FREE SPEECH ZONE | President Obama, Minneapolis Police and Gun Control

You will never hear this perspective with the corporate lapdog media like the Star Tribune, MPR, WCCO etc etc but rest assured it is out there. I know because I have talked to many people who are there with me.

President Barack Obama came to  Minneapolis recently and spoke about the need for gun control, at a Police station in Minneapolis. At the press conference were families of victims of gun violence. Not invited were the families of victims shot dead by the police, like the families of  Fong Lee- the 16 year old young man killed by Minneapolis police.

For those of us who know about this- people who get their information from sources other than the aforementioned corporate lapdog media like the Star Tribune- the facts are there. That the police in Minneapolis and elsewhere are out of control. Which then gets to the Obama speech-  held in a police station in Minneapolis with a long, brutal and often racist legacy. In other words there is no  discussion on reining in police violence or indeed any other forces of the government. Add to that the simple fact, unreported in corporate media but well known anyway on how local selected officials have ripped to shreds the Civilian Review Authority. Which was itself nothing more than a paper tiger. To add insult to injury “progressive” Democrat Mayor RT Rybak used the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission to completely gut the CRA.

Add to this mix the simple fact that “elections” in this city, state and country are a sad, pathetic joke. That they have become nothing more than corporate and developer auctions. Those who have attempted to  use the electoral  system to enact real progressive change have either been nudged out or made invisible. For example the very best city council  members we have ever had. Natalie Johnson-Lee and Dean Zimmerman. Both of which were blatantly gerrymandered out of their seats and in the case of Dean Zimmerman set up by the FBI in an obvious political sting operation. Or indeed Blong Vang, the Uncle of Fong Lee who ran against the well oiled machine of Linda Higgins. Meanwhile others like myself who attempt to at least start a dialogue are simply made invisible. All avenues of enacting change through “proper channels” are shut off.

All of which lead to the point of this article.

In California, a former police officer Christopher Dorner is being hunted for shooting and killing police officers. His story and case is compelling. While a serving police officer in Los Angeles, he witnessed another officer, a caucasian, kick a mentally ill man in the head. He went through “proper channels”  and reported him. He was fired. He  talked in his manifesto of the racism and brutality endemic in the police force. The man is obviously intelligent and not a nut case. It should be noted here that in response- the police in California shot two Asian women in a truck because they mistook these two small Asian women for Dorner, who is a large African American male. A fact that has been dropped almost completely by the corporate media in this country but is well  known by now anyway.

Again, this will not be reported much by the corporate apologist media like the Star  Tribune or MPR but former police officer Christopher Dorner has support. There are some who view him as a hero. In fact African American reporter Don Lemon on CNN talked briefly of the calls coming in to talk radio shows in support of Dorner. He himself talked about the perception of racism and brutality in the police. He also explained that another African American reporter contacted him anonymously, thanking him for speaking out in such an honest and forthright manner. We can be assured that we will never hear this perspective on CNN again. Reporter Don Lemon has probably already been “talked to” by the management of CNN for his burst of honesty on the air.

I am speaking only for myself here, as someone who tried to help nudge Minneapolis, Minnesota and the nation towards progressive change through the electoral process and through “proper channels” via attempting to lobby elected officials. I have given up completely in this process. Everyday citizens (AKA those without wealth) lobbying elected officials hit the wall of reality: elected officials have been selected by corporate money to then work on getting the very money that got them elected, with the aid and assistance of a media just as corrupted by corporate money. Lobbying to change these dynamics is an illusion.

The Occupy Movement was an attempt at non-violent revolution in this country. Actually it still is, along with Idle No More. However, again to those who know, the Occupy Movement was crushed in Minneapolis under the directions of “progressive” DFL Mayor RT Rybak. Just as the Occupy Movement was crushed by liberal Democratic Mayors all over the nation. Themselves under the direction and guidance of president Barack Obama and his Dept Of Justice and Dept of Homeland Security. These are indisputable facts and are well known. To those who do not get their information from those lapdogs of those in power at the Star Tribune,  MPR, WCCO and the rest.

It is also hypocritically ignored by those liberals in the DFL. Although we cannot omit the other side of this political hypocrisy.

I speak of course of those on the “right” in the NRA and the Republican Party who blather on about gun control.

One of the central themes for supporting the Second Amendment parroted by them is the right to  keep and bear arms in response to government oppression.

Officer Christopher Dorner is a text book case of that very fact. After all- the Founding Fathers themselves were indeed “breaking the law” and “murdering” state officials. Yet I do not expect to see the NRA jump up and publicly support Christopher Dorner. But of course, again to any who knows the facts, the NRA itself was set up in support of the KKK. Even more evident is that gun control laws in this country were initially set up in direct response to the actions of the Black Panther Party. The Panthers were publicly arming themselves in response to police brutality and killing in inner city communities. Which brings this discussion full circle. Just not to the NRA  or president Barack Obama of course. Because after all- Officer Dorner is Black, African American. Our friends at the NRA or the president can most certainly not support that sort of thing.

However Christopher Dorner does indeed have support. You can hear it on the airwaves of talk radio in California. There is already a Chris Dorner Supporters page set up  on facebook. That support is real even if the media do not report it.

If those in power and the corporate money that owns them have indeed shut off all legitimate means to enact real change in this country then people can and will draw their own conclusions from that.

And to quote a fellow Irishman, president John F Kennedy who was certainly not a flaming radical “Those who make non-violent revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.”

Or maybe it would be more relevant to quote Malcolm X that ““It was, as I saw it, a case of ‘the chickens coming home to roost.’

I would prefer to have a non-violent revolution. I have seen violent revolts and they are not fun.

But I cannot ever condemn any who feel so pushed to the edge that they feel that that is the only way to go. Elections are simply corporate auctions. The people selected are themselves there precisely because they were chosen by the money. The media are cheerleaders for them. The police in many cases are out of control thugs. The United States “Justice” system rightly deserves it’s nickname “the Just-Us”  system.

Officer Christopher Dorner is a hero to many. As I  heard  many times “elections have consequences.” Well my retort to that now is “Allowing these fraudulent so called elections to continue while trying to suppress critical voices of dissent also have consequences.”