Last edited Mon Nov 21, 2016, 07:09 AM - Edit history (2)
I personally suspect that much of what Trump said during the campaign was because he was trying his best to look like he wanted to win the Presidency but he really didn't want any part of the job. He went out of his way to insult everybody, even other Republicans. Anybody with any common sense who wanted the job would never campaign like Trump did. Trump loved the attention he received and maybe after he lost he planned to set up an alt right cable channel to fight the liberal media. That would explain why he appointed Stephen K. Bannon, chairman of the Breitbart News website, to be his campaign’s chief executive.
Unfortunately for him and for us he pulled off a victory. He's stuck with the job and we are stuck with him. He may turn out to be a terrible president but at this time at least until he is in office at the minimum he deserves a chance. He may change considerably when he takes office. There are some indications that this will happen. For example he has changed his views on deporting all illegal aliens and has said he only intends to deport violent criminal aliens at this time. I don't count on this changing by any means but it is slightly possible.
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The majority of the of cops I've known during my lifetime have been retired from the police force. Most I met at a police pistol range open to civilians that I I used to shoot at. (Perhaps I should mention that I have been a registered Democrat for many years and I come from a long line of Demorats who owned firearms, some who successfully used their weapons for self defense.)
One day several retired cops were talking about the members of the force who replaced them. The consensus of what they said was that they felt the newer members of the police force were basically a bunch of "gorillas" (that is an actual quote) who really shouldn't be cops period. When I asked why they said this, they told me that it was most likely because over the years the job had grown so difficult and dangerous that most really good people would rather work elsewhere. Consequently a high number of people who ended up hired enjoyed power and bullying others. This obviously includes white cops, black cops and even Hispanic cops.
The white range master said that sometimes he ran into problems with his supervisors because he would be called out on an altercation in the black area of town and not arrest anyone. He stated that often he could get the parties involved to tell him what their argument involved and talk them into a fair solution. Unfortunately when he tried the same approach in the red neck area of town it failed as found these people impossible to deal with.
I have also known several cops who were currently or recently in the police department. Two roomed in our home for several years. It had once been a hotel. (In passing we also had a black older teenager who roomed with us for about two years. He was a friend of my grandsons but had been kicked out of his home. We helped him get a job. I used to drive him to work which was about a 30 mile round trip. I understand he turned out well although I have lost contact with him. He lived for free in our home.)
One of the cops who roomed with us was what I consider a really good cop. People from the black community near us would often show up at our door to talk with him about problems in their community. There were times I had to wake him up when he was sleeping as he working on the graveyard shift. He was more than happy to help those people although they probably ruined his sleep for the day. He has moved out of our home and is still In law enforcement although he has often irritated his supervisors. For one thing he would write a ticket for fairly important people and their kids if he found them inebriated while driving. Of course they always were white. Not good to do in a small rural southern town if you wish to advance in your job. I believe he now works in the local prison.
The other cop had just lost his job but while I don't know for sure it seems he might have been a little corrupt. He did take some advantage of us while he was here which we found out about later. One other cop that I currently know who is obviously a racist as he absolutely loves to tell jokes about black people. If I were black I wouldn't want to have him pull me over.
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I watched the riots in Ferguson while they were in progress. I too am not fond of the police in our nation turning into an army. Still the riots were not peaceful and burning down buildings is not peacefully demonstrating. The lives of some totally innocent people and their jobs were sadly ruined. While I will agree the cops overreacted I can understand why they felt the way to deal with violence would be overwhelming force. If I would have been a cop in that situation I would have wanted to see a strong response that would quell the riots so I could go safely home to my family. If I owned a store and seen others on my street in flames I would have wanted to see it stopped before it burned my store down.
Still I see your point. It's valid.
There is a time and place for violent demonstrations and even a violent uprising. I understand you do not like firearms but if Trump turns into a Hitler or some future President aspires to become a dictator with a tyrannical government such actions may be the only choices left. We are not yet at that point. In fact in my opinion we are far from it. However I may be wrong. An uprising would most likely fail unless the majority of people in the nation supported it. Even so realistically it would nearly impossible but if the civilians in our nation still have the right to own firearms the odds of success would increase somewhat.
While few people know this Doctor Martin Luther King owned firearms for for self defense of his family and himself at one time.
