McCain Suggests Iraqi War-like Clampdown To Deal With Inner City Crime
By Nicole Belle Friday Aug 01, 2008 5:00pmAiyyeeee!
Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spoke to the National Urban League, a group "devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream." When an audience member asked him how he planned to reduce urban crime, McCain praised Mayor Rudy Giuliani's efforts in New York Cirty before invoking the military's tactics in Iraq as the model for crime-fighting:
MCCAIN: And some of those tactics - you mention the war in Iraq - are like that we use in the military. You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control. And you provide them with a stable environment and then they cooperate with law enforcement, etc, etc.
But long before the American military's community policing in Baghdad became a model for Baltimore, John McCain (along with many other Republicans) seemed to suggest that Sadr City was as safe as San Diego.
Dating back to 2002, McCain repeatedly downplayed the dangers U.S. troops would face in Iraq, all in the name of helping to sell the coming war against Saddam. But in extolling the progress of the surge over the past 18 months, McCain's cheerleading has at times taken on almost comic extremes.
One of his more surreal moments came on April 1, 2007 (literally April Fool's Day - you can't make this stuff up). Wearing a bulletproof vest and guarded by "100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead," McCain briefly toured a Baghdad market to demonstrate that the American people were "not getting the full picture."
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Blackwater and it's shareholders will like the sound of that.
Good lord. And McCain and Friends have the gall to compare Obama to Hitler?
Project much?
There goes the second amendment. All the gun owners have stood by and watched the Constitution being ignored by the neocons because they haven't attempted a run at IIA. Now we have a candidate proposing what will become firearms confiscations and a police state.
Let's see if the NRA comments on this.
Oh great... now we're going to have a military state in America.... oh geez
McCain is becoming a major froot loop
That approach will definitely drive down inner city property prices.
Good idea, McMussolini. Gonna make the trains run on time too, are ya?
Yea, as an ardent supporter of Obama and as a huge fan of "the wire" - that kind of street level take down looks good on paper - but you would also have to perform the same 'clampdown' in the halls of congress and in most corporate boardrooms (big oil, energy et al.) of America, because as we all know, that's where the true crimes occur.
So McCrankypants, if you're going to go after crime and oppress people at the same time, why not start where the money is - that is to say most of your GOP campaign contributors.
What more proof do you need that fascism is on move in America ? As Mussolini promised to make the trains run on time, so do the rich, rascist Republicans promise to clean up the streets through martial law. The "sweet land of liberty" will be replaced by the thousand year reich . Fuck anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who thinks this is an acceptable idea, especially "McCain's Media" !
The ideas MKAlzheimers has......he must be telling us in his own way to get ready for martial law.
blackwater/bush will be behind all this......
mccain = fascist/police state far beyond any
prophecy from george orwell's "1984".
all the 29% morons will cheer mccain on
until they find their rights stomped on, especially
their right to bear arms.....what a bunch of fucking sheeple.
McKeating is just so sa-a-a-a-d.
So here it is. Like the Tin Foil Hat guys have been saying. Part of us being in Iraq was a LAB, it was to train soldiers to do door to door searches for weapons, gun confiscation. All the cities with high gun crimes are that way because the normal citizen is barred from having weapons and only the thugs and tyrannical police force have them. They did not build those camps for nothing. They let the drugs in to the country and launder the money through the big banks. You have to ask yourself how citibank has a trillion dollars in shadow assests. ITS DRUG MONEY! And they have people to lobby congress in the states and Fed for tougher crimes and to build more private prisons. ALL OF OUR BILL OF RIGHTS ARE IMPORTANTS even the 2nd.
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. The church, the plow, the prairie wagon, and citizen's firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable. Every corner of this land knows firearms, and more than 99 99/100 percent of them by their silence indicate they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference; they deserve a place with all that's good. When firearms go, all goes; we need them every hour."------- George Washinton.
I'm not a physician.
But I imagine McCain's proposed solution to be analogous to injecting micro soldiers into the bloodstream and lymphatic system to deal with evil virus and bacterial soldiers. One on one. Macho to macho.
Yeah. Another beer. And some more peanuts, please.
Heck of an idea!
McCain seems to be saying that we should treat Detroit the same as Bagdhad. Blockade the streets, blow up the power stations, sewer plants, the waterworks and cut off the gas. Set up a large prison where potential troublemakers can be held and tortured until it can be detirmined whether or not they are terrorists.
I'll bet those uppity brown people will wish they were back in the Good Old Days, pre-1967 after about 5 years of that.
What?
No barbed wire fences or guard towers?
