Friday, August 18, 2017

The Media is the Biggest Hate Group in America

When I thought Things were Getting Better
I know you will be surprised that I am calling out the media to this extent; after all, haven't I spent almost two decades on television doing crime commentary? And don't I still do media interviews and have friends in the media? Yes, all true, but I have also been willing to admit where we in the media are doing the wrong thing like when I took my stance against doing any interviews in which the name and face of a mass murderer was used in a breaking news story as it is my belief that media attention encourages this particular type of crime.

And now I see another pattern in the media; the fomenting of hate and racism and demonization of the president of our country, running with a story that stirs up outrage from the public by carefully selecting facts to support an agenda that they believe will excite the viewers and readers. And when it comes to political issues, since the media is heavily left-leaning, they have allowed their subjective viewpoint to color their stories, encouraged them to cherry pick the facts and misrepresent what actually happened. Many in the media do not even recognize what they are doing (some do and do so on purpose and with a vengeance) but others are caught up in the frenzy that is the life of 24/7 cable television and the 24/7 internet response. Some are just incompetent and are poor journalists following the dictates of the media higher-ups and their audience.

What has been lost is accurate, measured reporting.  The media is no longer a watchdog; it is a rabid pitbull.

No sadder proof than this is to see the decline of race relations in America since the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 in Sanford, Florida.

Let me backtrack to 1979. This was the year I married Uzzeal Brown, an immigrant from Jamaica; a legal immigrant from Jamaica whose family had worked hard to bring each family member over through the long and arduous process required by US law. Uzzeal and I lived in Maryland for a year after our marriage, then moved to California for a while, and when we returned to Maryland, we brought our one-year-old baby daughter with us. We moved into a house in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, a house I fell in love with because it was a 250-year-old historic colonial. I forgot to check out the demographics of the neighborhood, but it looked nice driving through and was just one mile from the University of Maryland.

Just after we moved in, we went to Berwyn Heights Day to socialize with our new neighbors. They were all white, ALL white, white with pickup trucks, white blue collar, white guys who liked country and rock music, white guys with white wives and white children. All except my husband and one other divorced black woman who lived with her two black children near the town office. The whole town council was white. The police force was white. The fire department was white. The whole town of over 2000 people was white....except now for four blacks and one biracial baby. Our move to Berwyn Heights almost doubled the black population.

My husband rather broke into a sweat. "I hope we don't find a cross burning on our lawn," he muttered. We had already been through the interracial dating thing which was not that common back in the late 70s but we were fortunate not to have suffered too much from it. Both our families came to the wedding and were nice to each other. My parents liked him; his parents liked me. All was pretty good. Race relations were improving in America since the time I was little.

No one burned a cross on our lawn. In fact, my husband was a pretty popular guy in town and everyone liked our kids. He became the coach for the town soccer team. In fact, he ran for mayor in the town. He didn't win but it wasn't because he was black. He just lost because the other candidate was more seasoned in politics and town management. In fact, that other black adult in town, the divorced woman, DID became mayor and remained mayor for a long time.

My children grew up without encountering much racism or racial problems. All three of my children, two biracial children that I birthed and one black son whom we adopted when he was age six, grew up with many white friends from the neighborhood, sports, and homeschooling. Of course, they had friends who were also black, biracial, Hispanic, Asian and multiracial. And during those years, I saw races mixing more and more, sharing each other's music and speech and traditions (now known as cultural appropriation) and I was very happy to see the direction the country was going. For a parent of nonwhite children, this was very important to me. I wanted to see my children live happy lives in a less racially divided country.

Then Trayvon Martin happened and the Black Lives Matter movement and now Charlottesville and I wonder if we aren't heading into a disasterous future and a civil war that is dividing our country person by person, if not state by state.

I remember, as a profiler, that my commentary on the Trayvon Martin case provoked anger. Black Lives Matter had been born and the media pushed the incident as a hate crime. White racist kills innocent black child. Then President Obama didn't help matters when he encouraged the racism dialogue with "Trayvon could have been my son." Well, Mr. Obama, since you are biracial, if you had married a white woman, George Zimmerman could have been your son as well. For that matter, if you and Michelle had been open to it, either Zimmerman or Martin could have been your son if you had adopted a child.

George Zimmerman was a psychopathic wannabe cop who escalated a situation he should have let the police handle when he thought a possibly criminal teen in the neighborhood was about to commit a crime. He shouldn't have confronted Trayvon. Trayvon shouldn't have assaulted Zimmerman. Trayvon thought he would be in a fistfight; he didn't know Zimmerman had brought a gun along. Zimmerman fought back with the stronger weapon. Zimmerman won the fight. The whole thing was bad, but the jury, rightly so, saw this as a self-defense issue regardless of what kind of character Zimmerman was or what kind of character Trayvon was. I, personally, do not find either of them people I would have invited to my house. But this doesn't make it a hate crime. What made it a hate crime was a special interest group and the media.

