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Editorials/Columns
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
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Republican Race To The White House
ing, they are off.
Breaking into the lead is Ted Cruz; running sec- ond is Jeb Bush and Rand Paul is running third. Then there’s Dr. Ben Carson, Mike Hucklebee, Rick Santorium, Bobby Jan- dal, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio and a couple others who may join the race later on. Is this a horse or car race? No! This is the Repub- lican race for the presidency of the United States.
The race this time is very different than usual ones. Most of the candidates are throwing away some part of the Republican script. In fact, some of them sound like Democrats.
There is a fake candidate by the name of Donald
Trump. Mr. Trump is going to do more than threat to run. You will easily recog- nize him. He will be the phony looking one with the comic book wig on. He talks loud, criticizes the president and then fades back into his dark wishing well.
He will lead you to believe that he had the best ideas and he would have been the best president.
Ted Cruz doesn’t have as much chance of becoming president as a snow man in hell. What he hopes to do is to play the ultimate role of a conservative and land him a spot on a presidential ticket as the vice president
If that doesn’t work, maybe a decent run at the presidency will come next
time for Ted.
Jeb Bush is assured of at
least getting close enough to the White House to smell the roses. That is as soon as he learns whether he is White or Hispanic. Bush, a white man, marks a document that he was Hispanic. Jeb has a real chance of winning the Republican nomination. For sure he will have plenty of money. He has brought in the Bush Boys. I don’t know whether that is a help- ful thing.
A fellow that we don’t know too much about is Governor Scott Walker.
Walker has made some fuss in his state, but he has not been able to express him- self on federal issues.
Then there is Marco Rubio. He does not know what he is for. I doubt if he will enter the race.
Rand Paul has every- body confused, including himself. One observation is clear and that is he intends to be a big tent in the party.
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North Charleston, S.C.: It Happened Again!
o doubt, North Charleston, S.C. Mayor Keith
Summey will have earned the respect of an in- creasingly word-weary American society by his com- ments made recently regarding the shooting death of an unarmed Black Charlestonian by one of that city’s white patrolmen. Said Summey, “When you’re wrong, you’re wrong.” The mayor went on to say, “And if you make a bad decision -- don’t care if you’re behind the shield or just a citizen on the street – you have to live by that decision.”
Such was said in aftermath of a white officer detain- ing a Black man who was driving a Mercedes Benz with a broken taillight. A scuffle ensued; a taser was used, to no avail, wherein a fight broke out and shots were fired when the officer says he feared for his life. But a bystander’s cell phone saw differently. What it saw was a man fleeing for his life just before getting shot in the back. Hence, Mayor Summey’s words rang like a bell.
But what about the response of a so-called sane so- ciety? Surely, such incidents as happened in Charleston add more credence to the argument for adding cameras as part of the body armor each cop should wear. Furthermore, for FDLE officials who no longer support human diversity and sensitivity train- ing for their officers, certainly a wake-up call has been sounded.
Murderers In Blue
aybe this time will be
different. That was what I wanted to convince myself Wednesday morning after watching yet another video of an unarmed Black man being killed by a white
cop.
This time they can't say
that the officer's life was in danger. This time they can't make the excuse that the health of the victim con- tributed to his own death. And, as much as they would probably love to do, there's no way they can justify the cop’s actions by saying that he believed the suspect was armed.
This time, the video says it all. It tells the story of two men, one of them running for his life while the other one, wearing a badge, shoots him in the back 8 times. Re- gardless of what they say, I think it will be pretty hard
for them to spin this one into something deemed justifi- able.
What this recorded image reveals to the world is a po- lice officer calmly taking aim and committing cold- blooded murder. And the re- ally sad part is that it was all, allegedly, the result of a sim- ple traffic stop for a broken taillight.
An even more egregious part of the story is that the cop attempted to cover up his dastardly deed, ironi- cally, with the help of a Black police officer. A curious twist to the incident that makes me wonder if the Black cop truly believed that, if the sit- uation were reversed, his white counterpart would do the same for him? But, of course, that's a topic for a different discussion.
The thing that quietly speaks volumes about where
we are in terms of race rela- tions and police brutality in this country is that, even with the existence of a video that seemingly shows a man essentially being executed in broad daylight, there's still serious doubt as to whether or not it will be enough?
Knowing the history of police officers getting away with killing Black men in the United States, I don't believe any Black person will truly believe in justice being served until the process plays itself out and a stiff sentence is administered.
Hopefully, that will be the case and Officer Michael Slager will pay dearly for taking Walter Scott, Jr.'s life without cause. Maybe then a message will be sent out across the entire blue na- tion that Black lives do mat- ter and that the days of getting off are over because someone will always be watching.... Then again, who am I kidding?
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. Anyone wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: reality- onice@yahoo.com.
Gangs, Ku Klux Klan, And Prison Reform
oes the Florida Department of Corrections con-
duct background checks on its prospective em- ployees? Are memberships in the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) ignored by the department? And, how did three KKK members manage to get hired at one prison facility? With that supposed gaff in mind, how many more KKK members are likely lurking in the halls of Florida’s prison system disguised as prison guards or worse, up the chain of command? Surely, these and a bevy of other concerns crossed logical minds as Florida’s leg- islature prepared to implement prison reform amend- ments.
At least Hollywood gets the message. Popular and compelling prison movies like Brubaker, American History X, The Green Mile, The Longest Yard, Shaw- shank Redemption, and countless other films stretch back to the realm of Cagney and Bogart. However, they pale in comparison to the dramas unfolding in Florida prisons over the past two years, produced mostly by a questionable cast of undercover subversives.
Here recently, three KKK members were arrested
for plotting to murder a recently released Black inmate. Previously, two other prison guards were arrested and charged with money laundering, drug smuggling, cell phones and cigarette selling as well as directing gang activities and ordering hits on inmates.
What’s more terrifying is the corruption embedded deep within an iceberg of a formerly untouchable Florida prison gulag system.
Meanwhile, imagine if you dare, the potential for KKK members to infiltrate other state law enforcement departments. For, certainly, when the door is left ajar, a cold breeze blows easily in. And whose fault will it have been? Call your legislator. Demand common sense be returned to Florida’s prison system.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
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