March 13, 2016


News Clips For The Day

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lessons-teaneck-town-s-journey-riot-redemption-after-cop-shooting-n530531

Lessons of Teaneck: Town's Journey From Riot to Redemption After Cop Shooting
by JON SCHUPPE
NEWS MAR 13 2016, 6:09 AM ET

Photograph -- A protester smashes a Teaneck Police car during protests that followed the shooting death of Phillip Pannell , 16, by officer Gary Spath in 1990. NBC News
Video -- Flashback: N.J. Cop Acquitted In Shooting Death of Teen 1:32
Flashback: N.J. Cop Acquitted In Shooting Death of Teen 1:32
Trouble in a model town
Photograph -- Image: Thelma and Natacha Pannell. Thelma and Natacha Pannell on Friday, March 11, 2016, in Teaneck New Jersey John Makely / NBC News
Photograph -- Image: Phillip Pannell Phillip Pannell, center, with friends. (John Makely / NBC News) Courtesy of Pannell family
PlayFrom the Archives: N.J. Suburb Ripped After White Cop Shoots Black Teen


TEANECK, New Jersey — The teenager had a pistol in his pocket, and when the cops came, he bolted.

They chased him into a backyard. He stopped and began to turn. One of the officers, fearing he would shoot, fired his service revolver.

The 16-year-old victim was black. The officer was white. And that gunshot, fired nearly 26 years ago, sparked a cataclysm.

It marked the end of a life, a career and a community's idealism. It took a terrible toll on the teen's family, and on the officer, who withdrew for more than two decades before breaking his silence last week.

But the aftershock also opened a long path to healing that remains relevant today, as a wave of unrest over police killings has swept the country, cleaving communities and raising thorny questions about America's relationship with law enforcement.

TEANECK STILL STRUGGLES TO MAINTAIN RACIAL AND ETHNIC UNITY, BUT THE TOWN NOW STANDS AS A POSSIBLE LESSON FOR PLACES LIKE FERGUSON, NORTH CHARLESTON, CLEVELAND, BALTIMORE.

The crisis unfolded in Teaneck, a small suburb five miles from New York City long considered a model of racial harmony. Decades earlier, the township had fought "block-busting," a ploy by real-estate speculators to induce fear of black homeowners, and had voluntarily integrated its schools, telling the world it welcomed newcomers of all faiths and shades.

Beneath that equanimity, however, was a festering resentment over the predominantly white police force's treatment of blacks. The bullet that pierced the boy's heart shattered the façade.

That fatal encounter transformed Teaneck from a symbol of unity into one of intolerance, and plunged it into a long period of self-examination, and, eventually, recovery.

The journey remains unfinished. But Teaneck stands as a possible lesson for communities still roiling from recent police shootings: Ferguson, North Charleston, Cleveland, Baltimore, Chicago.

This wasn't supposed to happen in Teaneck. The township seemed to have it all: neat neighborhoods of single-family homes, a stable commercial district, solid schools. Decades earlier, the Army Corps of Engineers had picked Teaneck — believed to be named after a Native American term for "villages" — as an archetype of small-town America. But what made this place special in 1990 was its fiercely cultivated image of harmonious multiculturalism.

A quarter of Teaneck's 38,000 residents were black, many enticed across the Hudson River from New York to pursue middle-class lives. Another third were Jewish. Many minorities were concentrated in small areas, but the mix made most people proud.

Phillip Pannell's family moved to Teaneck chasing that middle-class dream. But his father, Phillip Sr., struggled with drugs and alcohol, which spun him into a cycle of unemployment and jail that broke the family apart. Phillip, meanwhile, was getting into fights with kids from neighboring Englewood, part of an old rivalry between the towns. The situation worsened when his mother, Thelma, moved him and his younger sister there. As a new student in Englewood, Phillip became a target.

Friends and family said Phillip felt threatened. That, they said, probably explained why, on April 10, 1990, he was carrying a beat-up starter's pistol, converted to hold bullets, that he'd found among his mother's things.

Early that evening, a man called Teaneck police and said he'd seen a boy with a gun among kids in a schoolyard. Two officers responded. One of them was Gary Spath, 29, who was born and raised in town and had followed his father onto the force.

He chased Phillip behind a house. In a quick confrontation, Spath opened fire, hitting Pannell in the back.

Some witnesses said the teen appeared to be surrendering. Spath believed otherwise.

"He had a gun in his pocket and he was going to shoot me," he later testified.

Pannell's death split residents into camps: those who believed Spath acted properly in response to a grave threat, and those who saw it as the culmination of years of harassment by biased cops. The day after the shooting, a group of black youths overturned police cars and broke shop windows. The national media showed up.

"This really opened the eyes of people," said Theodora Lacey, a civil rights leader and retired teacher. "There were these sweet young people who had grown up in an integrated setting. So it was just seemingly contrary to what we thought we were teaching and bringing about through integration — that you could have a young, white cop shoot and kill."

The marches began: college students one day, local and out-of-town activists the next, cops on another. They went on for years as the case progressed through the legal system — a grand jury's decision not to indict Spath, claims of a botched autopsy, a second that concluded bullet holes showed Pannell's hands were in the air, a new grand jury's charging Spath with manslaughter and, finally, Spath's 1992 acquittal by an all-white jury.

Image: Protesters march following the death of Phillip Pannell in teaneck, New Jersey in 1990.
Protesters march following the death of Phillip Pannell in teaneck, New Jersey in 1990. NBC News

In 1994, Pannell's family settled a civil rights lawsuit against Teaneck for nearly $200,000. The U.S. Justice Department decided against a criminal case. Eventually, the calls for justice subsided.

But not the soul-searching.

From the first sign of unrest, Teaneck leaders began organizing community meetings, tapping into a long tradition of consensus-building that had helped the township through prior crises, including a 1964 school integration fight. At these forums, students, police, elected officials and civil-rights activists confronted their differences on a range of issues: the distrust between cops and blacks, the dearth of minorities in the police department, institutional racism in the schools, white flight, falling home values. Many whites were surprised to hear blacks' complaints of everyday racist treatment.

It became clear that while their township was integrated, the people of Teaneck didn't truly know each other.

A sister's despair

Natacha Pannell was 13 when she accompanied her mother to Holy Name Hospital and watched doctors pull back the sheet that covered Phillip's body. Thelma fell to the table; Natacha picked grass out of her older brother's hair.

They didn't see the body again for several weeks, at a wake that drew hundreds, including dozens of Phillip's former classmates as well as firebrand ministers Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan. Clergy and activists placed his death on a national list of black and Hispanic people killed by white police officers.

Natacha's mother withdrew in grief. Her father joined the protesters. Natacha, desperate to understand Phillip's death, joined him.