Fast forward to 2014 and Michael Brown and Ferguson. Violent thug attacks police officer who defends himself and Black Lives Matter and the media make it about race yet again, claim it is another hate crime; white police officers hate blacks and use the badge to murder them. Then, drug dealer and repeat offender Freddie Gray dies seemingly accidentally in a police van in Baltimore in 2015 and six police officers are claimed to be criminally responsible. Didn't matter now that three of the six cops where actually black, it was STILL a hate crime shouted Black Lives Matter and the media.

Then we had the 2016 elections and because Donald Trump won the presidency, suddenly everyone who voted for him is labeled a white male homophobic racist even if they are black, female, and gay...oh, yeah, and all folks who voted for Trump are also Russian loving, Nazi loving, fascists. This is what the media keeps pushing. The media, on a daily basis, on an hourly bases, on a minute-to-minute basis, is on a massive hate campaign to destroy the Trump presidency and to push a specific agenda - not to report facts and  remain the rational voice of journalism. They have created a maelstrom of hate against the duly elected President of our country and against everyone who voted for him or doesn't speak out against him. Whether one likes President Trump or not, whether one liked Barack Obama or not, the answer is to work on changing the situation legally and honestly, not to instigate hate campaigns across the country; we are starting to look like India at the time of partition when politicians and self-interest groups turned Muslims against Hindus and Hindus against Muslims until they murdered each other on the streets and turned trains into moving cars of corpses.

Now, we have Charlottesville. I can just see this new Broadway show with that name...mark my words. Here is what should have happened. A bunch of weird looking, mostly white dudes circle around the park with some tiki torches and shields from Monty Python. No one is bussed into Charlottesville to protest against these guys. These alt-right folk had a permit and some possibly legitimate points and although some of them are scumbags, Nazi sympathizers, and very right white supremacists, their small number is hardly something to be terrified of as a huge threat to our country. And, some of them, gasp, are not any of them; they are just people with a different point of view from the MSM.

Yes, local folks could have had Happy Hour "Roll Your Eyes" events at local bars. They could have had a special discussion session at the library and invited the press to hear the varying viewpoints on confederate statues. If they wanted to counterprotest, they could have come nicely dressed and sat quietly on the ground with politely-worded signs. We could have had a good intercourse over free speech, how we want to represent history in the present, how far we have come since the Civil War...and the media could have reported how America responded well to a particular point of view that was expressed by a small group of people that day in Charlottesville.

But, no. Many of the counterprotesters came dressed as clownishly as the protesters, wearing masks, carrying bats and other weapons of war, and they weren't peaceful; they were violent and obnoxious. Some of the original protesters also became violent and one total psychopath gunned his car down the street and someone died. And I am with the president who I believe correctly originally stated that there was bad behavior on all sides and we need to all handle ourselves better, that no hate group is acceptable. He was right. He didn't single out a specific condemnation of white supremacists or nazis because in doing so, he would have to condemn Black Lives Matter and Antifa and he would have been annihilated by the media for doing that. Didn't matter though; they went ballistic on him anyway. Then, when he made a new statement in which he did try to "follow the rules" and speak out against white hate groups, it was now "too late." Then, when he reiterated that both sides did contribute to the melee, he was excoriated again. The media, who claims to be against hate, hates on and on and on and on.

I am saddened and exhausted. After living many years in the very white Berwyn Heights, I now live in the heavily black Bowie, Maryland, one of the largest and richest black communities in the US. I love it here and yet I wonder if our disintegrating race relations will change that. Where I used to worry about whites being racist against blacks, my worry has now turned around to a fear of blacks being racist against whites  Even sadder, I now  have to worry about whites become more racist against blacks because blacks are getting more racist against whites. And, sadder still, I have to worry about whites being racist against whites because they don't belong to the same political party or support certain hashtags or because they might not want to agree to change the name of my town of Bowie because it is named after a slave owner or that they don't agree to change the name of the capital because Washington was also a slave owner. And I even have to worry about blacks getting more racist against blacks who don't support certain ideologies because, heaven forbid, they actually voted for Trump or are police officers or are married to one of those white "racists."

Oh, and worst of all,  now, not only do I have to worry about my not-white children, but I have to worry about my not-black enough  3/4 white granddaughter as well. When will it end?

We are tearing our country apart with stupidity, stupidity born of hatred for anyone who doesn't agree with us 100%. We are no longer able to even have a fruitful conversation where we bring our experiences, feelings, and ideas to the table to discuss and come up with answers and compromises. For example, I happen to think Milo Yiannopuloulos is a hoot and loved a lot of what he had to say in his book Dangerous (I disagreed with some things, but, guess what? I didn't feel the need to call him names and prevent him from speaking in public venues) and when I had lunch with my son in a popular restaurant and went to give the book to my son to read, I had to hand it over to him in a paper bag because that's how scary this country has become. If I had brought him a copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, which, but the way, I loved, I would have had a bunch of people give me the thumbs up sign and I would have been thought to be the "right kind of person" to be acceptable in this world. If they saw me or my son reading Dangerous, we would be labeled deplorable. What happened to a country which allows for people to have shades of gray with political thinking? All that is gone. You are either one side or the other. What happens to us folks who refuse to pick sides? What happens to folks who understand a variety of cultures and political viewpoints and don't think it is our job to bow down to any of  them? What happens to relatively conservative people who support racial integration, gay marriage, and legal immigration? What happens to liberal folks who support the right to enjoy the company of one's own culture (even if it is white) or to enjoy another's culture that one was not born into, free speech even if it is the alt-right, police who are doing their jobs to protect our communities,  and a concern over unregulated immigration from countries who do not wish to accept the so-called Western Culture after they become residents of America? What has happened to the rational middle ground?

