which had more than 500 homicides in 2012 — more than any other city in the nation, and about 80 more than New York, which has twice as many people. 

At about 10:15 p.m. Thursday night, at least two men shot at a group people at a basketball game at Cornell Square Park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, the police said, sending players and spectators scrambling for cover as dozens of bullets were fired at the court. 

The victims ranged in age from 3 to 41, according to the Fire Department. Two of the wounded were teenagers. 

Family members identified the young boy as Deonta Howard, whose uncle was shot and killed on Sept. 2, according to The Chicago Tribune. 

Ron Gaines, a police spokesman, said the shooting appeared to be gang related. The city has sought to combat such violence in recent months by deploying hundreds of officers on overtime to 20 neighborhoods plagued by shootings and by focusing on reducing the city’s endemic gang warfare, particularly retaliatory shootings. Chicago police say the murder rate is about 20 percent lower this year when compared with 2012. 

In an incident that has come to illustrate the city’s problem with violence, Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old member of her high school’s majorette team, was gunned down in January, not long after she had returned from Washington after performing at an event celebrating the second inauguration of President Obama. 

That shooting, which occurred not far from Mr. Obama’s family home, was mentioned by the president in his State of the Union speech this year. 

RELATED:  Sources: Shootings Up In New York City Since Stop-And-Frisk Ruling

Miley Cyrus Endorsed Drug "Molly" Responsible For Two Deaths At New York Festival

The general public holds celebrities to such high standards that they'll ignore facts, basic principles and even general common sense for the status symbol of a celebrity endorsed product. Indeed, for all the naive and gullible Godless souls out there, whether it's Lady Gaga endorsing "gay marriage" or Miley Cyrus endorsing a lethal drug like "molly", it's always easier to be an ignorant follower than be a rebel and lead by example:

An old drug with a hot new name is being blamed for two deaths at a New York City dance festival this holiday weekend, forcing an early end to the event.

Molly, as it’s now known, is a form of Ecstasy and is being linked to a recent string of overdoses.

Promoters shut down New York’s multi-day Electric Zoo music festival after the deaths of two young people. Police said 20-year-old Olivia Rotondo and 23-year-old Jeffery Russ died after taking Molly. Four others are in critical condition.

Molly, short for molecule, is supposed to be the purest form of MDMA, the main ingredient in Ecstasy.

“It raises your body temperature, your heart rate goes up, your blood pressure goes up, and so it does make you more prone to heat stroke,” said ABC News crime analyst Brad Garrett.

Molly has been popping up more frequently in pop culture, especially in music. At a concert last year, Madonna was caught on tape asking the crowd, “How many of you have seen Molly?” although she later said she was referring to a friend’s song. Additionally, hit songs from artists, including Kanye West and Miley Cyrus, reference the drug.

Officials warn that despite the innocent sounding name, Molly is a dangerous drug.

“It could have other amphetamines in it, it could cause you to overdose, and that may well have been the case in these deaths in recent days,” Garrett said.

Some law enforcement officials also said Molly is so dangerous because the people who take it tend to be recreational users and so they are more naive about its dangers.

RELATED:  Miley Cyrus Gets Candid In New Interview, Admits She's 'F**ked Up'

Bradley Manning Sentenced To 35 Years For Leaks, Now Identifies Himself As A Woman

Now this sick, confused bastard, who broke the law and endangered the lives of millions by leaking 700,000 classified files for all the world to see (because he was angry at the old Bill Clinton "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy) wants President Obama to sign off on getting hormone therapy so he can be a "woman":

A day after being sentenced to 35 years in prison, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning announced in a statement to "Today" that she identifies as female and wants to be known as Chelsea Manning.

"I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back," said Manning.

On Tuesday, David Coombs, Manning's attorney, called on President Obama to pardon Manning or commute her sentence to time served. It was unclear whether Manning identifying as female would change the location of her imprisonment.

During his trial, Manning's attorneys presented evidence that their client struggled with gender identity disorder, a strong feeling of being trapped in the body of the opposite gender. They presented evidence of Manning's struggle that included a picture of the private in a blond wig and lipstick (above).

