As I said in my doc:

The question comes down to whether or not you’re basing your belief on something in the realm of reason — not some fail-safe fantasy that allows you to believe whatever you want.

— Richard W. Memmer: Act III

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Marching to Black Lives Matter with the first black president sitting in the White House — was that a smart move? The answer should be abundantly clear and yet the question is not even considered. I’ve been blocked on Twitter for just politely suggesting that BLM is a counterproductive cause.

Instead of considering how you could fight for justice more intelligently — you act like I’m saying you shouldn’t fight for it at all.

“Was that a smart move?”

Instantly firing back with boilerplate beliefs is not an indicator of understanding the premise of that question (or even caring to). Such inquiry requires reflection and the willingness to examine the efficacy of your efforts: And what role you play in harming your own interests by the manner in which you pursue them.

Pay no mind to how many times we go backwards by the means in which you move forward.

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Dealing on the the moment . . .

Is What America Does “Best”:

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The Yellow Brick Road: Path of America’s predictably counterproductive pursuits.

When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?

Speaking of dealing on the moment

We all have a responsibility when dealing with the police. If you cop an attitude (especially in today’s climate) — you are radically increasing your chances of getting gunned down. That doesn’t necessarily mean they deserved it — but they played a role in what happened. If you really wanna have a conversation on race — you can’t cherry-pick the root causes that work for you.

You’ve gotta take a hard look at the entirety of problem — ugliness and all. By miserably failing to do so, you just create more ugliness. It’s not like I invented this idea any more than ‘ol Bill did:

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And this — is part of the problem

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It’s all the more outrageous given that the guy acknowledged he had a weapon. This person’s comment nailed it:

If someone is trying to get the drop on you, I don’t think they would calmly say “I just want to let you know that I have a gun”

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Yanez stated that his justification for the shooting was based on fear for his own life because he believed that Castile’s behavior was abusive toward a young girl passenger (Reynolds’ daughter) in the car.^[43] 

Yanez said: “I thought, I was gonna die, and I thought if he’s, if he has the, the guts and the audacity to smoke marijuana in front of the five-year-old girl and risk her lungs and risk her life by giving her secondhand smoke and the front seat passenger doing the same thing, then what, what care does he give about me?”^[43]

That’s an awful lot of analysis for something that happened so fast. His argument is absolutely ridiculous — I don’t buy it for a second. You cannot make sweeping assumptions like that in ascertaining a threat. And it’s absurd that an officer would fear for his life over the perception of a person’s character regarding secondhand smoke.

I’d rather go to prison than come up with such a stupid excuse. Speaking of excuses:

This notion that compliance and respectability can save someone’s life in an encounter with police is not the reality for black men in this countr

— Charles Coleman, Jr.

Worked out well for this guy:

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Back to Bill and the ugliness that sensitivity shies away from:

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Yeah, you can find examples where blacks did everything right and got killed anyway. But I’m betting that number pales in comparison to the times where they didn’t follow instructions. In many cases, they didn’t deserve to be shot, but they played a role in what happened.

Properly following instructions would have most likely produced a different outcome.

To be sure, “compliance and respectability” doesn’t always pan out — but it’s the smart move, the right thing to do, and it gives you the best shot of walking away unharmed. When you act like the one on the right, you’re not only endangering yourself — you’re helping to create the atmosphere of confrontation for others by putting the police on edge.

The attitude on the left would do no such thing. Charles Coleman, Jr. is flat-out wrong, as the importance of attitude cannot be overstated.

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Race relations do not exist in a vacuum any more than mass shootings or anything else. The mental health of America is central to the story of all that surrounds us. What I have illustrated throughout this site and my documentary — is not the mark of a healthy nation: It’s the . . .

If an entire nation of “normal” people refuse to work together to solve problems — and delight in rapid-fire ridicule against any challenge to their beliefs (baseless or otherwise): How do you think that impacts those who are already inclined to mow people down? Speaking of shootings — you wanna put trigger-happy cops in prison (and rightly so when warranted). I’m interested in how they became trigger-happy. That belligerent behavior often factors into it does not necessarily mean that race wasn’t involved as well.

But you don’t allow for anything outside of what you instantly perceive. If race is part of the story — you make it the entire story.

Keyboard commandos are on edge across the country. So what makes you think that people who live their lives in danger every day — aren’t overreacting partly as a reflection of a country that overreacts on everything? My aim is not to absolve the police, but rather to paint the possibility that race may not be as much of a factor as you think it is.

Chris Rock didn’t come up with this sketch out of thin air. But for me to suggest this is the entire problem — would be as preposterous as you denying it’s part of it.

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If you don’t want to get shot . . . just do what I tell you. . . . Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?

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But no, you wanna debate that too!

Even a multi-millionaire like Don Lemon’s got a chip on his shoulder.

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I am one who always says that you should comply with police officers — especially as a man of color. When I’m stopped by a police officer: “Officer, why are you stopping me?” Yes, officer or whatever. Now, I’m an American — I shouldn’t have to do that. I shouldn’t have to be “Yes, sir” to anybody. I’m a grown, ‘you know what’ man.” But I do it because I want to stay alive. That’s why I do it. I shouldn’t have to.