The media is largely responsible for this horrible state of affairs because they have become hitmen for a rising dangerous mob. I can't even read the news stories today or watch television news channels without being horrified by the hate. And, yet, if you actually ignored the agenda of the media and focused on the true issues and not what all these hate groups are saying - left, right, and the media -  the country is doing reasonably well under Trump and there is no big crisis. In other words, if people retained a sense of logic and reason, the citizens could see that our years under the Trump administration might end up being good ones for our country or at least not as bad as the media would have us believe. And if they think that the country would be better served by someone else in the future, they could work on finding an excellent candidate for the next presidential election and work to get that person voted in.

If we believe  in our constitution (even if a bunch of imperfect white men created it) and we believe in free speech (even for Milo and Al Sharpton and everyone in our country - for if we kill free speech for one, we kill free speech for all), then, for God's sake and for our own sake, we need to stop the nonsense and start acting like people who have evolved past caveman status.

But with the media acting as the most dangerous hate group in America, we may not have a chance.


Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

August 18, 2017

    

42 comments:

Lostribe said...

Thanks for that. What is ironic to me is that even the side that rightly advocates tolerance can't themselves even tolerate some freaking statues.

Pat Brown said...

As times and populations change, so do viewpoints. I remember when India changed its names from supposedly British versions like Bombay to Mumbai and Madras to Chennai. Right now in the Deaf community, there is pressure to change certain signs in American Sign Language because they use a letter (of the English language) as part of the sign and this is being oppressed by the Hearing. Whether these things are right or wrong are not the issue; the question is how the changes were brought about.

So, there are many statues representing our past along with names of places and books and you name it. Do we want to erase the past completely or modify our view of it or choose which things we want to continue to support or not? Sure. Some things I agree with and some things I don't. Some things I was against and now, not so much because someone or time changed my mind. Some things I was for and now, not so much because someone or time changed my mind. So, the question is not about change, but how we deal with it and are we working to change for the better or not.

Nothing stays the same but driving the country to a level of hate we cannot return from is not the way to deal with our problems.

Anonymous said...

All week I've been searching for the right thing to do. Searching for the right words of guidance for those who look to me for the best solution, in a crisis. I knew in my heart, America is falling apart at the seams. I also knew once those seams burst, it's over with. The current state of America has upset me beyond belief. I just thought it was bad last year. Hardly. You've hit the nail on the head, Pat. You've stated everything I've been thinking, but been unable to say, due to frustration. The media is going to be the death of America if we don't take a deep breath, shut up for a change, and start having reasonable open dialogue. The constant fighting and screaming does not sit well with me. I immediately turn away from this type of behavior. I will honestly say, this was a GREAT post. A much-needed post. I just pray my fellow American's will come here and read your words. We have to get America back to a more calm and peaceful nation. I've honestly started refraining from being as social as I once was because of the situation in this country. I feel my normal conversations are being tuned out by hatred from all sides. ENOUGH!

Pat Brown said...

Anon 10:53

Thank you for your heartfelt words. I have, too, been just frozen with frustration on the whole state of America. It is difficult to even make a comment without gaining immediate enemies. We have gotten to the point where each person has to wear a label of exactly this or that and even without the label, groups in society are going to label you and then turn on you without any input on your part. We have lost the ability to give someone a chance, even give someone different from us a chance, or someone who thinks differently from us a chance. Even if we DO have very opposite views, is there no hope to learn from each other? Or to recognize that different experiences lend to different views?
Is immediate hatred the answer or constant hatred the answer?

One of my favorite experiences was when I was and moving into my apartment with my then fiancé. I had a white couple helping me bring stuff up to the new apartment and this elderly, white Jewish lady next door came in and said, "I'm so glad you're not black!" Now, I could have immediately gotten angry and told her to get her racist butt out of my apartment and never speak to me again. But, instead, I smiled at her, did a Grouch Marx impression, and said, "Well, you're going to be only half-glad when you see my fiancé!" She looked a bit nonplussed then profusely apologized, saying that she was worried about loud music. I told her my fiancé might be one of those who did indeed play loud music, reggae music with a strong beat, but to please let us know anytime it bothers you and we will turn the music down. That lady became a wonderful neighbor, brought us home baked treats, and gave us a wedding present.

Hate would have done nothing worthwhile in this situation. Being nice made all the difference. I don't know if she was really that racist or not, but I will bet if she was, she was less racist after getting to know me and my fiancé.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the post. I agree about the media instigating a lot of this. I have hope that most people can see that they are being manipulated. And not that I'm defending any so called hate group (I hate that I have to say that)but when did hate become a crime? As long as no one is doing anything illegal, let them hate if they want. Glad I stumbled on your post.

Pat Brown said...

