Monday, August 18, 2014

Tee and Sympathy

obama, obama jokes, political, humor, cartoon, hope n' change, hope and change, stilton jarlsberg, funeral, arlington, general, golf, vacation

Last Thursday, 2-star Major General Harold Greene, the highest ranking officer to be killed in Afghanistan, was buried at Arlington Cemetery.

Notice that we say "buried" and not "Barryed" - because the president didn't bother to attend the funeral and instead went golfing.

Of course, the vacationing president made a point of sending veep Joe Biden and...wait. What's that? Oh, we stand corrected. Obama didn't bother to send Biden either.

But he did send a remarkably clear message to members of our military: your lives, service, and deaths deserve only a 99¢ condolence card signed by the presidential auto-pen.

(Correction: an earlier version of this commentary stated that the Secretary of Defense did not attend. Chuck Hagel was, in fact, there. Hope n' Change regrets the error.)

Bonus: Vidiotobama, obama jokes, political, humor, cartoon, hope n' change, hope and change, stilton jarlsberg, ferguson, holder, michael brown, shooting, race, demonstrators, looting

After promising (with a surprisingly straight face) a "transparent" investigation into the details of the shooting death of angelic black teen Michael Brown by a jackbooted white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, the Department of Justice asked the local authorities not to release a security video which showed Brown committing robbery and assault only minutes before his final violent confrontation with the police.

There was concern that release of the video might "raise tensions" in the community, perhaps because certain reliably Democratic voters get feisty when they discover there's no justification for their ongoing looting spree.

Frankly, Hope n' Change is disappointed (but not surprised) that Barack Obama and Eric Holder have inappropriately federalized a case which should have remained a local matter. But with only months to go before midterm elections, it's critically important to both men to continue fanning the flames of racial hatred in our nation. And doing so with complete transparency.

48 comments:

rickn8or said...

Silly-assed non-pertinent question: What happened to the cigars??

rickn8or said...

subscribe/

George in Houtx said...

the cigars were intended as a gift to Slick Willie. as for the Generals funeral .... having this president (or any member of his administration) would have been an insult to any military worth his pay!

REM1875 said...

Why go to a 2 star flag officers funeral when you have a couple more years to get 3 and 4 star officers in serious danger? Ya show up to every American hero's funeral and you are looking at some serious damage to tee time. Not setting precedence is setting precedence. No, funeral orations are best reserved to those who can take the heat off of last weeks scandals rather than point to them.

Geoff King said...

Let's see. General Greene - a white American war hero dies in action and Ă˜bama plays golf without so much as mentioning his passing. Whitney Houston - a black singer who dies by drowning in her own bathtub while under the influence of drugs and alcohol and Ă˜bama orders US flags to be flown at half-mast. Nelson Mandela - although a great black man - did admit to over 100 acts of terrorism, was friends with several dictators like Gaddafi and Castro, and was on the US Terrorist Watch List until 2008, and Ă˜bama not only orders US flags at half-mast for this non-American but rushes to his funeral to take selfies with other world leaders.
Hmmm. There seems to be a pattern emerging here. Could it be that the Traitor in Chief is a racist, or does he simply have total disrespect for the US military and true American patriots?

Geoff King said...

On the other topic: since Ă˜bama has been hard at work militarizing local police forces by giving them armored vehicles and automatic weapons, what is happening in Ferguson is a great test for possible upcoming Marshal Law that would make Ă˜bastard Dictator for Life. The cops were ordered to stand down during the actual looting, and only fired tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful protestors and journalists. By not wanting the incriminating video to be shown, the flames of racism could be better fanned. Obviously they want the rioting to escalate and spread to other areas of the country.

Geoff King said...

*Martial, not Marshal. Dang it.

Duke Mantee said...

Ref: Ferguson, Missouri

I like how the locals were referring to Michael Brown as a "gentle giant." I bet that store clerk in the video didn't think he was a gentle giant.

John the Econ said...