Mere words cannot begin to convey how disturbing I find this. They really are trying to institute a fascist/police state, aren't they?
So now US cities will be modeled upon Iraq's version of the United States original "gated communities".
But instead of Baghdad's Shia/Sunni/Green Zone neighborhoods it will be based on income and ethnicity.
They should do a video documentary of driving through multiple armed check-points, controlled by either local toughs, foreign troops or out-of-control mercenaries and then label it..
"McCain's Vision of the Future"
Not exactly the "Community Oriented Policing" the Justice Department was promoting a few short years ago.
rendrag @ 17:
Blackwater. Ready to serve.
Already happening in the Trinidad neighborhood of DC. Could be what McCain had in mind?
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=5392684
Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday raised the possibility of bringing in state troopers or even the Illinois National Guard to help Chicago combat a recent increase in violent crime -- an offer that Mayor Richard Daley didn't know was coming.
Appearing at signing ceremony for a bill that toughens the penalty for adults who provide guns to minors, Blagojevich said "violent crime in the city of Chicago is out of control."
"I'm offering resources of the state to the city to work in a constructive way with Mayor Daley to do everything we can possibly do to help ... stop this violence," said the governor.
Blagojevich said Daley had not asked for help and he had not talked to the mayor about offering it, adding he would call Daley after he met later in the day with the state police, National Guard and others.
Daley's office said the mayor did not know anything about Blagojevich's comments and did not know he was going to make them.
"The mayor welcomes partnerships, not just on this issue but on a variety of issues," said spokeswoman Jody Kawada. "Beyond that, it is difficult to comment because we don't have any facts."
And police department spokeswoman Monique Bond said they learned of the comments after Blagojevich made them as well, and said it was too soon to comment.
But Bond took issue with the governor's contention that crime is "out of control" in Chicago.
In fact, she said if the current murder rate holds in the city, 2008 may end with fewer than 500 homicides and that it is expected to be one of the least deadly years in the city in the last 40 years.
The governor's comments come at a time when violent crime has spiked in Chicago. This spring, for example, nine people were killed in 36 shootings during a weekend and Chicago Public Schools officials say more than two dozen students have been killed by gunfire since last September.
On Wednesday, Superintendent Jody Weis was grilled by members of a city council committee, who complained both about rising crime and statistics that suggested to them that the police department wasn't doing enough to stop it.
They also come as the governor tries to find support for a massive statewide construction program that would be funded by expanded casino gambling. So far, Daley has refused to go along because he objects to the amount Blagojevich wants to charge Chicago to run a downtown casino.
Blagojevich raised that issue as he discussed the possibility of state aid with Chicago's crime problem.
"We need help in that legislative process and the mayor could be a big help in this in getting the House Democratic leadership to pass that big capital program or versions of it," the governor said.
Blagojevich's offer, whether or not it comes to anything, also puts him in the position of trying to help on an issue dominating the news in Chicago.
Blagojevich said it is far more likely that state troopers would be used than guardsmen. In fact, his office moved quickly after the governor's comments to stress in a news release that Blagojevich was not considering bringing in National Guard troops to the city.
"The only way the National Guard would be involved, if they are involved, is with the use of tactical helicopters that are currently used in narcotics operations," spokesman Lucio Guerrero said in a prepared statement.
Blagojevich had few details, but suggested that one possibility would be to assign state troopers to areas of the city with lower crime rates, freeing Chicago police officers for areas where there is more crime.
"Maybe we can play a role in providing more manpower so that the mayor doesn't have to make that choice between taking a police from, let's say the North Side, and putting that police officer on the street on the South Side," he said.
He also suggested that retired Chicago police officers and state troopers could be hired on a temporary basis to help out during the summer months when the violent crime rate typically climbs.
Richard Daley has connections to the Mob.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Richard+Daley+mob
Did a mob boss help elect Richard J. Daley?
May 22, 2006
BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter
Did Bruno Roti Sr. -- one of Chicago's earliest reputed mob bosses -- help Richard J. Daley win his first election, to the Illinois Legislature, 70 years ago?
They won't clamp down nation-wide.
Just in those places where there's "urban unrest"
I usta think they'd use National Guard and Reservists, which was why they used so many of 'em in combatr, in Iraq, to toughen 'em up and get'em usta shooting on command, and asking questions late...
But the more things develop, I agree with the folks who say it'll be blackwater-esque troops. The only thing that distinguishes the USDHS from the NKVD is that USDHS doesn't (yet) have an "army of the Interior." McStain obviously plans to rectify that little oversight...
Oh Please, McCain could care less about America's cities or urban crime. He is the suburban candidate.