PlayNatacha Pannell Reflects on the Death of Phillip Pannell 26 Years Later Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed
Natacha Pannell Reflects on the Death of Phillip Pannell 26 Years Later 3:40

"I felt like through marches and things like that, that I was going to be closer — closer to the truth, or closer to the reason why he wasn't with me anymore," Natacha, now 39, recalled.

The answers didn't come easily.

On the surface, Natacha seemed to do OK. She graduated high school and college, had a son, and went into community-service work. But she felt out of step with the world: picked on, angry, distrustful.

She and her mother grew distant. Her father, who'd gotten clean after Phillip's death, returned to alcohol, and for a time was homeless.

Natacha wrestled with guilt. In the weeks before the shooting, she'd seen Phillip looking for the old starter's pistol. She told him where it was, but made him promise to never take it. "For years, I felt like it was my fault," she said.

It would take decades to forgive herself.

'It's a horrible thing'

Gary Spath, a married father of young children, was suspended with pay after the shooting. Protesters accused him of racism. Jesse Jackson called him an "executioner." The media examined his service record, and found several commendations but also prior incidents in which he'd fired his weapon without hitting anyone. Spath's supporters rallied to his side, but the officer himself did not speak publicly, quietly enduring what he later described as "a living hell."

When the jury acquitted him two years later, Spath held his wife, Nancy, in a long embrace and wept, while Thelma Pannell was escorted from the courtroom, wailing. Afterward, he said his family was praying the Pannells would find peace. He retired on an accidental disability pension, for which he received monthly payments of $3,622.

Retired Teaneck Police Officer Speaks About Pannell Shooting 5:05

Spath held odd jobs and considered a return to police work. But he and his wife finally decided that the only way to rebuild their lives was to leave. They moved their three children to the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, where he found work in school security.

For a long time, Spath was angry and bitter at having been cast as a racist, trigger-happy cop. Those feelings subsided, but returned whenever he saw his name resurface in local coverage of a police shooting, or a racially charged issue.

His breaking point came in August 2014, when Ferguson, Missouri erupted in riots following a white police officer's fatal shooting of a black teenager. He saw a lot of similarities with his experience, and was maddened by new mentions of his name in the press. He began to feel the need to tell his story.

"IT'S WITH ME EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. BUT I KEEP GOING FORWARD."

In a brief interview with NBC News, Spath, now 55 and a grandfather, said he would never get over taking Phillip Pannell's life, but didn't regret what he did, because the teen posed an immediate danger.

"As right as I was in the eyes of the law, I'm a human being, and it's a horrible thing that happened," Spath said. "But I don't think I could have responded in any other way."

He broke his public silence on Wednesday, when he appeared as the keynote speaker at a police union convention in Atlantic City. In a Caesar's banquet hall, Spath shared what it's like to be the white officer who kills a young black person.

Growing up in Teaneck felt straight out of Norman Rockwell painting, he said. But the shooting's aftermath taught him about the brutal intersection of race and politics. He described the second grand jury as a "witch hunt," recalled out-of-town protesters as "thugs," and said the media "crucified me."

Today, he said, his best memories were not of the "guts and glory" aspects of police work but of playing stickball with kids, shoveling someone's driveway, changing a tire. "Those are the things I miss most," he said.

Spath credited his wife for keeping him together, saying his life was "nothing short of a miracle." Doing "positive things" helped — to an extent.

"My shooting will never go away," he said. "It's with me every day of my life. But I keep moving forward. I take each day as it comes."

Reckoning

Paul Tiernan was a lieutenant in the Teaneck Police Department, studying for a master's in criminal justice when Pannell was shot. His research focused on community policing. Most of the early programs were used in high-crime urban neighborhoods, but Tiernan saw potential in the increasingly diverse American suburbs, including his own.

Tiernan saw a link between Teaneck's troubles and an enforcement-driven police strategy that dominated in the years leading up to the Pannell shooting. The approach, driven by ticket quotas, made residents — especially blacks — feel that officers were always trying to catch them doing something wrong. Those grievances fueled the post-shooting unrest, which in turn decimated morale among police officers, who couldn't understand why the community didn't support them. Teaneck officers still recall being heckled for years with shouts of, "Don't shoot me!"

In early 1994, the department adopted Tiernan's proposal. Officers went door to door handing out surveys and introducing themselves. They hosted community meetings and set up neighborhood watch programs. They held civilian training academies to show people what it was like to be a cop. They learned how to handle touchy situations with more sensitivity.

"There had been a total break with the community, and then we got everyone talking to each other," Tiernan recalled. The program was regarded as a success, and got Tiernan appointed chief in 2003.

Similar efforts were underway elsewhere in town. The school district worked to resolve complaints that black students were being marginalized. The township built a new recreation center for kids who otherwise had few after-school opportunities. In homes and houses of worship, residents discussed the township's racial divisions.

Gradually, Teaneck regained control of its journey.

"We found that if we spoke to one another … looked each other in the eye and understood each other's perspective, there was more civility, more respect for one another," said Paul Ostrow, who was elected to the Township Council a few weeks after the shooting. "You just had to pick the right adjectives. And rather than picking hate, mistrust, separate, we picked understand, get together, rebuild."

'I believe in this town'

Shawn Robinson counted Phillip Pannell as his friend. He was 14 at the time of the shooting and lived across the street from the house where it occurred. "At that time, nothing like that had happened in our neighborhood, or to me," he recalled. "I was hurt. Traumatized."

For a long time, Robinson said, he had a hard time trusting police. But he didn't hold grudges against them, or white people. He credits Teaneck for that.

"I always had white friends, Hispanic friends," Robinson said. "I still have friends of different backgrounds, and that really comes from our upbringing, and how the town handled (the shooting). They didn't push hate on us."

"I'M PROUD OF THE WAY WE HANDLED IT, IN TERMS OF BROTHERHOOD AND MANKIND. I BELIEVE IN THE TOWN." Teaneck, he said, can show the country how to move forward.

"We didn't get the justice that we were seeking, but I'm proud of the way we handled it, in terms of brotherhood and mankind," Robinson said. "I believe in the town."

Teaneck still touts itself as a little United Nations. The mayor is a black woman. The township council includes a black, a Muslim and an Orthodox Jew. The black population has remained about the same since 1990, while many whites have left and been replaced with Hispanics. More than a third of teachers, and about 14 percent of police, are minorities.

An officer hasn't shot someone since Pannell's death, police say. The community policing bureau was discontinued in 2010, then resurrected in a more modest format.

"As tragic as the event was, something good did come out of it," said Robert Carney, who was a young officer on the night of the Pannell shooting and is now the police chief. "There's a better relationship and understanding between the community and Police Department."

But many worry that Teaneck has grown complacent. With the influx of Orthodox Jews, many of whom send their children to private schools, and the departure of other whites, the public schools have become 87 percent non-white. That leaves fewer opportunities for residents of different backgrounds to know each other. Two years ago, parents accused the police of overreacting to a prank in which 63 students, many of them black, were arrested for vandalizing the high school, drawing national headlines.