“If you went to King’s house in 1955 or 1956, there were guns,” Cobb said in an interview. “When they bombed his house in 1956, his first instinct was to apply for a gun permit. He moves toward nonviolence slowly. By the 1960s, he abandoned the idea of weapons for self-defense.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mlk-gun-violence_us_569c6419e4b0778f46f9c886
However firearms have sometimes played an important role in gaining equality. One example is Robert Williams. I personally view him as a hero.
Robert F. Williams
Robert Franklin Williams (February 26, 1925 – October 15, 1996) was an American civil rights leader and author, best known for serving as president of the Monroe, North Carolina chapter of the NAACP in the 1950s and early 1960s. At a time when racial tension was high and official abuses were rampant, Williams was a key figure in promoting armed black self-defense in the United States. He succeeded in integrating the local public library and swimming pool in Monroe. He helped gain gubernatorial pardons for two African-American boys convicted for molestation in the controversial Kissing Case of 1958.
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He obtained a charter from the National Rifle Association and set up a rifle club, which became active defending blacks from Ku Klux Klan nightriders. He used the NAACP to support Freedom Riders who came to Monroe in the summer of 1961. That year he and his wife were forced to leave the United States to avoid prosecution for kidnapping, on charges trumped up during violence related to white opposition to the Freedom Ride. The kidnapping charges came after a white couple sought shelter in Williams' home when they were confronted by black protesters while driving through Monroe's black community. A self-professed Black Nationalist, Williams lived in both Cuba and The People's Republic of China during his exile between 1961-69.
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Alarmed at the violence that civil rights activities aroused, Williams had applied to the National Rifle Association for a charter for a local rifle club. He called the Monroe Chapter of the NRA the Black Armed Guard, made up of about 50-60 men, some veterans like Williams. They were determined to defend the local black community from racist attacks. Newtown was the black residential area. In the summer of 1957 there were rumors that the KKK was going to attack the house of Dr. Albert Perry, a practicing physician and vice-president of the Monroe NAACP. Williams and his men of the Armed Guard went to Perry's house to defend it, fortifying it with sandbags. When numerous KKK members appeared and shot from their cars, Williams and his followers returned the fire, driving them away.[6]
"After this clash the same city officials who said the Klan had a constitutional right to organize met in an emergency session and passed a city ordinance banning the Klan from Monroe without a special permit from the police chief."[5]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._William
King realized that violence would not achieve his goals so he favored peaceful demonstrations as the better approach. It worked. We have definitely made considerable vprogress in this nation to insure the equal rights of minorities and that has made our nation better and stronger. Unfortunately we still have a ways to go. Trump may or may not threaten those right. Time will tell.
Robert Wiilams used violence to oppose violence and it also worked The KKK rode high in the saddle until they encountered armed resistance. That stopped their bullying.
There are times when peaceful demostations work well but in some cases armed resistance is more effective. In my opinion this is the time for peaceful demostations coupled with political activism.
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My son in law was raised in a racist family. Today his best friends are black. That is due to some degree to my daughter who married him. My wife had close friends who were black.
I had little experience with black culture until I joined the Air Force being raised in a rural community in Ohio. But even so I was raised by parents who were not racist in the least. The two black students in my high school were well liked. The boy was the quarterback of our football team and his sister a cheerleader.
My first real experience with racism was while riding a bus from Lackland Air Force Base after I completeld basic training. My destination was Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi for training in our career fields. We passed a laundromat with a sign on the front door that read "White Only." I asked the guy sitting beside me was who was from the south, "What the hell does that mean. You can only wash white clothes there?" He replied, "You dumb Yankee. That means white people only." I was stunned.
I actually became friends with several black airmen and consequently found myself ostracized by the southern airmen because I had the gall to sit with them and eat. That didn't bother me in the least.
Over the years I have other black and Hispanic acquaintances who I have taken to the range to introduce them to firearms and the shooting sports. Several have obtained concealed carry permits in Florida.
If Trump becomes a truly serious threat to minority rights I will support whatever measures are necessary to stop him. Until he does I back peaceful demonstrations and political activism. If he turns out to be the total ass he acts like we can take back both houses of Congress in two years and replace him with a Democrat in 2020. Let's wait until we see how he acts while actually in office. If he refuses to represent all the people in this nation we can first demonstate peacefully and turn up at the polls to vote in two years. Perhaps we can elect a congress who will curtail his power and then replace him with someone who actually cares about everybody. The founders of this nation might have been white but they were not total fools. They established a form of government that has survived many troubled times. We have means to change our government so it better represents us and if absolutely necessary to attempt to overthrow it if absolutely necessary.
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