Patterico's Pontifications

8/18/2014

President Obama: Looking At It Like A Parent

Filed under: General — Dana @ 5:01 pm



[guest post by Dana]

President Obama, back in Washington D.C. for a few days, spoke about the ongoing situation in Ferguson. He stated that Attorney General Holder will be traveling to Ferguson this week to meet with FBI investigators, DOJ personnel and community leaders.

Specifically regarding the looters and the protestors, he had this to say:

We have all seen images of protestors and law enforcement in the streets. It’s clear that the vast majority of people are peacefully protesting. What’s also clear is that a small minority of individuals are not. While I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving into that anger by looting or carrying guns and even attacking the police only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos. It undermines rather than advancing justice.

Let me also be clear that our constitutional rights to speak freely, to assemble and to report in the press must be vigilantly safeguarded, especially in moments like these. There’s no excuse for excessive force by police or any action that denies people the right to protest peacefully. Ours is a nation of laws for the citizens who live under them and for the citizens who enforce them.

Valerie Jarrett explains what informs the view of the president:

He looks at this – I spoke with him this morning – his concern was clearly thinking about it as a perspective of a parent, and you want to know when you send your kids to school, when you leave your home they’re going to be safe,” Jarrett said in an interview with American Urban Radio’s April Ryan.

Obama’s priority is to keep the citizens of Ferguson safe, Jarrett explained, calling it “paramount” on the president’s mind.

–Dana

I want to add a few more of the president’s comments today. These were in response to a reporter’s question (at first link above):

I have to be very careful about not pre-judging these events before investigations are completed because although these are, you know, issues of local jurisdiction, you know, the DOJ works for me, and when they’re conducting an investigation, I’ve got to make sure that I don’t look like I’m putting my thumb on the scales one way or the other. So it’s hard for me to address a specific case beyond making sure that it’s conducted in a way that is transparent, where there is accountability, where people can trust the process hoping that as a consequence of a fair and just process, you end up with a fair and just outcome.

But as I think I’ve said in some past occasions, part of the ongoing challenge of perfecting our unions has involved dealing with communities that feel left behind who as a consequence of tragic histories often find themselves isolated, often find themselves without hope, without economic prospects. You have young men of color in many communities who are more likely to end up in jail or in the criminal justice system than they are in a good job or in college. And, you know, part of my job that I can do I think without any potential conflicts is to get at those root causes.

56 Responses to “President Obama: Looking At It Like A Parent”

  1. The Obamas would not have let Michael Brown within a mile of their daughters.

    nk (dbc370)

  2. You are right, nk. I seem to remember what Flip Wilson about his own show, versus “The Cosby Show.” He, um, did not feel that “The Cosby Show” reflected true like for African-Americans. But we see this ALL the time; folks very concerned about lack of diversity having their children in lily-white private school. And I can’t blame them, if the private school is superb. But it does take just a bit away from their moral high ground.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  3. I like to know that my kids are safe on their way to and from school, also,
    rather than getting mugged in the middle of the day walking home from Mr. Cosby’s high school alma mater.

    I prefer the commentary I linked to on the other thread.
    You two will also.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  4. Be nice if Obama looked at it like a president.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  5. Greetings:

    I seem to remember my paternal parent’s perspective went something like, “If you get yourself in trouble with the police, don’t waste your dime calling me.”

    11B40 (844d04)

  6. BamBam needn’t worry about his chilren’s safety when they leave the home (not that i believe for a moment that he was the sperm donor that made them) because they have an SS team on them at all times, just as he and Moo-chelle do.

    and VJ too, for that matter, if i understand things correctly, so their faux concern is BS of the highest purity.

    he doesn’t give a damn about any of this except how to manipulate the situation to his partisan advantage, even if it was another of his violent, drug using criminal sons that got capped.

    redc1c4 (abd49e)

  7. Always trust links from MD in Philly. I gave it a like.

    nk (dbc370)

  8. Has Obama concluded police have used excessive force on peaceful protestors? Is that part of the take away from his words today?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  9. Daley’s right… rioting, shooting at cops and throwing Molotov cocktails shouldn’t be discouraged only because they would be counter-productive in reaching your professed objectives, BUT BECAUSE IT IS WRONG!