Thank you, Mary, for your thoughts. Clearly, all of us humans do express hatred for or about something at various times in our lives. Hate is not necessarily an evil thing; it depends whether hate eradicates something unhealthy or hate causes something untoward. And expressing discomfort with something is not necessarily hate; it can be concern about whatever it is having some negative effect on us. So, what we need to do as a country is be able to properly assess ideas and situations and not become so easily angered and violent. And even more importantly, we need to carry ourselves in a better way if we are going to try to impress others with a message. And we need to not take EVERYTHING so seriously and we need a sense of humor. Most of all, we need to start being reasonable and fair and civil and the media needs to step up to the plate and start being true professional journalists instead of being inciters of hate and violence.

Unknown said...

Wholeheartedly agree. Thank you Pat.

Unknown said...

Wholeheartedly agree. Thank you Pat!

Unknown said...

A facebook friend posted what I observed and heard in the President's impromptu press conference. I couldn't have said any of it better. Everyone on all sides has twisted his words so badly. I have learned with this President that sometimes he doesn't say things quite how he means it.


I'm still upset about not seeing more footage of the riots and the protests in Charlottesville.
As I said before, if I had lived in Charlottesville and if I heard about a Unite the Right rally in protest of the removal of a historic statue, there's a good chance that I may have gone. I refuse to believe that there aren't others like me.
If I had gone and if I'd seen that there were racists there, I would have left early or I would have gone to a different part of town.

The videos I've seen are of the Nazis marching and chanting about Jews, Antifa and Black Lives Matter in hand-to-hand conflict with the white supremacists, and the peaceful protesters being run-down by James Fields. Where is more footage of the peaceful protesting? If not for the actions of Fields, we would have never seen any proof of peaceful protesting on either side.

When President Trump talks about the peaceful protesters on the right, everyone knows that he's not referring to Nazis or KKK or white supremacists. He's referring to the peaceful protesters who were probably there. I assume that there were peaceful left-wing protesters that weren't filmed. Likewise, I assume that there were peaceful right-wing protesters that weren't filmed.

Whatever did happen, I believe that total blame lies with the Mayor, the Governor and the Police Chief. They could have prevented all of the violence if they'd wanted to. I believe that they wanted violence so they could blame it on President Trump. There is no other reason that can explain why the cops didn't do their jobs.
~Joyce Albaugh Elifritz's

Jan said...

Amen, sister. I was just having this conversation with a "non-white" person. We didn't agree on some things, did on others. But we talked about what was important to each of us and found that we had much more in common that not. AND...we were able to have a discussion without getting into a fight or spouting hate speeches. We are being manipulated by the media and whoever is behind them and it scares me.

Pat Brown said...

Joyce,

Thank you for your attempt to dissect what happened in Charlotteville. It IS rather confusing and difficult to quite understand all that happened because we are getting numerous reports that don't necessarily have facts to support them. I do think there was insufficient planning and changes of venue that then got changed back which could well have caused things not to go so smoothly. I don't know that we have any proof of a premeditated standing down in order to allow rioting and then blame President Trump.. What IS concerning is that any outrageous behavior by citizens in our country has a good chance of being "Trump's fault," as if people just must misbehave because Trump is president. We need to take responsibility for our own behavior and acting like fools is not a good tactic. Kind of like the old saying your parents would throw at you, "If all your friends were jumping off a cliff, you would jump too?" So, because someone thinks President Trump or Trump supporters are behaving badly, this is a reason to behave badly as well?

What we are seeing is very childish behavior, temper tantrums, and if our society doesn't grow up and start acting in a mature fashion, what will happen to our country? I know some will say, "Well, Trump acts childish and has temper tantrums," and, again, I will say, even if this is true, why would that cause YOU to act this way? And, President Trump is just one person. If one child is acting out in a classroom, would you recommend all the other children should go bananas and start breaking up the place and beating up the teacher? Of course not, but, yet, this seems to be what is happing in the United State.

We citizens are setting fires and the media is throwing gas on them. WE need to stand down and the MEDIA needs to stand down, take some deep breaths and then start focusing on doing good, by whatever positive method you know.

Pat Brown said...

Jan,

Absolutely. I quite agree that we often have more in common than we think. I was watching Chopped the other day, the grilling competition, and there was some big burly guy with one of those long beards who was a chef from Arkansas or somewhere in that region. He was tatted up, talked about how if any animal can be killed, he can cook it. Matter of fact, he would be happy to kill it. Now, this fellow is kind of very different from me; I don't much like hunting and I am pretty vegetarian! I don't much like those bushy beards and tats. So, he seems a bit far from my lifestyle. Then, he talked about his wife and chlldren and his community and you could see the love he had for all of them. I may not agree with him on all things, but I bet he could make me some nice grilled veggies and we could have a nice chat and we wouldn't have to kill each other.

Whatever happened to having a heated discussion and then saying, "Well, opinions differ, bro! Let's have some beer!"

Natasha said...

Fabulous post Pat. Maybe it is time for you to move into politics. You could 'clean up' with that brain of yours. Hugs from Portugal as always xxxxx

Pat Brown said...