A couple of observations:

Yes, this shooting probably should not have happened. But since what actually happened was a he-said/she-said affair, we'll never be sure what provoked the shooting. It's interesting that with the millions of dollars of paramilitary gear the Ferguson police posses, relatively inexpensive dash-cams were not included. That's an unfortunate, and deliberate choice on their part.

But what we do know is that Mr. Brown was no citizen, and as usual it's depressing to see the usual race industry suspects deployed to over gloss over and defend the actions of another street thug. It would be nice to see this sort of emotion deployed over someone who wasn't a stain on the community fast-tracking to larger crimes and/or prison.

Instead, we're supposed to have sympathy for Mr. Brown's peers who honestly believe that "Hey, my community is being oppressed. I think I'll break into the cell phone store and steal an iPhone".

The "street activists" going on TV to make their case seem to be sub-literates reading from the same tired script provided by the race-baiting industry, and are not helping their case.

On the upside, it was heartening to see many neighborhood residents on the street there to protect local property from their thug neighbors set on vandalism and looting.

These people are the real victims of what's going on in Ferguson. They are people with some sense of values who for whatever reasons stuck in neighborhoods effectively run by thugs like Mr. Brown, and exploited by the likes of Jackson & Sharpton.

In fact, I read one article where multi-millionaire Jackson was booed for asking for donations. So there clearly are some people there with common sense.

Unfortunately, they really don't matter. They're just collateral damage in the ongoing war being conducted in their name.

TrickyRicky said...

@ Geoff King-There seems to be a pattern emerging here. Could it be that the Traitor in Chief is a racist, or does he simply have total disrespect for the US military and true American patriots?

Yes.

Judi King said...

FNC just released the autopsy report that shows that Brown was shot in the front NOT the back. Why would a peace officer shoot someone for NO reason? This is just another division tactic by the left. Brown a giant...yes, gentle....no! And, George, I agree. Who would want the traitor in chief at a military funeral?

Geoff King said...

Even the Canadians now have nothing but disdain for Ă˜bama:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/mobile/mobile-article/65355

John the Econ said...

Well, good news. I now hear that Eric Holder is now on the case in Ferguson. I'm certain that his injection into the situation will aid clarity and calmness in an election year.

If anything, I'm sure that he hopes it will further distract attention from his personal affairs.

Sparky said...

Poignant, as always Stilton. I know y'all feel this way too but I am so FLIPPING ANGRY about O'Liar's lack of concern for the troops, I wish he was dodging more than golf balls this week. Is there no END to the wickedness of this Administration!?!
'Course, calming down, I realize that O'Turdboy only reflects the wickedness of our society. What a world ...

Sarah Rolph said...

Hagel reportedly was at the funeral of Maj. Gen. Greene: http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/U-S-general-killed-by-Afghan-soldier-to-be-laid-5689946.php

Looking for a story that included that detail, I found this, much better story, which focuses on honoring the dead:
http://www.army.mil/article/131934/MG_Harold_J__Greene_laid_to_rest_at_Arlington/

American Cowboy said...

@ Geoff King asked,
"Could it be that the Traitor in Chief is a racist, or does he simply have total disrespect for the US military and true American patriots?"

My answer, "Both."

American Cowboy said...

@ Duke Mantee
With "gentle giants" like Brown (regardless of racial DNA) this country needs many more "Jacks" with their axes willing to chop down beanstalks...metaphorically speaking.

JIm Hlavac said...

I concur with all the commentary about Obama nor anyone in his administration being horrendous for not showing up at the Good General's funeral. That's rather disgusting, really. I concur with most of the commentary about Ferguson, the press and the politics.

Meanwhile, there was another travesty of justice this past week. A gay man was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Georgia because he used a pen knife to fight off the 5 to 12 men who attacked him in Atlanta. The police nor press could apparently be bothered to find out how many exactly were in the "faggot" bashing posse, as all the eyewitnesses said they screamed as they attacked the poor, slight, fey fellow.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/08/14/us-atlanta-man-receives-10-years-in-prison-for-defending-himself-in-anti-gay-attack/

One has to go the English news sources to find out about the case - for the American media has been silent. And none of the P's (president, politicians, press and pundits) have sought fit to say a word. Nor as any "self-defense" or “stand-your-ground” group come to the fore to assist. (he had a really bad lawyer, as all the gays are saying.)

