Engage. Enrage. Enjoy.

Boycotts Don’t Amount to a Hill of Beans.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Tomatoe, Tomato.  Potatoe, Potata.  Boycott, Buycott.

Saturday Raul Reyes, a member of the USA Today board of contributors (whatever that means), wrote an op-ed piece for CNN Business.  It began with “Adios Goya!”  Why?  Surely you have heard by now.  Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue praised President Trump at a White House ceremony on Thursday afternoon. Speaking at a Rose Garden event, Unanue said, “We’re all truly blessed, at the same time, to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder.”

And the left roared.  Social media’s daily outrage turned its short attention span to a can of refried beans.  Hashtags like #Goyaway and #BoycottGoya started trending faster than Speedy Gonzalez can say “undelay!”

And the right went to the store and bought enough cans of Goya garbanzo beans to spread hummus from sea to shining sea.  Buycott.

In the emotion of the moment, a boycott and a buycott are such an “I’ll show you!”  But, even in the era of the new normal, we go back to the old normal.  If you bought Goya products before you likely will buy plenty more.  If you never heard of them you’ll likely stare at your emotional purchase of canned black beans sitting in your panty till the expiration date nears.  Hopefully, the local food drive knocks on the front door before then.

Don’t believe us?  Do you remember 2012?  Way back then Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy made comments expressing his opposition to gay marriage.

And the left roared. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wrote a letter to Cathy urging him to back out of plans to open a restaurant in the city.  Then, according to the Boston Herald, he warned, “if they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult — unless they open up their policies.”

Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that he would work to stop any attempt by Chick-fil-A to expand in the city.

“Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values. They’re not respectful of our residents, our neighbors, and our family members. And if you’re gonna be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect Chicago values.”  He could barely be heard above the constant staccato of gunfire emanating from the respectful south side neighbors, but we digress.

And the right lined up around the building to eat overpriced chicken and waffled fries.

How is Chick-fil-A doing today?  In spite of stepping in the political chicken, um, waste, again and again, it’s doing quite well.  In fact, its location count is 2363 and counting.  If you still don’t believe us, go wait in an ever-present double drive-thru line for some.

How will Goya do?  The largest Spanish owned company in the U.S. will likely continue to do quite well.

Right now it’s in some hot sauce.

But, by tomorrow The Movement will have moved on.  In cancel culture you are always looking for the next outrageous moment.

Salsa Verde anyone?

We Missed Nothing.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We’re back, but only for a brief few words.  Last week and into this week the BBR staff had its annual off-campus mid-year reviews and celebrity golf tournament. Orlando was the destination.  We shut the outside world down and are glad we did.

It looks like we missed nothing.  Sports are still on ice and no one in the political sandbox is playing nice.

At least Joe Biden emerged for a press conference for the first time in 89 days yesterday.  Well, it was sort of a press conference.  He admitted that his staff only wanted him to call on the reporters that would indeed play nice.  The problem was that he forgot the name of his own hometown newspaper and couldn’t find it on his notes right in front of him.

Speaking of journalists, if you missed Chris Cuomo interviewing the St. Louis homeowner who came outside to protect his property you missed a new low in journalism.  And, he’s had a few lows recently.  Isn’t that a big statement given the hacks that parade around these days?

If you don’t have a gun to protect yourselves against hoodlums, you could try to stay as still as a statue and hope they pass you by.  But, they’ll likely rip you down even if they don’t know what you stand for, so that might not work.

Speaking of journalists, Tucker Carlson achieved an all-time high rating for a quarter of the year’s time for a cable news broadcast.  He averaged over 4.33 million viewers a night.   And, he’s ripping the Republican Party a new one. Who would have ever thought that is talent, hard work, and honesty would enable his nightly viewership to surpass Bill O’Reilly?  It has.  Isn’t that a big statement well?

Enjoy the long Fourth of July Weekend unless patriotic participation is banned in your town.  First churches and parks, now fireworks.