I wonder how long it will take the soldiers deployed in America to make us free? 100 years? 16 months? Who can say, especially in an election year.
jane doe @ 16:
You're finally 'getting' it. Good....
hope it's not too late
Reminds me of Ali Lake.
tyler82 @ 23:
who ELSE you know wants to keep the kneegrows down, keep 'em penned in the cities?
or, now that commuting is getting more odious, they'll move the colored folk to the suburbs, and control 'em like Sadr City...
Oh goody, that will address the under lying problem, kind of like the surge addressed the underlying problem with the governments lack of progress.
Late 60's or early 70's the "Club of Rome" published "Limits To Growth" that said we have only 2 options:
1) reduce indutrial output and control population IMMEDIATELY
or
2) face and enormous die-off in the human population of planet earth in the 21st century.
The Global Capitalists have chosen option #2. They are hoarding the resources. They intend to be the few who survive.
They are creating a Global Gated Community, guarded from the throngs who will perish.
Maybe if thugs would straighten out we wouldn't have to be threatened with a police state. Either way, those of us that live in cities, and I live in San Francisco in the same neighborhood that the Salvodaoran gang member murdered the father and his two boys 'mistakedly', will continue to live in fear either of our neighbors or the incoming military. Both would be miserable. But I would love to see some military action come in and kick all the gang member's asses, they think they actually run things. Losers.
industrial* output
an* enormous die-off
I only hope McCain starts hammering the punks in my neck-of-the-woods. I'll get real, too: black punks, above all.
Young people: Who don't they make sick? Young black males: Who don't they terrify?
White makes right. And there is no whiter pale-face on earth than the Man From Arizona.
McCain wants a surge at home against Americans.
It must be difficult to run for president when you're suffering from pretty advanced dementia.
how about making education affordable for all so that lower income people can actually get OUT of the rut.
The high tuition fees is a scam to keep the military enrollment high and to hold done brown people
That settles it, he's definitely Sulla. The question now becomes: who will be Caesar? And after Caesar...who will be Octavian?
The Golem @ 4:
McPapen at this point matches a lot of what happened when Lucius Cornelius Sulla became leader of Rome. Consider, both connected to the military, both of military lineage, both patricians, both arguing to turn an already oligarchic state into an authoritarian despotism...
The only question then becomes: who is going to take the role of Iulius Caesar?
errrr.
Are they planning to take away everyone in these zones guns like in Iraq?
The ACLU might not care but we do have a right to basic firearms.
I'm looking forward to 'Shock and Awe' in Dorchester.
I guess they then go in and pay all the bad guys not to act bad anymore.
Nice to see that McCain's inner thug is on display again. Yes, martial law makes the streets a lot safer .. mmm hmm ...
All i can say to shit like this is .. what the fuck is anyone thinking that wants to vote for this idiot?
tyler82 @ 30:
In military actions, there's always collateral damage, Tyler. So I guess you won't mind if you or mebbe your wife and/or kids gets hit by a JDAM meant for the gang-bangerz?
CAlI @ 38:
Don't worry .. this will only ever happen in majority black or hispanic neighbourhoods ... "ordinary americans" will never have to worry their pretty little heads and so will be able to stand by and cheer the tough on crime bullshit that will be spewed by the talking heads.
Or am i sounding too cynical?
General_Rennenkampf @ 37:
General Betrayus...that's easy...
All part of their original plan. Nothing new here.
woody, tokin librul @ 43:
No, Petraeus doesn't match the bill. Admittedly, things do seem to be paralleling the transition of the Roman Republic into the Principate. JFK, Malcolm X, MLK, and RFK might have been our equivalent of the assassinations of the Gracchi. Now we seem to have people making statements that indicate we've hit the Sulla stage of the transition. God help us when we reach the Caesar stage.
Another warmonger, McSame as Bush\Cheney. He is worse than Bush, it possible.
BobbyG @ 19:
Another warmonger, McSame as Bush\Cheney. He is worse than Bush, if possible.
This is why the framers of the Constitution created the Second Amendment
"The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the pre-existing individual right to possess and carry weapons (i.e. "keep and bear arms") in case of confrontation.[1] Codification of the right to keep and bear arms into the Bill of Rights was influenced by a fear that the federal government would disarm the people in order to impose rule through a standing army or select militia,[2] since history had shown the way tyrants eliminated resistance to suppression of political opponents was to simply take away the people's arms and make it an offense to keep them.[3] In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that self-defense is a central component of the right.[4]"
Friends, you need to protect your friends and family, the government has lost its collective mind and is way outta control.