Manning had argued in court that he was trying to inform the public about military and government wrongdoing when he supplied WikiLeaks with more than 700,000 pages of classified information in 2010, and did not intend to aid the enemy.

RELATED: Bradley Manning wants to live as 'Chelsea.' Will prison go along? (+video)

Where’s the Outrage From Al Sharpton, Barack Obama and Liberal Celebrities on Chris Lane?

Considering the horrid circumstances along with the alleged reason they did it, I think it's a fair question:

On Wednesday morning, the Fox and Friends crew asked where Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and President Barack Obama were regarding the shooting of Chris Lane—the Australian ballplayer who was gunned down in Oklahoma recently by three teens where were “bored”—as “every time there’s something like this that happens, they always weigh in.”

“Right now, we’re going to go to a live shot of Jesse Jackson and Al Shaprton,” Brian Kilmeade said, and then staged-freezed for a shot that never appeared. 

“Oh, wait, we don’t have it,” said guest host Anna Kooiman. “Why don’t we have it? Because they haven’t come forward and said anything. Are they going to? Will they? And should they?”

“We heard a lot from them during the Trayvon Martin situation,” Steve Doocy said. “Allen West has tweeted, quote, ‘We were bored and decided to kill somebody. Three black teens shoot white jogger. Who will President of the United States identify with this time?’ Excellent point. I wonder when celebrities are going to put on ‘I Am Chris Lane’ t-shirts?”

“Like Jamie Foxx?” Kilmeade offered.

“You think that stuff is going to happen?” Doocy asked. “Or is there once again, as we have talked about many times, a double standard regarding things like this?”

RELATED:  If Barack Obama Had a Son, Would He Look Like Chris Lane?

Ann Coulter: Racism Card Looking A Little Dog-Eared

AnnCoulter.com:

Do liberals have any arguments for their idiotic ideas besides calling their opponents "racist"?

The two big public policies under attack by the left this week are "stop-and-frisk" policing and voter ID laws. Democrats denounce both policies as racist. I'm beginning to suspect they're getting lazy in their arguments.

Stop-and-frisk was a crucial part of the package of law enforcement measures implemented by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani that saved the city. Under David Dinkins, who preceded Giuliani, murders averaged about 2,000 a year. There were 714 murders in New York the year Giuliani left office. Continuing Giuliani's policing techniques, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's New York had only 419 murders last year.

Just during his first year in office, Giuliani's policies cut the murder rate an astonishing 20 percent. That first year of his administration was responsible for 35 percent of the crime drop nationwide from 1993 to 1995. The New York Times hailed this remarkable achievement with an article headlined, "New York City Crime Falls but Just Why Is a Mystery."

It was mostly black lives that were saved by Giuliani's crime policies. By the end of his administration, the Rev. Calvin Butts, liberal pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, was comparing Giuliani to King Josiah of the Bible, who "brought order, peace, the law back to the land." The black minister told The New York Times, "I really think that without Giuliani, we would have been overrun."

About the same time as the Rev. Butts was comparing Giuliani to King Josiah, Richard Goldstein of The Village Voice claimed he felt less safe in New York under Giuliani. It was the ravings of a madman, like saying winter is warmer than summer. But now, Goldstein's ideas are being delivered from the federal bench by Judge Shira Scheindlin, who recently held New York City's stop-and-frisk policies unconstitutional.
Yes, Democrat Bob Filner can pat down his female employees, but cops can't pat down suspected criminals. 

Liberals wail about guns, but how do they imagine police get guns off the street without going to high-crime neighborhoods and stopping young men acting suspiciously?

Giuliani's policing policies, including stop-and-frisk, reduced gun homicides in New York by 75 percent within five years. 

It is precisely the fear of being caught with a gun that induces young hoodlums not to carry them. The word gets out: Don't carry a gun! It's not worth the risk. 

Of course cops don't find many guns anymore! That's because they're doing stop-and-frisk. 