Allison Davis, a former NBC News journalist who now runs an arts advocacy organization, said the generation of residents who lived through integration and the Pannell shooting are moving away or dying.

"And so what we've got now is a community with a very, very short, or no, memory," Davis said. "We've got a community that is not quite as concerned or enlightened or cares much about what happens in these kinds of incidents."

But she added that Teaneck also has something important going for it: a history of confronting its problems.

Moving on
It took more than 20 years, but Natacha Pannell learned to cope with her brother's death.

She sought grief counseling. She practiced yoga. She started a youth service organization, Corner to Corner Community Empowerment. She enrolled in graduate school. She became active in the Black Lives Matter protest movement, and began advocating for improved relationships between police and young people. "I started realizing that I don't want to live my life like this anymore," she said. "I don't want to live my life hating police officers. I don't want to live my life hating white people. I don't want to live my life being angry … I want to be able to move on in my life, to be happy about something."

Her mother noticed the change, and agreed to get counseling herself. Last year, they shared their story at a Black Lives Matter event near Teaneck. As they walked from the podium, the song "Spread My Wings" by Troop came on. It was Phillip's favorite song in early 1990. Natacha started dancing. She told Thelma it was a sign that he approved.

The family is not healed. Natacha's father lives in a nursing home, hobbled by a stroke and diabetes. He weeps when someone brings up his son. But Natacha believes they're on the right path.

Sometimes, people ask her advice on recovering from trauma. She tells them: "Whatever happened to you, that's not who you are. It doesn't define who you are. Only you can define who you are."

Producers John Makely and Emily Christensen-Flowers contributed to this story.

Jon Schuppe JON SCHUPPE TWITTERFACEBOOKGOOGLE PLUSEMAIL
CONTRIBUTORS JOHN MAKELY and EMILY CHRISTENSEN-FLOWERS



Community Policing Defined - Community Policing Dispatch
cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/january_2008/nugget.html

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues, such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_policing

Community policing, or community-oriented policing, is a strategy of policing that focuses on police building ties and working closely with members of the communities.

In the United States, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 established the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) within the Justice Department to promote community policing. According to the definition of COPS:

Definition[edit]

Community policing is a policy that requires police to inherit a proactive approach to address public safety concerns. Community-oriented policing was a cornerstone of the Clinton Administration and gained its funding from the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. The overall assessment of community oriented policing is positive, as officers and community members both attest to its effectiveness in reducing crime and raising the sense of security in a community.[1][2]

"Community policing is a philosophy of full service personalized policing, where the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis, from a decentralized place, working in a proactive partnership with citizens to identify and solve problems."

—Bertus Ferreira[3]

Community policing creates partnerships between law enforcement agency and other organizations like government agencies, community members, nonprofit service providers, private businesses and the media. The media represents a powerful pattern by which it can communicate with the community. Community policing recognizes that police can’t solve every public safety problem alone so interactive partnerships are created. The policing uses the public for developing problem-solving solutions.

The contemporary community policing movement emphasizes changing the role of law enforcement from a static, reactive, incident-driven bureaucracy to a more dynamic, open, quality-oriented partnership with the community.[4][5] Community policing philosophy emphasizes that police officers work closely with local citizens and community agencies in designing and implementing a variety of crime prevention strategies and problem-solving measures.[6][7][8][9]

Many common elements in community-oriented policing include:

°Relying on community-based crime prevention by utilizing civilian education, neighborhood watch, and a variety of other techniques, as opposed to relying solely on police patrols.

°Re-structuralizing of patrol from an emergency response based system to emphasizing proactive techniques such as foot patrol.

°Increased officer accountability to civilians they are supposed to serve.

°Decentralizing the police authority, allowing more discretion amongst lower-ranking officers, and more initiative expected from them.[10]

History[edit]

The community policing era in the United States began in the 1980s. Public satisfaction with the police both decreased trust with law enforcement and increased fear of crime.[citation needed] This disorganization among the community can heavily affect the fear of crime as it can make you afraid to leave your home or walk down the street, leaving you figuratively confined to your home.[11]

Sir Robert Peel came up with nine principles to modern law enforcement in 1829, known as the Peelian Principles. Peel's principles explain that there is an alternative to using military force, in that police are there to prevent crimes. Police need to gain willing cooperation from the public and will lose public cooperation proportionately to the amount of force used in situations. The police need to maintain relationships with the public and keep their respect. These principles provide a basis for community policing in the current U.S. law enforcement.[citation needed]


Day 127 - Cycle all out day West Midlands Police, United Kingdom. Local cycle patrol officers concentrate on troubled areas reported by the community.

Community policing was derived from the “Broken Windows” theory; which suggested that since a broken window is not against the law then it would be ignored by the “professional” police officer. However, it is an indicator of social disorganization, and therefore requires the attention of the community-orientated officer. Research by Michigan criminal justice academics and practitioners started being published as early as the 1980s.[12][13] As a Professor of Criminal Justice, Bob Trajanowcz in the late 1990's influenced many future law enforcement leaders on how to implement elements of community policing [14][15] One experiment in Flint, Michigan, involved foot patrol officers be assigned to a specific geographic area to help reduce crime in hot spots. Many community-oriented police structures focus on assigning officers to a specific area called a “beat” and having those officers become familiar with the that area or beat through a process of “beat profiling.” The officers are then taught how to design specific patrol strategies to deal with the types of crime that are experienced in that beat.[10]

These ideas are implemented in a multipronged approach using a variety of aspects such as broadening the duties of the police officer and individualizing the practices to the community they’re policing. Refocusing police efforts to face to face interactions in smaller patrol areas to with an emphasized goal of preventing criminal activity instead of responding to it. Solving problems using input from the community they’re policing and making an effort increase service oriented positive interactions with police.[16]

Community alienation[edit]

The experience of community alienation among police officers is closely tied to the experience of mastery, the state of mind in which an individual feels autonomous and experiences confidence in his or her ability, skill, and knowledge to control or influence external events.[20] Community policing requires departments to flatten their organizational pyramid and place even more decision-making and discretion in the hands of line officers. As the level of community alienation or isolation that officers experience increases, there will be a corresponding decrease in officers' sense of mastery in carrying out their expanded discretionary role. Second, a strong sense of community integration for police officers would seem to be vital to the core community policing focus of proactive law enforcement. Proactive enforcement is usually defined as the predisposition of police officers to be actively committed to crime prevention, community problem-solving, and a more open, dynamic quality-oriented law enforcement-community partnership.[6][7][21]