We’ll be back to light up Al Gore’s internet like a Roman candle on Monday.

Can you still say “Roman?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAZ, BHAZ, AHAZ

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

A funny thing happened yesterday just two days after the official start of summer.  The barely two weeks old Summer of Love, as proclaimed by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin, suffered a setback.

The city of CHOP, formerly known as CHAZ, had one too many gunshot casualties resulting in either death or hospitalization.   And, as a result, Durkan indicates the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) will be shut down following those shootings that occurred on Saturday and Sunday of Father’s Day Weekend.  Apparently, she only recognized the unsettled settlement as CHAZ.

But almost simultaneously, on the other coast in Washington DC, up popped the new city of BHAZ last evening.  BHAZ is the shortened name for the Black House Autonomous Zone.  The Movement moves quickly.

CHAZ built a wall, had security if you want to call it that, and had a food supply-the guerilla garden.  But, it didn’t have a hospital built yet to care for it’s wounded.  It used neighboring Seattle for that.   And, it was far too soon for them to get a chance to erect statues to honor the CHAZ city founders, though there was space created.

BHAZ was building a wall well into last evening, occupied a church, and was diligently working on the food supply chain.  Demonstrators in BHAZ have apparently set up their own restaurant called, “Earl’s First Amendment Grill,” offering “free food for freedom fighters,” according to signs in the area.  If they get more time to develop their new city than their brother CHAZ from another mother did, then maybe they can construct a hospital and even a college to educate its young.

Could it be free health care, free tuition, and free food? That would be the Triple Crown of accommodations and the envy of cities nationwide.

One individual could be heard saying, “Welcome to the AZ. You are now leaving the U.S.”  Black House AZ might have one big problem.  Its stake in the ground might be too close to the White House where an angry man with orange hair lives.  Orange isn’t going to back the new black house where there are no men in blue as Durkin did briefly with CHAZ.  Isn’t that exactly what they want?

“Numerous people arrested in D.C. for the disgraceful vandalism,” the president wrote.  “10 years in prison under the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act,” he added. “Beware.”

Another Sin City, aka Las Vegas, is not opening but is reopening.  They likely are offering long odds that BHAZ lasts very long.

So what comes after CHAZ and BHAZ?

Logically it would be AHAZ, which is exactly what the malcontents are making out of this country.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Summer

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The weekend has come and gone.  But the Summer of Love rolls on.  Ten Nuggets that range from this to that await.

