Terrorist Arrested! Oh, he’s a white Teabagger? Never mind…

You probably did not hear about the arrest of anti-government terrorist C. L. Bundy. It hasn’t gotten much media attention, even though fellow members of the same terrorist cell have assassinated police officers. Indeed, it was barely a blip on the local news:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has been arrested on federal land on parole violations and a drug court arrest warrant.

Records showed 35-year-old Cliven Lance Bundy was held Wednesday at the Clark County jail pending a court appearance.

And it’s not the first time he’s been arrested: he was jailed last summer and let go. Yes, that’s right. A member of a violent, armed terrorist family organization was caught and released, as if he were some sort of little flopping fish instead of a dangerous criminal. What the f***, no, really, what the f***? Why does this guy get a pass, when people from the Middle East rot in Gitmo for years on end even if they’re innocent?

The only possible answer is: he’s a white, “conservative” teabagger. Bundy’s family and otehr members of their cell have killed, assaulted, stolen, threatened, and trampled all over the Constitution, cops and civilians, and have they been waterboarded? Tortured? Sent offshore to be “interrogated”? Not a bit of it. No, the government treats them with kid gloves, no matter what they steal or who they murder.

Charlie Hebdo’s attackers are the targets of an international police and military operation; the Bundy terrorists are left to continue their crime spree in comfort, hardly inconvenienced at all. That’s what skin color and not being a Moslem means these days: those two characteristics constitute a license to terrorize.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

(P.S. Yes, the Bundys say he’s not part of their treasonous, seditious, terrorist operations. But they said the same thing about the two murderous swine who offed those Las Vegas cops last year, too. You want to trust the word of a man who is stealing from you and trying to overthrow your government? This writer wouldn’t trust them as far as he could throw them.)

Attention White People: It is Time to Acknowledge our Ignorance.

Hate to say it, but far too many of us don’t seem to realize how little we know about being a person of color (POC) in America. You can tell it from the things that both well-meaning and malicious people are saying. Here is one example of the latter:

This is from an a**hole cop who is mocking the death of Mr. Garner, a POC who was choked to death by a white policeman in New York.  That is willful, vindictive, hateful ignorance, and it is all too common: here is another example.

This doesn’t mean that all white people are such evil motherf***ers: this writer is fully aware of his ignorance. Just because one has lived and worked among, say, Black and Hispanic friends and co-workers does not mean one fully appreciates their experiences, any more than a father fully understands what a mother goes through when she gives birth to their child.

Participation in an event does not necessarily mean equivalent understanding. Mrs. Blunt and Cranky doesn’t understand what a coronary bypass feels like, any more than your humble correspondent groks her labor pains. Some things you have to feel for yourself to fully grasp.

So here is the challenge to all of us white folks: be aware of our ignorance. It will make us look smarter. And if we listen to our brothers and sisters who are people of color, we might even become smarter.

Can’t hurt, and it just might help.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

You Know why I hate Bad Cops? Because of Good Cops.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky has always followed a two-career path: Music and/or the humble Microchip. One or both of the two have helped keep body and soul together since the 1970’s, and although the musical side is preferred from the standpoint of personal satisfaction, the IT Biz has most often provided the bulk of the family income. C’est le guerre. And as you’d expect, some of those manifold IT gigs have been more rewarding than others.

One of the best of those IT gigs has been working for Law Enforcement (yeah, I am sometimes surprised by that, too). On the first day on the job, the marching orders were given, and were simple: “Make sure the right people (guilty ones) go to jail, and the wrong people (innocent ones) don’t go to jail”. Said orders coming from a 30+ – year veteran cop who started off as a patrolman and worked his way up. And the criteria for who belonged in jail was simple: evidence and a conviction. A good attitude, and something an IT geek can help with.

In the course of that employ, a LOT of cops have been met and worked with. Ditto prosectors. Ditto-ditto other types of lawyers and support personnel, the vast majority of whom are on board with those same marching orders. Good cops, you’d call them.

A fair few crap cops have also been met, and they have provided some of the best opportunities to effect change. You see, if we improve the quality of, say DNA analysis, lab analysis, cameras and reporting software, it becomes harder for rogue cops to get away with their fascist, abusive, un-American bulls***. Because of efforts by this writer and thousands of others in and out of IT, many innocent people have been freed and lots of guilty motherf***ers (including some bad cops and their bosses)have been jailed.