By liberals' logic, the government should stop doing meat inspections because it turns up so few cases of contamination these days, anyway. We can also drop the metal detectors at airports. How many people does the TSA actually catch trying to sneak guns onto airplanes? 

Have liberals polled the elderly black residents of high-crime neighborhoods on stop-and-frisk? As soon as the word gets out that it's now safe to carry weapons, spray paint, drugs and stolen goods again, criminals will rule the streets and the elderly will, once more, be confined to their homes. As Martin Luther King said, crime is "the nightmare of the slum family." 

But liberals don't care about the innocent black victims of crime. They don't care about citizens being prisoners in their own homes -- as long as it's not in their neighborhoods. The important thing is to self-righteously preen about racism. 

When a policy that has saved thousands of black lives is attacked as "racist," the word has no meaning. At this rate, liberals will be claiming that peanut butter sandwiches are racist -- except that wouldn't be as crazy. 

Voter ID laws don't actually save black lives the way stop-and-frisk policies do, but it's not clear how such laws hurt them. I suppose the argument is that by allowing Democrats to steal elections, they can pass all those laws that improve black lives immeasurably, like promoting trial lawyers, gay marriage, abortion and amnesty for illegals. You know, the Democratic policies that really enhance black lives. 

RELATED:  New York City Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly blasts stop-and-frisk ruling, says violent crime will spike under proposed reforms

Politiks As Usual: In The News 8/19/13

Petition Drive Revs Up To Recall San Diego Mayor

California Lawmaker Pulls Son From Class over Transgender Law

Liberals' Quest To 'Rehabilitate' Christians

Pastors Must Take Back Civil Rights Movement

How The West Really Lost God -- And How It Didn't 

Kerry Admits: ‘Many Al Qaeda Leaders Now Operating in Syria’

HuffPo Blog Encourages Teen Sex Sleepovers to Parents

In Defense of Football

Ray Kelly: Judge Ruling on Stop and Frisk is 'Offensive'

Black Conservative on Hillary Speech: She Pandered to be President 
 
The Daily News Also Endorses Scott Stringer, Hates Eliot Spitzer

Joe Scarborough Blasts Conservative Media: Don’t ‘Antagonize’ Black Voters ‘Just Because You Hate Al Sharpton’

He's right. Some conservatives do not believe in compromise, much less have a 'gray area'. These people are extremists and they exist on both the Left and the Right. While the Left has far more extremists than does the Right, both sides hurt their cause due to their blatant self-righteousness (i.e. ignorance) refuses to allow them to admit to being wrong, even when the facts stare at them in the face. Granted, in the case of George Zimmerman, conservatives who believe his trial was race-motivated and nothing but another attempt by white liberals to play the race card, do have a point. And sure, there are many conservatives who believe that no matter hard they try, they will never win over black Americans, esp. those who knowingly choose 'victimhood' and government aide over hard work, family values and education. Hence their hate/anger at the race-baiters on the Left. But still, a little empathy here, at least, for two parents who lost their child:

You know it’s bad when you’re looking back fondly on Richard Nixon’s share of the minority vote.

That was Joe Scarborough’s point when he linked the conservative press’ coverage of the Trayvon Martin story to the GOP’s inability to break into double-digits with African American voters. 

“Why is it that Republicans, certain elements of our party, seem to go out of their way to inflame minority voters?” Scarborough asked his panel Tuesday morning. “I know I can count on conservative outlets to have a one-sided view, and to talk about how a dead boy had it coming, and he was on marijuana, he was on pot, he was this, he was that…I would like in my lifetime for the Republican Party to get more than six percent of the African American vote.”

“It wasn’t always this way,” Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson said. “Republicans used to get a huge chunk of African American vote. Now they don’t.”

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele argued that the possible gains in minority votes were so slim, whatever the reason, that the GOP had little incentive to chase them. “Can we put on the table getting more than six percent is not going to happen in the next four years?” Steele said. “Even if those same voices you’re alluding to, Joe, had come out and were reasonable in their response as opposed to extreme in their response in some cases, there’s still a heck of a lot more that needs to be done than just saying something nice or politically correct in the Trayvon Martin case.”

