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Theater of the Absurd in Ferguson, Missouri
Townhall.com ^ | August 19, 2014 | Cal Thomas

Posted on 08/19/2014 10:51:03 AM PDT by Kaslin

It was in a college theater class that I learned about a genre called "Theater of the Absurd." These were plays written mostly by European playwrights between the 1940s and 1960s, as well as a certain style that flowed from their work.

What reminded me of this is now "playing" in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was -- select one -- a) innocently walking down the street when a police officer shot him to death without provocation, or, b) walking with a friend in the street and told by a police officer to get on the sidewalk, whereupon a physical confrontation occurred and Brown allegedly tried to grab the officer's gun and was shot by the cop, now identified as Darren Wilson. This after Brown allegedly robbed a convenience store of some cigars and was seen on a store camera intimidating the clerk as he walked out, which may, or may not, have been related to the shooting.

The rioting and looting that followed and the pundits who weighed in with the familiar narrative about slavery, discrimination, stereotyping, joblessness, lack of education and absent fathers, are familiar scenes we have watched in incidents dating back to the race riots of the 1960s. Blue ribbon commissions have been appointed to study the "causes," laws have been passed, little has changed.

The Theater of the Absurd, as defined by The American Heritage Dictionary, is "A form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of human existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue, purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or logical development."

Doesn't this sound like Ferguson, Missouri, in recent days?

The cast of characters has expanded with the introduction of the National Guard, ordered to Ferguson by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to quell the unrest, much of it apparently fomented, according to some locals, by outsiders taking advantage of the situation to engage in criminal activity.<

Just how absurd things are getting in the St. Louis suburb and in some of the commentary written before all the facts are known can be seen in these headlines on the Drudge Report: "George Zimmerman attorney urges caution" (Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin); "Iran's Ayatollah weighs in;" "Jesse Jackson: 'state execution.'"

If jumping to conclusions were an Olympic sport, some of these loudmouths who insert themselves where they don't belong and frequently fan flames instead of working to extinguish them would win gold medals.

The shooting galleries in Chicago and other major cities leave hundreds dead each year. Most shooters and victims are black, or Hispanic, but only the local news gives coverage. There are no statements from the president. No FBI or Justice Department investigative task forces are sent from Washington. I have yet to hear a credible explanation for this.

It is the same when a child disappears. A white child, especially a female, gets a lot of attention, a black child, no matter the gender, not so much. Isn't this a form of racism?

One more question that adds to the absurdity: Why is so little attention paid to African-Americans who have overcome difficult circumstances to become responsible citizens and committed husbands and fathers? Possible answer: It doesn't play into the media's stereotypical portrayal of the black man as a frightening, threatening, menace to society. Blacks who loot stores make for more dramatic pictures than those who are law-abiding. (To their great credit, Brown's parents have repeatedly called for calm in Ferguson, to little avail.)

Don't the major media have a bias of their own in these matters?

It's all so absurd


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: ferguson; missouri; racialdiscrimination
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1 posted on 08/19/2014 10:51:04 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
Blue ribbon commissions have been appointed to study the "causes," laws have been passed, little has changed.

SOme things have changed. Millions of lives aborted since then, Trillion$s of tax dollars spent as well.

2 posted on 08/19/2014 10:53:30 AM PDT by C210N (When people fear government there is tyranny; when government fears people there is liberty)
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To: Kaslin

Ever wonder why these murders never got nation wide press:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom


3 posted on 08/19/2014 10:54:30 AM PDT by Sybeck1 (Remember Mississippi!)
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To: Kaslin

It is absurd only to those familiar with reason and logic.
To those that aren’t, it is their reality......................


4 posted on 08/19/2014 10:56:20 AM PDT by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
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To: Kaslin

“It is the same when a child disappears. A white child, especially a female, gets a lot of attention, a black child, no matter the gender, not so much. Isn’t this a form of racism?”

I’ve said it before that the gun control kooks only care when pretty white kids in nice neighborhoods are shot because they cant get their friends to support more gun laws when a black kid is killed in the ghetto.

As far as they are concerned, that is just one less person that might break into their car.