Ah, Natasha, I don't think politics and I would make a very good couple! But, thanks for the kind words!

Marina Greenwood said...

Pat, this is so well put! I have to share it. I've been trying to find a fair and reasonable articulation of how the media is trying to influence everyone to assume that their biased agenda is the only right way to interpret events. You've accomplished that! You have the experience and credibility to make what you say even more powerful. I'd also suggest that people investigate who is organizing and funding, recruiting and paying the wages of many AstroTurf (vs. grassroots) protesters that are hired in advance and held at the ready, then bused in when an opportunity arises to stir up mobs. There are powerful people who want our country to tear itself apart. I hate to see groups of people who may have legitimate concerns manipulated into frenzied destructiveness. I've never understood how some who preach tolerance can't see how intolerant they are being toward those from whom they are demanding tolerance. There IS good news happening in our country that Trump's work so far has resulted in. I wish the media would be unbiased enough to report more of that.

Eamonn said...

Thank you for this, Pat Brown. It truly appears that Western Civilisation, and indeed worldwide society in general, is in a race to the bottom of the snakepit. All the well tried and tested structures are being torn down in shreds, some for the better, but mainly for the worse. The "hatred" in the United States began during the last presidency. It has now been pounced upon, gleefully, by the mainstream media, which blames President Trump for everything. The media certainly makes it appear as if they actually WANT a civil war. They should be careful what they wish for. The result is that all the while, the REAL enemy is causing chaos and fear around the whole world, and it is being treated as something that will go away in time. It will not go away, unless and until we defeat it. The media even sees fit to dig up excuses and "reasons" for Islamist terrorism, to the ludicrous degree that it blames the United States for an Islamist "backlash", and even the Crusades - the Crusades which began simply in an effort - thankfully successful - to thwart and defeat the Islamist terror of that time. We have apparently learned NOTHING. May God Bless Us All.

Pat Brown said...

Marina,

Yes, I think the media actually believes they are saving their country from some demonic force...that President Trump is some kind of Hitler...although there is nothing to support any such arguement. My son put it well. He said" Trump is like that loudmouthed uncle you have that does lots of good for everyone but is a bit bit mouthy and obnoxious." So true. So much of the claims about Trump are personal issue of the person receiving the message and not at all truly about who Trump is. That whole sillliness about "Grab them in the pussy" was a dude thing that was said in private AND, guess what, totally true! Trump was stating at truism, that women will throw themselves a rich dudes and have sex with them because of thee power and money. TRUE! Sorry, ladies. So, Trump was being brutally honest, if being rather revolting in doing so. Do I want my daughter around him? Probably not, well, she probably would deck him. But, the point is, he did NOT make a rape comment; he made a truthful comment. He may be a womanizer but that doesn't make him a rapist.

Painting wrong labels on the president of our country may make people feel justified in their villianization of the man, but it serves little purpose in making our country a decent place to live. President Trump is not Hitler or Nazi; he is a businessman looking to get our country back on track. I agree with some of his ideas but not all of his ideas. I think we should have conversations and not demonstrations.

I hate to tell people this but Trump is the rare bird that is NOT a politician! He is a businessman and that is why people voted him in. Acros the board, almost to a person, politicians are narcissists and selfish and self-centered; we can only hope that they do good because they want people to praise them. Trump probably is the same but in a business sense; we should appeal to his desire to do good. Some people have suggested I run for office because they like my directness and logic but, seriously, I don't know if I have the proper personaltity for the job. We have to accept that politics and politicians are often quite squirrelly and it is up to us citizens to direct their focus in the best manner we can. Life isn't perfect and, certainly, polticians are not perfect, but if you can get a group like the guys who drafted our constitution into office, don't complain! They may not be perfect people, but they may be the best of the bunch and have the best ideas for survival.

Pat Brown said...

Eonmonn,

There is some really odd hatred of Western Civiliazation going on that is beyond sensible. I grew up with a agnostic Jewish father (some of our people died in concentration camps) and an agnostic New England mother. I played chess with my father, studied Latin with my mother, and loved going to see musicals in Washington DC put on by the Metroplolitan Light Opera Company. I wanted so much to be Fiona in Brigadoon, living in Scotland and having Robert Goulet wander into my town and romance me.

Okay, so I married a Jamaican and spend a lot of time in India and Mexico. Why? Because life goes on and I appreciate all cultures. Most of all, I appreciate the cultures of India and Mexico and Jamaica in India, Mexico, and Jamaica. They are FABULOUS cultures that I don't want to disappear. Likewise, I want America to retain its culture whatever is include in that today. Will our culture change? Sure! But I hope it doesn't change because we feel we must hate Western Culture so much that we must eradicate it from our own lives in our own country.

I have spent time in Egypt in my hijab and I will tell you this; Egypt has some lovely ideas and culture but it does NOT need to be imported and imposed on the US. Any woman or gay or minority who has lived or spent time in certain countries will tell you, yeah, not HERE in our country! Those who seem to be oblivious to what certain lives are really like in certain places need to go live there for a year. When they return to the US, they will thank their lucky stars they have the freedoms they do and not wish to obliterate them with some kind of bizarre, misplaced guilt or inclusiveness.