How about just doing it out of courtesy and respect?

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How hard is it to just put yourself in their shoes — and consider the crap that cops deal with day in and day out? Yeah, they signed up for it — but you can do your part to make the situation go as smoothly as possible.

And Don — your audience blew right by that bit about complying and seized on “I shouldn’t have to.”

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All that aside . . .

My view of police officers these days: They’re overly protective of their own safety — in a job that by definition, comes with a certain degree of danger. If you’re unwilling to take that extra split-second to ascertain a threat — you have no business being in that job. The officer in Castile’s case was clearly out of control. Even if Philando didn’t do something exactly as the officer expected — the slightest misunderstanding is not grounds for shooting someone (not to mention the absurd number of shots).

By that standard, you could justify anything — like invading a Middle Eastern country because you feel like it.

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Imagining a threat is not enough

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When I wrote that line over 4 years ago — I could not have imagined that there would come a day when someone’s imagination would see a harmless mistake as assaulting her. As explained in America’s Comfort-Craving Culture I Can’t Stand:

Any rational person would be able to size up the situation when someone’s trying to tell you that this is not about you (and they’re not upset at you). And if they put out their hands to put your mind at ease while saying so (and brushed by your jacket by accident): “Don’t touch me” laced with a look of scorn — seems wildly over-the-top. At least it used to be, but no longer:

As Anything Goes in a world where turbocharged hypersensitivity has become normalized

And catered to like you just crawled out of the crib.

I lit into her for showing that look of limitless power to punish on a whim. I did for me, for Philando, and for everyone who’s ever been fucked over by someone who didn’t have the fortitude to properly assess a situation. Who’s to say if I had walked away — that she wouldn’t have called the cops anyway? And therein lies the point — that people who make snap judgments that’ll send you 6 feet under, get you evicted, cling to stupid slogans like “Armed only Skittles & Iced Tea” . . .

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Never mind it’s not iced tea

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And last but far from least

Start dumb, dishonest, and delusional wars:

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These people (as in all of America): Will never learn without a day of reckoning for the cosmic damage they’ve done and continue to do. Jesus Christ — even 20 years later, this country still can’t get the self-evident straight:

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If you’re not gonna abide by the rules you rail on others for failing to follow: We have a word for that, but it no longer counts for anything unless it serves you. There was a time when it could stick or at least sting, but those days are long gone. Like everything else anymore:

It was a time when things that once meant something, now means nothing.

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From decades of being increasingly accommodating of liars aligned with your interests: You kept lowering the bar — and now there is no bar.

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Trust me, you’re gonna want that bar back if the cops come calling to coddle the insecure who don’t give a damn about the rules: The unstable who would run your life into the ground and not lose a second of sleep over it. “When the Machine Has Taken the Soul from the Man”: The Broadstone Chronicles — is the original version of the assaut story (and how it’s connected to the madness that came before it).

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And then there’s this guy

Who seems utterly oblivious to the destruction he caused (like so many who came before him):

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The moment Obama caved on the Democratic Party playbook on race — he put Trump on the path to the presidency. It’s quite possible that Comey’s cover-his-ass actions in the 11th hour tipped the scales. Given the possibility that a single event like that could alter the atmosphere of an election — what do you think pouring fuel on the fire for years did?

If the indiscriminate approach of BLM pisses me off: What do you think it did for people gunning to bring Obama down?

You overplayed your hand!

He had golden opportunities to take the country forward, but instead of leading the way — he followed his base and went backwards. Given the tight margins — there’s not a doubt in my mind that their ploys put Trump in the White House.

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Nobody nailed Obama better than Matt Damon:

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A one-term president with some balls . . . [would have been] much better

When one of your most ardent supporters is questioning your manhood, it’s time to take a long, hard look in the mirror. But past is prologue — which is why I knew Obama wouldn’t be the candidate he claimed. Someone without a record of risk is not a catalyst for change. Nevertheless, I gave him a shot in 2008.

He blew it (as big as anyone who has ever blown it). And I don’t reward people for piss-poor performance and dishonesty. I’m old-fashioned that way.

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Speaking of 2008 . . .

Leaving aside Hillary’s history of dealing on the moment — a Hillary/Obama ticket was still the smart move. He wasn’t ready (nor do I think he was presidential material anyway — but let’s leave that aside too). She’d most likely get 8 years — and in the meantime, Obama would be groomed for the next 8. That’s a high probability of 16 years of Democratic rule — and who knows from there.

You wanted a plant when you could have had a crop — and all you had to do was sacrifice a little longer.

But ya just had to have your “first black president” — instead of getting him as a seasoned candidate 8 years later. This ain’t Monday-morning quarterbacking — I said so at the time. But you weren’t done dealing on the moment — and no matter how many times it backfires, you never listen & never learn.

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“What is past is prologue”

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Speaking of Obama and a nation that never learns. Geraldine Ferraro and Rush are in opposite camps, and yet she said essentially the same thing as he did:

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

Every word of her statement is true, but that didn’t matter to those who bombarded her with “vicious e-mail messages accusing her of racism.”