  1.  The Summer of Love rolls on, but the occupied zone CHOP had some rough weather roll in.  Tent city had yet another shooting overnight.  One person was dead and one injured on Saturday.  All of the wounded from last night were transported to the hospital via private cars.  The front gate guards and others prohibited the police to come in.  And, the police stood down.  And apparently the city leadership either ordered it so, or complied.   Astonishing really.  We wrote a week ago that you could watch it implode soon.  And, here we are.
  2. Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally fizzled badly Saturday when so many before it sizzled.  What went wrong?  Waining interest?  Doubtful, but not out of the question.  Covid-19 fears?  Maybe.  The racially charged threat of violence?  Maybe.  The arena looked empty and more often than not sounded subdued.  Trump sounded tired.  So did his act.
  3. The differences between him and hiding Joe Biden are so great it says here that he should pivot a bit and take the country through why he thinks his approach is better.  His base is as secure as the anti-Trump base is.  Both are fighting for the very few who claim to be undecided.  Maybe he was rusty like his hair color.  With no rallies in months and months was Tulsa like a warm-up band?  If so, he was singing out of key.
  4. With Mrs. Butterworth still on life support, Eskimo Pie got a terminal pie in the eye.  That’s right, no more Eskimo Pies.   Eskimo was a term that was mostly used for a handful of Native American tribes that lives in Alaska and other Arctic areas including Canda and Greenland.  In 1977 the reference was replaced by “Inuit” people or “Native Alaskans” depending.  A quick 43 years later Dreyer’s Ice Cream Company realized it was offensive.  Eskimo meant “eaters of raw meat.”  Raw meat has vitamin D in it to help with the long winter months.
  5. At least they can still enjoy their igloo’s for now.  But, should the Igloo Corporation change its namesake product as well?  If so, then the Inuit’s might then be homeless vegans.  Well, at least CHOP city isn’t too far away.
  6. Yesterday before the NASCAR Cup Race at Talledega Speedway in Alabama a plane carrying a Confederate Flag and the slogan “defund NASCAR” flew overhead.  While everyone was looking up someone slipped into Bubba Wallace’s garage and left a noose.  The  Washington Post’s Liz Clarke, who has extensively covered NASCAR, noted how closely the organization restricts access even when there isn’t a pandemic. It “controls entry into its garages,” she wrote. “Not just anyone can get into a garage stall.” The Speedway, as of Monday morning, has not commented on the incident, but there are cameras in the garages.  Something doesn’t add all of the ways up here.  Roll the tape.
  7.  The North Face is threatening to pull ads from Facebook and Instagram if Zuckerberg doesn’t agree to their demands to censor “hate speech” and whatever other types of posts it doesn’t agree with.   Other brands are expected to follow.  Facebook is a private company.   It can do as it pleases.  The North Face is a private company.  It can do as it pleases.  We heard that The Tucker Carlson Show has a few ad slots open up recently if The North Face wants to spend its advertising dollars elsewhere.  Every mountain has four sides.  Recognizing only the north face doesn’t seem inclusive.
  8. With so much attention being placed on the COVID-19 crisis and ending “systemic racism” do you worry that the biggest existential threat to our globe is being forgotten?  Experts Cory Booker, Liz Warren ( she didn’t check the “Eskimo” box on her Harvard app, she checked Native American), Bernie Sanders, and Jay Inslee told you all about it a few months, that seem like years, back.  It’s climate change, of course.  Suddenly talking about it seems so 2019.  Fear not, it’ll be important again before November 3rd.  It’s only a matter if it gets oxygen before or after another “war on women” crisis.  Miami is taking on water dammit.  At least CHOP was founded on high ground.
  9.  Will the NBA or MLB play again in 2020?  Meanwhile, the NFL seems like it’s full steam ahead.  Something doesn’t add all of the ways up here either.  MLB  has millionaires arguing with billionaires as an added eyesore to COVID-19 problem.  If the NFL mandates social distancing in the stands will it also mandate it on the field?  Spread offenses will have never looked so spread.  Huddles will be anything but.  Should the referees wear a mask?  Or, would you prefer that they wear a muzzle?  CHOP might field a team.  They want no referees at all!
  10.  Golfer Nick Whatley tested positive before round two of the RBC Heritage PGA event on Hilton Head Island Friday.  But the tournament played on as it should.  Even if you aren’t a golf fan you have to love the way the island and the course looked on HD TV.  It was a peaceful escape.  It’s a beauty, and it’s unique.   It’s so Pete Dye.  And it has stood the test of time quite nicely.   So will we.

Keep your head down.  It’s but two weeks from the Fourth of July.  That’s only 25 Zoom calls from now.

You remember it.  It’s when we celebrate our freedom and independence from oppression.

Pray for Mrs. Butterworth

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

BBR was dark yesterday.  Did you miss us?  We missed you.

We took the day off with our colleagues to reflect on the passing of two family members.  It’s tough to lose one that you are close to, much less two.

Gone is an aunt, and shockingly just hours afterward, an uncle.  Sometimes the will to live goes shortly after one loses a loved one.

RIP Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.  Jemima lived a very long and profitable life.  Born in 1889 she passed at an unbelievable 131 years of age.  Ben wasn’t as healthy nor as wealthy but still lived a productive life.  He was born in the early ’40s, lived into his late ’70s, though an exact birth date is unknown.

