The centrality of myth for progressive ideology

Andrew McCarthy is spot on in his analysis of the Ferguson narrative believed by everyone on the hard left. How could they not believe that Michael Brown wouldn't hurt a soul and Officer Darren Wilson is a hateful, racist killer? These are articles of faith. Evidence can't disprove articles of faith. Excerpt:

For the American Left, a bedrock myth is that white cops kill black kids. It derives from the overarching myth that casts racism as our indelible national sin. As Heather MacDonald explains, citing exhaustive criminology studies, it flows seamlessly from the quackery that dismisses the disproportionately high incidence of violent crime in African-American communities as an illusion — as the product of police racism and the consequent hyper-targeting of black boys and men, rather than of racial differences in patterns of offending.

Darren Wilson was a white cop and Michael Brown was a black teenager killed in a violent confrontation with Wilson. Therefore, Brown was the victim of a cold-blooded, racially motivated murder, Q.E.D. That is the myth, and it will be served — don’t bother us with the facts.

Another good point:

....Factually, the chatter about “conflicting testimony” falsely implies that all testimony is created equal. In reality, accounts given by anti-Wilson witnesses, where not patently fabricated, tended to be discredited by forensic evidence. The forensics, instead, corroborated the exculpatory testimony — much of which came from African-American witnesses, a fact that undermines the myth and therefore goes largely unnoticed. The grand-jury rules are more permissive than those that govern criminal trials, but prosecutors are still ethically barred from asking the grand jury to rely on testimony they believe is false, inaccurate, or unconvincing.

Emphasis mine. Blacks who are tired of the idiocy of other blacks get the worst treatment. Their voice is ignored whenever they cannot be intimidated.

Obama is a terrible boss

Kim Strassel runs down the list of evidence. Excerpt:

These days, what able-minded Democrat would want to work for a boss who asks hires to check their brains at the door and then read from the talking points? Respected economist Christina Romer came in as Mr. Obama’s first head of his Council of Economic Advisers; she left after 18 months, tired of putting out imaginary numbers in support of the stimulus. Former Marine Commandant Jim Jones lasted about the same duration as national security adviser, until he wearied of saluting the political gurus.

The experienced Bill Daley came in 2011 as the chief of staff tasked with repairing Mr. Obama’s relations with the business community. He left a year later, having been stripped of many duties and trashed by the White House to the press. The sage Leon Panetta stepped up as defense secretary in 2011; he too left after 20 months of getting his head patted. The folks who look smartest now are those who fled early, while the fleeing was still relatively good—Rahm Emanuel, Austan Goolsbee, Larry Summers, Peter Orszag, Vivek Kundra.

Who would want to work for a boss who micromanages everything but takes no responsibility when things don’t work out?

BM Covers BatJ

Biz Markie covers Benny and the Jets on the Chris Rock show. If I was black, I'd be Biz Markie. No doubt.

Happy Turkeygiving Day!

Help Natalie Dubose get her bakery back!

This lady had her business demolished by the mob looters in Ferguson. Here's a page where you can help her out, or click the picture



I just gave.

People in Ferguson are going to need a lot of cakes, cookies and celebrations to get the taste of wretchedness out of their mouths.

Update: When I posted this around Noon I think the amount contributed was around $89,000.00. Now it is up to $112,000.00! It is an amazing country we live in.

Caspar and Lonnie: The Saga Continues

Oengus's latest installment in the continuing saga of Caspar the Amicable Ghost and Lonnie the Dead Hippie Preacher. This time they meet a Gnome. Here's a grabber:

They were about ready to give up their search when they entered a particularly hard to reach grassy spot, surrounded on all sides by very thick brush.

"Get off my grass!" came a loud, cross sounding voice from somewhere in the bushes. It startled them.

Caspar started, and Lonnie too, looking around to see from where the voice came. They moved forward to investigate — by which I mean that Caspar floated through and Lonnie hovered above the vegetation.

"Get off my grass you dumb ass ghosts!" came the voice again, louder and grumpier than before, but this time it sounded as if it came in front of them low to the ground.

This post is from September; I'm still catching up. I'm never disappointed for having read the man's ongoing work.

Sentiment should make us angry

After reading Laura Turner's fallacy-ridden sermon yesterday (in which she got fairly well pwned in the comments by many clear thinking people), I needed a palate cleanser.

In the wake of a grand jury’s divisive decision not to charge Ferguson, MO police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, a weary American populace told reporters Tuesday that they are not sure if they can take another bullshit speech about healing. “If I have to watch some politician, law enforcement official, or pretty much anyone regurgitate the same meaningless platitudes about setting aside our differences and coming together as a nation, I might just lose it,” said Atlanta resident Samantha Hubbard, echoing the sentiment of hundreds of millions of Americans who are uncertain if they can stomach even a single empty call for respect and civility. “I honestly don’t know if I’m physically capable of listening to another community leader recite the same unbearable garbage about how it’s time for an open and honest dialogue. I swear to God, if I hear even one goddamn person assert there’s more that unites us than divides us, I will immediately blow my brains out.” At press time, the nation was particularly apprehensive at the prospect of a bullshit speech that declared words were not enough.

