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Brace Yourself for More Baltimores
Townhall.com ^ | May 1, 2015 | Scott Rasmussen

Posted on 05/01/2015 8:30:13 AM PDT by Kaslin

The sad scenes playing out in Baltimore are made sadder by the fact that more such incidents are likely over the coming years.

That's because the problems in Baltimore did not begin with the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Tensions have been building for a very long time. Other cities from coast to coast have similar tensions ready to boil over.

Some tensions are common to all cities -- pockets of economic devastation, laws that are enforced more strictly in some parts of town than others, bad apples among the police, thugs in the community and more.

Some are specific to each city. In Baltimore, the tensions became apparent more than a decade ago when the city inadvertently assumed a prominent role in the Stop Snitchin' movement. Before that, in 2002, a Baltimore woman and her entire family were murdered after alerting police to illegal activities in her neighborhood.

The good news is that there are people on all sides in this tough situation who want to heal their cities. The bad news is that most people -- and certainly most media coverage -- are focused on who to blame. In the blame game, people from different walks of life see what they want to see.

Some see oppressive and racist police. Others see criminal thugs looking to destroy and steal.

In one now-famous incident, a mom slapped her son and pushed him away from the protests. Watching it, I saw a woman who just wanted her only son to be safe. She wasn't thinking about politics or role models or the cameras. She knew her son was in danger and acted to protect him.

That didn't stop others from reading great symbolism into her actions.

Some people, including the police commissioner, dubbed her a "Hero Mom." On Huffington Post, however, Julia Craven pointed out that the mom was protecting her son from the police. One local resident said white America called this woman a hero simply because she was doing what white America wanted to do to all black Americans and their children.

How can people look at the same situation and come up with entirely different conclusions? In Creativity, Inc., Pixar founder Ed Catmull highlighted research showing that only 40 percent of what we see comes from our eyes. The rest is filled in with what our brains expect to see. On the issue of minorities and police departments, the expectations are wildly different, and we've stopped looking more closely at the reality.

That's why we're likely to see more cities burning in the coming years. The tensions exist, and sooner or later a police incident will ignite the fuse. The specifics of the incident won't matter nearly as much as the underlying anger. People will see 40 percent of the story with their eyes, and they'll fill in the rest with what they expect to see.

The only way to avoid such a dismal outcome is to change the other 60 percent of what we "see." Wise city leaders will get people to "see" the reality that the vast majority of both the police and the minority communities want to make things work. Only after that is a shared recognition can people begin to establish the trust needed to make the cities safer and fairer.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: baltimore; police
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To: mrsmel

There are an awful lot of blacks that believe government and their contemporaries sanction and encourage violence against whites simply because they are black and entitled to lash out against white privilege.


41 posted on 05/01/2015 9:25:49 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: Biggirl

Perhaps it will rain on their parade (literally).

Rain is predicted for central Wisconsin Sat, Sun and Mon.


42 posted on 05/01/2015 9:26:21 AM PDT by DaveA37
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To: Truth29

>>There will also be more Baltimores and Fergusons because it facilitates the drive to Federalize police departments.

Hasn’t Al Sharpton been calling for exactly that in the last couple of days? Yes, found it, here:

Sharpton Calls For DOJ To “Take Over Policing,” “Going To Have To Fight States Rights”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3285112/posts

And idiot mayorette in Baltimore has embraced Sharpton. This is a guy who has demonstrably gotten people killed in riots he helped incite. Freddy’s Fashion Mart, anyone?


43 posted on 05/01/2015 9:27:50 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: rfreedom4u; All
Have we seen any rioting in major cities with republicans in charge of the city? Not that I’m aware of.

Not sure there is a major city with republicans in charge! Is there?
44 posted on 05/01/2015 9:38:22 AM PDT by notdownwidems (Washington DC has become the enemy of free people everywhere)
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To: Kaslin

Reason #316 why I decided to move and live out here in the country. Nearest town has only 30K folks. Don’t reckon they will be rioting and burning anytime soon.


45 posted on 05/01/2015 9:38:37 AM PDT by upchuck (The current Federal Governent is what the Founding Fathers tried to prevent. WAKE UP!! Amendment V.)
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To: Cboldt

You certainly could be correct, but I think this “crap seriously gone wrong in every day life” has been carefully crafted... by wrong headed power elite and the democrat party and their policies. This has been a result of long term planning over decades, imho. We can debate whether this is false flag or not. It certainly does not take much to push things over the edge.


46 posted on 05/01/2015 9:43:06 AM PDT by TEXOKIE (We must surrender only to our Holy God and never to the evil that has befallen us.)
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To: Kartographer

“Prepare xxxBracexxx Yourself for More Baltimores.

There FIXED IT!”

Unfortunately, that seems to be a sad statement of truth, Kart. Darlin and I were commenting yesterday that if anyone is living in or very near a blue concentration area, they should be doing all in their power to relocate NOW. If they can’t do that, at least have supplies on hand to weather a severe storm.