It’s a nice warm fuzzy, sure, but the more important reward for your humble correspondent has been seeing how many good, honest, justice-loving people there are in Law Enforcement at local, State and Federal levels. From the blanket 70’s – era labeling of “Pigs” this and “Pigs” that, living in the belly of the beast has been a revelatory experience, one that showed that unique individuals exist everywhere, even in groups we love to heave stereotypes at.

Bad cops suck, and they need to be treated as the corrupt/disrespectful/murdering/lying filth that they are. Lock the f***ers up and throw away the key. Both because they deserve censure and punishment, and because of the pain they cause to good cops, and the damage they cause to the fabric of society.

Some good cops out bad cops, and get punished for doing the right thing. (Serpico is but one example of many.) Other good cops try to avoid bad cops, or even cover for them, to save their own skins or out of a misguided sense of loyalty. Some good cops quit in disgust at the way bad cops have perverted the institutions of justice. All of these are tragedies that hurt us all, by damaging the rule of law that our nation was founded upon. And all of them are the fault of bad cops.

Today in America, there are a lot of stories about bad cops in the media. Other bad cops and numbnuts among Right-Wing, Teavangelical, “Republicans” are trying to shut the discussion down before we can clean up the mess and sweep out the garbage from the Law Enforcement community (a cleanup that is already long overdue).

Some on the Left and Right Wingtips would like you believe that all cops are bad. This is also bulls***. There are good and bad people in blue uniforms, like there are in every occupation. The good need rewarded and the bad need spanked. It does no good to punish the innocent along with the guilty: all it does is encourage lawless behavior.

Remember those marching orders? The bad cops (guilty ones) need punished, and the good cops (innocent ones) need to not be punished. Hammer the bad cops and praise the good cops. That, friends is true justice: the same justice for the police as for the rest of us.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

America’s Cops Need to Get a F***ing Clue.

Now it’s the Cleveland PD’s chance to display some truly epic ignorance and stupidity:

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins took the field Sunday in a shirt reading “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford III” in a gesture to bring light to officer-involved shootings in Ohio that have happened in the last three months. Now Cleveland Police Patrolman Union President Jeff Follmer is demanding an apology from the Browns for Hawkins’ actions on Sunday.
He said,”It’s pretty pathetic when athletes think they know the law. They should stick to what they know best on the field. The Cleveland Police protect and serve the Browns stadium and the Browns organization owes us an apology.”

Not that it is confined to Cleveland: the same kind of cluelessness has been on display in St. Louis, and other cities across the country, large and small. Cops don’t get it. They truly do not understand.

This is because of a long process of “othering” that has gone on for decades. Politicians and pundits have sown the seeds of mistrust between civilians and law enforcement, to the extent that we not only mistrust each other, but we are preparing to be attacked at any moment. (One example: more people wanting to carry concealed weapons, and more cops opposing CCW.) It’s now at the point where far too many people in Law Enforcement feel that anyone who isn’t a cop is a potentially deadly enemy, and they act on that mindset.

On Edit: Here is another example.

The solution is to change the way we see each other. In spite of the media, in spite of regressive jackasses on all sides, people of good will can and must re-establish communication and re-develop mutual respect. There are a lot of good cops out there, and we can start with them. Weed out the “Kill them all” a**holes and get down to business with the real professionals who actually want to protect and to serve.

But this ain’t gonna happen until the police holster their weapons, close their mouths, and open their ears. From the newest rookie patrolman, through the chiefs and up to the District Attorneys, Law Enforcement needs to understand that we have good reason to fear and mistrust them. And that cannot continue to be the case.

Get a clue, cops. Please.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

The Only Questions that Matter Today: Could You Vote, and Did You Vote?

Everything else is a bunch of irrelevant details, or an excuse. If you could have voted and did not, then you suck at being a citizen.

If you are voting or have voted, thank you! Feel free to ignore the rest of this post.

If you couldn’t vote, you should find out why, and then work to clear any roadblocks so you can vote in the future. Perhaps you’re too young, not a citizen, or prevented by other legal reasons; nobody can get on your case for that. Or perhaps you couldn’t vote because of GOPee criminal actions that disenfranchised you: you’re pretty much blameless there. too. Maybe you’re sick, or out of the country, or had some other obstacle in your path. Understandable.