No, only the "radical miliant homosexual agenda-pushing lobby" reported it, barely.

Meanwhile, African-Americans aver that gay men have no business asking for civil rights and that our quest is not like theirs. I agree with the cads, mostly Democrats, racist to one degree or the other (Jackson, Sharpton, Ruben Diaz, et al,) and say: "absolutely we're different."

After all, there were no riots by any radical militant homosexuals over this latest travesty. Nor any other over the years. We haven't had a riot since 1979 -- and the previous one 10 years before that. Two little measly riots in 50 years. And we attacked the state – not looted stores. Radical Militants indeed.

Then, too, the African-American neighborhoods seem to be seething hotbeds of violence and abandoned children and social welfare problems, etc etc.
While often right across the boulevard, certainly down the block, are gayborhoods where you and yours may stroll in peace at virtually any hour and get an ice cream.
The one gets billions in social sustenance -- the other diligently pays its taxes to pay for the gov't resistance to our existence.
In Missouri the damn radical militant homosexual lobby has the darn agenda to file joint tax returns! The legislature is trying to impeach the governor for say, “Ooh, we'll take gay men's taxes, sure!” Terrible, I know. Ahem.

Anyway, it is illustrative of how different the gay thing is from the rest when we look at various protests over the past 50 years -- pretty much every leftist one turns into a violent riot. Every gay one is, an, um, festive parade! Often followed by a picnic and county fair. Oh, except Tea Party rallies, Or Beck's Honor thing – we're just like those.

Astonishing that this is so little noted -- I just love doing it. I do. :)

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@rickn8or- I believe that they were found on Brown's body.

@George in Houtx- In fairness, I detest Obama's presence at Arlington, so I was going to be pissed off no matter what he did. But not showing up was the greater sin because of the message it sends to our military and the world.

@REM1875- Well said.

@Geoff King- I think the pattern you're seeing absolutely exists.

Regarding Ferguson, it seems that the entire situation is being handled very poorly - almost as if making things worse is the goal.

@Duke Mantee- We still don't know all the facts in the shooting. We do know, however, that Brown was not so much a gentle giant as a bullying asshole.

@John the Econ- I agree that the police probably need fewer armored personnel carriers with mounted machine guns, and more dash cams.

And as you point out, it's hardly "The Man" getting hurt by the looting and violence; it's the people who have stayed in the community trying to keep some small economic heartbeat alive.

@TrickyRicky- You're right, it's an "all of the above" situation.

@Judi King- The report showing that Brown was shot from the front doesn't yet clarify whether or not it was a "righteous" shoot - but it certainly disproves the claims that Brown was shot in the back while running away.

@Geoff King- Frankly, Obama is so bad at foreign affairs that I'm surprised we're not actively at war with Canada by now.

@John the Econ- I'm not aware of any situation, anywhere, ever getting better because Eric Holder has become involved.

@Sparky- Again, what message does Barry's absence send to our military and the rest of the world? If he doesn't care about our soldiers, then he isn't a credible commander-in-chief. And we're seeing the damage done by this absence of leadership.

@Sarah Rolph- Thank you for calling this to my attention. It doesn't happen often, but I screwed up in the original commentary (or at least I went with a story which later proved incorrect). Secretary of Defense Hagel was at the funeral, and I've corrected the commentary to say so.

@American Cowboy- Maybe Brown was actually called the "gentile giant" by the local Jewish community?

@Jim Hlavac- If that story is accurate, this is a travesty of justice. Not that Obama is likely to tell Eric Holder to investigate nor, as you point out, are we going to see any demonstrations. Even fabulous demonstrations.