Jay @ 49:
And if you think your little popguns are gonna do more than get you mercilessly killed forthwith, go right ahead.
I remember Mark Crispin Miller came on this blog as a guest and was warning us about the possibilities of a police state. I took heart.
Orangutan. @ 51:
I think an American police state will resemble Principate-era Rome.
woody, tokin librul @ 41:
Your comment is not only smug but ignorant. Collateral damage? Talk to the woman who lives near me who lost her entire family- her husband and two sons- to senseless street violence. Talk about collateral damage! Either I can sit here and think about how maybe myself and family will be murdered for no reason WITHOUT the military here, or I can sit here and think about how maybe my family and I will be murdered for no reason WITH the military here. I actually feel safer with the latter option. By the way, what inner city/ urban neighborhood are you from?
tyler82 @ 53:
Do we need to get out the Franklin quote again?
Over and over this is happening and we keep putting up with it. What a nation of bedwetters we have become.
Phonies believe everything is fine (these are usually the ones who have inherited a trust fund and live in a cottage in the colorado mountains). Those of us that actually live in the line of fire are working for solutions. There is a fine line as well when the military is involved, because who isn't to say they can come into your house and imprison you and your family without fair trial (as this country is surely headed) for 'suspicion' of a crime, when in fact your only real 'crime' is your criticism of the powers that be, which can be easily traced due to warrantless wiretapping. If the military could come in and kill all the gang members, then hell yah!! But I fear this is just a red herring for something much more serious and CREEPY!!
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 54:
BTW I don't feel I have liberty right now when I can't walk out of my house wearing a certain color out of fear of being murdered.
Please those of you who love to name call anybody who disagrees with you, instead of being so fickle why don't you answer the question and offer your solutions to inner city street/ gang violence.
tyler82 Says: "Your comment is not only smug but ignorant. Collateral damage? Talk to the woman who lives near me who lost her entire family- her husband and two sons- to senseless street violence. Talk about collateral damage! Either I can sit here and think about how maybe myself and family will be murdered for no reason WITHOUT the military here, or I can sit here and think about how maybe my family and I will be murdered for no reason WITH the military here. I actually feel safer with the latter option. By the way, what inner city/ urban neighborhood are you from?"
I've lived in large cities most of my life, so I understand your frustration regarding crime and thugs. But do you honestly think bringing in the military and stationing them on the streets (permanently?) is the best option? And where will we get all those soldiers for the inner cities? Isn't our military already tied up a bit?
Soylent Green anyone? Clean up the ghettoes AND turn a profit, it's the American way...
A modest proposal...
All of the above is satire.
tyler82 @ 57:
How about not being able to walk out of your house being a certain colour without fear of being arrested because that is what we are talking about here. You can change what you wear, you cannot change your skin colour.
I understand your fear but once we invite the military onto the streets, history says that they do not easily leave. I really don't want to live in that country... can you seriously say that you do?
btw Tyler .. i dont live in Canada anymore, I live just outside Hartford, CT.
Canada did have its own nasty brush with martial law in my lifetime (was called the War Measures Act).. it wasn't very pretty and it was a mistake that I think is unlikely to be made again.
And feeling safer is not the same as being safe. That is Franklin's point. Or at least that is how I read him.
Joe Tseng @ 59:
No I do not believe it is the best option, I do not trust the military any longer (and who can with Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graib???) It sounds like a great plan ideally but I don't think many of us would much like the results we would get having tanks and army guys marching down the streets all the time. See my eariler post: There is a fine line as well when the military is involved, because who isn’t to say they can come into your house and imprison you and your family without fair trial (as this country is surely headed) for ’suspicion’ of a crime, when in fact your only real ‘crime’ is your criticism of the powers that be, which can be easily traced due to warrantless wiretapping.
The posts after my second amendment post are quite alarming. I think people need to start connecting the dots or get ready for Orwell's 1984. McCain's quotes are classic pre nazi tactics. Do you realize what is at stake here? This has nothing to do with gangs, inner city crimes etc.
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Hermann Goering (number two nazi)
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 61:
OK so totally off topic (Topic is street violence, not racism or bleeding heart BS). What do you think are the best solutions and where do you live now?
dumbstruck @ 3:
NRA only worries if white people lose their guns - black or brown people should not have guns. Remember Katrina when Blackwater disarmed black US citizens (but not the white one in affluent areas) in New Orleans!
tyler82 @ 63:
So you agree with us .. this is a stupid idea that McCain has.
