Lies With A Dash Of Pepper Balls
It's your Sunday show rundown!
We've lived a second week filled with more righteous protesting against police brutality and constant new examples provided by helpful police as to why people should be protesting. More than 400 examples, in fact, by this thread count:
Hi. You're probably seeing this pinned tweet because cops are rioting nationwide and I'm trying to keep track I'm… https: //t.co/1RZTRBoNqF
— T. Greg Doucette (@T. Greg Doucette) 1591586582.0
So let's dive in to the Sunday shows discussing this! We'll begin with Iran-Contra pardoning assclown turned Russia investigation undermining assclown William Barr. Appearing on CBS's "Face The Nation," Barr gave a full interview but one particular moment stood out. Host Margaret Brennan asked him about the assault on peaceful protestors to provide Trump with a photo op holding an upside down Bible , when Barr took umbrage with a particular term.
BRENNAN: And the methods they used you think were appropriate, is that what you're saying?
BARR: When they met resistance, yes. They announced three times. They didn't move. By the way, there was no tear gas used. The tear gas was used Sunday when they had to clear H Street to allow the fire department to come in to save St. John's Church. That's when tear gas was used.
BRENNAN: There were chemical irritants, the Park Police has said--
BARR: No, they were not chemical irritants.Pepper spray is not a chemical irritant. It's not chemical.
BRENNAN: Pepper spray, you're saying is what was used--
BARR: Pepper balls. Pepper balls.
Maybe Barr was not trying to disperse the peaceful protestors but ensuring their homemade lunches had the appropriate level of seasoning:
Of course, it doesn't take a chemist to figure out Barr was full of shit, as noted by Kellyanne Conway's husband, George.
The active ingredient in pepper spray is (6E)-N-[(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-8-methylnon-6-enamide, which is… https: //t.co/g1SKhZ6cHz
— George Conway (@George Conway) 1591547555.0
Or maybe Barr could have consulted page seven of the Review of the Department of Justice's Use of Less Lethal Weapons report from the DOJ's Office Inspector General:
This whole thing will probably be deleted later by Trump's DOJ, much like how they edited the mission statement of the National Stockpile Program. Moving On!
Next we have (acting) Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf. Appearing on both ABC's "This Week" and "Fox News Sunday," Wolf seems to have only come to give a new coat of paint to last week's denial of systemic racism by Robert O'Brien. On ABC, Martha Raddatz pointed out several times to Wolf the overwhelming amount of peaceful protests and violence caused by the police themselves. After Wolf tried to dissemble, Raddatz specifically asked him to comment as she played footage of police actually abusing protestors.
RADDATZ: What is your reaction to that, Mr. Secretary?
WOLF: […] But again, what we see across the board by and large is law enforcement doing their job. Yes, there are individuals in every profession that are perhaps criminals. That are perhaps abusing their authority and we need to address that and — and again —
Raddatz tried again to get a specific answer while Wolf tried to change the subject:
RADDATZ: But how do you address that when you look at those images?
WOLF: […] So when we talk about attacks on law enforcement, it's not an abstract idea. We are seeing them being targeted. We need to make sure that the violence that's going on in cities across American and again, it's diminished. I — I — I acknowledge that it does not continue. So that's a real concern that law enforcement who are sent out there and do their job every day, protecting the American people every day. They have a right to do their job and to go home back to their families safe.
Raddatz tried for a THIRD time to get Wolf to answer:
RADDATZ: Mr. Secretary, that — those are indeed terrible examples, but I want to go back to the examples I showed you. Do those disturb you? These are public servants who are trained at — to supposedly meet protestors, not beat them up.
WOLF: Absolutely. So, again, as I indicated, I think you have — you need to make sure that all law enforcement is acting correctly, are doing their jobs correctly. And when they're not, they need to be held accountable. So some of the images that you showed, as well as others, we need to make sure that we investigate. And, again, if the evidence shows that they did not do — do their job correctly, they did not do the way they were trained to do, we need to hold them accountable. […]
I mean the lack of accountability is why we are here, Chad.
Finally Raddatz asked him the question point blank:
RADDATZ: Do you think there is a problem with systemic racism in policing in the United States?
WOLF: I do not think that we have a systemic racism problem with law enforcement officers across this country.
Not willing to admit to the root cause does not make your statements about fixing things sound genuine. Here's the video:
We conclude with former brain surgeon and current Sunken Place resident , Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson. Speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of The Union," Carson said a lot of stupid shit, but the moment we'll focus on is the return of the lie about Colin Kaepernick's NFL kneeling protest against police brutality. Tapper summarized in detail the point of the protest, only for Carson to make the bad faith argument:
CARSON: My — my personal feeling is, if those players were to come out and say, we love our nation, we are patriots, we love our flag, we honor the memory of those who died to give us our freedom, but we are protesting some of the brutality that has occurred, and that's why we're doing this, I think it would solve the problem.
If only there was footage of Kaepernick stating just that:
Colin Kaepernick explains why he won't stand during National Anthem youtu.be
This quote being the relevant part that somehow Ben Carson slumbered through:
“I think it's a misunderstanding. The media painted this as I'm anti-American, anti men and women of the military, and that's not the case at all. I realize that men and women of the military put themselves in harm's way for my freedoms of speech and my freedom in this country and my freedom to take a seat or take a knee. I have the utmost respect for them. I think what I did was taken out of context and spun a different way."
Here is the full interview:
Seems that explanation from 2016 covers it and yet it didn't solve the problem because people lied about it and continue to do so like Ben Carson. Ignoring that peaceful protest and allowing police to continuing abuse their power is why we are here, Carson.
Or as a better Uncle Ben once said:
Maybe law enforcement should work on the responsibility part.
Stay safe, stay fighting, and Black Lives Matter.
Have a week!
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Barr needs to go back to Chem 101. I think he must have failed the first time.