Sadly, the media is way more interested in stories like that of Michael Brown which can be used and manipulated to serve a larger and uglier political agenda - leaving justice undone not only for the Gay community and the Black community, but for everyone else as well.

Geoff King said...

It appears that many, including Eric Holder, want the violence in Ferguson to continue:
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2014/08/17/communists-and-the-new-black-panthers-gin-up-violence-and-racial-conflict-in-ferguson/

Judi King said...

You're right Dr. Jarlsberg, the autopsy report doesn't clarify anything. It's all a rush to judgement, another Trayvon Martin, another racial diversion tactic, but people generally don't get shot for no reason. And, about not honoring a dead military hero, maybe his highness should have been there but, if I were in the hero's family, I wouldn't want him there.

Geoff King said...

I still want to know what kind of moron (besides a dead one) robs a liquor store and only takes a box of cigars?

Anonymous said...

Geoff King - a very BIG moron.

Anonymous said...

BTW, just wanted to say that Dr. Jarlsberg has a sh1tload more integrity than most in the press. Kudos for the correction.

Anonymous said...

BTW Logorrhea - another person to blame is The BIG Moron. He was ultimately responsible.

Anonymous said...

And BTW (I know, shut up) - George Bush is not in office. The post-racial president is golfing, thank you very much. And yet we have a race riot. Lovely. That is Bush's fault too. I am sick of the leftist hypocrisy.

Anonymous said...

Per Sarah earlier and your reply, If Byron York can get "fooled", anyone can. Kinda goes with what was said in another post - the press is composed of some shoddy stuff. Can't trust it except in the long-run using "trusted" sources. But Byron I trust.

OK, so I didn't shut-up ... so what.

John the Econ said...

@JIm Hlavac, if it makes you feel any better, the average black citizen is at least as disregarded. After all, there were 29 shootings in Chicago last weekend alone, and yet Jesse Jackson felt he was more needed in Missouri.

On my "Progressive list of Priorities", the concept of "self defense" doesn't even register. If the guy with the pen knife had allowed himself to be martyred instead of defending himself, then you'd have had the media's undivided attention, at least for a moment or two. But the left has complete disdain for people who effectively defend themselves, no matter what politically protected group they may be from.

Privileged SWM said...

Except, John the E, other news reports were that the gentleman in question was ejected from the party for fighting and then came back for revenge - that is when the stabbings happened. I personally have no idea what the truth is but if the other story is correct, it is for a revenge stabbing that he was convicted, not self-defense.

Your point Jackson though is true.

As pointed out in something I read recently, Dennis Praeger often asks whether your view of mankind is that man is fundamentally bad or good, and how you answer that shapes your worldview. The "right" usually assumes the former, the "left" the latter. In so doing, the "left" naturally assumes that it must be external circumstance, not a person's choices, that are to blame for one's situation in life.

Personal choices like apparently robbing a liquor store for (cheap ass) cigars and then apparently scuffling with a police officer, trying to grab his gun, and then apparently bum-rushing him after an apparent strong-arm robbery.

Now why six shots? Oh my, that requires some explanation. And as the good doctor asks, no taser?

Anonymous said...

This is what these scoundrels like Jackson are all about.

Steyer the Liar said...

Sociopath?

Geoff King said...

I actually ummm tried to ummm watch Ă˜bama's ummm speech today. He ummm didn't appear ummm to be reading from a ummm teleprompter this time, but rather ummm from a written ummm sheet of ummm paper. As a result, he ummm made very little ummm eye contact and seemed to ummm lose his place often. Other than that ummm, the content was pretty much ummm the same doubletalk and ummm lies.

Anonymous said...

Geoff - you are one helluva bad transcriber!

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, who follows The goddam Great One knows it is "uh ummmm".

Sheesh. Dude.

JustaJeepGuy said...