And, there’s never two without three you know?  Mrs. Butterworth is on life support.  “We understand that our actions help play an important role in eliminating racial bias and as a result, we have begun a complete brand and packaging review on Mrs. Butterworth’s,” Conagra Brands Communications Manager Dan Skinner told Forbes.

You begin to wonder if it’s more than just being syrup that might be detrimental to one’s health.

Aunt Jemima met her demise for looking (and in early media sounding like) far too much like a stereotypical black woman working in a white family’s kitchen.

Uncle Ben met his maker as critics have pointed out the problematic use of a black man to be the face of a white company, noting that black men were often referred to as “boy” or “uncle” to avoid calling them “Mr.” during the country’s Jim Crow era.  The name “Uncle Ben’s” came from founder Gordon Harwell and his business partner who discussed a famed Texas farmer referred to as Uncle Ben, known for his rice.

Uncle Ben underwent plastic surgery in 2007 to extend his life.   The cosmetic procedure allowed Ben to be portrayed as a businessman, according to The New York Times.  It wasn’t enough in the end.

You have to wonder if these two icons of the food industry would be worthy of being honored with a statue.  Though, these days and times, that might not be the best idea either.

Soon maybe someone who is as “white as rice,” and is more woke than any other bloke, will suggest that black-eyed peas could meet the grim reaper next.  “Black-eyed,” you ask, is different as it isn’t a brand name?  There is no need to draw the line there to end this systemic racism.  You only eat them every New Year’s Day anyway.

Names are toppling almost as fast as statues in our cancel culture.  It’s got to be time to get after a few more statues, too.

How long before the cry begins to dynamite down the faces on Mt. Rushmore?  It could use a little cosmetic surgery as well.  Washington and Jefferson were slave owners.  Lincoln statues, which puzzles us, are being torn down too.  And Teddy Roosevelt didn’t belong up there anyway.   His presence is like Trent Dilfer winning a Super Bowl.

At least we won’t have to change the mountain’s name.  Or, will we?

 

 

The Endless Summer of Love

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In 2020, the June solstice is this coming Saturday, June 20th, marking the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.   It’s also known as the longest day of the year.  

But, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin couldn’t help herself.  She proclaimed last Friday, a full eight days early that this was already a “Summer of Love.”  Her early proclamation stemmed from her enthusiasm after a visit to the six city square blocks she forfeited to The Movement.  The Movement has created a city within the Emerald City you know.
They call it CHAZ (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone).  Or, they called it CHAZ.  Over the weekend, verbal and physical disagreements over the name mushroomed out of the groundswell.  It’s now attempting to rebrand itself as CHOP.  That’s the acronym for Capitol Hill Organized(or Occupied) Protest.  What’s in a name anyway?  The Movement moves fast.
It moved fast enough to create a border with vehicles and fencing blocking off the occupied area.  It requires an ID to get in.  It patrols its periphery with armed guards carrying concealed weapons.  It throws (literally) people out that it doesn’t like or agree with.  It sounds similar to the very concerns that they are protesting against.
Leaders (we use the term loosely) stated that they have no intent to cede from the U.S.  Too bad.
It’s even turned a city park into a makeshift farm.  Occupier Marcus Henderson calls in “guerilla gardening.”  The group is “trying to rethink public spaces into places that also nourish us.”  Is there a better example of “woke” than that, ever?
The Seattle Times wrote that it’s a “festival-like atmosphere.”  Seattle’s Bureau of Tourism must be champing at the bit to market it.  Occupiers quickly reminded the reporter that the takeover is a protest against systemic racism and police violence.  That’s two worthy causes.  We’ll see how they police themselves as the start inside has been rough and tumble.  The judge and jury seem to be limited to raising your fist and voice thus far.
Thank goodness it’s only the Summer of Love.  Everyone will need to get home by Fall to get the mail-in ballots mailed to them.  We’re assuming that the occupants actually have a permanent home of course.

