Cole Younger wrote:This is already being used as grist for political mill and as "proof" that either A whitey really is evil and out to get you just as we told you or B see they're nothing but animals just like we've always told you. It will be used as some sort of opportunity if it can possibly be used as such. I can't excuse what is happening out there on the basis of pent up rage but I do understand why that rage is there. But so called "leaders" on both the national and local levels will do nothing but use this as an issue to inflame and continue to divide. I ain't much but I do know a whole lot more can be accomplished on the race relations front by us rather than those who are supposedly in positions of leadership.
In short, I still believe this is a great country because I still believe that most Americans while not perfect are good people. I think most of our "leaders" are swine.
LBRod wrote:I wonder what it is you think the leaders should be doing? Individuals make choices.
The late Mr Brown, the cop, the rioters, you and I. Every day.
CY, I think we're saying exactly the same thing. What I was trying to say is that the people we have in leadership positions don't lead. Some are swine, some are "merely" incompetent, but there is a leadership vacuum and we're feeling its effects. Or put another way, it doesn't matter how many leadership titles we have, it's the people that fill those posts that matter and we've got lousy people wearing those title.
Rod, leadership sets the tone and framework for the "micro decisions" that we make every day. Leaders don't make those decisions. 2 versions: One might imagine a world in which effective leadership exercised over time had helped to create an environment in which both Brown and Wilson would have made different decisions. But ok, that's pretty far out there on the pollyanna scale so let's be more realistic. Leadership applied from the time of the initial shooting could and should have had us in a very different place today. You can start w/ ill-trained police playing w/ military toys against real life citizens. You can add in delayed and incompetent reactions from the mayor and governor. You can add in an atmosphere of complete distrust between the governing and the governed which essentially made the last couple of nites inevitable. Apparently, neither community nor government leaders spent the time nor made the effort necessary between the time of the shooting and the announcement that might have led to cooler heads prevailing or more constructive demonstrations taking place. The decision to release the grand jury's decision at nite is one small piece in that chain. An absurd, incomprehensible, unjustifiable and to date to my knowledge unexplained decision.
The American Bar Association, an organization not exactly noted for its firebrand radicalism, came out and essentially said that the grand jury proceedings were a farce.
The American Bar Association! Does one need to know anything more to know that government totally failed in its essential functions and that there is a complete absence of leadership from our leaders?