Utterly ridiculous!

In a follow-up interview, Ferraro said she was “not trying to diminish Obama’s candidacy, and acknowledged up front that she would not have been the vice presidential nominee in 1984 if she had been a man.” All she was trying to say was that Obama lacked experience and that the media was overplaying his qualifications — and I couldn’t agree more.

Because it’s the truth (and no rational person would argue otherwise).

For people who pride themselves as the party of intellectualism — you sure don’t think things through. In The Unconscious is Not What You Think It is TEDx Talk, Dr. Joel Weinberger proudly proclaimed the following on being right about Trump’s 2016 win:

How did we get it right and everyone else get it wrong?

By miserably failing to ask the right questions years before — you unwittingly created the conditions to “get it right.” Now look where you are — outraged over Roe v. Wade and Trump on the rise once again (oblivious to how you brought it all on yourselves).

And for what? . . .

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And NOW look where you are (AGAIN). So proud of your Victories in Vocabulary (not to mention the numbers): Always the numbers . . .

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Nothing in the atmosphere of America is improving on any front. In fact, it’s worsening by the day. But hey: We’ve got 24 million visitors to our website, an email list of 2 million & growing, fundraising on the rise, and a million actions taken.

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Has it ever occurred to anyone in BLM that simply calling it something else would have served your interests far better? “All Lives Matter”: How could you not see that tit for tat in taglines coming?

You predictably damaged the debate on the name alone.

And now, even now . . . The cat . . . TOTALLY out of the BAG! You’re still standing here . . . debating! What the hell else do you need?

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And still — you don’t learn . . .

At the core of our country’s decline — is the unrelenting refusal to get to the bottom of anything. Like this 1619 business: You wanna draw correlations from the past while flagrantly ignoring crystal-clear connections in the present. Black Lives Matter, monuments, kneeling, and now this?

You’re all over the place — and you’ve got company . . .

As with Kaepernick’s kneeling, Black Lives Matter, and the removal of monuments — what are you really gonna gain out of 1619? Even if you could miraculously get what you want: And you have a better chance of walking on water.

What’s it gonna take for you to see the unintended consequences that come with it? Therein lies the folly of it all. This consortium of causes has no chance of achieving anything remotely in the realm of its loosely defined aims — and you’re doing catastrophic damage to the very thing you’re trying to remedy.

I don’t care if Kaepernick kneels: I care that you can’t solve multidimensional problems with one-dimensional gestures.

What if Kaepernick kneeled and acknowledged that they need to do their part while asking the police to do theirs? And right on cue: “Hold the phone — you want us to share some responsibility?” Do you want to solve problems or protest about them?

Kneel, but couple your message with Kobe’s below — and you change the game.

I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American. That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American, we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society?

Well, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American.

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In the right hands . . .

That’s a game changer as big as it gets.

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Had Obama said those words instead, POTUS would have put us on a new path. And wasn’t that the point of his presidency? With one paragraph, the probability that throwing down the gauntlet would have thwarted Trump’s rise to the White House and prevented America’s plunge into the abyss:

More importantly:

Obama would have changed the trajectory of the country far beyond that. To be sure , how they pounced on Kobe for his response to Trayvon would be a picnic compared to the beating Obama would get. But any loss on the Left would be vastly outweighed by the gains on the Right:

Wait a minute, the black guy’s gonna go against his base on an issue at the bedrock of the party platform?

Republicans would still find plenty to complain about, but showing some guts goes a long way in changing the dynamic of debate. We’d be living in a very different world right now had he delivered on his promise (which I predicted he wouldn’t). My track record for the truth and seeing the lay of the land is impeccable. There’s nothing earth-shattering about it:

I just see things as they are, not as I imagine them to be.

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Which is why it’s crystal clear to me that there’s a galactic waste of time & energy on monuments and other symbols to make you think you’re making progress (firing up the base for fleeting gain). We’ve got serious problems plaguing this country — and you’re concerned about some statue in a park? I’ll put the power of that paragraph spoken by Obama back then — over wiping the face of the earth of every contentious symbol in America.

I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to . . .

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Overreacting is all America does: Every single day!

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Shallow thinkers do not think beyond the immediate and the observable. They usually take information at face value and only look at immediate consequences. They are not capable of looking at all sides of an issue or think deeply about the issue before making decisions or drawing conclusions . . .

They also believe that their opinion is based on deep thinking because they genuinely believe that their opinion is based on truth and facts

Whereas, deep thinkers look at the whole sequence of events and the consequences.When we dig deeper, we understand better. We can compare different outcomes, examine, tear apart, and make cognizant judgments that are derived from different mental models.

Left and Right . . .

I’ve yet to find a single person who digs beyond the depth of their immediate domain of interest. In our entirely transactional times, America endlessly rehashes topics of today — never once considering the totality of events that created them (or even having a notion of the need to). America argues in a vacuum incapable of correlating anything: As if blowback has no bearing on 9/11 & today.

With the issues I address — you might as well be saying the Civil War wasn’t germane to the assassination of Lincoln.