From President Obama regarding the death of Michael Brown:
The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time. As Attorney General Holder has indicated, the Department of Justice is investigating the situation along with local officials, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed.
I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.
Remarks? Opinions?
Here we go again…..
This is failure to lead. I’m not one of these people that wants to pretend that Barack Obama is responsible for the problems of our age. but he is not a good leader, not a good President.
It took him quite a while to put this statement out. I would have thought that the first black President would have been all over the subject of race-based riots in America. But he sat and tried to figure out what would or wouldn’t offend his liberal base – and issued a statement that didn’t mention the riots, much less decry them.
I’m not trying to pretend he’s responsible for rioting. I’m just saying he’s not a leader. America longs for grown up leadership – we haven’t had it for 13 years now.
And that to issue a statement that doesn’t address rioting that everyone in America is aware of, much less decry it or even use a negative adjective to describe it, is comical. He’s hamstrung by his own racial bias. Wants badly to use every dramatic instance of black-white conflict as a “teachable moment”.
Note that he a flowery, overlong statement about Robin Williams issued within a few hours of his death. But it took him longer to cook up this innocuous statement – the most obvious thing to say in the world.
Perhaps he was working feverishly to correlate riot behavior to global warming.
Heh, I tried to enclose that last snarky joke in sarcasm tags, mock computer language tags, but my start and end sarc tags got removed. They disappeared somewhere into the blog’s internal HTML parsing mechanisms.
Where are the black leaders, who will stand up and tell the hotheaded
youths, that it is NOT acceptable to loot stores and trash window to express
one’s anger and sorrow.? Getting (stealing) fancy clothes and sporting
equipment as an expression of anger at police, does not make any sense
what so ever, IMHO.
Sharpton has placed himsel as a leader, but I haven’t heard any words from
him about using restraint. Has anyone else?
He has only been down there a day. I expect Rev will impart that message. Michael Brown’s father has also urged people not to loot and steal. Let’s face it. Some people are going to loot and steal regardless of the situation. (Flood, hurricane, tornado, political unrest, this incident)
There aren’t really any “black leaders” per se … nor white leaders … we’re past the age of centralized messaging, past the age of common leaders. The most anyone can do is to encourage a few million people to consider a message of some type. kim Kardashian can probably do that as well as Al Sharpton can.
Except that the President of the US has some ability to lead. You wouldn’t know, because it’s been a long time since we had anyone in there that could do this.
I would expect the President and the Attorney General or, at least, their spokesmen
to come forward forcefully and speak about this problem.
@punchak
Yes, he spoke about looting and said… “resist we much, we must, and we will much about that… be committed”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CifYWxJXaI
Does anyone take this guy seriously these days?
I have to agree with Rick on this one… his long statement on Robin Williams hours after his death vs his short statement on this situation days after the fact doesn’t come across very well. It gives the appearance that he relates to and is more emotionally connected to his Hollywood pals than he is with black youth today. And don’t think the black youth hasn’t noticed it either: http://twitchy.com/2014/08/12/hella-shallow-reaction-to-president-obamas-statement-on-death-of-michael-brown-reserved/
In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest
FERGUSON, Mo. — For the past week in Ferguson, reporters have been using the McDonald’s a few blocks from the scene of Michael Brown’s shooting as a staging area. Demonstrations have blown up each night nearby. But inside there’s WiFi and outlets, so it’s common for reporters to gather there.
That was the case Wednesday. My phone was just about to die, so as I charged it, I used the time to respond to people on Twitter and do a little bit of a Q&A since I wasn’t out there covering the protests.
As I sat there, many armed officers came in — some who were dressed as normal officers, others who were dressed with more gear.
Initially, both Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post and I were asked for identification. I was wearing my lanyard, but Ryan asked why he had to show his ID. They didn’t press the point, but one added that if we called 911, no one would answer.
Then they walked away. Moments later, the police reemerged, telling us that we had to leave. I pulled my phone out and began recording video.
An officer with a large weapon came up to me and said, “Stop recording.”
I said, “Officer, do I not have the right to record you?”
He backed off but told me to hurry up. So I gathered my notebook and pens with one hand while recording him with the other hand.
As I exited, I saw Ryan to my left, having a similar argument with two officers. I recorded him, too, and that angered the officer. As I made my way toward the door, the officers gave me conflicting information.
One instructed me to exit to my left. As I turned left, another officer emerged, blocking my path.
“Go another way,” he said.
As I turned, my backpack, which was slung over one shoulder, began to slip. I said, “Officers, let me just gather my bag.” As I did, one of them said, “Okay, let’s take him.”
Multiple officers grabbed me. I tried to turn my back to them to assist them in arresting me. I dropped the things from my hands.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-washington-post-reporter-wesley-lowery-gives-account-of-his-arrest/2014/08/13/0fe25c0e-2359-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html