A lack of community support resulted in an increased sense of alienation and a greater degree of apathy among police officers.[22][23][24] A lack of community support and working in a larger populated community was associated with an increased sense of alienation and a greater degree of inactivity among police officers.[25] An increased sense of alienation resulted in a greater degree of negative feelings and lethargy among police officers. The more police officers felt socially isolated from the community they served, the more they withdrew and the more negative they felt towards its citizens.[6][26]

Evaluating Community Policing[edit]

Traditionally determining whether police or policies are effective or not may be done by evaluating the crime rate for a geographic area. A crime rate in the United States is determined using the FBI’s "Uniform Crime Reports" (UCR) or "National Incident Based Reporting System" (NIBRS) as well as the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ "National Crime Victimization Survey" (NCVS).[27][28]

Community policing is more complicated than simply comparing crime rates and there is also no universally accepted criteria for evaluating community policing. However there are some commonly used structures. One possible way to determine whether or not community policing is effective in an area is for officers and key members of the community to set a specific mission and goals when starting out. Once specific goals are set, participation at every level is essential in obtaining commitment and achieving goals. Street-level officers, supervisors, executives, and the entire community should feel the goals represent what they want their police department to accomplish.[10]

The U.S. federal government continues to provide support for incorporating community policing into local law enforcement practices through funding of research such as through the National Center for Community Policing at Michigan State University,[29] small 'COPs grants' to local agencies, and technical assistance.[30]



NBC -- Beneath that equanimity, however, was a festering resentment over the predominantly white police force's treatment of blacks. The bullet that pierced the boy's heart shattered the façade. …. From the first sign of unrest, Teaneck leaders began organizing community meetings, tapping into a long tradition of consensus-building that had helped the township through prior crises, including a 1964 school integration fight. At these forums, students, police, elected officials and civil-rights activists confronted their differences on a range of issues: the distrust between cops and blacks, the dearth of minorities in the police department, institutional racism in the schools, white flight, falling home values. Many whites were surprised to hear blacks' complaints of everyday racist treatment. …. Afterward, he said his family was praying the Pannells would find peace. He retired on an accidental disability pension, for which he received monthly payments of $3,622. …. Spath held odd jobs and considered a return to police work. But he and his wife finally decided that the only way to rebuild their lives was to leave. They moved their three children to the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, where he found work in school security. …. "I don't want to live my life hating police officers. I don't want to live my life hating white people. I don't want to live my life being angry … I want to be able to move on in my life, to be happy about something." Her mother noticed the change, and agreed to get counseling herself. Last year, they shared their story at a Black Lives Matter event near Teaneck. .... Tiernan saw a link between Teaneck's troubles and an enforcement-driven police strategy that dominated in the years leading up to the Pannell shooting. The approach, driven by ticket quotas, made residents — especially blacks — feel that officers were always trying to catch them doing something wrong. Those grievances fueled the post-shooting unrest, which in turn decimated morale among police officers, who couldn't understand why the community didn't support them. Teaneck officers still recall being heckled for years with shouts of, "Don't shoot me!" …. Teaneck still touts itself as a little United Nations. The mayor is a black woman. The township council includes a black, a Muslim and an Orthodox Jew. The black population has remained about the same since 1990, while many whites have left and been replaced with Hispanics. More than a third of teachers, and about 14 percent of police, are minorities. An officer hasn't shot someone since Pannell's death, police say. The community policing bureau was discontinued in 2010, then resurrected in a more modest format.”


Wikipedia --
The experience of community alienation among police officers is closely tied to the experience of mastery, the state of mind in which an individual feels autonomous and experiences confidence in his or her ability, skill, and knowledge to control or influence external events.[20] Community policing requires departments to flatten their organizational pyramid and place even more decision-making and discretion in the hands of line officers. ....Community-oriented policing was a cornerstone of the Clinton Administration and gained its funding from the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. The overall assessment of community oriented policing is positive, as officers and community members both attest to its effectiveness in reducing crime and raising the sense of security in a community.[1][2] .... Sir Robert Peel came up with nine principles to modern law enforcement in 1829, known as the Peelian Principles. Peel's principles explain that there is an alternative to using military force, in that police are there to prevent crimes. Police need to gain willing cooperation from the public and will lose public cooperation proportionately to the amount of force used in situations. The police need to maintain relationships with the public and keep their respect. These principles provide a basis for community policing in the current U.S. law enforcement.[citation needed] .... A lack of community support and working in a larger populated community was associated with an increased sense of alienation and a greater degree of inactivity among police officers.[25] An increased sense of alienation resulted in a greater degree of negative feelings and lethargy among police officers. The more police officers felt socially isolated from the community they served, the more they withdrew and the more negative they felt towards its citizens.[6][26]


Commentary:

"I always had white friends, Hispanic friends," Robinson said. "I still have friends of different backgrounds, and that really comes from our upbringing, and how the town handled (the shooting). They didn't push hate on us." The story of Teaneck’s police issues shows the same old policing errors, disparities in real justice based on race/ethnicity, police “fear” while confronting suspects, and a lack of communication/understanding/empathy between non-white or poor communities and officers.

Some aspects of community policing such as ongoing communications through group meetings has been practiced since that incident years ago and not one officer has shot anyone since Pannell’s death. That is, to me, a proper goal of the police department, not merely how many tickets have been given out and arrests made to beef up department statistics, and in Ferguson to bring in more income for the city’s coffers in the form of fines, but to maintain a reasonable order without the egregious violence of “broken windows” policing philosophy. It’s clear to me that if a crime has not been committed there should be no arrest, shooting or harassment/rousting of citizens.

I know race and bullying are undoubtedly still there in Teaneck due to the innate sinfulness of the human species, but when the police department heads get behind stopping police brutality issues, something can be done. It is, of course, always “a work in progress” rather than a situation of constant and perfect peace. As the young man Robinson said, "I'M PROUD OF THE WAY WE HANDLED IT, IN TERMS OF BROTHERHOOD AND MANKIND. I BELIEVE IN THE TOWN." Teaneck, he said, can show the country how to move forward.” That’s what I want all people, even the poor and racially disparate, to feel about their city. Believe me, crime will go down if that happens. All in all, I'm encouraged compared to the way I felt when the events at Ferguson and then one after another cities across the country. Everybody, keep your cell phone cameras handy and watch everything that happens.


TRUMP STORIES

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-threatens-to-set-supporters-on-sanders-rallies/

Trump threatens to set supporters on Sanders' rallies
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
March 13, 2016, 1:40 PM

Photograph -- U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump acknowledges supporters as he arrives for a campaign rally in Bloomington, Illinois March 13, 2016. REUTERS


After widespread protests continue to disrupt Donald Trump rallies nationwide, the GOP front-runner is threatening to fight back with a dose of the same medicine because he believes the Bernie Sanders campaign is behind them.

While the protests at Trump rallies have been organized in part by some of Bernie Sanders' supporters, the candidate himself said in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation," he does not condone any violent actions.