School’s out for summer too.  And Saturday in New Orleans John McDonogh’s statue was out as well.  Protesters there had enough.  They toppled it and carried it and threw it into the Mississippi River.  McDonogh was a slave owner.  Although during his life McDonogh was an infamous miser, he left the bulk of his close to $2 million fortune to the cities of Baltimore and New Orleans for the purpose of building public schools for poor children—specifically, white and freed black children. This was unprecedented and proved controversial.  The New Orleans public school system had been established in 1841, but the McDonogh Fund facilitated major expansion. Eventually, over 30 schools were built.

The NOLA public school system achieved a second to none status across America back then.  Now, it’s deteriorated to one that’s second to all.

Who knew that tossing a statue of a known slave owner turned philanthropist could solve the educational system’s failures?  It won’t, but many will say it’s a start.  McDonogh’s money then in today’s dollars is $92 million.  Back then it was a start.

Meanwhile, Atlanta’s summer isn’t off to a lovely start.  A suspect is shot running away from the cops. The police chief resigns.  A Wendy’s gets burned to the ground near where it happened.

What America needs right now actually is a Coke and a smile.  Then we could teach the world to sing.   

What’s better than guerilla gardened apple trees and perfect harmony in 2020, a year when every day feels like the longest day of the year?

Seeing Red, White, and Feeling Blue.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Do the events of the last few weeks leave you feeling blue?  Are you so mad that you are seeing red?  Both?

NASCAR announced yesterday that they have seen enough blue and red flying around at their raceways that they have banned the display of the Confederate flag at all events going forward.  This has made Bubba Wallace very happy.  Some say that he even helped save NASCAR from itself.

Do you know who Bubba is?  He’s a successful NASCAR driver and he’s black.  Tell the truth.  It will set you free.  When you read this did you have an image of who Bubba was?  If so, are you prejudiced?  He’s not just another Bubba from Alabama.

Another Bubba, this one a professional golfer named Bubba Watson, bought a car a while back.  It wasn’t just any car though.  Two years after his first tour victory, Watson acquired his dream set of wheels, known as the General Lee, for $110,000 at the 2012 Barrett-Jackson automobile auction in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The problem was that the car featured in the hit TV show Dukes of Hazzard had the Confederate flag painted on the roof.  Bubba said enough is enough back in 2017 and painted over it.  “Obviously I love the show,” said Watson, who owns the “Dukes of Hazzard” DVD collection. “But the flag is offensive to some people. There’s been enough buzz. I thought it was the right gesture for me to do.”  Shouldn’t he rename the car as well?

Racecar here, race war there.

Jeff Foxworthy wrote a few jokes about people named Bubba along the way.  The link is a 2015 video of Jeff explaining to Jimmy Fallon how the one-liners came about-innocently. They made Jeff famous.  You know the “you know” jokes.  For example, “you know that you’re a redneck when your first name is Bubba.”  Fallon said that he loved them and thought that they were so funny.  That’s way back when we could laugh about each other and enjoy our differences.

Fallon should know.  He apologized last month for his Saturday Night Live skit of 20 years ago when he wore “blackface.”  Should Fallon have been fired for that transgression? One month’s time might have made a big difference to that answer.  And, Fallon again seems on the insensitive side for laughing at Foxworthy’s jokes.  Should he apologize again?  Or, are redneck jokes still funny?

And, what about Foxworthy?  Is his gross insensitivity to “rednecks” just as bad as wearing blackface?  The answer is no, not as of today.  Maybe never.

Or, does that depend if you hail from a blue state or a red state?

And people say they don’t see color.  After we finish with all of the rhetoric and get rid of all of the symbolism we should ask them again.

 

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-The Movement

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We pick up where we left off yesterday.  But with much ground to cover we choose the Ten Piece Nuggets route.  The Movement moves fast.  We’re listening, learning, and trying desperately to keep up.   Some of this, some of that, and a big serving of “huh?” is below.

