by John Walters
Wrong And Wright
Everyone did something wrong at the Daunte Wright traffic stop. But only one person died for it.
Let’s begin with Wright, 20. When he dove back into his vehicle, well, that was just stupid. Now, I’m not a black man and I do know about George Floyd, but once you step out of the car and your back is to the police, jumping back into your car, with your hands out of sight, that’s stupid.
The police stopped Wright for, what—having an air freshener hanging from his rear-view? And an expired license plate? Fine. If he’d looked like me, they would have told him to get it all fixed, I probably never would have had to step out of the vehicle, and I’d be sent on my way.
This morning I found an article from The Gateway Pundit that noted that Wright can be seen in Facebook posts with a gun and flashing gang signs. So what? My guess is that The Gateway Pundit is a fierce protector of 2nd Amendment rights—at least for “real” Americans—and one man’s gang sign is another man’s militia crest. What’s the diff? Color, of course.
Wrong and Right
As someone not directly involved and not a person of color, I’m more angered and frustrated over what happened to U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant Caron Nazario in Windsor, Va., last December. For a number of reasons:
- Police in that part of the world are well aware of how many military personnel are in their area and how an inordinately high number of them are minorities. Seeing Nazario in a uniform, their prevailing thoughts of him should have been as an Army officer, not as a black man (and by that I don’t mean that they should treat black motorists differently, but that in the default and faulty cop code, that they should not have gone immediately to their black motorist reactionary tactics).
- Nazario does everything right, never hides his hands, speaks respectfully, understands that they are giving him conflicting orders that might just get him shot, and is preternaturally calm during the ordeal. He knows that if he puts his hands in the vehicle to dislodge his seat belt he could get shot, so he makes this point to the officer, calmly, while the officer continues to bark aggressively at him, almost daring him to do something wrong.
- The officer pepper sprays him, in the eyes, from about one foot away. For no good reason.
- This happened on December 5. That officer never gets fired unless this video goes viral in the past few days. Even though the Windsor P.D. had access to it for the past five months.
- Finally, when Colin Kaepernick knelt, it was about disrespecting the military. Here’s a man in uniform. And the cops are disrespecting him. Oh, yes, but Blue Lives Matter. That is unless they’re protecting the Constitution and our Congress. Then they don’t. See a common denominator here?
It should be clear by now, too. The sort of stuff that happened to Lt. Nazario and Daunte Wright goes on every day in America. We just don’t always get video. And white people just don’t have to deal with it. When I was a junior in college a few of my friends, after a few beers and in a frisky mood, endeavored to steal the American flag from a Burger King. In the midst of their covert ops mission, the South Bend police arrived. My friends scrambled (no names here; protecting the parties involved) and two of them were caught. Not a single one of them was shot at. Or even roughed up.
Steph Again
As miraculous and awe-inspiring Steph Curry is as a basketball player, he is still not appreciated enough in his own time. Last night Curry went for 53 in a win against Denver (the big news: Jamal Murray tearing his ACL on his left knee late in the fourth quarter). He becomes, I believe, the first player 32 years old or older to go for 50 or more three times in the same season.
Even more incredible, Steph drained TEN 3-pointers in the win. That’s his 18th career game with at least TEN threes. The next most in NBA history is his Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, with FIVE. Then comes James Harden with three.
18.
5.
3.
That’s the kind of in-another-orbit stat that only Wilt Chamberlain achieved. And yes, Steph broke Wilt’s team record for most points last night. Worth noting: Wilt played in about 300 fewer games with the Warriors and averaged more than 41 points per game, whereas Steph averages 23.9.
(yes, I’m referencing myself. Get over it.)
Also something wild: Wilt never made a three-pointer and was only a 55% career free-throw shooter. Steph is the all-time NBA leader in free-throw percentage.
Pop, A Shot
Every last word here from San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is true. Every last one.
And he’s right about Rome. America still has a choice as to whether it’s going to embrace authoritarianism and power (i.e., white supremacy) or citizenship and kindness (i.e., democracy). The fact that it’s even a close fight at this point is staggering. And scary. We are teetering on the brink and we almost lost it all on January 6th. It’s fragile. People still do not seem to comprehend that.
Watters’ World
Here’s the thing about most Republicans: at their core, selfishness is what defines them (the rest just have a hard-on about being anti-abortion; some are both). Something is welfare until it applies to them, then it’s a right.
Cinerama Drama
This is the iconic Cinerama Dome theatre, located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. It’s within walking distance of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Apparently it will not reopen after the pandemic (if there is an “after the pandemic”) due to financial losses during the pandemic. Real reason: this is highly valuable real estate where condos could make a fortune.
Methinks this theatre, which opened on November 7, 1963, might be able to saved. Surely there is someone, anyone, in Hollywood who is both insanely wealthy and has an emotional connection to the film industry. Someone?
April In Arizona
April is the best month in Arizona. Certainly, the most colorful.
And yet it’s more like autumn in the Northeast or Midwest. Why? Because like autumn there, we’ll get plenty of brilliant and magnificent colors followed by the most inhospitable time of year (the desert summer).
We’ll enjoy these last lovely days (for awhile) by posting a photo a day from foliage within a mile of this MH annex.
I certainly hope there’s an “after the pandemic” – I still need to buy you a beer the next time you through Chicago.
I’m curious – do you believe any conservative thinking is trash? Or, maybe this is a better question: what belief(s) do you hold dear that would shock a liberal?
Great question (and I’ll accept that beer). Plenty of “conservative” opinions. I think welfare of any kind should be limited to an extremely short period (say one month). I mean that for “welfare queens” and for “stay-at-home farmers.” I’m not a fan of most social programs that encourage laziness or irresponsible behavior. So, no, I don’t want to pay for the kids you cannot afford to have.
Those are just two.