I heard an explanation for the theft of the Swisher Sweets on the radio: you take the cigarillo, slit it open and dump the tobacco, and replace it with marijuana and voila--a "blunt". The guy just wanted to get high! Legalizing marijuana would make things sooooo much better, right? Nobody would ever steal anything or commit any other crime just to get high, would he? I just KNOW crimes never happen here in Colorado just for the purpose of getting high, right? Yeah, sure....

Pamecon said...

The third autopsy is a tell... To those who have a positive IQ.

For Lo-fo's, any spun up narrative to get their victimhood juices flowing is readily embraced!

Holder can take the GG's remains & add bullet holes entering the front with a steak knife; claim the store video of GG assaulting the guy has been fabricated, lo-fo's will believe it, believe anything.

They're more gullible than Coast-to-Coast listeners on ghost story night, it's a willful gullibility, not just a sad result of public schools.

Holder and Co. are nuttier than a squill turd - they exhibit a level of paranoia with Whites of European ancestry that only years of professional therapy will hopefully reverse.

Two more years under the control of these disturbed people seems too much to contemplate.

Jim Hlavac said...

@Logorrhea -- thanks for the link -- the story there doesn't seem to square with the latter investigations ... nor the eyewitnesses ... but it was so under-investigated, who knows?

Still, there's been plenty of gay men pulverized or killed over the years -- Matthew Shepherd (and whatever happened there) and then a man shot in NYC last year, and several others beaten on the same night, some shopkeeper last year in Tennessee where the owner was beaten and "fag" left scrawled on the walls ... there's countless provocations ... on June 27th 2009 the Ft Worth police raided a gay bar and beat 9 of the 12 patrons so severely that one is still in rehab -- the list is rather long -- and still -- NO riots. 40 years of "gay pride marches" (aka, political protests) in hundreds of locations even on the same weekend across the world -- NO riots (unless the police attack, like in Russia, etc.)

Whatever the particulars of each case may be -- the reality - is we "radical militants" -- that's the key phrase -- are simply not breaking out into looting sprees and riots.

Anyway, thanks, everyone for the kind comments and links and observations.

Matthew Miller said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Geoff King- Holder wants violence to continue? I'm shocked - shocked!

@Logorrhea- Well stated throughout. Your point 6, about weakness, echoes an excellent opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal, likening Ferguson to Fallujah in that neglect of a bad situation inevitably leads to a worse situation.

@Judi King- Bits of factual information are coming in a little at a time, and eventually the truth of the Michael Brown shooting will be known. But right now the noise, game playing, and rabble rousing are obscuring the truth.

@Anonymous- I've said it plenty of times before, but when Barry was first elected I thought he might at least be a positive influence toward improving race relations in this country. Silly me.

Regarding General Greene's funeral and the error about Hagel attending, I've got to say that I loathe reportage based on tweets. But as much as I'd like to ignore them, they're a (stupid) fact of life these days: the White House tweets, cabinet officials tweet, ISIS tweets, the Russians in Ukraine tweet, and on and on. No wonder journalism has fallen into such a sad state.

@John the Econ- I remain dumbfounded on a daily basis that the carnage is allowed to continue in Chicago without so much as a raised eyebrow from either the media or alleged black "leaders."

@Privileged SWM- Interesting take on the Luke O'Donovan case. Apparently his conviction was based on the idea that he was thrown out of a party, returned with a knife, and the resulting fight and stabbings were part of an attempt to disarm him.

I don't know if that's what happened or not, though it would explain a seemingly inexplicable verdict.

And according to one account I read, a number of self-proclaimed anarchists did vandalize property to show their support of O'Donovan and their solidarity with Michael Brown. What a world.

Praeger's question about viewing people as good or bad is interesting to think about, but I think it's a little askance the mark. I think the truer question is whether one sees people as being capable or incapable of taking responsibility for themselves. The Right believes that people are, the Left believes that people aren't - which is why they need The State to control all aspects of life.

@Anonymous- I don't know why anyone would donate to Jackson after he spent so much donated money previously to pamper, and eventually pay off, his illicit baby mama.

@Steyer the Liar- I've maintained for years that Obama is a sociopath. I believe it down to my shoe soles.