    A better person would fully understand that, but this clown is nothing if not wishy washy

    Colonel Haiku (5de7c8)

  10. Several of my friends on FB like the fellow’s video, MD. It reminds me of this bit of wisdom for incoming college freshmen:

    https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140815154134-10765298-is-someone-you-love-going-to-college-their-success-depends-on-three-words

    Three most important words. And not just for college. For life.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  11. I seem to remember what Flip Wilson about his own show, versus “The Cosby Show.” He, um, did not feel that “The Cosby Show” reflected true like for African-Americans.

    Aw, the devil made him do it, Simon. Cross-dressing reflected true-life African-Americans? Okay, then, Geraldine.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. Barack Obama
    he’s a feckless, reckless man
    cut of his jib SUCKS

    Colonel Haiku (5de7c8)

  13. Yeah, those were the heteronormative, cis-friendly days, nk.

    Anyway, if memory serves, Flip Wilson’s sitcom was getting trounced by “The Cosby Show.” An interviewer asked him what his own show was about.

    He replied that it was like “The Cosby Show,” but about black people.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  14. I added a few more interesting comments from the president.

    Dana (4dbf62)

  15. All thru the day… I me mine I me mine I me mine.

    Colonel Haiku (5f5b8b)

  16. Dear Dana: Did the President actually say:

    “…perfecting our unions…”

    If so, that is a near-perfect Freudian slip.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  17. Since when has he worried about running his mouth without all the facts?

    Edoc118 (c37322)

  18. It’s a direct quote from the transcript up at the WSJ.

    Dana (4dbf62)

  19. Stacy McCain has what may be the corre t approach to all of this:
    http://theothermccain.com/2014/08/18/my-official-ferguson-commentary/

    Colonel Haiku (f8c86d)

  20. This is now all about black turnout in November.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  21. Obama: While I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving into that anger by looting or carrying guns and even attacking the police only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos.

    I don’t think the looting is motivated by anger.

    It’s greed, and opportunity.

    Even attacking the police is only because of greed.

    Sammy Finkelman (3ba0b7)

  22. 1. nk (dbc370) — 8/18/2014 @ 5:05 pm

    The Obamas would not have let Michael Brown within a mile of their daughters.

    Absolutely right.

    Sammy Finkelman (3ba0b7)

  23. President redirect should stay on the golf course shanking his way through this term.

    mg (31009b)

  24. 16. “…perfecting our unions…”

    According to that Op-ed in the New York Times by Jeff Smith, the problem with Ferguson was or is that the unions control it:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/opinion/in-ferguson-black-town-white-power.html

    The North County Labor Club, whose overwhelmingly white constituent unions (plumbers, pipe fitters, electrical workers, sprinkler fitters) have benefited from these arrangements, operates a potent voter-turnout operation that backs white candidates over black upstarts. The more municipal contracts an organization receives, the more generously it can fund re-election campaigns. Construction, waste and other long-term contracts with private firms have traditionally excluded blacks from the ownership side and, usually, the work force as well.

    Of course maybe he sees that as a problem only because the population base has changed from 74% white in 1990 to 29% white in 2010.

    Sammy Finkelman (3ba0b7)

  25. Bundy Militia heading to Ferguson.

    nops (9a2828)

  26. Obama’s looking very thin, haggard and old, don’t you think, nops? It’s like the job does not agree with him.

    elissa (178460)

  27. Too bad some focus-group-fawning staffer wrote these lines for Obama; worse, that he doesn’t actually believe them.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  28. Elissa – that is imdw

    JD (285732)

  29. Bundy Militia heading to Ferguson.

    So? The New Black Panthers are already there, and I don’t hear you complaining about them.

    Milhouse (9d71c3)

  30. I’ve got to make sure that I don’t look like I’m putting my thumb on the scales one way or the other. </i.

    Is it OK for Al Sharpton to look like he's putting his thumb on the scales of justice?

    Sammy Finkelman (3ba0b7)

  31. that is known as projection, interesting Ryan Reilly,whitewashed the Panthers, when he worked at Main Justice (h/t Christian Adams)

    narciso (ee1f88)

  32. And, you know, part of my job that I can do I think without any potential conflicts is to get at those root causes.

    Root causes? How about all the mindless, irresponsible, ass-backwards liberalism that infuses a huge percentage of black America. And we’re not talking a minor statistic, not when surveys indicate a mindset that is in the high 90-percentile range of a populace.

