Thread: Baltimore Police: Gangs Enter Partnership to ‘Take-Out’ Officers [W:99]

Originally Posted by MMC

Heya Ockham. Loretta Lynch to the rescue, Mike made the discovery in the other thread.

Obama also spoke with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Monday, while his senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, spoke with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, the White House said.

"The meeting was not called specifically as a result of the situation in Baltimore, the White House said, but Lynch "assured the President that she would continue to monitor events in Baltimore and that the Department of Justice stands ready to provide any assistance that might be helpful there."....snip~

White House, Lynch turn to Baltimore - CNNPolitics.com

What I was wondering is why Valerie Jarrett is talking to the Governor of Maryland.

Because they cannot help themselves but get involved in anything that is race related. If anything it's their Achilles heel.

Originally Posted by polgara

I read somewhere a while back that Detroit was once one of the richest cities in the world after WW2, due to automobile production. I guess it's human nature to believe that the good times will last forever, but they never do. You'd think we would have learned something along the way just from reading about Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall, and how power and corruption go hand in hand! :

Polgara, True, Detroit was right in line to be the Midwest's NY City, with the same level of culture and expositions and such, but it wasn't just the automotive, there was mining, lumber and any number of other industries large, active and profitable. Somewhere along the line, reality didn't stay on course with the ideals or the plan.

Originally Posted by j-mac

No, I'm really not....My heart was breaking as I watched that utter **** last night....But, my question for you last night was simple...The police, although armored up, but undermanned, were ordered to stand back and not even attempt to interfere with what was going on....That IMHO, is what you get when you take the stance that you so often take against police resource, and how they should approach these types of anarchist actions by citizens that have NO regard for law.



That is sorry to say excuse making. You shouldn't make excuses for scum like what we saw last night.



I agree that the death of Freddie was a wrong that those responsible for should pay. But last night this wasn't about Freddie.



You don't solve decades of "root problems" as you term them, with destruction of your own community, and mayhem in one night do you? You say that had Freddie not been arrested as he was this wouldn't have happened. Well, that is a double edged sword my friend...Had Freddie not ran, this wouldn't have happened either....You either have law enforcement or you don't....Last night Balto didn't.



What are you talking about? Last night the police didn't interfere....We saw the result...So, can I take that to mean that what we saw last night you consider just? I hope that's not what you are saying.

I'm not making excuses for the rioting, I'm saying there is a cause behind it, however. The rioting isn't about justice and is not about Freddie, it is about thugs and criminals waiting to pounce, but they got their excuse through the misuse of police force.

If we want to solve the problem we have to reign in government and start addressing the reasons why the thugs and criminals can gain such large control over parts of our cities.

Originally Posted by DaveFagan

There was plenty of time for Baltimore to have launched a "HOMICIDE" investigation before this rioting. They should have quit stating that Gray "DIED" in custody and stated he was apparently the victim of a HOMICIDE. I don't approve of the rioting, but I know where it came from.

Why not burn down city hall? why not burn down the police stations?


Why burn down community centers? churches? liquor stores and steal drugs from pharmacies? No, I don't get where they are "Coming from". these things have nothing to do with freddie gray.

Originally Posted by eohrnberger

Polgara, True, Detroit was right in line to be the Midwest's NY City, with the same level of culture and expositions and such, but it wasn't just the automotive, there was mining, lumber and any number of other industries large, active and profitable. Somewhere along the line, reality didn't stay on course with the ideals or the plan.

I've read a number of articles describing Detroit's decline into chaos, and if I recall, the beginning of the end started when they city started throwing money and promises at minority communities to address their lack of opportunities and high unemployment. To pay for these programs, the city started raising taxes on businesses. After the riots of '68, they made more promises, and increased spending. Tax increases soon followed, as the population began to recede.

Rather than spend money on improvements and to keep Detroit viable and interesting, they threw it into a dark hole of socials services payouts, and public employee pay and benefits. Eventually, most major businesses started to move out of the city to less costly surrounding cities, abandoning the inner city. From that, the die was cast. The tax base disappeared, people moved out, and what was once home to some of the most highly paid citizens in the country has turned into a set piece for Armageddon II.

Baltimore, and many cities across the country are poised to make the same mistakes. Rather than encouraging business and opportunity, the liberals running these cities will turn to payouts to buy votes from the "needy", and set in motion the same result. Downtown Los Angeles has teetered on this cliff for decades.

Originally Posted by ReverendHellh0und

Why not burn down city hall? why not burn down the police stations?


Why burn down community centers? churches? liquor stores and steal drugs from pharmacies? No, I don't get where they are "Coming from". these things have nothing to do with freddie gray.

No, I think that the overuse of force, the questionable killing of another citizen by police, played into the hands of thugs and criminals. Looting and rioting in the manner it was done is not for Freddie Gray, it's not for justice, it's not outbursts of political emotion. It's criminal behavior, it's looting for the sake of looting, rioting for the sake of rioting done by criminals who wanted nothing more than to do exactly that. But it needed a spark, it needed an ignition source, and it was the actions of the police and the death of Freddie that provided that ignition.

it is true that if this were politically motivated and the people were against the government, then city hall and the police station and other government buildings would be the target, and its obvious from the looting and from who was hit that the violence and theft had nothing to do with it. But it is all one tangled web of non-linear differential response. Certain cities with high areas of poverty and crime have large numbers of these thugs and criminals who give no thought to anything and care for nothing more than the crimes and violence they can get away with. And in all the cities, these thugs wait. They wait for the government to do something they can exploit, they wait for police action that will cause massive protest or anything else they can use as cover for their desire to destroy.

We can't play into their hands, and while the rioters don't care one lick about Freddie Gray, they do care about opportunities to destroy. And that does mean we have to get our police in line BEFORE things blow up like in Ferguson and Baltimore. If we don't address the issues, each and every time this will just get worse. The thugs will see the rioting and looting of other cities and will salivate for the chance to do it to their own, and they will act quicker and with higher levels of violence each time.

Originally Posted by Ikari

I'm not making excuses for the rioting, I'm saying there is a cause behind it, however. The rioting isn't about justice and is not about Freddie, it is about thugs and criminals waiting to pounce, but they got their excuse through the misuse of police force.

If we want to solve the problem we have to reign in government and start addressing the reasons why the thugs and criminals can gain such large control over parts of our cities.

Ok, but do you see how you are arguing for less menacing police presence, but with such the criminals take over? Scenes like last night IMHO would become a regular occurrence with the neutering of police.