Both Steele and Robinson agreed that stereotypes were in play, but Robinson made the point that with a conservative electorate growing whiter and whiter with each demographic shift, conservative outlets had even more reason to tailor coverage to racially-specific expectations.

“I have a suggestion: just because Al Sharpton is doing something and you hate Al Sharpton, doesn’t mean you help your party or your cause by going in the complete opposite direction,” Scarborough said. “Maybe sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Maybe sometimes conservative outlets should sit back and not purposefully antagonize African Americans.”

Steele argued that the spin was spun on both sides. “It’s easier to fall into the stereotype and continue to project that than to actually sit back and recognize the reality that racism is still a sinister part of the culture and environment that African Americans, and quite frankly a lot of Americans, still have to live in,” Steele said. “It’s easier to project outward that that just doesn’t exist, because ‘I’m not that way, therefore anyone who brings this up must somehow be trying to stoke these flames, et cetera.’ I think it happens on both the right and left. I watched, as you did, to my great frustration, some on our network as well as other networks, stoke the flames in different directions, raising up images of the past with no linkage at all to the case.”

RELATED:  Jimmy Carter Agrees With Zimmerman Verdict: ‘Jury Made The Right Decision’

Liberal Media Hates That Race Relations Are Improving Every Year

Mediaite.com:

Many readers of this post clicked through only because they were appalled at the implication in that headline – that racism in America is on the decline. This empirical, undeniable reality provokes predictable expressions of disbelief, rage, and frustration from those who wish to believe it is not true. They are the predictable reactions one would expect to follow any expression of heresy which contradicts canonical “truths.”


Those who insist that race relations in America are on the decline are provided with ample, anecdotal evidence on a daily basis from the news media which supports this article of faith. But the overwhelming preponderance of evidence contradicts this assertion. Even merely asserting that there has been undeniable progress in relations between blacks and whites in the U.S. over the course of a single generation is greeted with horror from the establishment media. Much like the prosecutors in the trial of George Zimmerman argued that the jurors needed to decide the case with their hearts rather than their heads, the media asks its audience to emote and disregard the facts when discussing racial politics in America. This is a tragedy.

In a post last week, I noted that political commentators – on the left and right – predicting civil unrest in the event that Zimmerman was found not guilty were displaying an offensive lack of faith in or knowledge of the black community. That verdict came and, with some small-scale exceptions, that event was not characterized by a violent response from African-Americans. Unsurprisingly, though opinions about the correctness of the verdict varied, the vast majority of all Americans internalized the jury’s decision rationally.

This prediction was not a difficult one to make. Any historical reading of the progress of race relations in this country suggests that they are far better today than they were in 1992 – the last time a shocking trial verdict resulted in widespread rioting.

Gallup polling over the course of the last 50 years measures the trajectory of how blacks and whites view one another. Since Gallup started recording data on race relations in 1963, the trend has been an undeniably positive one. 

In June of that year, respondents were asked “do you think that blacks have as good a chance as white people in your community to get any kind of job for which they are qualified?” Only 39 percent said that they were, while 48 percent said that they were not. The next time they asked that question, in June of 1978, that result had flipped with 67 percent of respondents saying that African-Americans were qualified for and had access to whatever opportunities they chose to seek while just 24 percent disagreed. Though the number has fluctuated throughout history, today between 71 and 79 percent of Americans think blacks have “as good a chance” as white people to have access to the career of their choice.

Another dramatic shift can be observed in how Americans think “civil rights for blacks have changed in this country.” In 1995, in the wake of the verdict in the trial of O.J. Simpson, only 32 percent of Americans said that civil rights for blacks had “greatly improved” while 51 percent said civil rights had only improved “somewhat.” In August, 2011, 50 percent said that civil rights for blacks had “greatly improved” with 39 percent qualifying that improvement with “somewhat.”

In 2011, a full 76 percent of Americans believe that “new civil rights laws” are “not needed” to advance racial equality. Just 21 percent said that they were – down dramatically from August, 1993, when 38 percent agreed that new laws relating to civil rights are necessary.

