Thug Life

Stemmed
A former Port Authority official and ally of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is expected to plead guilty on Friday to the first charges stemming from the 16-month federal investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closings scandal. (New York Times, 5/1/2015)

The New York Times interrupts its ongoing investigation into the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal to report on Chris Christie and Bridgegate. Just kidding!  The New York Times has moved on from the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal. Better to circle back to an (even older) Republican scandal. And so the Times provides readers with a useful color graphic showing all the Bridgegate players. Also included is a helpful Q&A for readers who want even more information. No doubt the Times is thinking Pulitzer Prize....


It's Never the Perp's Fault
The problem is not black culture. It is policy and politics, the very things that bind together the history of Ferguson and Baltimore and, for that matter, the rest of America.

...the financial enrichment of landlords, corner store merchants and other vendors selling second-rate goods.

...The problem originates in a political culture that has long bound black bodies to questions of property. Yes, I’m referring to slavery.
...
The conditions in West Baltimore today are the direct consequence of speculative real estate practices that have long targeted people with few to no options.
...
Cities that are starved for income have found ways to raise revenues by way of fines and fees exacted from poor, underemployed African-Americans and migrants of color. These include property taxes and court costs. (N. D. B. Connolly is an assistant professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, New York Times, 5/1/2015)

You might have thought the root causes of the rioting in Baltimore were illegitimacy, the breakdown of the black family, the glorification of violent rap culture and decades of misguided government policies toward poverty. 

You would be wrong. 

Luckily we have Professor Connolly to set us straight.

Professor Connolly helpfully informs us as to the REAL issues which include: the merchants who provide goods and services to impoverished communities, landlords who provide housing to the poor and the local governments who collect taxes.

Oh, and slavery. (If only America would outlaw slavery....)

Time to take Johns Hopkins off the list of potential schools for Junior.