Three incidents that happened toward the tail end of last week beg the question of why ... ?
The first was the incident where four young black people kidnapped, attacked, and basically had their way with an equally young white man. The young white man was mentally handicapped, adding to the mystery.
Happening in crime-laden Chicago, the story really has yet to come out about what set this incident off, why it happened, and what the supposed perpetrators were thinking when they did this.
The basics are this: they kidnapped the young white man--known to one of them through school--beat him up, and broadcast much of this on Facebook.
You hate to label this situation in black and white, but from what has been heard about it, the perpetrators shouted racial epithets at the young man as they pounced on him, and also yelled and screamed about President-elect Donald Trump.
Most people, myself included, first thought that this was a hoax, but evidently, it is not, and the perpetrators, who have admitted doing what they did, are being charged with two hate crimes--one having to do with race, the other having to do with the young man being mentally handicapped.
Everyone has many questions about this incident, the first of which being why it happened in the first place. Rumor currently has it that the young man liked Trump, and wore his feelings on his sleeve, so to speak, and the four perpetrators didn't take too kindly to that.
The second question is why did Facebook allow this to be shown on its site for so long? Don't they police their live videos? To me, that makes them culpable also.
Other questions have to do with why it took so long for the crime to involve civil rights violations, why people who normally jump on any civil rights violations--the Rev. Al Sharptons and Rev. Jesse Jacksons of the world--have stayed silent on this--does it have to do with the fact that the victim is white rather than black--and why our president has not spoken out about this, as he did such other incidents as those involving Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner--again, is it because the victim is white?
We will find out more about this heinous incident later this week, and there is a lot to this story that really needs some explaining, both on the level of the perpetrators and the level of those people I just mentioned.
There seems to be a double standard related to race that has been unfortunately captured by this horrid incident, and it is begging for some explanations.
The second situation that needs to be talked about is the heinous incident at Fort Lauderdale airport, where a shooter took out innocent people for seemingly no reason.
There are so many layers to this unfortunate incident, and each day we are learning more about the shooter and his supposed reasons for doing what he did.
He was a service member who seemed to be suffering from PTSD or some other malady. He told authorities that the government was programming him to joint ISIS. He has had mental difficulties in the past.
Yet he was allowed to carry a firearm, and was able to have it in his carry-on case when he boarded a flight to the Florida city. It was the only thing in his bag, along with the magazines that he ended up loading and killing innocent people with.
That right there should have been a red flag. Why would anyone just carry a firearm and bullets into an airport? But he was allowed to go through, and this incident unfolded when the plane he was on landed, and he went to the baggage area.
Video shows how he casually took out his now-loaded gun and nonchalantly just fired away.
Does he have ties to any terrorist group? Has our president said anything about this incident, and the need to toughen up laws about what you can bring into an airport?
The shooter was taken into custody, and hopefully, he will be removed from this planet in due time.
The third incident that recently occurred blows up our country's recent stance against Israel in the United Nations.
A Palestinian truck driver plowed into a group of soldiers on a busy street, killing several and injuring others. He was about ready to kill again, backing into another group, when Israeli police shot and killed him.
This is not the first such incident like this in Israel, and unfortunately, it won't be the last.
The Palestinians are out to remove Israel from the face of the earth, and whether the Obama Administration--or the rest of the world--accepts this or not, this is why there will be no peace there in the immediate future, and why a two-state solution can never work.
The Palestinians have acted like barbarians toward the Israelis, and this incident surely shows the world just that.
However, unlike the incidents in France, Germany and other places, there is no public outcry by national leaders about the Israeli incident.
It seems when it happens in any place but Israel, world leaders--including our own--seem to come out in unison decrying the unnecessary bloodshed, but not when it happens in Israel.
Why is that, and why hasn't President Obama said anything about this?
Funny, he seems to be pretty verbose about so many things in the waning days of his presidency, but when it comes to the three incidents I have just described, he is as mum as mum can be.
Why is that?
I ask again, why is that?
OK, why ---
ReplyDeleteThe Chicago victim doesn't need the likes of Al Sharpton to come to his aid, there's no reason to advocate for him because the men who brutalized him are in jail and facing hate crime charges. No one distrusts the system when it comes to punishing young black men for their crimes.
As for what Facebook does, this is interesting reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/01/06/what-facebook-cant-control-when-it-pushes-everyone-to-go-live/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.415369aed868
Why didn't the President say something about Ft. Lauderdale? I don't know, maybe it's because he's got nothing left to say after dealing with mass shootings like Newtown and Pulse, without effect. Or maybe it's because Rick Scott didn't call him, but only called the president-elect.
And why is Israel different from the rest of the world? Because Bibi is right, but so is John Kerry. Abbas has taken great pains to present his government as legitimate in the eyes of the world, has taken great pains to separate his aspirations for statehood from the rantings of Hamas. When Israel's ALLIES are telling Bibi not to expand the West Bank settlements, the battle is over. It has to stop. Because a contry that was crated by UN Declaration is in no position to argue that the UN cannot create an independent Palestinian State. So if Israel wants to protect its interests, it needs to come to the table and be part of the solution.
Well said Songbird.
DeleteNot really that well said. Our president runs an administration that is the most anti-Israel, pro-Arab in recent times, or even ever. The UN catastrophe cannot be overturned, but I do believe that our next president will make matters right. We have thrown Israel under the bus, and the occurrences that have sparked outrage around the world happen on a daily basis in Israel. No one says anything, but they should.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, you can defend Obama as much as you like, but if history is honest, yes, he was a trailblazer, but he really missed a golden opportunity to bring us all together by employing his own agenda, making him probably the worst president we have had since I have been alive, and that is really saying something, what with Carter and pants-down Clinton on the list.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Larry, but Obama has been a very successful president domestically. Our economy is booming, as it does every time we have a Democrat in office. His foreign policy earned us the respect that we lost under Bush, though I agree, he had some weaknesses. He will go down as one of our better presidents. I admit I was disappointed with his abstention at the UN, but it was done out of frustration an, I suspect, some personal animosity towards Bibi. Overall his record on Israel has been better than either Bush or Reagan.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the Israeli right has been hardlining against compromise while the Palestinians have been working towards respectability. the world sees it as Israel not willing to compromise. When your allies desert you...
Want to start the next Intifada? Move the embassy to Jerusalem.
I disagree with you entirely. His foreign policy has been an utter disaster--he deals with terrorists but puts friends under the bus. Domestically, he has opened the greatest racial divide in 50 years. Americans are employed, or more to the point, under-employed, and the economy isn't as good as you said it was. The gap between those that have and those that don't has widened during the past eight years. So many Americans have felt disenfranchised by this president, totally forgotten, and that is the real reason why Clinton lost. Nobody really loves Trump, but they simply detest Clinton, and that is why she lost. You weigh the two, and sorry, Clinton comes out second, and yes, I know about the popular vote, which is important, but did not win her the election. No, Obama was one of our worst presidents, because he left a mess to his successor that will take years to correct, even if it can be corrected, which I kind of doubt. I, personally, are much worse off with Obama in office than I was with the previous administration, so I am talking personally, as well as for our country. We needed a change, and we got one. Let's see if it pans out.
ReplyDelete