Marina Greenwood said...

Yes! I wish it were possible to keep the focus on policy rather than personality.

Unknown said...

Thank you Pat...I truly don't think many people take the time to see both sides of the story. In the media's case they do love to keep things stirred up., controversy keeps people interested.I love how logical you are, about what takes place. I agree with you in the Trump issue, he is like your son described. A smart embarrassing uncle that sometimes talks to much. Thank you or telling it like it really is.... ~O

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for making sense Pat.
Louisee

Anonymous said...

HI PAT, Donald trump is correct about fake news, and the bad coverage thats being manipulated stoking tensions for their own agendas, and not supporting peace in delicate issues, almost anti american, not supporting their president in issues that concern public interest about divisional agitators that stoke the fires of old? Proof in what your saying pat alot of us moved on to get a life? We carnt fix stupid, or what is broken, but we can agree we live on the same planet to work together for better futures, not toxic pasts that do no good. The only thing that does piss me off is higher bills, and wage freezing, not black people who share this problem also, peace out, and love to all that are confused?

Unknown said...

Do you see any similarities with the old revolutionary Marxists? Does this process at all resemble the one described in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gnpCqsXE8g&feature=youtu.be&t=38m50s

Pat Brown said...

Anon 2:09,

Yes, I have much experience with fake news and distorted news and plain out libel for the sake of agenda. And one of the BIGGEST problems with news today is it is 90% opinion, opinion of some TV or newspaper reporter. I am amazed at how many headlines are things like "Trump is Doing it Again." Isn't that already opinion? Or "Trump does not stand up to the KKK." Really? Isn't that again someone's take on the situation, not a fact?

Here is a video I LOVE that is right on the mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S2TZOdXAtQ

Most of what is in the paper and even in the screwed up public minds is hyperbole, taking something that is whatever it is and ratcheting up its meaning 100 fold. LIke saying one is concerned about illegal immigration suddenly becomes one hates immigrants. Craziness!

Pat Brown said...

Tom,

I saw that video a while ago and I do think there is some level of manipulation going on with some end plan of socialism. I am not sure if it is totally orchestrated or an increasing mix of groups that make things go this way. All I know is I am not happy to see this kind of change as I have spent enough time in other countries to appreciate our Constitution and Freedom of Speech and our democratic process. Regardless of imperfections in our system which are many and do need to be worked on and other problems with other big powers within the country and just general problems, all things that we need to work on so SOME of the ideas of all sides have points that should be discussed and hopefully good ideas implemented - this is STILL the best country to live in if we don't go down the rabbit hole the media and certain groups are digging for us.

Anonymous said...

HI PAT, there are cruel things that happen to all people, but its not about race all the time, as some speculate, there are gangs all over the world, that kill more people than the police do? Then you have terrorist groups to add to that list? I beleive this is the real problem than the colour of some ones skin, but more about condoning the actions of others that become radical? Its pure insanity to use a race card, to jump on any bandwagon, when people are murderd, and being brutaly honest, there are no riots when its a white person? So its false that people are racist by skin colour, or hate blacks as some groups assume. This is false by the media, who themselves offer no real proof over hate crimes, but stir up this bile to fit their agenda being racist themselves. And that defines what you say pat about them being no better than a racist pull pit, to divide debates.

Pat Brown said...

Anon 6:45

Racism exists, of course, people forever have been less comfortable with people of other cultures (far more than other races) and other races (because that usually comes with other cultures). There will always be groups of people who come together and groups who separate from others. Even religions always end up with offshoots. That is human.

However, we have a BIGGER problem when we become irrational about what is happening in our country or world ...the sky is falling....and we need to stop and examine those issues from a number of different angles and intelligently deal with them. For example, BLM has simplified the shooting of blacks by police to pure racism. This is not only ridiculous, it is a blatantly untrue and clouds the real issues. The number one reason blacks get shot by police is the police are protecting themselves against a dangerous person who is threatening them. So the first issue to deal with is why are black threatening police officers. Then, 2. Even if it turns out that a particular black person did not have a weapon and was not planning to harm the police officer, what are the issues that led the police officer to feel threatened anyway? (Person WAS actually behaving in a criminal way because he was a criminal, person wasn't a criminal but wasn't acting as a criminal because he is a thug wannabe with his clothes and behaviors, police officer is in heightened fear due to racial profiling), 3) Are some police officers bully types? Is this a problem in hiring? Is this a problem with the type of work so you will always get some psychos? 4) Do we have a problem getting minority officers because there are not enough applying? Why are they not applying? Is it because they are not qualified or is it because they are scared of being called an "Uncle Tom?" And so on. Many questions, many possible answer, many solutions. But, is BLM working on those solutions or just calling every cop a racist, white or black? One of the reasons I cannot support BLM is because BLM supports Michael Brown and Ferguson...they support an actual case of a thug attacking a police officer, and BLM raises the now dead Freddie Gray of Baltimore on a pedestal. How can i support a group that makes false claims and raises criminals to hero status? And, yet, I am consider horrible by many for not raising my fist in support especially since my children are not white. It is frustrating that we are lacking level-headed people in the media and in politics and in our citizenry who will say enough with the foolishness; let's deal with real problem in a sensible way.