Following the O.J. verdict, 68 percent of Americans said that race relations in America will “always be a problem.” Only 29 percent said they believed that racial animus will “eventually” disappear. In 2011, 52 percent believed that race relations between blacks and whites will “eventually [be] worked out.” 46 percent insist that problems will persist, up from 30 percent in 2008 following the election of the first black President of the United States. 

In Gallup’s most recent survey of the state of race relations in America in January, 2013, a majority of Americans said that they were “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with racial progress in America. While all of the above data points have fluctuated – and racial progress comes in fits and starts, occasionally receding at times – the trajectory of race relations in America are following a historically positive trend.

It is not merely a fact of American life measured in survey responses. Gaps indicative of racial disparity in this country continue to dissipate. “According to the most recent census data, blacks have virtually closed the gap with whites not only in the percentage graduating from high school but also in the percentage graduating from junior college,” wrote Orlando Patterson in the New York Times… in 1997. Today, in an underreported but critical development showing how race relations have improved, the 2010 census showed that, while blacks were slightly less likely than other groups to receive a college degree, “Blacks were also more likely to have completed some college than any other group.”

Unfortunately halted by the onset of the Great Recession, the income and wage gap between blacks and whites was gradually, though not fast enough, approaching parity in 2005. Persistently higher unemployment among blacks in the wake of the financial downturn has exacerbated the perennial problem of a wealth disparity between the races. But the statistical trends are hard to ignore.

None of these statistics are cited as an effort to show race relations are perfect, or that racial disparity does not exist. Inequality and racism do exist in America – in varying degrees, they probably always will. But these statistics do empirically advance the notion that the equality of opportunity for blacks and whites, as well as non-white Hispanics and Asians, is progressing every year.

Many, particularly those in the elite media, react bitterly to this news. The outcome of the Zimmerman trial has highlighted how many media professionals cling to the belief that racial disparity in America is fixed feature of its existence and will never appreciably dissipate.

“Do you think the American justice system is innately racist?” CNN anchor Candy Crowley asked Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday morning. 

“This is, for many Americans, another piece of evidence of the incontrovertible contempt that this nation often shows and displays for black men,” argued radio and television host Tavis Smalley on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

The Nation‘s Mychal Denzel Smith parodied left-wing overreaction by saying that Zimmerman’s defense “literally invoked the same justification for the killing of Trayvon Martin that you would during lynching.”

“George Zimmerman was protecting, not just himself, but white womanhood from this vicious, black thug,” Smith added breathlessly. 

These are the same media voices likely to call for a “frank, national conversation on race” after making these comments which can only be characterized as conversation-stifling. It has never become clearer that the media rewards commentators who reject measured conversation and the fostering of a dialogue for irresponsible baiting and instigation.

At the very least, responsible news anchors and commentators should be arming their viewers with the facts prior to rending garments over the state of race relations in America. Even if these statistics do not support the narrative of persistent racial hatred which they have committed their careers to addressing.

RELATED: MSNBC Comes In Distant Last Place During Saturday Night Zimmerman Trial Verdict Announcement

Politiks As Usual: In The News 7/15/13

 

DOJ Examining Evidence For Possible Investigation Into Zimmerman Civil Rights Violations

Why is Hollywood Flailing? Because They Keep Stuffing Their Movies with Politics

Think You Could Never Homeschool?

A Rear 'View': Elisabeth Hasselbeck's Decade of Conservative Courage

Bishop: Catholic Mom Murdered by Gay Man ‘Died a Martyr for Her Faith’ 

Author Card Joins New Hollywood Blacklist: Traditional Marriage Supporters

Cornel West: Most Liberals Are ‘Morally Bankrupt’

Obama Second Term Floundering Amid Setbacks

No Tolerance for Religious Jewelry 
 
Ted Cruz Introduces Bill To Defund Obamacare
 
Nearly Naked Rape Victim Left Outside as Frightened Homeowners Call 911 
 
Snowden Reportedly Has 'Blueprint' On How NSA Operates