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Monday, October 3, 2016

Capitalist media working on damage control in the wake of police murders

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by Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444 retired

Well, after the drug busts, arrest of the gang of “high end “ thieves, 16 of them who stole some $250,000 worth of stuff from fancy stores maybe netting $10,000 apiece on the street had they got away with it, and the numerous child pornography rings that have been busted, the actors, I mean newscasters, get to what they call the “viral” story that’s gone national and international. Has it though? Are they hearing about it in Syria? Chechnya? For the overseas reader, "international" in the US is often limited to Puerto Rico, Canada, maybe Mexico.

A 19 year old black man who had a four hour commute from Vallejo to his job in Benicia, walking two hours there, two hours back every day, was seen by a friendly cop who was very moved by the young guy’s trek. He brought it up to the police officers association and, in an “act of kindness” they  bought the youth a bike.

The story has been on Facebook, the Ellen Degeneres Show and many other news outlets the report says.  I think it said that Ellen is looking in to setting up a go-fund me site to get the young guy a college scholarship. He wants to get in to the CHP Academy the newscaster said.  (Highway Patrol). “You know, not all officers are bad.” One report quotes the youngster as saying.

Now I respect the young guy for his discipline and his conscious choice to earn money and not fall prey to crime or drugs like so many young, low waged people can.  But watching these paid pimps on Fox news here with their, I hate to cuss in print, shit eating grins, talking about what a wonderful story it is and the best story so far etc. is nauseating. It is a propaganda piece. And it just shows how their news stations, their favored celebrities and other propaganda outlets work to fashion public opinion. They're spreading it far and wide.

Through their control of the media, the US capitalist class is trying to counter what is a potential major crisis for them, the ongoing response to police murders and state violence against black people. The whole Kaepernick thing is getting out of hand and they want to head it off at the pass. They have high school kids kneeling at games, they can’t put the Black Lives Matter genie back in the bottle, they’re gassing folks at the Standing Rock protest in the hopes that this will deter them and more white people are supporting these protests which is not a good thing.  That’s what this story is about. Then there’s the global mess that US imperialism played such a huge role in creating that it cannot extricate itself from.

I agree that all cops are not bad as individuals. Then the rest of them should speak out if that’s the case, shouldn’t they, not just buy one kid a bike. They should speak out against the others that are assassinating black men in particular and condemn them unconditionally otherwise they’re as much to blame. And it is good that more and more white people are supporting the protests against police violence but they need to be more vocal. Silence is not good when people are being assassinated daily by state security forces. Who’s next? It’s plain self-interest at the very least.

As for the young man.  You are being used. You are being used to cover up the horrific assault on young men that look like you, by armed representatives of the state. Practically killing them on a daily basis. The most recent was a homeless man cops tried to run over then shot, firing 18 bullets hitting him 14 times.  They hunted  him down, there’s no other explanation when you watch this video. 

He was hunted down and murdered not by roving illegal racist gangs, but by armed state militia who are backed the courts and the government.

This whole story was a propaganda piece. Whatever you do young man if you want to help people, workers, the poor, other young black men, don’t join the CHP. And you could have gotten a bike from somewhere else I know it. And you wouldn’t have been used to undermine the brutality. But then it wouldn’t have got the coverage either.

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