    BTW, I’m not aware of any other sub-section of US society, or one that encompasses hundreds of thousands or millions of people, that is as lopsided to the left as black America is.

    Or, for that matter, that is the reverse of that. Or a large sub-group that is as absurdly lopsided to the right — in which 90-plus percent of people are blindly loyal to conservatism and the Republican Party — as black America is lopsided to the left. And, again, where we’re dealing with hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and not just a small town or neighborhood, much less the local Rotary Club.

    Mark (14a4db)

  33. Colonel Haiku #15 – as I observed on another post elsewhere … (paraphrasing)

    Pres’ent Obama is a black I for America !

    Alastor (e7cb73)

  34. Be nice if Obama looked at it like a president.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/18/2014 @ 5:22 pm

    You wanted: President
    You settle for: Wise man
    You get: Absent parent

    Bill H (f9e4cd)

  35. I still laugh at Obama suggesting he wants an “open and transparent” resolution of matters in Ferguson:

    In an unprecedented letter, a majority of the federal government’s inspectors general (IGs) claim that the Obama administration is obstructing their investigations into government mismanagement and corruption. So much for President Obama’s claim that his would be the most transparent administration in history.

    And it truly IS unprecedented. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says “there has never been a letter even with a dozen IGs complaining” about such obstruction by an administration. The fact that the Justice Department’s IG, Michael Horowitz, also signed on is particularly revealing. After all, it is the duty of senior executive officers like Eric Holder to advise subordinate officials that they are obligated to cooperate with the IGs of their agencies.

    On Aug. 5, 47 of the federal government’s 73 inspectors general, many of whom were appointed by President Obama, sent their letter to Issa, Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), and the ranking members of the House Oversight and Government Reform and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees — essentially pleading with Congress to help the IGs do their jobs uncovering waste, mismanagement, fraud, and corruption within their respective agencies.

    In the letter, the IGs complain about the “serious limitations on access to records that have recently impeded the work” of IGs at the Peace Corps, the EPA, and the Department of Justice. Administration lawyers have construed laws related to privilege in “a manner that would override the express authorization contained in the IG Act” and seriously impede the “ability [of the IGs] to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner.”

    RTWT

    http://dailysignal.com/2014/08/17/hiding-inspector-generals-say-obama-obstructing-justice/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonv6vPZKXonjHpfsX57%2BolXKS1lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ARMNiI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFQrLBMa1ozrgOWxU%3D

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  36. rockwt surgeon at workhttp://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/missouri-coroners-question-practices-of-forensics-company-operator/article_0662e5b1-dcfa-578f-9487-8ab6a176ea4d.htmlhttp://www.

    stltoday.com/news/local/metro/missouri-coroners-question-practices-of-forensics-company-operator/article_0662e5b1-dcfa-578f-9487-8ab6a176ea4d.html

    narciso (ee1f88)

  37. #33… Yes, indeed, Alastor… yes, indeed.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  38. Ima gonna say Obie is a Satan worshipper–jest covering all the bases, he is.

    gary gulrud (46ca75)

  39. daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/18/2014 @ 9:33 pm

    I still laugh at Obama suggesting he wants an “open and transparent” resolution of matters in Ferguson

    And he certainly doesn’t seem to be interested in the killings committed by the border patrol, at least some of which seem to be far more unjustified than what happened in Ferguson. (on the CBS Evening News last night)

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/investigating-unresolved-deaths-on-the-border/

    And that shouldn’t be the first time he’s heard about it.)

    http://www.kpho.com/story/24857125/border-patrol-agents-criticized-for-use-of-deadly-force-in-redacted-report

    Nothing is investigated, and, unlike the cases of policemen shooting in the United States, they stay on the job, the same job.

    Don’t think they are just sadistic. They are also corrupt.

    http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-news/releases/view?id=34249

    Sammy Finkelman (3ba0b7)


  40. Bundy Militia heading to Ferguson.

    So? The New Black Panthers are already there, and I don’t hear you complaining about them.”

