One thing I learned, sadly, is that despite being in Office
for 200+ days, the Trump administration still can’t get even the easiest of lay
ups right!
I attended a panel discussion
last night on the troubling trend of police involved murders of innocent Black
men.
On the initial panel was, and the
focus was on, the mother of Philando Castile and the aunt of Alton
Sterling.
Moderated by
Ed Gordon, the
emotional stories of these women of courage was brought home and made real by
the stories these women detailed to the gathered audience of journalists from
around the country.
Young or older, new
to reporting or seasoned veterans of this craft, all were mesmerized by the
reality of what happened to the two young men whose lives were taken so unnecessarily
at the hands of people who had a badge and chose to take a life as the initial
course of action.
Philando Castile’s
mother was particularly engaging as she pointed out that the officer who shot
her son, AFTER being informed by Castile that he had a permit to own and carry
his gun, did so several times while an unarmed woman and child were in the
car.
A collective chill went through all
our spines when we grasped the gravity of that deadly encounter as well as the
aftermath that happened following the murder that was captured on camera and
broadcast live via social media by Castile’s girlfriend.
Then we all listened in horror as Alton
Sterling’s aunt told us how the police department came to her sister’s house
and let her watch the full unedited video of the murder of Mr. Sterling and how
since then the protests and demonstrations have resulted in further injustices
by other police departments here in the “great state of Louisiana”.
And this is important to note because
following these heart wrenching firsthand accounts of
how easily loved ones were taken from their
families by the police, the follow up panel was joined by the invited whirlwind
of foolishness that is Omarosa (whatever her last name is these days).
Make no mistake, the room was filled and abuzz because we
were also there to see what Miss Omarosa was there to say in
defense of the administration she works for. To be clear her job is really just to
give her Massa, President Donald J Trump, some cover to say his cabinet and
administration is diverse. Ed Gordon
started the initial panel by explaining that he has attended other events
where Omarosa was on the dais to take the slings and arrows for her
employer. He commended her beforehand
for her bravery and cautioned the crowd not to fall victim to the urge to act
out. When “Miss Thang” arrived she did
so to little fanfare and to be honest, she initially seemed ready to
participate. However, that quickly, no, immediately
changed after she recounted her story of losing her father and brother to
street violence and tried to frame HER story as in some way akin to what not
only the two ladies had been through and are still dealing with. The crowd turned and turned on her verbally
when she tried to hijack the panel and commiserate along with them.
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| Protesting Omarosa's shenanigans |
When Gordon calmed the crowd and told her he
would not allow things to turn into a mess, the reality TV celebrity that she
is, came out.
It was a total train wreck
after that.
Acting every bit the
petulant child that her Massa Trump is when he does not get HIS way, Omarosa
stood up and confronted Gordon face to face to attempt a power play move on the
stage.
I can only imagine what was going
through the minds of the other panelist on stage.
The night before I had met with Dr.
Jason Johnson
to ask what his plan was to confront her and he assured me that he himself
would not be drawn into a staged show with her so that others could “watch
monkeys fling shit at each other”.
I
admired his resolve at that moment but know that while things were unfolding in
front of all of us in that ballroom, he could not have been anything but
disappointed.
I was uncomfortable with
the way Ed Gordon allowed her to pivot from the what he was trying to get her
to speak on which was, “what is your role in this administration and how can
you, or are you even trying to, work some kind of influence with President
Trump to do SOMETHING, to deal with this national crisis”.
Again she pivoted and tried to turn the
discussion back towards herself and her own story.
She became so irate that she sat down and
pulled out her (probably unsecured) smartphone to replay what Gordon had asked
her to show that she wasn’t “here for this”.
Look, others have and will report on and detail how all of
that
15 minutes of madness went down, but what I would like us to keep focused
on is, what those two women and others like them have to say about how their
families have been torn apart by the disturbing trend of cops getting away with
murdering Black men and women without repercussions.
But what strikes me most is that Omarosa
could easily have said to the gathering, “the administration is working hard to
make changes in how we engage law enforcement practices across the country and
will continue to facilitate changes.
Despite the ill fated attempt to make light of a serious issue by the
President recently, we are seriously committed to ensuring that all American
citizens are treated fairly and equitably by law enforcement”.
But as is the administration’s collective way
of doing things, she didn’t even attempt to apologize, engage with or work with
those who were there to try and help understand what our country has
become.
At some point someone needs to
remind her and her boss/ Massa, Dear Leader, “Bitch you work FOR us, you are
now an employee of the taxpaying citizens of the United States of America!”
Today we learned of the crazy events that took place on the
campus of the University of Virginia.
What has been the response from President Donald J Trump? A tweet!
A tweet that said, “we ALL must be united & condemn all that hate
stands for. Let’s come together as one!” Later in remarks made about the violence that
resulted in one death, Trump said, “this egregious display of hatred, bigotry
and violence on many sides, many sides.”
Let THAT sink in on you for a little while, then take the totality
of both events for what they are.