PS Rob in Toronto I was randomly assaulted and almost murdered by 5 gang members. Of course they were the extremely manly kind that bludgeoned me over the head from behind so that I passed out and then got their friends to beat me up while I was unconscious. You can probably understand where my passion and anger comes from this issue. It always seems to be the innocent bystander, like myself, who is shit upon. Police wouldn't even go after the criminals because they are gang related and apparently they don't know how to handle the gangs. I just want fucking JUSTICE, is that so much to ask? Or you gonna belittle me some more and maybe you could insult my intelligence just a little?
McCain's proposal in using the military to combat urban crime is the same idiotic suggestion that he is advocating in Iraq. Unfortunately, his Democratic opponent, the [alleged] "Peace Candidate", Barack Obama, wishes to do the same thing in Afghanistan against the so-called "war on terrorism." Both of these presidential candidates would do well to listen to the findings of RAND, the government's own think tank, which stated in a new study entitled "How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al-Qaeda", that the best way to go after this organization is to do it through the use of law enforcement, intelligence, and, if needed, troops from the local country.
Attempting to go after a criminal organization vis a vis the military has to have been one of the most stupidest and counter productive things that the United States could have done and to compound the error both presidential candidates continue to advocate that the United States military occupy countries that have never threatened anyone in these United States. It is no wonder that the United States is so hated by so many countries around the world.
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 67:
I think the "idea" is good- sending in an entity to restore order. Of course, the American military these days (because of leadership, not the troops) creates the exact opposite affect of restoring order, so yes I think the "result" would be terrible, and I would be against it. My solution would be to give free and easily available abortions to the inner cities as well as severely restrict welfare hand outs so there are no incentives to keep children simply as a cash cow, which is the sad reality before you go harping on the racist rant. P.S. McCain would never use the military for domestic issues, our focus is now on the rest of the world while our country crumbles literally and figuratively.
tyler82 @ 65:
Sorry, but your framing is wrong. Nice try though ...
The solution is multi-pronged.
1) Community based policing
2) incentives for companies to open/re-open factories in economically challenged areas
3) Good schools in the inner cities so that kids get the skills they need
4) legalize soft drugs. If a kid doesn't have to deal with a criminal to get his weed it will make mixing of otherwise good kids with thugs less ubiquitous
How about that for a start? It won't solve everything over night but it is sure as hell better than putting a soldier on every corner.
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 71:
1, 2, and 3 sound good. 4 I not so sure about. Where do you live now?
Rob in Torono- PS do you support extra intense security for companies who re- open facilities in impoverished neighborhoods? Possibly armed gunman patrolling the premises? Because I know I have read about a lot of businesses trying to do what you say and they have been robbed so many times they left.
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 61:
Not just fear of being arrested, but fear of being killed. Remember Patrick Dorismond? There's something ironic at work here. Giuliani gets great praise for his work on 9/11 but not so much for his tenure as mayor in general, particularly regarding law enforcement and minorities. Squeegee men bad. Bernie Kerrick good. Is this what we want on a national basis?
tyler82 @ 68:
umm .. no . not belittling you (well maybe a little . and that I do apologize for) .. nor attempting to insult your intelligence. Merely saying that the solution McCain posits is no better than the problem and that in my view it is far worse.
THe problem with passion and anger, when dealing with crime, is that it ends up with us having vigilantism or martial law being acceptable as solutions. Neither actually are. Not if we are looking at the big picture.
The problem of inner city crime is not fixable in a week or a month or even a year. It has taken decades to get to the point that it has and for us to think that there is some magic wand that can be waved by a crackdown is merely wishful thinking. If you want to think that I am insulting your intelligence or being a bleeding heart by saying that then feel free but quite frankly I do not see any way that it can be done without a long term strategy in place and we don't currently have one.
tyler82 @ 73:
It depends on how you define "intense extra security".
DO I think that shoot on sight orders for vandals is acceptable? No! But I do think that extra security guards, more frequent police patrols and the the financial incentives to make them work are important to any such plan.
That is part of why community based policing is important.
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 75:
YES BUT WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW???? FOR THE FIFTH TIME :-)
tyler82 @ 77:
ummm .. if you look at comment 62 .. i already said where i lived. One of the suburbs of Hartford, CT.
I hear the voice of good ol' Randy Scheunemann here.
And think on this.
They wouldn't think twice about trying it.
Playtime may come soon.
Oh, goody.
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 78:
That is a very general description.. I am familiar with the Hartford (which has its own inner cityproblems) area, so which town is it exactly?
It seems like your solution is to move to the suburbs. That is called white flight. Not so sure that is working too well for the rest of us whities who still live in the cities.