    What’s there to complain about? Everybody is getting together to defend the community.

    nops (9a2828)

  41. Just like the New Black Panthers defended the polls in Philadelphia while dressed in black combat fatigues wielding billy clubs and preventing senior citizens from voting with threats of violence.

    ropelight (b5fb75)

  42. rockwt surgeon at work

    Meh. Sounds like credentialism at work. Nobody seems tobe alleging that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, just that he doesn’t have the right working papers. Big deal.

    Milhouse (9d71c3)

  43. What’s there to complain about? Everybody is getting together to defend the community.

    Then what’s your problem with the Bundy people?

    Milhouse (9d71c3)

  44. The “police militarization” thread has aged off onto page 2, so I think few people are still checking it for updates, so I’m repeating this comment here:

    Eric Raymond explains why things have developed as they have.

    Have you ever bothered to ask yourself why we have this combination of over-militarization and inaction? Police armed like Marines standing by while looters destroy peoples’ livelihoods?

    read the rest

    Milhouse (9d71c3)

  45. In an unprecedented letter, a majority of the federal government’s inspectors general (IGs) claim that the Obama administration is obstructing their investigations into government mismanagement and corruption. So much for President Obama’s claim that his would be the most transparent administration in history.

    Another indication, along with the Lois Lerner mess, that this administration’s criminality is essential. The thing is, Obama being a vapid character, what you see is what happens when the vectors operating in the Democratic Party yield a resultant without the idiosyncratic interventions of the President. This is who they are and this is what they do and the media are happy to ignore it and fire anyone like Sheryl Atkisson who will not ignore it. George McGovern is dead and Nat Hentoff is real old.

    Art Deco (ee8de5)

  46. Thank you for the link, Sammy. What a great website!

    felipe (40f0f0)

  47. Art Deco (ee8de5) — 8/19/2014 @ 7:11 am
    And the sad thing is, we could get an all republican govt. and have the power to do the investigations, and the press would either not cover it or slant it to make it look like the Repubs were making stuff up.
    Unless God intervenes, but sometimes He lets people get the consequences of their actions.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  48. “Then what’s your problem with the Bundy people?”

    It seems like you’re not getting the joke that there’s no way the Bundy militia is going to Ferguson to defend the people there from tyranny.

    nops (9a2828)

  49. i hate tyranny SO much

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  50. Hi, imdw. Is that about 537485689 different names now?

    JD (d7747e)

  51. It seems like you’re not getting the joke that there’s no way the Bundy militia is going to Ferguson to defend the people there from tyranny.

    Why wouldn’t they? The people there could use some help against the savage mobs that are burning and looting and shooting every night, with the open encouragement of the animal in the governor’s mansion and the one in the white house.

    Milhouse (9d71c3)

  52. Because in Ferguson it isn’t just about playacting the tough guy and aiming your guns at cops. That’s where there are actual constitutional violations happening, and where tyranny will actually hurt you for standing up. Maybe they even like that.

    nops (9a2828)

  53. Because in Ferguson it isn’t just about playacting the tough guy and aiming your guns at cops.

    No, it’s about serious rioting and behaving like two-legged animals, justifying every stereotype you condemn and complain about.

    That’s where there are actual constitutional violations happening

    Such as? As far as I know the constitution only binds governments, not mobs.

    Milhouse (7999ec)

  54. SooperMexican aka “Sancho Panza” couldn’t beleive this. I saw this CBS News report – it was on the CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer substituting for Scott Pelley. I noticed the me incredible statement. It was/is to the credit of Bob Schieffer that he ran that (albeit without calling attention to that)

    http://soopermexican.com/2014/08/22/special-cbs-report-ferguson-residents-will-loot-and-destroy-businesses-until-businesses-give-them-jobs/

    Sammy Finkelman (68a4ee)

  55. Luciano: “I don’t condone it, but I understand why they doin’ it. They throwin’ stuff at the police because they throwin’ stuff at us!”

    Trey: “I wanted to go down there and loot too, I saw people getting TVs… I wanted to go! But I held my ground.

    Luciano: “I wanted to make money!”

    Luciano: “It ain’t no black and white thing it’s a police versus the people thing.”

    Sammy Finkelman (68a4ee)


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