But if you COULD have voted today, and CHOSE not to do so, f*** you. F*** you for being lazy, being cynical, being stupid, or being oh-so-superior. The only way we can win a f***ing election is if we turn out. And when people don’t turn out, we get whatever a**holes the 1% wish to cram down our throats. By not voting, you bear partial responsiblity for the Teapublican Takeover of our nation. F*** you for that, you stupid, f***ing f***.

Turnout is the ONLY tool left in our kit, the ONLY weapon in our arsenal. Turnout, and ONLY turnout can defeat voting machine hacks, disenfranchisement schemes, poll-rigging, disinformation and propaganda. Every other means of ensuring our representation is already gone, stolen by the corrupt motherf***ers who have hijacked our nation. THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT THE “REPUBLICANS” IS FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO VOTE AGAINST THEIR CORRUPT A**ES.

A few other factual points:
Number A: the two parties are NOT THE F***ING SAME. Stop with that f***ing lying bull-f***ing-s***.
Letter 2: Dem voters outnumber Repub voters overall. If Dem voters vote Dem, we win. If Dem voters don’t vote Dem, we lose.
Thirdly: If you aren’t voting, you aren’t using your Constitutional rights.
Fact the Fourth: You can vote Dem, or Repub, or for some idiot third-party yahoo who is there to help Repubs steal Dem votes. Only by casting votes for Democrats do we beat “Republicans”.

It’s math, period. Pound all the other hifalutin philosophical bilge right up your own a** along with a heaping helping of sand. More votes win. Fewer votes lose. Math.

Ohio flipped from Purple to Red because of fewer votes that can be counted with your shirt, pants and socks on. Less than ten votes in one district did the trick. So don’t tell this writer that your vote is of no consequence: women, children, and every taxpayer in the state are suffering because a few f***ing Dem voters did not vote for a single Ohio Democratic candidate in 2012.

Once again: If you can vote, PLEASE do so. If you choose not to and you could have, f*** you and the high f***ing horse you f***ing rode the f*** in on.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Paying for the bullets they use to kill you. (Michael Brown and others have done so.)

That sounds crazy, and it is. But it is how we roll in these United States, and have done since the country started. Minorities and malcontents pay taxes like everybody else, but unlike everybody else, their tax dollars pay for the tear gas, bullets, billy clubs, tasers and other tools that are employed against them. We pay the government to shoot us, gas us, and beat us. Pretty sick, innit?

Michael Brown is but one example. He and the rest of Ferguson’s black community pay taxes, lots of taxes to the almost completely white government. And what did these citizens get in return for their hard-earned?

Michael Brown was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, when he was killed by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, according to a preliminary autopsy.
The results, first obtained by The New York Times, showed that Brown was shot four times in the right arm. Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York who conducted the autopsy, said the bullet that caused the fatal injury struck Brown near the top of his skull and suggested he was bent forward when it hit.

Mr. Brown and his family paid for that rogue cop and the six bullets said cop pumped into him. That is beyond adding insult to injury. And the rest of that St. Louis suburb? They too are paying to be abused-or at least, those on the poor side of town are paying:

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Ferguson on Sunday night. The situation quickly spiraled out of control when police fired tear gas into the crowd well before the midnight curfew. It’s unclear what prompted the police action.
Capturing the dramatic events for the world was Mustafa Hussein, a student who works at a local all-volunteer music station, Argus Radio. The station is using video equipment it purchased to live-stream concerts to broadcast the protests in Ferguson.
Tonight, as tens of thousands of people around the world watched, Hussein was threatened by an officer wielding a weapon. “Get the fuck out of here! You get that light off or you’re getting shot with this!,” the man shouts. That portion of the live-stream was uploaded to YouTube:

It is absolutely clear that Mr. Brown was murdered by that stinking racist pig of a cop. No doubt. And it is clear that he and his parents, and indeed the community he lived in are being abused by the government that they pay to protect them. The white people in Ferguson, MO are getting their money’s worth for the taxes they have paid.

But the black community is paying in cash so that they can be gassed, beaten and shot by those who are supposed to protect and serve them.

