With looting and rioting increasing in Baltimore, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake caused a bit of a stir in her press conference by explaining that she instructed police to not only give protesters room for the exercise of their free speech but “we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.” The problem is that images of people being stripped of their bags and belongings in broad daylight seemed to confirm precisely that type of space. It is perhaps the most botched quote in the history of botched quotes.
The images have gotten worse today with fans being told that they had to remain in the Orioles Stadium even after the game was cancelled because it was not safe to walk on the streets of Baltimore.
The mayor insisted that the order to give space to the protesters was meant to “put ourselves in the best position to de-escalate.” It does not appear to have worked.
America has seen the aftermath of the liberal Democrats policies enough times. Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore etc that if they think Government Spending. unions, public education is in their interests then they are uneducated, unobjective, idiots. The socio-enomic non accountable, non competitive, corruption of these Democrats ARE THE SOLE reason that poverty remain and is getting worse
Adios
Paul C. Schulte …. vis a vis “Kerry”, you’re joking right?
Aridog – forgot the /s
Thorn:
Excellent post. I actually know a woman whose ex boyfriend pressured her hard to put “father unknown” on their child’s birth certificate, because she would qualify for more benefits. She refused. It’s not an isolated incident, either.
People have a hard time coming to terms with two key points.
1) There are two groups of people on public assistance. Those like the elderly, disabled, and those temporarily down on their luck. These are the people for whom the system was designed, and taxpayers overwhelmingly agree with supporting them. Then there are those who could work but choose not to, and those who game the system. Taxpayers overwhelmingly do not want to subsidize this group. But anyone even describing the latter is inevitably accused of not wanting to support the former. These are two disparate groups. In addition, there is the problem with the gap between benefits and living independently. Single mothers especially are hard pressed to transition from free child care to paying up to $1000/month for child care, and going from subsidized health care to paying $1,000/month for a family of 3. High taxation has made it even harder for people to bridge that gap between subsidized and independence. The system needs to be reformed to ease that transition so public benefits is more of a trampoline than a hammock.
2) Single mothers with absentee fathers are one of the highest risk factors for kids living in poverty, dropping out of school, engaging in crime, doing drugs, joining gangs, and/or going to jail. There is no denying the statistics. But as you and others have pointed out, discussing the problem of single moms and absent dads leads to charges of racism. When 75% of African American kids are born into this situation, with all its extra roadblocks, it’s a problem. When the percentage rises in other demographics, it’s a problem, too. Skin color has nothing to do with the obstacles of single motherhood. I’m passionate about the problems that affect kids, but, unfortunately, it’s considered rude to bring this up. But statistics aside, if a kid comes home from school to an empty house, he has more scope to get into trouble. If he has no dad, he has no male role model for how a man is supposed to grow up. With no 2nd source of income, the mother struggles more to make ends meet, and make the time to just be present. She has to fill the role of mother and father and breadwinner, all by herself. How is she going to help with homework, get her kids in sports, attend games, care for a sick child, with no partner to share the burden? Some warrior mothers in poor neighborhoods manage to make ends meet, and shepherd their kids into adulthood where they go on to make a success out of themselves. I applaud those mothers. I applaud that mom in the yellow shirt who saw her son on the TV throwing rocks at a cop and went out and dragged him home by his collar. But the success rate is low. At their age, teen moms don’t comprehend that their choices may have lifelong consequences for their kids. This is why we need programs and community support that can address teen and single pregnancy and absentee fathers. The reason why we mothers council kids to wait to start a family until they are married isn’t because we’re out of touch. It’s because we’re right. Unless you’re already wealthy, having a kid on your own is usually not the path to a successful, financially stable life for yourself or your family.
Max – “These aren’t “protesters” per say… they’re opportunists to be violent.
I can understand allowing peaceful protesters room to move about. What I don’t get is allowing the violent people a place to destroy their neighborhood.”
I completely agree with you.
Aridog: “When “politics” surpass reason, everyone gets screwed.” That is true in every arena in which politics rears its head.
Ari, Some here may be too young to remember the Dem party from the 50’s/60’s. I grew up in a typical ethnic, blue collar, Dem family. The Dem party would be unrecognizable to my old man now.
BTW..I was a registered Democrat back then, but not a liberal “kumbaya” weenie. Some of us had some sense. By 2004 I gave it up. Kerry was anathema to me and still is to this day.
Aridog – but Kerry earned all those medals. Surely, you must admire his courage under fire?