Politicians repeatedly dumbfound me and they do it on an all to frequently regular basis. Yesterday, after the cold blooded assassinations of two NYPD Officers, de Blasio had the gall to come out and make a statement in which he said that the immediate aftermath of the murders was "not a time for politics" (source). I wish I had the whole statement but have been unable to find the full quote online, I did hear it on Fox News last night. If you are a normal person, it would appall you to hear it especially in light of the statements that de Blasio made immediately after the Eric Garner death in NY when Mr. Garner died at the hands of the police when they attempted to arrest him as he resisted arrest. As I have stated before, I think one officer in that case resorted to too high a level of force, I think he should have been charged with a crime in that death. Regardless of that though, such was no reason to target two other police officers and shoot them down for racial or revenge motives or just because they were cops.
The point here is that the mayor made such an irresponsible statement that this is not the time for politics when he indeed resorted to making politically driven statements a short time ago. That time, the apparent right time to make politically driven statements, was right after Mr. Garner died at the hands of the police. He made it clear then that he believed race was a factor and that Mr. Garner had died because he was black. He did that with the ridiculous statement in which he said that he had had a talk with his half black - half white son during which he in essence trained his son that he had to be careful around police officers because he was black (source). Yet it is the police who provide his son with a protective detail.
Remember that de Blasio, also undoubtedly with political considerations in mind, allowed protestors to have almost completely unrestrained control of New York City streets and of structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge. In addition he allowed protest marchers to carry on while one shouts: "What do we want?" and then the crowd, in unison, giving a resounding reply of : "Dead cops" (source). I note here while that march was booked as 'The Millions Protest March' (or something like that but definitely using the word millions), it sure does not look like millions were marching (see the video in that article) yet there were enough involved to cause disruption and later those at the Brooklyn Bridge caused mayhem. Still though, de Blasio allowed that to carry on without much restraint if any.
He also allowed the protests to go unhindered so much so that the lack of control over the crowds eventually led to and contributed to, without doubt in my mind, two NYPD Lieutenants being beaten. Both were later hospitalized, one sustaining a broken nose. They were attacked by a mob from among the protestors. This happened when the police lieutenants attempted to arrest one protestor who seemed to be about to throw a heavy trash can onto police officers and maybe also onto other protestors below him from an elevated platform of the bridge (source).
In the past, as is usual when such preplanned protests are held in NY City, the course of events is that a group expresses its desire to the city to hold a protest march and that the group applies for a permit to do so. The police department considers the request and if a permit is granted there are condition which must be met and maintained during the course of the protests. Those conditions are most often in the form of restrictions such as marking off a route which the protestors must use, keeping protestors peaceful, not allowing any illegal behavior, not allowing stoppage of traffic, all while allowing he protestors to exercise their right to free speech while at them same time not impinging on anyone else's rights or liberties.
Mayor de Blasio seemingly ignored all of the protocols and allowed the crowds to run rampant. My bet would be that if a similar situation had erupted under Mayror Rudy Giuliani, he would have called for an immediate end to the protest march once it had gotten out of hand. More than that though, he most likely would have made arrangements to try to assure that it never would have gotten out of hand in the first place. The current mayor is a political ass kisser and he has been playing politics from the very beginning but now that blood is on his hands he has the unmitigated nerve to say now is not the time for political rebuttals from his opposition.
What he should be doing is decrying the use of violence, not attempting to silence his opponents. He should be telling the public that any further illegal violence will be met with the maximum allowable force under the law and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Now, I am not saying that this was violence that came from the local community, the killer was not from Brooklyn as far as I am aware; however, I am saying that the mayor helped breed an atmosphere of total disrespect for law enforcement (especially the NYPD) by way of his politicizing the Eric Garner killing, by way of his race baiting its aftermath, and by way of truly turning his back on the NYPD. Now he is trying to tell us that it is not time for politics and that statement is political in nature in and of itself.
He is only saying that because all of the anti de Blasio politicking done now is sure to frame him in a bad light and assure that his first term as mayor will be his last term. So he is trying to quell anything political, he is merely trying to lower the political, ethical and emotional heat that is being blasted in his direction. He is going to get a lot more of it since he is as hypocritical as the worst hypocrite I have ever seen (my opinion). Amazingly enough, he expected the NYPD to take it when he turned his back on them but now is saying they should not be turning their backs on him; which by the way is exactly what they did and that was probably only the beginning of what he will have to face if he continues as the inept mayor he has been to date.