That, Gentle Reader, is SO f***ed.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Hey, Ferguson Cops: You Deserve to be Hated.

When you are acting like a repressive regime, people will respond as if you are a repressive regime. Gunning down unarmed citizens, beating and gassing the populace, and arresting reporters who are telling the world about what you are doing is no different than what has been done under apartheid, Soviet Russia, mainland China, and so on. If the shoe fits, put it on.

When you are a minority oppressing a majority, guess what? The majority doesn’t like it.

SIEGEL: We’ve all heard about how few black police officers there are in Ferguson. There aren’t many black elected officials either – 1 councilman in 5. Why is that?

BYNES: Well, anything other than a presidential election there is low voter turnout. And the African-American community has been disenfranchised for a very long time. When you have people who are worrying about can I get a job – can I get to work – can I put food on the table – when election day on Tuesday comes around, that is the furthest thing from their minds. And the whites that live in the community – they participate. And so they vote for who they want for counsel and mayor , and they don’t always put practices in place that are best for the majority population there.

When you and those like you are clearly a bunch of bigoted, racist f***s, rhe people you hate just might hate you back.

You did the crime (racist, violent repression). Now do the time. You deserve it.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Rapist Jameis Winston is about to get his a*** sued off.

Along with the local cops and the university. Good thing, too:
http://gma.yahoo.com/jameis-winston-39-alleged-victim-39-absolutely-39-205809923–abc-news-topstories.html

The attorney for Jameis Winston’s alleged rape victim said she “absolutely” plans to file a civil lawsuit against the Florida State University star quarterback and the Tallahassee Police Department.

“I want heads to roll,” Pat Carroll, the attorney for the woman who claims Winston raped her in December 2012, told ABC News in an exclusive interview.

Carroll said the Tallahassee Police Department was negligent in handling her client’s case against the 20-year-old Heisman Trophy winner. He claims the way police handled the allegations led to a prosecutor’s decision to drop the case.

A very brave woman. The university and the local cops tried to stop her from reporting the rape and then dragged their feet, covered for the Heisman Rapist, and generally did their best to ensure that Justice would not be done. So she is going the civil litigation route.

It worked with another violent criminal football star and Heisman Trophy winner (OJ Simpson) after the criminal justice system failed to render justice upon him. Here’s hoping that it works here, too. Maybe then this violent criminal, and his many enablers, will get what they deserve.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Note to the Radical Right: Wake the F***ing F*** up

During this week’s election, the electorate’s centrist majority whupped a lot of ass upon the Radical Right. Mr. Blunt and Cranky was quite pleased to see how many of these teabagging nimrods received their walking papers: he was not pleased (though also not surprised) that the “Republican” leadership is determined to live in denial. Thus, the ever-so-gentle title of today’s post.

Listening to Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader McConnell’s comments (let’s not even think of the rantings of others like lil’ Donnie Trump) over the past day or so, it is plain that they still think that the Radical Right has the blessing of the majority of Americans: never mind that many of the Tea Party’s poster children went down like the Hindenburg yesterday. Never mind that the billions of dollars’ worth of dark money they spent to buy elections made not bit of difference. Never mind that their frantic efforts to suppress the vote had all the effect of a snail’s fart in a tornado.

No, regardless of the facts on the ground and what they signify, there are entirely too many of these zeebs who still think that today is the first Wednesday of November 2010. News flash: it is 2012, and the Right today must acknowledge that fact. But the Radical Right is unwilling to see the will of the people for what it is: a repudiation of partisan zealotry and excess.

The candidates that lost were, in the main, those that were perceived as having ties to the Tea Party, Social Darwinism, the 1%, pick the term you like. For the “Republicans” to deny this is to seal their doom. They need to climb out of their comfy little bubble and look at this basic fact: the more extreme they get, the more often they get kicked in the wedding tackle.

The Dems, on the other hand, have moved to the middle and scored some big wins.  The Teabag-slurping Repubs must wake up, search their souls, learn from the ass-whupping they endured this year and likewise move towards the center; not continue to move farther towards the fringe. If they can do that, they can win elections and gain the power they lust for. If not, well, pleasant dreams to them as they sleep their way past the end of their brief period of relevance.

Mr. B & C