Riots= Controlled Opposition?

This week, we’ve all been inundated with stories and images about the rioting in Baltimore, which was precipitated by the mysterious death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. Those of you who have perused You Tube regularly know that there is a plethora of videos out there, seemingly a new one every day, documenting police abuse of citizens. Clearly, police forces all over America are out of control.

So, why did this particular incident invoke such outrage, such violence? Why didn’t the 2012 tragic death of Milton Hall, a homeless Black man, which involved six White police officers firing forty six shots at the unarmed citizen, elicit the same kind of protests? Or the 2014 incident in Georgia, where a White police officer pulled a gun on an eleven year old Black youngster, then forced him and his friends to the ground, all the while using profanity? Their crime? Building a tree house.

There are many videos readily available to the public, in which White police officers shoot, taser or otherwise harass Black Americans. But there are lots of videos as well of White, Black and Hispanic police officers shooting, tasering, or otherwise abusing Whites, Hispanics, Asians, etc. The beating death of Kelly Thomas, who was White, was perhaps one of the most egregious examples of this. Police officers literally beat him to death, as he screamed for mercy and called for his father, and the entire incident was caught on videotape. Despite this ironclad evidence of guilt, a brainless jury acquitted two police officers of any wrongdoing. If ever there should have been riots about police brutality, that verdict should have precipitated them.

What has happened, especially with the mainstream media’s typically distorted and inept coverage of the riots, is that the issue of police misconduct has been lost in the shuffle. Instead, the event has been turned into a familiar racial battle, with Blacks generally directing their anger at random Whites, and Whites repulsed by all the looting and violence, and therefore siding with the cops. Typical of the media coverage was all the attention given to the mother who slapped her son and berated him for rioting. Conservatives ate that one up. Maybe the Republicans will run the mother for political office.

As I documented in my book Hidden History: An Expose of Modern Crimes, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups in American Politics, intelligence agencies have been notorious for infiltrating potentially subversive groups, on both the Left and Right extremes. We know, for instance, that John Ali, national secretary for the Nation of Islam, was an uncover FBI agent. We also know that one of the four KKK members who were in the car where the shots that killed Civil Rights activist Viola Liuzzo were fired from was undercover FBI informant Gary Rowe. Both Timothy Leary and Gloria Steinem were eventually exposed as being affiliated with the CIA.

One of the oddest aspects of all urban rioting, going back to the 1960s, is just how contained it always is. I have often wondered why these frustrated souls just don’t march into wealthier areas, and burn down those houses. Why do they always burn down their own houses, their own stores? In the case of the Baltimore riots, since their argument was with the police, why didn’t they march en masse on police stations? Why not congregate in great numbers outside the state supreme court, the governor’s mansion, or any other conveniently located seat of power? What is being accomplished by damaging their own neighborhoods? Please understand that I am not advocating that anyone burn down anything. It’s just that the motivation in these riots always seems skewered.

So, hypothetically, is it that outrageous to suggest that a certain number of undercover agents and informants control these riots? That they direct the crowd’s anger towards random targets who have nothing to do with the issue at hand? That they keep the mob from moving out of their own area, and perhaps even initiate the burning of homes and businesses? This is pure speculation, of course, but it’s reasonable speculation.

As long as our corrupt leaders can keep us fractionalized, warring with each other over race, religion, gender and ethnicity; they succeed in directing our attention away from their own misdeeds. Their corruption and incompetence impacts everyone, of every race, sex and creed. Police abuse of power affects everyone as well. There should have been public hearings in Congress long ago on this issue, with police chiefs all across the country grilled relentlessly on why they permitted bully officers to remain on the force. Instead, we have this overtly controlled demonstration of anger, channeled safely into another Black vs. White “debate,” with talking heads on Fox News and MSNBC making sure the discussion remains within acceptable parameters.

The abuse of power on the part of law enforcement officers at all levels, all over this nation, is the issue. We shouldn’t let it become a circus, led by the likes of Al Sharpton, who was exposed a while back as being an FBI informant himself. It’s wrong for police to harass, hurt and kill citizens who are unarmed and dangerous. Our leaders and our media ought to be focusing on that, and not pure racial politics.

The Tim Tebow Conspiracy

Tim Tebow is one of my favorite public personalities. He certainly stands out in the world of professional sports, among all the arrogant, criminally prone athletes. This week, Tebow made the news again, when the Philadelphia Eagles signed him to a contract. Expect a lot of media coverage, virtually all of it ridiculing both Tebow and the Eagles for signing him.

I have been following sports for about fifty years, since I was a very young child. I have never seen any athlete, at any level, be as hated and ridiculed as Tim Tebow. What’s truly remarkable is that all this hatred, all this vitriol, has been directed at a fantastically successful athlete. Tebow is arguably the greatest college football player of all time. He won the Heisman Trophy, and two national championships. When Tebow retired, he left as the SEC’s all-time leader in passing efficiency and career rushing touchdowns. In fact, Tebow ranks second all-time in NCAA passing efficiency. His completion percentage as a senior was over 70 percent.