McCain can call this kind of law enforcement anything he wants, but what he's talking about is the declaration of Martial Law in the United States of America. The very idea is sick and offensive.
tyler82 @ 80:
Yes indeed, Hartford has some rather nasty problems. And as to exactly where, i am unsure as to why that is germane to the topic but if you take 2 seconds to click thru the link on my name you will see that I live in Manchester. If your point is that I cannot understand it until I have lived it then I have to respectfully disagree. And I apologize in advance if that wasn't going to be your point but ...
Now, much as this is fun (it really is, honest) I am off for the evening because there is Guinness that needs to be imbibed.
Yep... I'm the crazy nutball who said this two or three years ago. I'm a nutjob who said it was an inside job. There is a difference between someone who has erred from reason and rational approaches to solutions and makes an assumption and casts it as a belief (Strange Lights in sky = UFO's or Bleeding Statue = God is real stuff) and someone who can clearly and with layman's terms explain rationally what lead him to these conclusions, and presents different considerations as to what these facts may mean.
I just hope this is a lesson to many whom berate "nutball conspiracy theorists" who really might be best to call a "Forensic Institutional Analyst". One who examines a system, say... World Government, Media and Corporate relations, and with enough data can make predictive conclusions based on a theory, or note discrepancies and discern what those may mean, is someone whom you should seek for alternative considerations to what is being presented in the corporate media.
Remember, Pop Culture is a culture that is a reflection of the corporations view of whom we should be. If in the 70's we heard the words we hear today on, say the view "I don't know that the world is round" Sherry, we would never ever consider that a program to watch again, nor would anyone work on that show for fear they would be considered a fucking ignorant retard too. We should not be celebrating these people, yet we do.
The thinking people are getting drug through the mud.
tyler82 @ 81:
Umm well .. that would be true if I had left the city to move to the suburbs .. however that isn't how it worked. Nice strawman though.
As it happens, the reason that I live where I do is that when i moved to the area the only place that would lease me an apartment without a ridiculous sized security deposit was here since I am not a citizen and had no credit references(I am a legal resident .. before someone starts with that one). I actually would have preferred to live in Hartford because the restaurants are better and I would have been able to take transit to work.
McCain's campaign is also a testimony to the complete collapse of the GOP. The countless incidents sexual infidelity, pedophilia, toe tapping, diaper wearing, hookers and on and on. The Abrahmov, Delay, Hastert, Cunningham, Santorum, Stevens, Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Gonzalez, Goodling, lie after lie after lie after bribe, after kickback after theft, after you name it and it is all imploding at once. Rove the so called mastermind has run his course. The whole party from top to bottom is full of criminals. McCain is just the end of this collapse. 10 years ago no one could have imagined a Presidential campaign so devoid of real ideas, alternatives and concepts. Obama other than enduring the constant personal and racial attacks has not had to articulate anything in the way of policy he has simply deflected the endless, baseless horse shit from a campaign that has not rudder, no leadership and represents everything the country now despises about the GOP. There is nothing to elect in John McCain, he stands for nothing, represents nothing, is out of touch with everyone in America, has no ethics, no honor, his only claim is that because he got shot down and was held prisoner he should be President. He has no skill in any area, economics, foreign relations, diplomacy, human rights, military strategy, he hasn't voted in the last 400 occasions requiring a vote, he offers nothing. The campaign now focuses on Obama's popularity and age and somehow being a huge weakness. We still have 100 days left, if they can't offer a single definitive thing that McCain stands for other than History it leaves Republicans across the country with nothing to vote for on the right. And after the last 8 years of Bush, maybe this is finally what America needs to rebuild and restore its freedoms and rights and earn back the respect of the rest of the world who have also endured 8 years of insanity from the last remaining so called super power. Let's hope so, cause the alternative is a Stephen King fantasy
police brutality, unfair treatment, Concentration of police forces in the inner-city. Sounds like iraq already..
just think, ethnically and racially and religiously segregated neighborhoods, those lovely concrete barriers will look just wonderful, and the checkpoints, why, they'll just be like living in gated communities
mccain, a man for the (middle) ages
mcfuckhead, we got the message.
you are a f#cking a$$hole bastard.
everything now that comes out of your
mouth, you sucked out of bush and cheney's
a$$es.
Imagine, 1,000,000+ dead in the streets of America under BlackwaterPlus: Now With 100% More Immunity!
