Several months ago, in a
small town in Texas a young woman was stopped by police and ended up dead in a
jail cell. Her name was Sandra Bland.
Fast forward to last week
and we have a similar incident in the same town.
The person was a Black man
standing in front of his house asking the Police why they had stopped his
guests who were leaving his home.
Apparently if you are a
black in Prairie View, male and in the company of other black men, you are
stopped by Prairie View’s finest and questioned about drugs.
And if you, the host of same
Black men, comes out of your house to ask what is the problem, you end up being
tased for refusing, while kneeling on the ground to put your hands behind your
back.
That happened; yes it did to
Councilman Jonathan Miller in the town of Prairie View, which is in Waller
County that has the 3rd highest number of lynchings in Texas.
Occasionally, and I wish it
were not just occasionally our system of justice works.
On July 25th a
gang of men waving Confederate flags decided that since they are white
Americans they would disrupt a birthday party in a black neighborhood. After
all, they are members of the ruling ethnic group and so can harass anyone they
chose.
Surprise, no they cannot,
and amazingly the in Douglas County, Georgia, the Prosecutor said “oh no you
don’t” brought charges which have resulted in indictments against the 15
hooligans involved. You can read
about it here.
Moving on—we, Americans love
causes. We love to sign petitions, write letters to the Editors, and express
our feelings on the social media platform of our choice.
Most of the time, I am
amused by the energy expended by so many for the cause of the moment.
I wish that more of us would
expend the energy to help right the wrongs, which are displayed on a daily
basis in our country and around the world. From abject poverty to voter’s
rights, there are a plethora of wrongs that need to be addressed.
And so, I smiled as I read
of the furor that ensued in a Connecticut town when the principal of one of the
schools decided that there would be no
Halloween parades in the elementary schools.
I wonder if the mother of
the third grader who publicly lost her mind even noticed when it was announced
that there is very good chance that seniors who receive Social Security benefits
will not receive a COLA next year. The
premiums for Part D (prescription plans) and Medicare supplemental plans will
of course increase and so will co-pays for doctor’s visits and medications.
In ending let me say the
most amusing political piece of madness from the lunatic wing of the Republican
Party, which I have heard or read in the past 24 hours is the accusation by
members of the Freedom Caucus and right wing media, that Paul Ryan is not
Conservative enough to be Speaker. Even
though in my judgment Speaker Boehner will go down as on of the worst speakers
in history, if Ryan is not acceptable then Boehner will not be going home.
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