An important news story of late is the fact that a number of Black churches have caught fire and burned.
| Five predominantly black Southern churches burn within a week; arson suspected in at least three. ... Since the shooting, lawmakers and civil rights leaders have been focused on the backlash as people have been calling for the country to stop waving the Confederate flag. Now authorities are looking into the recent church fires at predominantly black churches, which the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group that tracks hate crimes, reports "may not be a coincidence". (6/20/2015 Washington Post article by Lindsey Bever). |
| Willis Hart: Question for the Baltimore Rioters... And the black senior citizens who relied on that CVS (yeah, the one that you assholes torched) are going to get their life-sustaining medications now and in the future how exactly? (5/12/2015 AT 4:03pm). |
Willis is talking about a criminal act, so he's not out of line to be wondering why the rioters were rioting (and starting fires/burning down buildings) instead of peacefully protesting. However, these arsonists are not representative of the community. I was watching Free Speech TV program that featured a segment on the aftermath of that fire... and saw with my own eyes African American members of that community showing up and cleaning up the CVS.
CVS realizes that the community as a whole was not responsible) and they plan to rebuild. "We have a long history of serving inner city communities and are 100 percent committed to serving our patients and customers in Baltimore" a spokesperson said.
In any case, the rioters had good reason to be upset, IMO. Freddie Gray, the individual whose death sparked these riots, was obviously murdered. However (1) we're talking about criminal acts, and (2) the officers responsible have not been let off the hook... yet. They may very well be, but it hasn't happened yet. I think the protests should be kept peaceful until (at least) the cops are not held responsible. Not that I think there should be any rioting and criminal acts in response even then... only that that response would be more understandable if that is the verdict. But it isn't... yet.
In any case, it seems as though Willis' outrage is highly selective. Another example of the selective outrage of Mr. Hart as follows...
| Willis Hart: On the Fact that those Rioters, Hooligans, And Looters in Ferguson Apparently Burnt Down a Predominantly Black Church Last Night... The biggest mistake last night was not arresting the first couple of trouble-makers and giving these protesters the much-needed message that lawlessness of this sort would not be tolerated. ... As for the burning of churches, how ironic is that? (11/26/2014 AT 8:04pm). |
So, this is a church that Willis is concerned about getting burned? Because (he thinks) Black rioters are responsible. But did the "criminal Blacks" do it?
| A Ferguson MO church gutted by fire on Monday was targeted by white supremacists because the pastor had publicly called for Police Officer Darren Wilson to be arrested, Rev. Carlton Lee alleged in an interview. Flood Christian Church was one of more than a dozen buildings and businesses damaged by arsonists in the St. Louis suburb overnight after a grand jury chose not to indict Wilson in the shooting death of a black teen. He said it's unlikely the people protesting the grand jury's decision are responsible. Instead, racists who wanted to harm the brown family are probably behind the blaze, he said. (Ferguson church where Michael Brown's father was baptized on Sunday is torched 24 hours later by Jason Molinet. Daily News 11/26/2014). |
OK, so a suspicion by the pastor of the church isn't proof that White racists instead of Black looters are responsible for the fire, but the Feds are investigating. You don't need to investigate (much) if you know who did it, as Willis thinks he does (although he did use the word "apparently" he still seems pretty convinced).
That is TWO commentaries about Black "assholes" setting fires (even if, in the case of the church fire it has not been proven that Black rioters did it) and ZERO commentaries about the burning of these Black churches... apparently in retaliation to calls for the Confederate flag to be removed from government property.
That, by the way, is something Willis has commented on... get a load of how he spins the issue...
| Willis Hart: On the Removal of the Confederate Flag... So, does this (the banishing of an inanimate object) now mean that young black men are going to stop killing each other over foolishness (half-eaten Hershey bars, Air-Jordan Sneaks, a perceived dis, etc.), that the out of wedlock childbirth rate will start heading in the other direction, that inner-city black parents will start showing up more at PTA meetings, that black people will start cooperating with the Police when assassinations happen right under their collective noses... And, yes, it's a rhetorical question. (6/25/2015 AT 4:11pm). |
The issue behind the removal of the Confederate flag is that it is a symbol of racism. It has nothing to do with these other issues that Willis raises. Nothing at all. So why the hell is Willis bringing them up in relationship to the removal of this flag? And why does Willis dismiss this symbol of racial animosity as "an inanimate object"? Of course it's an inanimate object, but it is also a symbol representing slavery... over which the Civil War was fought (despite Willis believing the war was fought over tariffs).
But, instead of sticking to the actual topic, the doofus spins this as yet another opportunity to bash Black people. Something he tried to do on the rAtional nAtion blog, although Octopus called him on his racism, correctly pointing out that "racial profiling is the same as racism, and Will-the-Shill has demonstrated both in this comment thread".
Which caused Willis to run back to his blog and whine (with a commentary saying that he was called a racist by Octo because he disagreed with him. As opposed to actually saying something that was racist (which he did).
Then Willis declared that he was henceforth not going to venture outside his echo chamber (and that he doesn't understand why others don't do the same... presumably a response to people coming to his blog and calling him a racist).
Huh. I say if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... maybe it's a duck? And this might explain why Willis' outrage is sooooo selective? (see OST #39 for another example of this). One does not need to be as bad as the exceedingly racially biased Radical Redneck to have racial biases that are above average. Which Willis does. He is no "thin red thread", whatever the hell that is. He's simply less of a racially insensitive buffoon (which is how he characterizes the Redneck... although I'd say Radical is a flat-out-racist while it is Willis who is the "racially insensitive buffoon").
BTW, I noticed that Willis fantasized about committing an act of vandalism himself on his blog by throwing a brick through the window of the home of someone he dislikes (as opposed to burning the hated individual's house down)... what's up with that?
Video Description: Ferguson Church Pastor Speaks out After Fire (1:13).
It seems, at least to some (including me), that there are many echo chambers. That they exist in number in both right as well as left blogistan. That the choirs are accepted and encouraged as they dutifully sit and not in mindless agreement.
ReplyDeleteWill is merely a shining example of this not so uncommon phenomenon. Tribalism at its best. The human need for validation and acceptance, to be one of the collective. Will thinks of himself as a tribal leader and as such allows nothing or no one around his campfire that calls into questions his beliefs or positions. Regardless of how respectfully presented.
He is not alone.