Our country isn't perfect. We have a few KKK folks cavorting about and we have Farrakhan and his racist followers, but the way to deal with these fringes is for non-nuts to work together, to come together, to compromise. But, if these fringe nuts turn everyone else nuts, there will be no one left to do anything useful.

Pat Brown said...

I accidentally hit delete (which is write below publish...bad setup on emails), which I did not mean to do. Here is the comment:

Hello Pat,

as a german citizen, educated about Nazi atrocities and their rise and fall due to the same belittlement dispayed in some of the statements here, I fully sign the following opinion article:

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/347320-opinion-bill-oreilly-trumps-real-failure-is-not

For me there will always be ZERO tolerance towards any form of Nazi cult and glorification even if it is because of lack of intelligence and education.

There is no grey area if you are dealing with people that march with swastikas and proclaim anti-jewish hate. And the POTUS should be a moral leader above all, even if verbally handicapped...

But somebody who either places women on pedestals or grabs them by their pussys and forces himself on them would not really know what integrity and morale is. To him this is probably something for whimps...

Pat Brown said...

I would like to respond to the German citizen:

FIrst of all thank you for not being rude in having an opposing opinion.

I think what you are misunderstanding is what is actually true and what is ramped up by the media. This is important to understand because the media is pushing a race war on us via continuous hateful commentary and manipulated news.

Let me address the Nazi issue. Guess what? There ISN'T one here in the US! Yes, you heard me. There isn't one. And I say this as a woman of half-Jewish ancestry who lost relatives in concentration camps; my father's family was with that last group of Jews that managed to escape Germany and come to the US. So, do you think I like Nazis? Uh, no. Do you think I like the KKK considering I have three non-white children? Uh, no

But guess what? I have never met a Nazi or a KKK member in my entire life even when I went to work in some pretty rural areas. Do they exist? Sure. There are always small groups of weirdos who get together and think whatever they have in their brain is important.

Should one object to their thinking? Sure. Should one take part in a democratic process to fight back against any kind of laws that one thinks supports their ideology, sure. But, a small group of white guys - some this, some that - show up and complain about a statue being taken down and this requires an aggressive assault by another group with concerning ideas? Was it necessary to prevent free speech instead of address the issues in a more intelligent manner and forum?

Next, please be careful about spreading libel. The POTUS has never been proven to "grab women by the pussy." What he said was that when you are that rich, you can (as in could) grab women by the pussy because they are throwing themselves at you. This happens to be a true statement, if not a particularly pleasant one.

The problem with the extreme attack on the POTUS for not saying the "exact" words that some folks wanted - they wanted him to use the specific words "Nazi, KKK, and White Supremicist" and not to dare say anything about the other two racist groups - BLM and Antifa. Trump chose to say all sides in order to point out that all of the behavior was intolerable. I thought it was accurate. But, having been in the media for almost two decades, I can tell you, if the media wants to twist or read into something you say, they will. So will others if they refuse to use their brains and logic, instead of anger and hate.

Not liking President Trump is one thing and being opposed to some of his ideas is also something one has the right to do. Being violent, shutting down free speech, lying and instigating, all of this is opposed to the American way of life.

We never heard hardly a thing about taking down statues or all these racial protests until BLM took off and started making claims of racism where there were none (there ARE racism issues, just not the ones they decided to push). Then we started seeing rioting in our cities when justice prevailed and yet, hey, where was the huge outcry from the media? Why were Americans supposed to tolerate violence and racism from the left? Why are we supposed to tolerate the most racist group in this country, Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam? No, we are supposed to ignore all that and go crazy over a few hundred KKK weirdos. This country is off kilter and going crazy with the media instigating in every place and way they can.

Annie said...

As I viewed the solar eclipse today, I was reminded that we are ALL part of this beautiful, magical and crazy universe !
It's our differences that make this world so unique!
We all must learn to accept (but not necessarily Like) each other's differences and quirks. We need to be brave and use our voices when we see intolerance, bigotry and hate in all its nasty forms . I'm not sure how to stop the Media from the madness, but maybe we need to stop paying such close attention to IT and think for ourselves more ? And do it before the Media sparks a flame that ignites a fire that can't be extinguished .

Unknown said...

As I viewed the solar eclipse today, I was reminded that we are ALL part of this beautiful, magical and crazy universe ! It's our differences that make this world so unique! We all must learn to accept (but not necessarily Like) each other's differences and quirks. We need to be brave and use our voices when we see intolerance, bigotry and hate in all its nasty forms . I'm not sure how to stop the Media from the madness, but maybe we need to stop paying such close attention to IT and think for ourselves more ? And do it before the Media sparks a flame that ignites a fire that can't be extinguished . 

Pat Brown said...

Annie Haley,

Beautiful statement! We have so many things we could like about each other, why are we so incensed with someone with a bit different philosophy or way of dealing with the world? Why are we so threatened by one group but stand behind another group that is saying basically the same thing on the other sides. That is the problem! Why do we have to have "sides"? And why can't we understand that everyone is where they are in life due to experiences they have had. And we are all imperfect and fallible and we sometimes have difficulty figuring stuff out and sometimes we find our views completely reverse over time.