@Geoff King- It must be pretty frustrating for Barry that words printed on a page don't scroll up automatically.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@JustaJeepGuy- Hard to know if Brown intended to make blunts (just as it's hard to know if Trayvon Martin planned to make "drank" out of his Arizona ice tea and skittles).

@Joseph-ET- Good questions that I hope we'll eventually have answers for.

@Anonymous- Sadly, I think this kind of high dollar thievery in Washington is like the everyday violence in Chicago: so common that it isn't considered "news" anymore.

@Pamecon- You're right that Holder and company can pretty much say anything and it will be believed. There are already plenty of people claiming that the security footage of the store robbery was faked, and that multiple witnesses who say Brown charged at the police officer are lying. The final narrative from Holder will be whatever most benefits Dems in the midterms.

@Jim Hlavac- Whatever the facts in the O'Donovan case, there are far too many other cases of anti-gay violence. To learn more about the O'Donovan situation I did a google search on "Gay" "Stabbing." It didn't bring up the Atlanta story, but sadly there were plenty of other recent stories about Gays being stabbed.

But again, these cases are unlikely to make headlines unless someone can profit from them politically.

@Matthew Miller- Good call on killing your comment. I checked out the link you deleted, and sure as hell didn't see what you thought you saw.

Judi King said...

Question: What is the earth shaking reason the "dic" had make his %500,000 return trip back to DC on Sunday? Just asking.

Judi King said...

Sorry.....that's $500,000, Typo

PRY said...

Is this the 60's again? Feels the same to me.

Dodger Blues said...

Feels like the 70s to me, PRY.

Geoff King said...

I know I grew up in the 70's because I don't remember a damn thing about it.

Dodger Blues said...

Geoff King - Precisely. There was no "there" there.

Actually? We almost disintegrated in the 70s. We were on the brink. Until Reagan. Yes, lefties, that is true. Just like you are doing to metropolitan areas around the country and burbs like Ferguson, we were being destroyed by the left. And we are again on the brink.

And really, for libertarians like me, there really is no hope. As glad as I am that Hlavac is one, very few so-called "liberals" will ever see the light. They all want stuff and are too wedded to victimhood, as mentioned earlier.

Geoff King said...

We Libertarians are obviously delusional. We believe that every human being has the inalienable and God-given right to lead our lives anyway we see fit, as long as we accept personal responsibility for our actions and cause no harm to others or to their property. One of the main Items of contention with the Libertarian philosophy is our belief that all drugs should be legalized immediately. On that topic, the ongoing war on drugs has always been an expensive waste of taxpayer's money and can not possibly succeed in doing anything more than placing otherwise decent hard-working citizens in jail, without addressing the basic problems. I do not give a damn if you shoot your brain full of .44 Mag bullets, why the hell should I care if you shoot your arm full of Heroin? If your drug habit causes you to screw up at work, your boss has the right to fire you. If your drug habit causes you to screw up while driving, the police have the right to arrest you and the state has the right to revoke your driver's license. If your drug habit causes you to rob a liquor store to support that habit, the store owner should have the right to blow you away and, otherwise, the system has the right to lock you away for a very long time. That is what laws are supposed to address. Under the Libertarian platform there would no longer be such a thing as a "victimless crime".

Dom Paulo said...

Soooo.... been looking at comments at another blog. Very animated comments about this beheading of the American journalist. He's not getting much sympathy for 1.) being there, and 2.) his final comments. Apparently an Italian journalist was a boatload braver than our lad. Go figure.

Anywho, d'y'all suppose that Barry just maybe is beginning to pay any attention at all to ISIS? Ya think maybe turning the NSA spying onto these bloodthirsty monsters? Maybe? Finally to do some profiling of people coming and going from our international airports? Coming across our borders?

OK, stupid questions. As long as it is only the little people who get beheaded, right? And Republicans. Barry's down with that.

Dodger Blues said...

Oh my, PRY, you may be right .....