This doesn't mean that we don't have personal obligations to make things better, or try and choose candidates who will not be assholes about matters. But it does mean that a short time for some introspection and a re-evaluation of our relationship with government is in order.
1. No politician is going to "fix" this. What they do, what they ALL do, is rile up the base in an effort to either get reelected, raise money so they can get reelected in the future or ensure that someone of which they approve gets elected in their place to ensure that it's their patronage system that remains intact. Obama is particularly ill-equipped to handle this due to his being possibly the most intellectually dishonest President we've had in years. Do not look to politics for hope.
2. Some of this is just noise. There are legitimate complaints yes, many legitimate complaints. I've stated before that I believe there is such a thing as "being black in the wrong place" in America and that our police too often view certain races more as threats than citizens. But there is a very vocal minority that's not really trying to solve these problems, but are acting as if they are while trying to accomplish other goals. Some people want to be "famous" in the manner of Deray McKesson. Others have it in their head that this kind of situation is the perfect chance for them to push for bigger handouts from the government. Still others just want to mess shit up. You can't deal with any of these groups but you can put a big dent in their aspirations by ignoring them and focusing on the main issue at hand: Criminal justice reform.
3. Today's media is incapable of properly telling this tale. I don't mean the hard reporters, or those that are doing real, dig-deep, investigative work. I mean the opinion-mongers, the writers like Sally Kohn, talking heads like Sean Hannity et. al. I mean the cottage industry of sycophants who have hitched their wagons to political ideals and will twist any message to reflect poorly on the "other" side, tortured logic be damned. That media is an empty shell, deserving only of mockery and derision. That media is better left on the ash-heap of history. Use their newspaper writings as kindling.
Unfortunately, America is most likely to turn to politicians to save us, the raging mob to define the issues and the media to tell us about it. I would hope that readers of this blog are a little more intelligent than that.
Still, for your viewing pleasure I present panic-man. I know that I've gotten a kick out of watching him. (He's going to be my new Twitter avatar soon.)