However, the GOP front-runner isn't buying those claims. In a tweet early Sunday morning, Trump warned his Democratic rival to "be careful" because "my supporters will go to yours":

Donald J. Trump ✔ ‎@realDonaldTrump
Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disruptors aren't told to go to my events. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!
7:48 AM - 13 Mar 2016

Sanders has repeatedly denied that he has ever encouraged his supporters to protest at Trump's campaign events.

"To suggest that our campaign is telling people to disrupt his campaign is a lie. We don't," Sanders said in a "Face the Nation" interview Sunday. "And we have millions of supporters and some of them will do what they do. But our campaign has never, not once, organized any effort to disrupt Mr. Trump's rallies or anybody else's rallies. That's not what we do."

Trump's threat to sic his own supporters on Sanders comes just days after tensions at his events reached a violent peak.

On Friday, several fights between supporters and anti-Trump activists broke out at a Chicago rally, leading to multiple arrests and even the detention of one CBS News reporter covering the protests.

Earlier in the week, police complaints were also filed against Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, after a Breitbart reporter accused him of manhandling her after a press conference. And on Thursday, a rally attendee was arrested after he punched a peaceful protester in the face (Trump has pledged to look into paying the legal fees for the man).

Trump, for his part, has denied that he condones any violence at his rallies.

But in Sunday's "Face the Nation" interview, Trump attempted to justify the actions of the man who sucker-punched a protester.

"Well, I'm going to review it. I understand--and I don't condone violence and I don't condone what happened to him and what he did because he got carried away and it's very unfortunate," he said. "But this kid was walking out, and I understand he had a certain finger up in the air as he's walking out, and this man became very angry."

"Again, I don't condone violence, but the kid shouldn't have had the finger up in the air either, if that's what he did," Trump said, calling it a "terrible gesture."



“But in Sunday's "Face the Nation" interview, Trump attempted to justify the actions of the man who sucker-punched a protester. "Well, I'm going to review it. I understand--and I don't condone violence and I don't condone what happened to him and what he did because he got carried away and it's very unfortunate," he said. "But this kid was walking out, and I understand he had a certain finger up in the air as he's walking out, and this man became very angry." …. "To suggest that our campaign is telling people to disrupt his campaign is a lie. We don't," Sanders said in a "Face the Nation" interview Sunday. "And we have millions of supporters and some of them will do what they do. But our campaign has never, not once, organized any effort to disrupt Mr. Trump's rallies or anybody else's rallies. That's not what we do."


I have been reading pro-Sanders commenters for the several months since he began to run for the nomination, and they do state views which Trump and the GOP find overly democratic, but they do not recommend violence. We do believe in rallies and protests, however, and if a “peaceful protest” is to be considered a provocation or a riot, that may be a problem.

The Rightists of all kinds have been emerging from their dens since Obama, a black man, was elected President, and the economic and social progressives have started standing up against them. There really is a sense of desperation and anger in both groups. Economic and social divisions are more extreme than ever, at least since the 1920s, and the result is more conflict. I personally feel it’s a matter of self-defense as long it is done without violence, however. We do also need to avoid giving our political adversaries “the bird,” shouting insults, and in general getting too close to them physically. That's an odd-sounding statement, but there’s a psychological principle called “personal space.” Violating that space is likely to start a fight, or in these sorts of cases a real “roundhouse brawl.” If anyone has a weapon, it’s only a matter of time until someone will be killed.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-journalist-tensions-at-donald-trump-chicago-rally-were-unprecedented/

CBS News journalist: Tensions at Trump rally "unprecedented"
By EMILY SCHULTHEIS FACE THE NATION
March 13, 2016, 10:42 AM


As tensions boil over into violence and chaos at rallies for GOP front-runner Donald Trump, Sopan Deb, the CBS News journalist who was detained and charged with resisting arrest at a Donald Trump rally in Chicago this weekend, said what happened was "unprecedented," even for Trump's campaign.

In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation," Deb, who has covered the Trump campaign since last summer, explained what transpired Friday night when he was handcuffed by police during a particularly raucous rally.

The event began tense, he said, and quickly devolved into "total pandemonium" as multiple groups of protesters created disruptions around the rally space.

"It was tense straight from the start--there were protesters, hundreds of them, that took over multiple sections of the arena here last night and there were mini-scuffles that broke out before the rally was supposed to start," he said.

Deb said that when he went outside, he saw a group of police officers running toward some of the protesters, so he followed along.

"I get to this crowd and there is a man being arrested his head is bloodied on the ground," he said. "And so I'm shooting this, and the protesters at this point have shut down the street and the police officers are saying that we need to clear the street."

"Another scuffle breaks out and I'm shooting this scuffle and before I knew it a police officer, at least once police officer, maybe multiple, pulled me down from the back of my hoodie and threw me to the ground and bashed my face into the street and then this police officer put his boot to my neck and cuffed me," Deb continued. "I am continuously identifying myself as press, I said, 'I have credentials, I can show you I have credentials,' but they are not listening to me."

After that, he said, he was taken to a police van and driven to the station, where he was charged with resisting arrest.

"Eventually they put me into the back of this police van along with the man that was bloodied and another gentleman," he said. "And we are in pitch black, in essence. I was in handcuffs for you know maybe an hour before the police van took me to the station processed me, they cuffed me again at the station and where the police officers told me I was charged with resisting arrest."

Though protesters at Trump events are nothing new, Deb said there's certainly been an increase in intensity recently.

"There have been protests going on in Donald Trump rallies for months and months and months--this is nothing new," he said. "However, there has definitely been a recent uptick; I have certainly never seen anything like last night. That was unprecedented."

As for the protesters, Deb said it was clear the different groups had coordinated before the rally.

"This was clearly something that was coordinated. The person I talked to last night said he couldn't tell me how many student groups are involved, because there was so many," Deb said. "So it's unclear how many groups are protesting, but there were certainly a whole bunch of different chants going on including 'Black Lives Matter,' vulgar chants in multiple different languages."



“The event began tense, he said, and quickly devolved into "total pandemonium" as multiple groups of protesters created disruptions around the rally space. "It was tense straight from the start--there were protesters, hundreds of them, that took over multiple sections of the arena here last night and there were mini-scuffles that broke out before the rally was supposed to start," he said. …. "I am continuously identifying myself as press, I said, 'I have credentials, I can show you I have credentials,' but they are not listening to me." …. "There have been protests going on in Donald Trump rallies for months and months and months--this is nothing new," he said. "However, there has definitely been a recent uptick; I have certainly never seen anything like last night. That was unprecedented." As for the protesters, Deb said it was clear the different groups had coordinated before the rally.”


Coordination of individuals into active and sometimes scary groups is happening in the last few years via the Internet. The first I heard of it was the phenomenon called “flash mobs.” Young men and women would suddenly appear, apparently spontaneously and from every direction, and start dancing or something equally disruptive. Before the press began to write about it, it frightened our old-fashioned citizenry. To me, however, it was humorous and good fun.

