Discussion for article #235898
Amen.
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He has been an amazing presence through this entire week. Bless you, Rep. Cummings, you did your community proud.
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Something’s happenin’ here…
What it is is very clear…
There’s cop with a gun over there
Tellin’ blacks they better beware
http://www.metrolyrics.com/somethings-happening-here-lyrics-buffalo-springfield.html
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I cannot put into words how much it hurts me to know people–with whom we’ve entrusted our safety–can actually do that to another human being, and another human being who did nothing to provoke any kind of mistreatment.
May Freddie Gray rest in peace. I sincerely hope those responsible are put in prison–in the general population–for the remainder of their natural lives. Please, let their be real justice this time. Thank you.
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If it’s just a few bad cops, what are the odds against these six all being together at one time? Where was the one good cop that needed to step in and stop this? Where are the cops that will say no, our union shouldn’t defend these six?
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This is about the time the blue wall goes up. Union reps will protest and say the guys are innocent (for the time being), and what a hard job it is, but mainly they’ll say the late young Mr. Gray brought it on himself by not giving in to their orders. I fear nothing will ever change in any city anywhere in this country. Police have developed a siege mentality and the citizens are the enemies.
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Damn, littlegirlblue, this is probably the first time I’ve ever hoped you are 100% wrong. However, I do feel you are dead on with regards to the efforts to those who don’t want change – and to those who are paid to mouth platitudes. In this particular case, I wish the (police) unions would take a step back and do some real hard reviewing of their policies and what the real end goal is supposed to be. Everyone deserves–and has the right to–a vigorous defense. That said, I think the unions do themselves no favors by shielding the obvious bad apples. There’s nothing wrong with an inside investigation to determine if a member or members truly deserve their full support in defending certain actions. Thank you.
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My heart leans with you, but my head tells me @littlegirlblue’s pessimism will prove well-founded for a long time to come. As @View_from_the_front_porch notes, it gets harder to argue it’s just a few bad apples when we see cases like this that involve so many. And when NYC’s union head reacts to a measured speech by the mayor responding to an incident widely seen as outrageous by corralling his membership into a virtual mutiny, it doesn’t bode well for the prospect of what we want to believe is the majority of good cops willingly joining the effort to clean up their ranks and their practices. Social media is finally changing the calculus some, so there’s hope for the future, but it’ll be a long, tough haul. The “blue wall of silence” is a part of police culture that goes back decades, after all: google “Frank Serpico.”
Oh, and Elijah Cummings is a great man.
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But I hope the jurys see through this patented tactic and do the right thing.
Fraternal Order of Police, the blue wall building team? Here are they are as quick as could be expected. The prosecutor is in the wrong, and they want her to recuse herself…