5 posted on 08/19/2014 10:56:30 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: Kaslin
It doesn't play into the media's stereotypical portrayal of the black man as a frightening, threatening, menace to society.

What are they talking about? Seems to me the media portray them one of three ways: Sweet, innocent victims of vicious white racism, (Trayvon, the Ferguson guy,) brilliant, dedicated professionals, (TV and movies,) or suburban husbands and fathers with beautiful homes, beautiful wives, adorable, well-behaved children, and dumb, doofus white males for neighbors, (commercials.)

6 posted on 08/19/2014 10:57:55 AM PDT by Nea Wood (When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.-Sowell)
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Did You Know?

The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarter's Expenses?

Now That You Do, Donate And Keep FR Running


7 posted on 08/19/2014 10:58:43 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: Nea Wood

Bingo. The media does a disservice to all people by making child like Disney characters out of thugs and robbers.


8 posted on 08/19/2014 11:01:59 AM PDT by Dallas59
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To: Sybeck1

Because the killers were black and the victims were white, that’s why.The reporters would have been called racist had they reported it. Right or wrong didn’t matter to them.


9 posted on 08/19/2014 11:02:33 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Sybeck1

or these

http://theinjusticefile.blogspot.ca/2011/08/black-males-rape-murder-attempted.html


10 posted on 08/19/2014 11:04:16 AM PDT by albertabound
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To: Kaslin
Right ... losers of every stripe killing themselves to capitalize on the issue...even BEFORE it is resolved and certainly ahead of any FACTS!

Of course the MSM in right in there swinging too, AS IF they still have credibility!

Lots of face time for Hollywood wannabe’s.

It's a media circus and that NEVER resolves anything.

11 posted on 08/19/2014 11:10:07 AM PDT by SMARTY ("When you blame others, you give up your power to change." Robert Anthony)
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To: Kaslin

12 posted on 08/19/2014 11:13:12 AM PDT by Dallas59
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To: Kaslin
Nearly everyone involved has a stake in the game - not the outcome of the game, but the game itself. Impassioned rants on national television serve justice not at all but are very good for a career. Social programs can be very remunerative. Celebrity is its own reward. Sensation is the foundation of journalism. Public outrage can be turned into electoral participation. Consequence-free theft speaks for itself. And there is the apparently irresistible desire simply to break things and raise hell.

In none of these does any regard for the actual participants in the seed incident play a part. I doubt most people in the Ferguson street could name them both. They no longer matter.

13 posted on 08/19/2014 11:22:13 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Billthedrill
Tom Wolfe nailed your scenario in the 1980s.
14 posted on 08/19/2014 11:38:46 AM PDT by Cecily
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To: Kaslin

The black community in America is the equivalent of a petulant of-age-child still living in a parents home. They forever voice how much they hate living there all the while consuming the resources of the home without contributing a damn thing. Ferguson is just another example of them yelling, “I HATE YOU!” as they slam the door to go out and commiserate with like minded idiots about how they are not understood.

Just like in a home situation, at some point the adults get sick of being used and abused and deal out some tough love. America, we are there. To those of this childish mindset, whether black, white, or polka dotted, I say to you, GET OUT and please let the door hit you on the way out as a reminder not to come back!


15 posted on 08/19/2014 11:38:52 AM PDT by anonsquared
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To: anonsquared
deal out some tough love. America, we are there.

No, not at all; the status quo will be the status quo; the American people are too uninformed to do otherwise.

16 posted on 08/19/2014 11:44:00 AM PDT by Theodore R. (Liberals keep winning; so the American people must now be all-liberal all the time.)
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To: Cecily
Yep. This one too:

Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers.

17 posted on 08/19/2014 11:44:48 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: anonsquared

Good example, very well said.


18 posted on 08/19/2014 11:54:33 AM PDT by Nea Wood (When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.-Sowell)
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To: Kaslin

No matter what the circumstances, the officer must be guilty of premeditated murder in order to satisfy the criminal justice sensibilities of the left.

IMHO


19 posted on 08/20/2014 4:54:02 AM PDT by ripley
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To: ripley

Yeah, leftwing logic


20 posted on 08/20/2014 4:55:42 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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