  1.  We concluded our rebuttal yesterday stating that blaming the plight of others with the guilt trip of “white privilege” is a “tough sell.”  Unlike Drew Brees, we stand by what we say.  He’s still apologizing.
  2. But one of our astute readers thinks The Movement has a marketing problem, not a selling problem.  Sunday’s brushfire “Defund the Police” turned into yesterday’s wildfire.  We stand by what our astute reader says.  This one is a bad, spelled BAD, optical.  Many of the same people who cheered on or participated in vandalism, looting, arson, and violence now want us to defund the police.
  3. Thank goodness PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor clarified the phrase for those of us trying desperately to keep up. “Activists calling for defunding the police are not always calling for dismantling departments.   In many cases, it means redirecting funds from police departments to other parts of society that help people like housing, education, and communities.”  Feel better?
  4.  No less than three states already have legislation (boy they can write fast) put forth to do just that in one form or another.  New York and California lead the way.  Surprised?  The third state is either Delaware or New Hampshire.  Like Joe Biden, we can’t remember one from the other.  Another seven states are grumbling to do the same.
  5. If you are wondering where this defunding push goes, so are a lot of other people.  Thankfully a Rasmussen(we think) poll conducted just months back revealed some amazing stats.  Sixty-four percent of the polled were white, while 12% were black.  That is a statistically meaningful representation of the US.  White folks responded 72% affirmatively to “strongly agree” or “agree” that the police departments around the US were doing a good job.  Black folks?  Drum roll.  Exactly 72% responded that same way as well.  Both races also exactly “strongly disagreed” at only a 5% response rate.
  6.  This makes us wonder.  Is this an extremely well organized and funded disruption in an election year, or is this a 1968 civil rights movement?  People will be really disappointed if it’s just the former.  It’s more than odd that race relations seem to really heat up every four years coinciding with elections.
  7. We’ve gone from #aparttogether to #togetherapart in just a few weeks.  The enemy that we couldn’t see united us for a few weeks.  Protests to go back to work were frowned upon (could be violent and could ignite COVID-19) and started pulling us apart.  The enemy that we could see on a video kneeling on another’s throat seemed to unite us for a couple of days.  Then protests of a different sort (are violent and could ignite COVID-19 but that is now ok) have pulled us apart.  So much for catchy hashtags.
  8. Where is our leadership?  Trump tweets, but has resisted addressing the nation as a whole about the resistance. Is it “if you have nothing good to say then say nothing at all?”  It’s a rare silent moment for him.   Joe Biden saw his shadow in February and has been sheltering in his basement all spring.  The presumptive Democratic nominee is in Houston today comforting the Floyd family.  How thoughtful.
  9. The Minneapolis mayor attended a rally Sunday.  It didn’t go so well.  Two weeks ago he told the nation that the video he watched showed “a murderer who should be arrested immediately.”  He basically told his police to stand down.  Sunday he said into a bullhorn that he would not support the abolishment of the city police.  The crowd didn’t like that.  He walked out.  The city leader walked out.  Yesterday he stated that he looked forward to working with his city council who have 9 of 13 votes to defund the police.  He has perfected the art of using a blowtorch to put out a fire in a very short period of time.  He asked Trump for 57 million to rebuild what he greenlit. And his city now agrees with the nation.  He once was woke. Now, he’s a joke.  The Movement moves fast.
  10.  Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Jerry Nadler led another 20 or so Democratic congressional members in a silent tribute to George Floyd on Monday as they unveiled a package of sweeping policing reforms in his name. They knelt for eight minutes, 46 seconds.  Nadler actually stood.  He stands with the cause, he just can’t kneel for the cause.  Pelosi knelt with the cause, then couldn’t stand.  She blamed it on high heels.  Weird.  She usually blames Trump for all missteps.

Remember “if the glove does not fit, you must acquit?”  How about “if they defund, we want a tax refund?”

Lighten Up Already. Not Yet.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We’ve had more than a few requests to lighten up our subject matter recently.  We hear you.  We’d love to.

America needs to find a way to lighten up as well.  America doesn’t hear you.  Not yet.  We’d love for it to be able to do so.