So what can he do? Well, it is too late to get it done right to avoid whatever is coming as a result of the killings of these two officers or to get it done right to avoid what already has come as a result of the Eric Garner death at the hands of police. Personally, I think the best thing he could do for the city would be to try to maintain the peace and then resign as quickly as possible. Since he apparently cannot accept the fact that this is the time for harsh criticism, political or otherwise, of his blundering buffoonery as mayor, I doubt he will accept any responsibility for any culpability leading to these assassinations and he will remain in office much to the degradation of the City of New York. What a shame because I am willing to bet that will only lead to more upheaval and violence.
All the best,
Glenn B
The point here is that the mayor made such an irresponsible statement that this is not the time for politics when he indeed resorted to making politically driven statements a short time ago. That time, the apparent right time to make politically driven statements, was right after Mr. Garner died at the hands of the police. He made it clear then that he believed race was a factor and that Mr. Garner had died because he was black. He did that with the ridiculous statement in which he said that he had had a talk with his half black - half white son during which he in essence trained his son that he had to be careful around police officers because he was black (source). Yet it is the police who provide his son with a protective detail.
Remember that de Blasio, also undoubtedly with political considerations in mind, allowed protestors to have almost completely unrestrained control of New York City streets and of structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge. In addition he allowed protest marchers to carry on while one shouts: "What do we want?" and then the crowd, in unison, giving a resounding reply of : "Dead cops" (source). I note here while that march was booked as 'The Millions Protest March' (or something like that but definitely using the word millions), it sure does not look like millions were marching (see the video in that article) yet there were enough involved to cause disruption and later those at the Brooklyn Bridge caused mayhem. Still though, de Blasio allowed that to carry on without much restraint if any.
He also allowed the protests to go unhindered so much so that the lack of control over the crowds eventually led to and contributed to, without doubt in my mind, two NYPD Lieutenants being beaten. Both were later hospitalized, one sustaining a broken nose. They were attacked by a mob from among the protestors. This happened when the police lieutenants attempted to arrest one protestor who seemed to be about to throw a heavy trash can onto police officers and maybe also onto other protestors below him from an elevated platform of the bridge (source).
In the past, as is usual when such preplanned protests are held in NY City, the course of events is that a group expresses its desire to the city to hold a protest march and that the group applies for a permit to do so. The police department considers the request and if a permit is granted there are condition which must be met and maintained during the course of the protests. Those conditions are most often in the form of restrictions such as marking off a route which the protestors must use, keeping protestors peaceful, not allowing any illegal behavior, not allowing stoppage of traffic, all while allowing he protestors to exercise their right to free speech while at them same time not impinging on anyone else's rights or liberties.
Mayor de Blasio seemingly ignored all of the protocols and allowed the crowds to run rampant. My bet would be that if a similar situation had erupted under Mayror Rudy Giuliani, he would have called for an immediate end to the protest march once it had gotten out of hand. More than that though, he most likely would have made arrangements to try to assure that it never would have gotten out of hand in the first place. The current mayor is a political ass kisser and he has been playing politics from the very beginning but now that blood is on his hands he has the unmitigated nerve to say now is not the time for political rebuttals from his opposition.
What he should be doing is decrying the use of violence, not attempting to silence his opponents. He should be telling the public that any further illegal violence will be met with the maximum allowable force under the law and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Now, I am not saying that this was violence that came from the local community, the killer was not from Brooklyn as far as I am aware; however, I am saying that the mayor helped breed an atmosphere of total disrespect for law enforcement (especially the NYPD) by way of his politicizing the Eric Garner killing, by way of his race baiting its aftermath, and by way of truly turning his back on the NYPD. Now he is trying to tell us that it is not time for politics and that statement is political in nature in and of itself.
He is only saying that because all of the anti de Blasio politicking done now is sure to frame him in a bad light and assure that his first term as mayor will be his last term. So he is trying to quell anything political, he is merely trying to lower the political, ethical and emotional heat that is being blasted in his direction. He is going to get a lot more of it since he is as hypocritical as the worst hypocrite I have ever seen (my opinion). Amazingly enough, he expected the NYPD to take it when he turned his back on them but now is saying they should not be turning their backs on him; which by the way is exactly what they did and that was probably only the beginning of what he will have to face if he continues as the inept mayor he has been to date.
So what can he do? Well, it is too late to get it done right to avoid whatever is coming as a result of the killings of these two officers or to get it done right to avoid what already has come as a result of the Eric Garner death at the hands of police. Personally, I think the best thing he could do for the city would be to try to maintain the peace and then resign as quickly as possible. Since he apparently cannot accept the fact that this is the time for harsh criticism, political or otherwise, of his blundering buffoonery as mayor, I doubt he will accept any responsibility for any culpability leading to these assassinations and he will remain in office much to the degradation of the City of New York. What a shame because I am willing to bet that will only lead to more upheaval and violence.
All the best,
Glenn B
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