47 posted on 05/01/2015 9:46:44 AM PDT by TEXOKIE (We must surrender only to our Holy God and never to the evil that has befallen us.)
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To: Kaslin

It’s doubtful that those poor victims of racial injustice in Dallas and Houston will participate. Gov. Abbott would have the National Guard parachuting in within the hour. Don’t mess with the man in the wheelchair.


48 posted on 05/01/2015 9:49:56 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: himno hero
Sooner or later, one of these riots is going to get out of hand. The rioters will kill the wrong person and all hell will break lose. Some old vet comes home and finds out his wife or kid was killed in the riot and he wants revenge. An old vet, who has nothing to lose, against street punks. The body count could be huge. If the vet is white or Latino he will be called a racist. If he is black, it will be the conservatives fault. This is what the left wants.
49 posted on 05/01/2015 10:00:15 AM PDT by Do the math (Doug)
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To: cripplecreek
Worse yet, they would have been trapped if the owner had shown up.

Particularly an ARMED homeowner. That might have ruined their whole day.

50 posted on 05/01/2015 10:05:41 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & Ifwater the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: rfreedom4u

That’s because in cities controlled by Republicans gun control is not such a high priority issue. You won’t see rioting like in Baltimore if citizens are allowed to defend themselves. When defense is given over to government officials the lack of Defense becomes a political tool.

The politicians currently in charge need these rights to justify further draconian anti-gun laws and martial law. It seems pretty obvious to me the intention is to overthrow this country and put in another Marxist state under the ideals of the New World Order. Our leaders are traitors to the people who live here, there really only out for themselves, the power that they can get, and the money they can steal.

We were a whole lot more free, & a whole lot more wealthy when we were living under God’s laws instead of these capricious laws of man.


51 posted on 05/01/2015 10:07:22 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: txrefugee

Agree...


52 posted on 05/01/2015 10:07:33 AM PDT by Squantos ( Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
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To: notdownwidems
Not sure there is a major city with republicans in charge! Is there?

Depends on the definition of major, I guess.

53 posted on 05/01/2015 10:10:09 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & Ifwater the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: Logical me

The deliberate terrorism is caused by government not doing its job of providing security, the goal is more body bags Andhra Kony in government enforcement of laws. the rest is just lazy looters. Meet them in the streets with orders to shoot looters on site and it will be amazing how peaceful these demonstrations become. But that is the goal. if you just a rested looters on sight gave them 6 months in jail and made them in eligible for any kind of welfare benefits for one year upon conviction there wouldn’t be a problem at all. if you didn’t want to wait for riots to enforce these laws and get these people under control just do random drug testing a couple of times a month in order to be eligible for welfare. All these problems are easy to solve, the problem are being created artificially to justify more political excess control. There is reasoning behind the madness.


54 posted on 05/01/2015 10:10:27 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: Kartographer

https://www.classicfirearms.com/aksporterriflew-woodstockbyiooncakm247c

plus $19 for shipping.

I’m just saying. . .


55 posted on 05/01/2015 10:19:11 AM PDT by vladimir998
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To: Kaslin

The Baltimore city officials are playing the short game: Letting property be destroyed to placate the rioters. Denying police officers the rules of engagement to control the mob. Throwing legal charges at the 6 officers involved in the situation.

No one is playing the long game, and as a result the City of Baltimore is committing suicide: Businesses see their property destroyed and their employees threatened. America sees a city lacking the most basic civility and security. Whites see a city where they are not welcome. Employers see a city where the citizens lack the minimum skills needed to be productive.

Baltimore may as well change its name to “New Detroit”.


56 posted on 05/01/2015 10:24:33 AM PDT by Senator_Blutarski
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To: Do the math

“This is what the left wants.”

Sometimes the best policy is to give wrongdoers exactly what they want - just not in a way they expect.


57 posted on 05/01/2015 10:25:59 AM PDT by vladimir998
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To: American in Israel

Mostly in states such as TX.


58 posted on 05/01/2015 10:36:08 AM PDT by Biggirl ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5)
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To: Kaslin

That minority, the black vandals, have soured inter-racial relations for the rest of us for at least two generations. I was nearly mugged by a black man two days ago in broad daylight on a public street in the Houston medical center. Perhaps he had been whipped up by all the hostility bubbling up in other places. The point is, I cannot really trust any young black stranger on the street unless he looks pretty damned respectable (like wearing a suit and tie, and yes, that is called profiling). Now, that’s a shame. I didn’t start the troubles, but that is the consequence of it. Some of my dearest friends are black, but they are not riff-raff.


59 posted on 05/01/2015 10:40:07 AM PDT by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
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To: sweetiepiezer

They didn’t leave any tentative dates open for summer heat grid blackouts.


60 posted on 05/01/2015 10:47:23 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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