In this case the air was thick with anger and both groups were ready to fight. It would be much more effective if each group who attend a rally like this would, first, get a parade permit as in the Civil Rights days and second, voluntarily maintain absolute order with no fingers or hostile insults – “play nice,” in other words.

Martin Luther King always stressed passive resistance. Some black people called him an “Uncle Tom.” That method of confronting injustice is more effective in changing minds and hearts, however, and it is LEGAL.

I agree with Bernie in his desires for the country, but we should follow him also when he calls for peaceful confrontations only. As for this business of the police arresting people who are filming the events, even/especially their means of making an arrest, that is a violation of the freedom of the press. In all our interactions, no matter which side we are on, we need to maintain good citizenship and respect for the rights of others. That’s so we can continue to be productively confrontational. I know. “Preach, preach, preach!”




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-turkish-troops-in-syria-us-backed-rebels-al-qaeda/

Russia claims Turkish troops entrenched in Syria
CBS/AP
March 13, 2016, 10:55 AM

Photograph -- Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters carry their weapons while riding on the back of a pick-up truck in Qamishli, Syria, March 11, 2016. REUTERS/RODI SAID


ANKARA, Turkey - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia has information that Turkey's military is entrenched a few hundred yards inside Syrian territory to prevent Kurdish groups from strengthening their positions.

In an interview with Russian REN TV broadcast on Sunday, Lavrov calls the move part of Turkey's "creeping expansion" in northern Syria.

He said: "According to our information, they are digging in a few hundred meters from the border inside Syria."

Lavrov said he had seen the reports of Turkish tanks on the border, but gave no further details about Turkey's military presence in the Syrian war.

The Russian foreign minister said Turkey has declared a sovereign right to create a security zone on Syrian territory to prevent the unification of Kurdish enclaves to the east and west.

Russia and Turkey have seen relations sour considerably since a Russian jet was shot down by Turkey's military after allegedly straying into their territory.

Meanwhile, also inside Syria, U.S.-backed Syrian rebels said Sunday that al Qaeda militants have seized their bases and stolen weapons in a series of raids in the northern Idlib province.

Division 13 of the Free Syrian Army said on Twitter Sunday that the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front occupied and looted its posts late the night before.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, says Nusra seized anti-tank missiles, armored vehicles, a tank, and other arms from the division, which has received weapons, training, and money from the U.S. government. It says Nusra and an allied militia detained 40 fighters from Division 13.

Both the FSA and the Nusra Front are fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad.



“Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia has information that Turkey's military is entrenched a few hundred yards inside Syrian territory to prevent Kurdish groups from strengthening their positions. …. The Russian foreign minister said Turkey has declared a sovereign right to create a security zone on Syrian territory to prevent the unification of Kurdish enclaves to the east and west. …. Meanwhile, also inside Syria, U.S.-backed Syrian rebels said Sunday that al Qaeda militants have seized their bases and stolen weapons in a series of raids in the northern Idlib province. Division 13 of the Free Syrian Army said on Twitter Sunday that the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front occupied and looted its posts late the night before. …. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, says Nusra seized anti-tank missiles, armored vehicles, a tank, and other arms from the division, which has received weapons, training, and money from the U.S. government. It says Nusra and an allied militia detained 40 fighters from Division 13.”


The Middle East is a hopeless place to found any kind of peace and prosperity. Every week or so brings some new problem. Every hundred or so miles there is one group after another, all of whom are divided against or bound together by some cultural issue. The only thing that keeps the US from being that way is the fact that in the Presidency of Lincoln a terrible Civil War was fought to establish the factual and legal supremacy of the whole US government over those of the states. Unfortunately, new political splinter groups and especially racial groups are still today trying to divide us up again and reproduce the bad old days here. “States’ rights” should never have been allowed to remain in the Constitution in any fashion.

Right now states are denying voting rights, starving the public schools, and other disgusting things just because they can. They all want their own little fiefdom in which they are allowed to beat their rivals over the head and get away with it. This kind of thing is very discouraging to me, and the Middle East, especially, is truly depressing. I had hope every time peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians would be in the news, but gradually some twenty years ago I just gave up. A Pakistani man who worked in one of my offices in the 1980s said about his country, “They ought to just pave it all over and turn it into a parking lot.”




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-catholic-memorial-newton-anti-semitic-chant/

Mass. Catholic school apologizes for anti-Semitic chant
CBS NEWS
March 13, 2016, 7:52 AM

Photograph -- Catholic Memorial School in Massachusetts CBS BOSTON


BOSTON - Catholic Memorial School administrators apologized after their student section chanted "You killed Jesus" at Newton North fans prior to a basketball playoff game Friday night.

Newton Superintendent David Fleishman said he was on his way to Friday's South Division 1 boys basketball final when he received a call that Catholic Memorial students had participated in an offensive chant, reports CBS Boston.

Fleishman said Catholic Memorial students had chanted "You killed Jesus" at Newton North's crowd.

"As I walked in, a parent was shaken about what happened. I know there's a lot of concern in the Newton North community," Fleishman said. "She could not believe this was happening in 2016, to hear something so insensitive and so troubling."

Administrators from Catholic Memorial immediately had students stop the chant, Fleishman said. Catholic Memorial went on to win the game, 77-73.

After the game, Catholic Memorial officials asked fans to apologize to Newton North's interim principal. Fleishman said each student shook the principal's hand.

"They were very apologetic. They said they would address the incident with their students on Monday," Fleishman said.

On Saturday afternoon, Catholic Memorial School released a statement on the incident, saying: "Catholic Memorial School is deeply disturbed by the behavior of a group of student spectators who made an unacceptable chant Friday night while playing Newton North High School."

In addition to Catholic Memorial's statement about the incident, the Archdiocese of Boston also reacted, calling the situation "unacceptable."

"We are pleased that the administration of Catholic Memorial took corrective action immediately during and after the basketball game. This incident, while not representative of the school community, presents an opportunity to promote an important learning experience for the students," the Archdiocese said.

"We stand ready to assist Catholic Memorial in providing the student body with the awareness education that is needed to ensure that there is no recurrence of these actions or attitudes."

Fleishman said that, while he did not hear it, he was told that Newton North students were chanting "Where are you girls?" before Catholic Memorial fans responded with the chant that the superintendent said caused "real anger and outrage."

Catholic Memorial, located in West Roxbury, is an all-boys Catholic school. Newton North High School has a large Jewish population.

The Newton superintendent admitted that "sometimes our kids can say crude things at sporting events," but went on to say that "this one in particular is highly troubling given the connotation and given history."

