The racism in the Lanre Amu case and the refusal to allow Diane Nash to attend the kangaroo hearing in JoAnne Denison's case is a disclosure of the evil at the Illinois attorney registration and disciplinary commission and the Illinois Supreme Court. Such is not unique and Jim Crow is not dead. Jerome Larkin still has not apologized to either Amu or Nash, though he has had plenty of time to do so.
A free society has to be a 'just' society and we are bound by our oath, credo, and history to allow racists and other undesirables to speak out freely and openly even when they ferment hate, disruption, and a lack of order. Indeed, loud mouth nazi 'nuts' and other rabble have just as much of right to speak out as the President, and favored individuals. Indeed, we the great unwashed have free speech and the right to laugh at and be critical of even the most honored amongst us.
With this privilege comes responsibilities. When a Jerome Larkin or any other citizen abuses the privilege we have a right to speak out and be critical. No we do not have a right to silence him/her - but he have a right to say mean and nasty things. For instance:
Carson declares war on the press
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Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson admonished the Washington press corps Friday, calling the news media “embarrassing” and “insincere” and vowing to “expose” the institutional bias he says runs rampant.
Speaking at a gathering of reporters and communications professionals at the National Press Club in Washington, Carson lashed out at the press, citing several instances where he believes his views have been misrepresented. (Comment: Note the loaded word – Lashed out! - Carson is so benign in his criticism as one can imagine)
“Many in the press will say I’m sensitive and that I should not be thinking about running for office, because I get offended by what they do,” he said. “But the reason I expose the press is because I want the people of America to understand what they’re doing. It’s not because I’m sensitive.”
The retired neurosurgeon said he has no intention of calling a truce with the news media. (Comment – asking an institution to do its job and give Carson the same respect that it gives other candidates is something that he is entitled to )
“I will continue to expose them every time they do something, so that as more people understand what they are and what they’re doing, it will negate their affect,” he said. “Until they have the kind of transformation that’s necessary for them to become allies of the people, we have to know what they’re doing.”
Carson’s frustration with the press is boiling over as the presidential candidate, who is soaring in the polls and raising tens of millions of dollars from grassroots conservatives, has battled weeks of controversial headlines.
Carson believes his views on guns and religion have been intentionally distorted by reporters eager to sink his presidential hopes.
“The good thing is that a lot of people in America are on to them and understand what they’re trying to do, and that’s one of the reasons we’re doing well,” Carson said. “It seems like the more they attack me, the better we do.”
This week, Carson said that if he had been at Umpqua Community College, the site of a recent mass shooting, he would have stood up to the gunman. Many people interpreted the remarks to mean that the victims didn’t do enough to protect themselves. (Comment: it was members of the press – as well as the opposition party - that drew the added conclusion. They knew or should have known that such an interpretation was a distortion )
Carson this week also called for arming officials on school grounds, described an encounter with a gunman at a Popeye’s restaurant and said that the Holocaust would have been less likely if the Jews in Germany had been armed. (comment. Apparently the college was a ‘gun free’ zone and even the security guard had no weapon. Thus, the armed “nut” was free the shoot students until he ran out of bullets. This type of situation in today’s world is outrageous and just plain stupid. As for the Holocaust many among us, including many Jews decried the fact that resistance was too little too late. In the Warsaw Getto uprising Carson’s point was made. Disarming yourself and allowing your enemy dominance over your life and property is just plain stupid. Had Hillary Clinton talked of self defense the same press would have lauded her. In fact, she has advocated that women arm themselves and take self defense courses – no hue and cry or distortion came out of her comments.
Carson on Friday defended his remarks on the Holocaust but said that in several other instances, his words had been taken out of context or overblown.
“Everything needs to be looked at in context, and when news media picks one word or one phrase and they run with it and try to characterize people like that, I gotta tell you guys, that’s why people don’t trust you anymore,” he said. “I mean you’re down there with used car salesmen.”
Carson also recalled an encounter with a reporter that led to a story about him being unprepared to deal with the threat of a hurricane.
Carson said he was getting on a bus when he was approached by the reporter and didn’t have time to answer in full.
“I mean, this is the level of insincerity that we see, and it really is kind of embarrassing to see that,” Carson said.
Carson said he’s a frequent target for attacks because as a black Republican, doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional conservative and therefore is viewed as a threat to the liberal order.
Comment: racism on the left or the right is equally reprehensible. Carson is being kind. He is a successful and admired person whose accomplishments stand out and refute any notion of any race being inferior to any other. He also demonstrates that America has homegrown heroes who do not play sports *****. He is an embarrassment to most of us who spun our wheels and did not put forth the effort to excel.
He said there’s “still hope for the press” but that they must be called out on their hypocrisies in the hopes “that some of them will recognize it’s almost a sacred obligation they have to the people, to be honest.”
“There is only one business in America that is protected by the Constitution, and that is the press, and there was a reason for that. It was because the press was supposed to be an ally of the people," Carson said.
"They were supposed to expose and inform the people in a nonpartisan way. When they become partisan, as they are, they distort the system as it was supposed to work, and they allow the side that they pick to get away with all kinds of things.”
If you do not like my comments - tough horse feathers! As an American I have an absolute to express any opinion that I want. I have a right to say nice things about Bernie Sanders, Dr. Carson, Donald Trump and I have a right to say mean and nasty things about each as well. That is the Alvarez case, and the other First Amendment cases handed down by the SCOTUS. No one, including licensing authorities of the State have a right to interfere with that right. see Rosemond v Markham.
The fact that some criminals in government cloaks have gathered together in violation of 18 USCA 242 and 18 USCA 371 is worrysome. The fact that there is bias in the press - is terrible - but, as long as they do not use government facilities and money to carry out their nefarious aim - we have an obligation to make certain that no one censors them.
Ken Ditkowsky
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