APACHE COPTERS.... coming to a neighborhood near you...
the fools who vote MONEY TO THE RICH (trickle down economics)
are the fools who vote for SHIT LIKE THIS...
and then CRY THAT THEY ARE LOSING LIBERTIES
What took them so long? A couple of years ago I figured that Bush and Cheney would be a lot further down the road toward POLICE STATE than we are today. Blackwater units in New Orleans was just the beginning of what McCain is probably referring to.
NO DOUBT this idea is going to reverberate inside the heads of conservative voters who are FRIGHTENED TO DEATH of the prospects of a black man getting into the White House... WITH A DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY in the Congress.
General_Rennenkampf @ 37:
General Betray-Us of course. That man's all right wing politics, if this scenario played out I could see him be the one to put an end to the republic once and for all.
As a black man in this country, I have to wonder how he got out of the Urban League without being lynched. How dare he make such a prediction in front of them which IMO was designed to scare everyone to death. With all the guns out here in the world Blackwater would become a target if they decide to use them instead of the military. I usually operate with a plan B when I decide to make life altering changes and I now know that we all should have a plan B. Do they have the nerve to put this past us or are they inviting confrontation? This old fart is dangerous if this is on his agenda. If anyone is thinking of voting for him they truly need a lobotomy. I don't think those who have risked their lives by serving will stand for this idiotic nonsense if they believe in the Constitution.
why were not hearing from the left a constant stream of "McCheese was for the Iraq invasion before he was against it, he was against the soldiers GI Bill before he was wrongfull hailed as being responsible for it passing. Why they don't come on TV and say to the American people "Look, we know your smarter then the Republicans give you credit for being, so we are going to debunk the lies and show you the facts about the Republican slim machine. And I'm convinced the American sheeple who just follow what the Republicans say would start to listen and they are smart enough to understand the facts if they are given 1/2 a chance.
But no, McStupid gets to carry on with his nonsense and shameful knowledge of world events, countries and leaders.
Commentator @ 93:
Except Caesar disguised his rule in the Republic, but his assassination touched off a civil war. Octavian, known to history as Augustus was the one that created the Imperial office, not Caesar. Petraeus doesn't strike me as the Iulius Caesar type. Augustan, maybe. Not Caesarian.
Rob (No Longer) In Toronto @ 42:
With Bush in the White House its becoming impossible to be too cynical.
tyler82 @ 53:
You feel safer with residential door to door hits without warrants. Armed men (possibly mercs like Blackwater who utilize Chilean mercenaries) coming in without any reasonable search and seizure?
The military are not trained like police officers. I know because I was both in the Army and as a police officer. This is way beyond destroying the Constitution. That is a military dictatorship.
Those who will give up liberties to a little safety are nothing but chickensh*t idiots, who have no clue about what this country was founded on.
If you want to live in a police state dictatorship move to China, you'll even get your white knee highs there much cheaper too.
These Rethuglicans really know how to castrate a country. It's shock and awe for the home market.
"MCCAIN: And some of those tactics - you mention the war in Iraq - are like that we use in the military. You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control"
And like in Iraq, if a few hundred thousand innocent civilians get killed in the process so be it.
This man may very well be more dangerous than George Bush.
What the hell would he know about going into a neighborhood? Flying over one maybe, but put his boots on the ground. Right.
i think mccrazy has a great idea
first, we bomb the shit out of the inner city, then after we have killed everyone, force the rest to leave the country, then pay the gang members not to kill each other
its working in iraq
I think most of the crime is drug related. I think that once a person is addicted, however that happened, it becomes a medical issue. Alcoholism was once criminalized, now that is a medical issue. Same thing should apply to crack and heroin. Since we don't have very effective treatment regimes, I think a person, once addicted, should be allowed to get maintenance prescriptions. That takes the incentive off the dealers to get new people addicted, because, once addicted, the addict is off to see the doctor. With no recurring cash flow, the violence associated with the drug prohibition would fade, as legalizing alcohol ended the violence associated with bootlegging. Most of the crime is associated with addicts seeking to finance their habit at black market prices, and gang warfare with distributors.
There is a $48B dollar war against drugs that depends on addicts being treated as criminals rather than patients. We have private prisons to fill, congressmen to be paid off and so forth. I believe the Reverend Wright believed that the black community had been targeted for sale of these drugs, that part of the spiel was left off when the corporate media covered his tirade.
The war on drugs has been the government's excuse for the war on the 4th amendment, only recently superseded by the war on terrorism. Treating the addict, whose body is chemically altered to crave these substances, as a patient, rather than as a criminal, would greatly alter the crime picture.
Gun control treats a symptom, but the addict not being recognized as a patient is the root cause. Root cause should be addressed first.
Daingel @ 98:
Please read all of my posts, then decide if you still stand by these words.