Sadly, we continue into week three with violence against property, civilians, and police officers.  The dialogue that begins around a white Minneapolis police officer killing a black man has metastasized from excessive police force against African Americans to white privilege, inequality, reparations, it’s Trump’s fault, and everywhere in between.   It’s lit a mental fire and in some cases a physical fire around the globe.

We have a series of sentences written as one comment, sparked by a recent column of ours and subsequent comments made about it, below.    We applaud the writer, who is an avid reader of ours, for taking the time to write it.  The points articulated are important to the writer and cut closer and closer to the core.  If they make you feel uncomfortable it might be why the protest side won’t ease up.  It seems like they have had it.  And they want to be heard.  They should be.   And, many who look down their nose at the protests turned violent have had it as well.

BBR won’t cure what ails us today.  We won’t cure cancer tomorrow either.  But we all should always try our best.    After all, we feel like in all of what we have read or heard, to stop talking now would produce more of the same outcomes of the past.  The present voices don’t want that.  We understand that.  What we don’t understand is some of the logic and feelings that got us to ground zero.  Our attempt at an honest and direct rebuttal follows in italics. 

1,000 people were killed by police last year, of that 24% of those were blacks despite making up 13% of the population. What percent deserved to die regardless of color?  While this stat is presumed accurate it’s a slippery slope comparison.  What percent of the crimes committed in America were perpetrated by blacks?  We’ve seen a report that shows 44% of the murders were, as one example.  And over 80% of those were by black men.  Black men make up 6% of the total population.  So if we extrapolate, about 34% of murders in this country are committed by 6% of its population. That’s five times, and nearly six times, more murder than its representative population.    

Being black in America is considered a crime when it comes to law enforcement and the preconceived views and treatment afforded to them.  We don’t doubt that.  A thorough examination of police behavior would be applauded by many.  Ask any white or Latino how they feel about interacting with police officers.  It’s a broken relationship.  The “probable cause” laws should be thoroughly reexamined now, then reformed.  But, you can’t sweep George Floyd’s LONG rap sheet under the rug either.  IN NO WAY DID HE DESERVE TO DIE, but he put himself into a bad spot many, many times. We know that and he surely did too. The best way to avoid bad outcomes at the hand of the law is to follow the law.  He wasn’t following it this time either.

The fact that you don’t feel you have white privilege or have never benefited from white privileged is exactly the problem. This is unfortunate.  We now have the blame game pointing fingers at successful people when the problem might be what we aren’t doing to provide equal footing to all.  It feels like white people only succeed because they are white.  We should somehow all feel guilty about their success.  That’s a tough sell. 

You grew up in an America that opens doors to white privileged males like yourself which is why you view it through your white lens.  You’re white and you can’t see what I’m saying.  But, I’m white and I can.  I’m more open-minded than you.  Maybe.  Or maybe we just don’t see it the same.   

Loans, schooling acceptance, professors, business applications, clients, the list is endless. Some statistical proof here might help with this endless list. We don’t dismiss the claim, just wonder it’s pervasiveness.  Professors?  Doubtful.   It makes you wonder why Elizabeth Warren felt the need to check the Native American box on her college app though. 

Those that don’t see themselves as white privilege or view their success purely as a product of “hard work” do it because it serves them not to see it. Or, not.  Maybe they are proud and should be.  Throwing all successful whites into one bucket seems a bit prejudiced to us.  Success stories that started from the ground up while overcoming huge odds are plentiful. 

We come to feel entitled to that advantage.  Or, they took advantage of every resource available to them and we should ensure that all have the same.  Thankful could be inserted for entitled as well.  

We’re told that we deserve it and that we earned it, and we take great umbrage when that is challenged. We should help those below, not tear down those above.  Capitalism is the greatest economic driver in the world.  America leads, it doesn’t follow.  Rugged individualism never should go out of style.  We should help more see the way.