"I'm confident that the Catholic Memorial leadership will address this issue head on," Fleishman said. "I look at this as a learning opportunity. Hopefully these students will never again engage in such insensitive behavior. Hopefully moving forward these students will understand the impact of their words and their actions on others."



“Catholic Memorial School administrators apologized after their student section chanted "You killed Jesus" at Newton North fans prior to a basketball playoff game Friday night. …. "As I walked in, a parent was shaken about what happened. I know there's a lot of concern in the Newton North community," Fleishman said. "She could not believe this was happening in 2016, to hear something so insensitive and so troubling." Administrators from Catholic Memorial immediately had students stop the chant, Fleishman said. Catholic Memorial went on to win the game, 77-73. After the game, Catholic Memorial officials asked fans to apologize to Newton North's interim principal. Fleishman said each student shook the principal's hand. "They were very apologetic. They said they would address the incident with their students on Monday," Fleishman said. …. In addition to Catholic Memorial's statement about the incident, the Archdiocese of Boston also reacted, calling the situation "unacceptable." "We are pleased that the administration of Catholic Memorial took corrective action immediately during and after the basketball game. …. Fleishman said that, while he did not hear it, he was told that Newton North students were chanting "Where are you girls?" before Catholic Memorial fans responded with the chant that the superintendent said caused "real anger and outrage."


In a peaceful world, everybody has to respect differences; and an overabundance of competition will cause severe discord. The Jewish groups of boys started calling the Catholics “girls,” so the Catholics started up the ancient conflict over Jesus. We just never forget anything and move on forward.

Good sportsmanship, as we were taught in the long gone 1950s, is the key to preventing such problems, and it is the most IMPORTANT thing to be taught in allowing sports in school systems, after all. Catholic Memorial officials did exactly the right thing by telling the kids to apologize and shake hands. Everybody loves sports, but cooperation is even better than winning. That way everybody will “win.” I love that phrase, “It’s a win-win.”




http://www.npr.org/2016/03/13/470278253/bernie-sanders-has-strength-among-white-men-pinched-by-the-economy

Bernie Sanders Has Strength Among White Men Pinched By The Economy
TAMARA KEITH
March 13, 201612:08 PM ET

Photograph -- Olin Dale Clayton waits for Bernie Sanders before a January event in Iowa with the United Steelworkers Local 310L. Sanders hopes his strength with white, working-class men can help him win in Ohio.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Graphics -- Sanders won 62 percent of white men in Michigan, while Clinton won 68 percent of blacks. Voters who lived in union households were split between the candidates likely because of black union members.
Domenico Montanaro/2016, 2008 exit polls
Playlist -- Why Some Ohioans Are Supporting Bernie Sanders


When Bernie Sanders won the primary in Michigan last week, it shook up the narrative of the Democratic race.

Sanders did so with the help of white men. If he's able to pull off a victory in Ohio, the same demographic will likely be key.

Take Jim, who describes himself, only half jokingly, as an angry white man.

"We're pissed off," Jim said. (Jim's asked that his last name be withheld because his union, AFSCME, has endorsed Hillary Clinton, and he supports Sanders. He can't be quoted publicly going against his union.) "We haven't gotten raises. Our pensions have been cut. Our healthcare's increased."

And, Jim added, Sanders speaks to that. "Bernie, he speaks from the trenches," Jim said. "We feel that he's fighting for us."

In Michigan, Sanders won with the support of 62 percent of white men, who were one-in-three voters, according to exit polls. In 2008, in the Democratic primary in Ohio, white men turned out in strikingly similar proportions to this year's Michigan contest.

Why Some Ohioans Are Supporting Bernie Sanders

At the same time, black voters could make up a smaller proportion of the electorate and likely won't be enough to put Clinton over the top. In Michigan, Clinton won more than two-thirds of black voters and they were 21 percent of the electorate. In 2008, Barack Obama won nearly 90 percent of black voters in Ohio; they were just 18 percent of the electorate; and Clinton won the state, ironically, with the support of white voters, including white men.

Ryan, a member of a building trades union in Cleveland, who also asked NPR not to use his last name because his union has endorsed Clinton, feels the same way as Jim.

"She's [Clinton] seen as the centrist candidate," Ryan said. "And she's a big-money candidate. And big money and centrism hasn't been working for middle-class America for the past 30 years. Since Reagan."

When Ryan first saw Sanders speak a few months ago, something clicked. He said it was as if a politician was finally saying what Ryan had been thinking about the state of the country. Ryan was so swayed he even sent a small donation to Sanders campaign and later bought a T-shirt.

'Like NASCAR, everyone wear their patch'

At a union hall in Cleveland, both Jim and Ryan talked about rising health-care costs and trade deals that they believe have hurt much more than they helped.

Sanders overwhelmingly won voters in Michigan who thought trade deals cost American jobs — 58 percent of voters said so there, and Sanders won them 2-to-1. (One-in-three Michigan voters said they lived in a household with a union member. Clinton and Sanders split them. Likely accounting for that were black union members who went for Clinton. Those numbers are not split out in exit polls.)

Jim said he's only gotten one raise, really more like a cost-of-living adjustment, in eight years.

"You look at the stock market," he said, "it's gone up I don't know how many, a couple of hundred percent. You know, my wages have gone up 2-and-a-half percent. And who's speaking to that? Bernie is. And, yeah, I think maybe he's kind of like Don Quixote. But I mean that's part of the attraction. It really is. At least for me."

And Jim insists, this isn't about gender. He loves his congresswoman, who incidentally endorsed Sanders on Friday.

There are elements of Clinton's stump speech designed to speak to working-class men including the parts where she talks about punishing companies that ship jobs overseas. But it's clear from these interviews that Sanders' attacks on Clinton's trade record, her superPAC, her big money speeches to Wall Street banks — they are breaking through.

The money issue nags at Dave Passalacqua. He likes that Sanders gets his campaign cash from regular people.

"There's that old saying is politicians should be like NASCAR, everyone wear their patch," Passalacqua said. "You know, let's see what the patches are and [Sanders] doesn't need to wear a patch, because it's his own thing."

'Pie in the sky'

Passalacqua is executive vice president of the Communications Workers of America Local 4340 in Cleveland. His union has endorsed Sanders, but he's still undecided.

Passalacqua agreed to meet at a Cleveland diner along with Jim Goggin, a fixture in the city's labor community. He's an organizer for the Delaware Valley Health Care Coalition.

"It's pie in the sky," said Goggin, with an unmistakable Irish lilt. "I mean, everything Bernie says, I think would be fantastic. But the fact of the matter is, that I am also a realist, and I know that you can't do that."

For Goggin, it is all about beating the Republicans in November.

"And I wish to God that I thought he could win," Goggin said. "But I don't unfortunately think he can win. Consequently, I'm with Hillary, because at least she's not going to throw us under the bus, the working people."