McSame will carry on the life long ambition of the Haves to take away from the have nots. McSame is no different than the evil dunce we have had for the past eight years. Rethugs are scumbags.
Vote for Insane McCain and prepare to abandon all your rights.
Essence Of The Al Qaeda In Iraq Offensive
The above outlines gist of what we know as the Surge. It involved a door to door sweep through Iraqi neighborhoods. Long gone are the columns of offensive equipment that highlighted our latest technological advances. On occasion, they use our smart ass bomb technology that hit their target and everything around it. This is the same smart ass bomb weapons that create a insurgency loop. After killing an innocent, lets say a child, the relatives of that child become the next wave of insurgents hell bent on revenge.
I know John McCain cannot be thinking of this kind of offensive in the streets of America. While I know the use of smart bomb technology is out of the question, if they steal another election, I do see McCain using door to door tactics to quite opposition. The media has been very busy trying to give the impression McCain is close to Barack Obama and ready to take the lead. Hell, I would not be surprised if Gallup release a poll tomorrow with McCain in the lead. There is no way in hell McCain is beating Obama or even close to him. What you are seeing are polls made to order. Yet, I can't help but feel we are being soften up for another stolen election.
I was watching Tom Brokaw on "Meet the Press." He was interviewing Barack Obama during his European trip. Brokaw was so dismissive toward anything positive Obama did during the trip and wanted only to talk about hypothetical scenarios. I sat in front of the TV calling Brokaw every kind of bastard I could think of. He made me feel unimportant and I was not even there. After the program, I pondered what would happen if all of the media treated Obama in this way. There is no doubt Obama would have a problem. We would have to brace ourselves for another 8 years of Republican rule. I don't think this country can live through another conservative administration.
Joseph
tyler82 @ 105:
Yep I read it all. And I still think you need to pull up your little white tights from around your ankles and run like the lame ass coward you are.
Heard this this morning , even said so on the R. Davis thread ( # 4 poster @ 12:12pm 3 hours before this thread ) even provided a link , noone said a fucking thing , now you are all up in a tizzy . No wonder the neocons are winning .
The more I think about this, the more I realize that it's baloney. McCain isn't going to do squat. No stormtroopers. No military takeover of the inner cities. What he CAN do is make this weird speech in front of the Urban League. He knows they'll never vote for them anyway so now he can point out that he isn't pandering to his audience - just giving them more of that good ol' straight talk. Mac the Maverick strikes again.
David N @ 110:
The neocons are winning because everyone doesn't religiously read, and comment upon, every post on this site? Crooks and Liars is a wonderful site but not quite that powerful... or is it .. hmmmmmmmmm
Well, living in Chicago, I can tell you there are some days where I've hit the ground when a car backfired. Somebody's gotta do something with these thugs that treat street violence as if it were all a big video game for their amusement.
Why don't they start at all the WalMarts? Seems those places are happy huntiong grounds for criminals all over this country?
Darth_Romney @ 113:
Reactive tactics are good for control only. With assurance, the problems comes back with a little more sophistication. Any lasting solution would have to involve commitment, study, and money. We have been controlling the issue as if that is the only way to deal with the crimes in our cities. It is not. Barack Obama knows all to well you have to raise the educational levels in certain neighborhoods, change a criminal justice system that is solely conviction orientated, and increase the access of those institutions usually the sole privilege of selective groups. In short, treat the problem not just its symptoms. Actually, it the same dynamic affecting the immigration issue. When you use only control, such as building big fences, you are only treating the symptom of the immigration issue. To treat the problem would involve treating why they are at the fence in the first place.
Joseph
issues in america, like crime, to some, are either black or white never more complex shades of gray.simple is best for them, otherwise, it invites a closer examination of the colorwheel and God only knows that requires way too much thought.
I'm sure they didn't at all mean to appeal to the virulent racists who think that martial law is exactly what our cities need in order to stomp down The Negro Menace. No, McCain is running a much more ethical and lofty campaign than that. Of course he is.
tofubo @ 88:
Every neighborhood needs Bremer walls! They're stylish AND functional!
Just as I was starting to think that McCain was the best man for the job of President he manages to muck up his chances once again by saying that he is in favor of martial law in the streets of America. Once again I must remind all of you politicians that you are not the elite or royalty of America! Those types are the reason we left England in the first place. Rather you are all hired help that has been placed in an office by the American people whom you are supposed to serve and protect. We don't need martial law placed on the entire country to supposedly protect us. Why don't you guys just do what the American people want you to do instead of thinking that you have all the answers for all the things troubling the country today.
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