Sadly many including yourself seem threatened by this idea you made it where you are in life by anything besides “hard work privilege.” Hard work doesn’t see color. It sees success. 

Congrats on leading your business in a way that looks at talent first. We can’t follow why someone wouldn’t look at the talent first regardless of gender, race, creed, etc.  There are success stories everywhere because of it. 

Ask that diverse workforce their honest thoughts on white privilege In America and maybe that will open your eyes more than I can on how you have benefited because you are white.  It seems like that’s exactly what many have been asking these last two, now going on three, weeks.  Otherwise, it seems like we’ve wasted a lot of spray paint, rocks, tear gas, bullets, matches, and businesses.  And, we’ve cut short a few innocent lives too.  

That ends the rebuttal to the comments.  We’re listening here at BBR.  We want to continue to learn.

Regretfully we feel like the sales pitch is falling on ears that wanted to listen but are now turning deaf once again.  One reason?  In a world where everyone is a word policeman and are offended and outraged all of the time, we offer one more offensive one.

It’s “white privilege.”

It seems like an impossible sale.

We hope to lighten up tomorrow.  Every American deserves that opportunity.

 

 

 

 

Bottoms Up!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

What has 2020 had in store for us thus far?  An impeachment was followed by an all-time high on the stock market.  Shortly thereafter a killer virus caused a global pandemic and an American lockdown.  This caused the stock market to retreat beyond a third in the swiftest decent in its history.  As we emerged from our caves a very bad cop knelt on a black man’s neck in Minneapolis who died.  This lead to ten days and counting of “mostly peaceful” protests if you watch CNN, or deadly riots if you watch FOX News.

So what are we going to do for an encore?  Welp.  NASA is watching an asteroid this weekend estimated to be “the size of the Empire State building” that is hurtling towards earth.  While it’s not expected to come close enough to cause any harm we must write in full disclosure that it is 2020.

Freedom of speech has come front and center in the national dialogue (see what we did?) and that is unfortunate for two reasons.  One, it’s called freedom of speech for a reason, so why should we ever need to be concerned about it?  Two, the nation’s opportunity to discuss and debate the needed and proper outcry from the George Floyd death might get garbled by the shift.

The New York Times (the failing NYT if you ask Trump) took much heat for publishing  Senator Tom Cotton’s op-ed piece.  In it, he suggested that Trump call out the military to suppress the oppressed.  An insurrection of its own occurred inside of the NYT.  Subscribers called to cancel as they were outraged at the conservative hit piece.  The NYT staff nearly revolted too.  The paper publically regretted the error and blamed it on a rushed editorial process.  Sure.

The overriding concern was that this gave oxygen to what could put black lives in danger.  That sounds like the opposite of Black Lives Matter.  And, that’s not good for a far left-leaning paper.

A day after Drew Brees spoke his mind he changed his mind.  Then, he apologized publically via Instagram and privately to his teammates in one of those lovely company-wide Zoom conferences.  It’s a shame that WOKE world whiffed at a chance to discuss versus hush.  Thankfully, even-keeled Tony Dungy came to his defense.

During an interview on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, Dungy stood up for Brees’ freedom of speech.  “I don’t downgrade Drew for that. That’s what he said. He may not totally understand, it may have been not exactly how he wanted to express it, but he can’t be afraid to say that,” Dungy said.  We can’t just say anytime something happens that we don’t agree with, ‘I’m done with that, and I’m done with this person.’ That doesn’t make sense. We have to be better than that,” the former Indianapolis Colts coach said.  Ah, so nice to hear a fair and balanced voice of reason in this storm.

Speaking of storms, Baton Rouge and the lower LA coast is expecting flooding this weekend from tropical storm Cristobal slowly heading their way from deep in the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, at least no one was killed in riots last evening.  The stock market has had another great week to date.  The asteroid will miss us, won’t it?

Hopefully, you’re on summer hours at work by this week, or better yet on vacation.  It’s never too early to  start drinking in 2020.  Bottoms up!