So, the best thing is, don't keep pushing people away and hating on them. We should do our best to be tolerant....hey, remember that word? TOLERANT! This means we may not agree but we agree that as long as you aren't breaking the law, you have the right to think differently.

We seem to have lost that word out of our language. People actually say if you voted for this person or that, I can't even talk to you any more. Wow. That is sad.

Pat Brown said...

Lost Tribe,

I miss your answer at the top and you said the right word, TOLERANCE. We must learn to TOLERATE ideas that are different and, if we want things to change, we need to TOLERATE the process.

Anonymous said...

""I accidentally hit delete (which is write below publish...bad setup on emails), which I did not mean to do.""

I guess I only escaped the "censorship" by an inch.

Wonder where other alternative opinions are, there sure got to be some...

Pat Brown said...

Anon 4:58,

In the email Blogger sends, there is not even one inch between the two. I have had this happen more than once and the first time it happened I thought I could go to Blogger and resurrect the comment but it is not possible. Luckily, since at least I have a copy of it in the email, I can cut and paste it into a comment I can then post.

As to other alternative opinions, I have not deleted any others. Now, having said that, I have deleted many on other posts that are nasty, ad hominem attacks or racist, misogynist, or simply so ignorant I feel it isn't right for me to inflict them on blog readers. There is no reason why discussion cannot be civil and work towards understanding and I require this for posting comments on my blog.

Anonymous said...

HI PAT , this is key to what these groups are, if a group is peaceful, they will simply part and leave when violence starts, not join in the fighting to take videos? Watching the videos i could not distinguish which group was peaceful, not dimissing activists in each group hell bent on fighting and throwing stuff at each other? To be honest it was a disgrace to see they are no better than football hooligans looking for trouble, and triggering each other? This is radical groups that dont represent anyones interest, just self serving idiots that indulge to serve their own agendas? This is anti american to use violence over the freedom of speech, or towards uniting people to have a decent debate without hate. I agree their all as bad as each other.

Anonymous said...

HI PAT, I recall a interesting conversaion i had with a disgruntulled young black man, who had alot to say about his life, he did admit he had mental issues, over what he wanted in life? From the things he was saying it was materialistic, fancy cars, bling ect. I set him a realistic goal, more important than that fantasy, he had a daughter he lost contact with, i simply said being a dad is your goal, its better than bling or having a fancy car, when you hear her call you dad? Nice young man who was mixed up, and i hugged him, hoping he takes something with him more important than bling or having a fancy car.

Anonymous said...

HI PAT, i think the demands blm are wanting is not part of american law, or part of being a law abiding citizen? Its excluding those who are not racist, and already live in peace and do not break the law? I do not support violence or murder of any police officer, or racist views to demand imunity from crime for being black is insanity. What i understand this is a terrorist demand, made upon the threat to kill the police, if their demands are not met? Further to these demands, they themselves become no better than what they hate, to force abuse on peaceful citizens, their wrongfully trying to represent? radical not sane. While holding criminals onto a pedalstool is a cult not a genuine case of racist issues at all. Debunked by intelligent black people who are peaceful american citizens, who dont blame white people for everything.

Colin said...

Pat wrote: "Nothing stays the same but driving the country to a level of hate we cannot return from is not the way to deal with our problems."

That started on 9/11, Pat, not ten years further on. Fox News and their allies - including Bush's administration - hijacked your nation's grief to advance their own agenda.

I believe everything happening now is a direct consequence of their quite deliberate actions.

Colin said...

So it's not the fault of the Left. They were not to blame for the process that began in 2001. They had no strategy to counter what Fox and their allies were doing (allies at that time included all the media organisations now opposing Trump - all of them, and the BBC, did everything they could to help Bush and Blair invade Iraq).

The American Left still has no clear strategy - I agree with you that they should have left the Charlottesville protestors alone (they were doing a great job of making themselves look ridiculous anyway).

Pat Brown said...

Anon 9:13

I know many black people who are not supportive of BLM and are embarrassed by the group and see them as destroying all the progress made over the last half a century. Sadly, they don't get much play in the media.

Pat Brown said...

Colin,

I do not think you actually understand the mentality of the US; you have to live here to know just as I have no clue about the UK. The process did not start with 9/11. There was nothing about racism that came out of that. In fact, oddly, we didn't even have that much anger against Muslims within our population. Trayvon Martin was the big turn along with the support of Obama for revival of black power and subtly putting down white people and the increase of illegal immigrants taking over pockets of the US bringing with them crime and the drug trade (a la the Mexican cartels and Central American gangs) AND the increase of pockets of backward thinking Muslim groups across Europe and the US and radical Islamic terrorism). So, this is what brought about the major change (and I am not denying that 9/11 didn't affect the country and Bush and his admin didn't do some squirrelly things) Then the media jumped on board. Frustrations grew on both "sides" and then when Trump was elected, one "side" and the media that supports them went berserk. And THAT is why we are where we are today (simplified version).