Passalacqua chimes in: "And one good thing that Bernie's been doing, though, even with Hillary, is Bernie has moved Hillary's positions on things."

From the outside, it seems Passalacqua is having a classic voter's struggle between his head and his heart. He isn't convinced Sanders will be able to do what he's promising. Who will he vote for?

"Whoever I think is going best for me and my family is the bottom line. Whoever is going to make — not to steal Donald's line, but — America great again," said Pasalaqua quoting Donald Trump's catch phrase. "Because in order to make America great again we've got to make the middle class great again. So whoever's going to do that, I think's going to be the best person. And that's who I'll end up having to vote for."

No matter how Tuesday's vote turns out, and no matter who wins the nomination, all four men said they would support the Democratic nominee in November.



"We're pissed off," Jim said. (Jim's asked that his last name be withheld because his union, AFSCME, has endorsed Hillary Clinton, and he supports Sanders. He can't be quoted publicly going against his union.) "We haven't gotten raises. Our pensions have been cut. Our healthcare's increased." And, Jim added, Sanders speaks to that. "Bernie, he speaks from the trenches," Jim said. "We feel that he's fighting for us." …. Ryan, a member of a building trades union in Cleveland, who also asked NPR not to use his last name because his union has endorsed Clinton, feels the same way as Jim. "She's [Clinton] seen as the centrist candidate," Ryan said. "And she's a big-money candidate. And big money and centrism hasn't been working for middle-class America for the past 30 years. Since Reagan." …. (One-in-three Michigan voters said they lived in a household with a union member. Clinton and Sanders split them. Likely accounting for that were black union members who went for Clinton. Those numbers are not split out in exit polls.) Jim said he's only gotten one raise, really more like a cost-of-living adjustment, in eight years. "You look at the stock market," he said, "it's gone up I don't know how many, a couple of hundred percent. You know, my wages have gone up 2-and-a-half percent. And who's speaking to that? Bernie is. And, yeah, I think maybe he's kind of like Don Quixote. But I mean that's part of the attraction. It really is. At least for me." …. But it's clear from these interviews that Sanders' attacks on Clinton's trade record, her superPAC, her big money speeches to Wall Street banks — they are breaking through. The money issue nags at Dave Passalacqua. He likes that Sanders gets his campaign cash from regular people. …. "It's pie in the sky," said Goggin, with an unmistakable Irish lilt. "I mean, everything Bernie says, I think would be fantastic. But the fact of the matter is, that I am also a realist, and I know that you can't do that." For Goggin, it is all about beating the Republicans in November. "And I wish to God that I thought he could win," Goggin said. "But I don't unfortunately think he can win. Consequently, I'm with Hillary, because at least she's not going to throw us under the bus, the working people." …. "Whoever I think is going best for me and my family is the bottom line. Whoever is going to make — not to steal Donald's line, but — America great again," said Pasalaqua quoting Donald Trump's catch phrase. "Because in order to make America great again we've got to make the middle class great again. So whoever's going to do that, I think's going to be the best person. And that's who I'll end up having to vote for."


The key things that strike me in this article are that Bernie “speaks from the trenches;” Clinton is seen as a centrist and big money candidate; Jim has only gotten one small raise in 8 years while his bills have soared. A couple of those interviewed say that Bernie can’t win. I say we should wait until all the states have voted before deciding that. It appears to me that, while the more conservative blacks and Southerners are going for Hillary, some of these union states will go for Bernie. He is, after all, NOT a communist, but he does believe in spreading the wealth around through a better minimum wage and more good jobs. That, in my book, is “the American Way.” That’s not “asking for a handout.” It’s asking for work.

“When Ryan first saw Sanders speak a few months ago, something clicked. He said it was as if a politician was finally saying what Ryan had been thinking about the state of the country.” This was exactly my experience with Sanders. I had heard his name but new very little about him. Then my Google+ account began to feature Bernie’s “photographs” which always had one of his startlingly bright and bold sayings on them. I did watch him with some uncertainty at first, an avowed Socialist and all, but finally it became clear to me that I didn’t disagree with him on anything at all. It was love at first sight! Even though Hillary may still be ahead, I haven’t given up hope. I have watched enough political races to know that when the voting starts you just have to wait until its’ over and count the results.




http://www.npr.org/2016/03/13/470303033/where-sanders-might-have-his-best-shots-going-forward

Where Sanders Might Have His Best Shots Going Forward
DOMENICO MONTANARO
Updated March 13, 20162:13 PM ET
Published March 13, 20162:04 PM ET

Photograph -- Bernie Sanders waves as he leaves the stage at a rally in Illinois. Paul Beaty/AP
Graphics -- Using 2008 exit polls in the Democratic primaries, the chart shows the difference between white men and black voters as shares of the electorates in upcoming states with big delegate hauls.
Domenico Montanaro/2008 and 2016 exit polls

Bernie Sanders was able to win in Michigan, upsetting Hillary Clinton, with the support of white men. (NPR's Tamara Keith laid that out in this post this morning). Sanders won 62% of white men in the Michigan Democratic primary, while Clinton won 68% of black voters. That is a big share, but wasn't enough — and certainly smaller than the margins she's gotten among black voters in Southern states.

Looking at that difference, between white men and black voters, the chart shows where Sanders and Clinton might have their best shots in states going forward with significant delegate hauls. This analysis is based on 2008 exit polls and takes the difference between what white men were as a share of the electorate as compared to black voters.

A couple notes:

-No exit polls were conducted in Washington state in 2008, but it probably looks similar to Oregon. Census data shows Washington state has a marginally higher African-American population.

-Hispanics were not factored into this analysis, and they will certainly make a difference in California, Arizona and Florida. Clinton won a large share of Latinos in Texas, though Sanders split with her in Nevada, according to exit polls. Sanders also won Colorado, a state with a large Latino population, though no entrance or exit polls were conducted at those caucuses.



Predictions and more predictions -- it’s all just hope against hope and keeping our gang fighting together in this mock war that we call politics. I get excited along the way, but it’s really the final moment that makes the difference. I always watch election results, when I don’t have any patience with the Academy Awards or a beauty contest. This year is especially enthralling, though, because to both conservatives and us “Democratic Socialists,” there are two huge things at stake.

Economically both groups feel that only their people know what they’re doing and care about the welfare of all Americans. Politically/socially there is a genuine war about to occur, if we aren’t careful. Minorities and fair-minded whites are on one side together and the most Right-leaning whites and religious fundamentalists are on the other. The Tea Party movement has brought into the open a radical and sometimes Neo-Nazi group who are out for their own revolution. That looks like what Trump is actually trying to achieve through inciting the most violent whites in this country to extreme action. They are members of several different factions, but their goal is to have a country where blacks won’t vote any more, women won’t hold office and you can call people “nigger” or “Jewboy” any time you feel like it. Freedom of speech, don’t you know.