Yes, I know. It's the Onion. But it proves Sid Caeser's statement about comedy and the truth. It's true that we shouldn't "set aside our differences" because what makes me different than a mindless, violent, unemployed low-life actually makes me a better person. It would be sinful to set aside that which makes me different from these people. The people in the angry lynch mob obviously don't want an open and honest dialogue since they are intent on shouting and burning and they tell and believe lies.

It's true that there should be more that unites us than divides us. But this is not the case, so let's not pretend it is. A close analogy would be a scenario where two people are walking along a high road together for miles, but then one leaves the path for no discernible reason and descends into a dark valley where he becomes lost. Soon the travelers are very far apart. The protestors believe that laws may be set aside on a whim, that the appetite is the master of the intellect and that their narrative trumps the inconvenient reality even when the latter is reinforced by mountains of evidence.

When what we need is the Truth, sentiment should make us angry. It's like being given a bag of Halloween candy when you need a good hot meal. Obama's impotent healing speech after the verdict was about 15 minutes too long at least, and most of his unnecessary rambling sounded like code for "Burn this bitch down".

There ... now we feel all better

I've commented here about utopians* who preach on about Utopia but who don't want to live there themselves by using John Lennon's Imagine.  

As if to prove the point, a gaggle of one-percenters have now all gathered themselves (virtually, that is) for a sing-along of Imagine with its author via the miracle of technology.   For your enjoyment:

The second thought that comes to mind (the first being, of course, the incredible hypocrisy of the super-wealthy singing "... imagine no possessions ...") is: Who are these so-called celebrities? I recognized about four of them (Katy Perry sticks out, as she tends to do).  Anyhoo, I'm sure they all feel better about themselves now.

The third thought is along the lines of my reaction to those insipid "Coexist" bumper stickers:  Don't preach to me -- go talk to the bad guys.

P.S.  Here's a "Coexist" I can believe in (and yes, I own one):

* e.g., Rod Dreher preaching about the Benedict Option while showing no intent whatsoever to live there himself.

Please, please use body cams!

I have to agree with one thing that Michael Brown's parents are asking for in the official statement they've released after the grand jury decision to not indict Darren Wilson.

Join with us in our campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets in this country wears a body camera.

Can you imagine the great footage which will be produced of people goofing up? On camera? Well, you don't have to imagine it, check this out from Conservative Daily:

And of course it will keep the cops honest and behaved. But don't wait until the cams are mandated, guys. Start wearing them now and make sure the word gets out.

Hat tip IJ Review.

Thanks for reading my blog. For current commentary and what-not, visit the Est Quod Est homepage

Ferguson Witness Dorian Johnson Lied

It's OK to lie about what happened at a crime scene because, you know, white people. They're scum; down with 'em! If your lie ends up starting the avalanche whereby your entire town is destroyed... oh well, I guess.

Riots broke out in Missouri this past week in large part based on the eyewitness testimony of Dorian Johnson, who saw his friend Michael Brown shot and killed by local police. According to USA Today, Johnson claims Brown was fleeing and the officer shot him in the back.

According to Johnson, the officer pursued Brown and fired another shot. which struck Brown in the back. He said Brown turned and faced the officer with his hands raised.

However, this testimony contradicts the autopsy report by New York City’s former chief medical examiner, Dr. Michael Baden. Dr. Baden told The New York Times the autopsy found that Brown was struck 6 times — four shots in the right arms and two in the head. The final bullet hit Brown in the top of the head indicating his head was bent forward.

Baden said, “It can be because he’s giving up, or because he’s charging forward at the officer.”

If you watch the entire USA Today video you see that he isn't just lying, but he's crafted an entirely different story about the events than what most likely happened. Did the policeman really use the F word? Doubtful. Also you have to notice the crocodile tears near the end of the clip. I call fake. This Dorian Johnson character absolutely failed his audition.

It's Magic! Easy Garlic Peeling

"The Government-Shrinkage Folks"

Yay! That's us! From self-identified "numbers nerd" Chris Cillizza's WaPo article:

54. A majority of Americans who went to the polls Nov. 4 believe that the “government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals,” while just 41 percent think “the government should do more to solve problems.” Those numbers suggest that the long-running battle over what government can and should do (and how much it should do) is tilting back toward the smaller-is-better crowd that dominated in the mid- and late 1990s. The early years of Obama’s presidency were defined by a belief that government might need to do more than it had during the latter days of the George W. Bush administration. (Think Hurricane Katrina.) But the pendulum is in the process of swinging back to the government-shrinkage folks.

Some of the other numbers on which Cillizza reports are somewhat interesting. Like the 4% edge the dems have among women actually being higher than the 1% edge in the 2010 mid-terms. Maybe the war on women drumbeat brought out some more liberal women than in 2010? I really hope the dems keep up the war on women mantra. Among most on the right and center it just sounds so stupid, yet it epitomizes the way they think.

Also the 36% of Hispanics is a slightly interesting number to me. But not terribly. I think the term "Hispanic" or "Latino" is simply too amorphous a group to make much of. The vote of Cuban-Americans has been closer to 50% than that of Puerto Rican-Americans which the dems have a solid lock on.