Despite Tebow’s astonishing accuracy as a passer in college, against countless future NFL defenders, he has been ridiculed, time and time again, for his “inaccuracy.” Another absurd criticism of Tebow is that he lacks arm strength and cannot throw down field. Unfortunately, the statistics contradict this as well; Tebow is ranked third in NCAA history in yards per attempt (9.33). Yet because of this persistent refrain, Tebow tinkered with his wildly successful throwing motion, and his accuracy in the NFL suffered as a result.

In Tebow’s first NFL start, he had a 40 yard touchdown run. Somehow, this escaped the notice of the “journalists” who had been loudly proclaiming that the Broncos had wasted a first round pick on him. He started the last three games of the 2010 season, and posted a higher QB rating than Kyle Orton would for the first three games of the 2011 season, after being inexplicably handed the starting job over him. Tebow flashed great potential during those first three games, yet again it went unnoticed. Tebow became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for a touchdown in his first three starts.

The real anti-Tebow firestorm started prior to the 2011 season, when fans logically expected last year’s promising rookie, perhaps the SEC’s greatest all-time player, to be anointed the starter. Instead, journeyman Orton was handed the job by new coach John Fox, clearly at the behest of new Bronco honcho John Elway, who consistently referred to Tebow derisively as “Timmy.” Never had sports fans seen so many “experts” on television and in the print media angrily shout “he can’t throw!” and “he can’t play!”

Despite being saddled with a prehistoric offense that only permitted him to throw in the most obvious passing situations (which largely explained his low completion percentage), Tebow defied his coach and general manager and reeled off a series of improbable, fantastic victories, eventually leading the Broncos to the playoffs. It was illuminating to watch Elway in particular fume on the sidelines and in his sky suite, over Tebow winning. Never has an executive in any professional sport rooted so openly against one of his players. Clearly, Elway and Fox thought that if they forced Tebow to run a 1930s-style cloud of dust offense, he would quickly fail and the fans would stop demanding that he be allowed to play. Their strategy backfired.

During Denver’s 2011 winning streak, fueled by Tebow’s fourth quarter magic, the media grew apoplectic in their furor against him. Merrill Hoge in particular was full of pure hatred for the openly Christian, devoutly humble young quarterback. At one point, a frustrated Hoge called the sincere Tebow “as phony as a three dollar bill.” Never had any alleged reporters so openly rooted against a player. On the contrary, ESPN and other sports networks have long served as a public relations arm of the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, etc. If anything, they have consistently overrated the abilities of athletes, especially ones as accomplished as Tim Tebow. Hoge and other journalists even started blasting Tebow’s practice performances, something unheard of in the world of sports.

Despite the efforts of Hoge and most every other sports journalist, Tebow remained very popular with a large segment of fans. Even before he started an NFL game, Tebow led the league in jersey sales. After leading the Broncos to the playoffs, Tebow capped off a miraculous season with a long touchdown pass in overtime, upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the Broncos lost the following week. it would be Tebow’s last start in the NFL (at least for now). Tebow became, in fact, only the second quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game as a starter, and never start another game (while not retiring and remaining active as a player). That could still (hopefully) change, of course. But for now, Tebow stands alone as a supremely successful quarterback who was then summarily dismissed by the entire league.

John Elway managed to lure the great Peyton Manning to Denver for the 2012 season. Manning was just about the only quarterback who could have made Broncos fans forget Tim Tebow, or forgive Elway for kicking him to the curb. Tebow wound up with the New York Jets, coached by neanderthal defensive specialist Rex Ryan. Led by Merrill Hoge, Tebow was trashed by anonymous leaks that claimed his teammates thought he was a “terrible” quarterback. Ryan humiliated Tebow by installing him as a punt protector on special teams, a position no quarterback had ever played before, or is likely to play again. The final indignity came when starter Mark Sanchez was injured, and Ryan refused to start Tebow, preferring instead to go with third stringer, Greg McElroy. The Jets treated Tebow in a manner that is impossible to explain. It’s almost as if they wanted to create a buffoon for the public.

In a league littered with mediocre talent, including mediocre quarterbacks, no one was interested in signing Tim Tebow after the Patriots cut him during the 2013 preseason. Now, at long last, renegade spirit Chip Kelly has acquired him for the Philadelphia Eagles. Will Tebow actually be given a legitimate chance to play? That remains to be seen. One thing is certain; Merrill Hoge and the other myriad of “journalists” who despise Tim Tebow will be out in full force, looking to undermine his chances at every turn.

In an honest sports world, a man like Tim Tebow would be revered, a highly sought after commodity for his box office appeal alone, not to mention his winning record, slew of intangibles and positive locker room presence. Instead, he has turned out to be a pariah; spurned by the NFL as if he were a crucifix trying to enter a den of vampires. And despite all the negative energy directed at him, Tebow has remained upbeat and civil. He politely thanked the Broncos after they traded him to the Jets, for instance, and issued a gracious comment about how he understood a team wanting to sign a legendary player like Peyton Manning.

Tebow has been viciously attacked over his religion, his public vow of celibacy, and his humble nature. In a corrupt society like ours, it is indeed difficult to believe that someone like Tim Tebow is “real.” Surely, most of us think, this must be an act. Tebow must be as “phony” as Merrill Hoge believes he is. There is no logical reason to assume this. Unlike so many NFL players, Tebow has been an exemplary citizen, unlikely to ever be accused of sexual assault, drunk driving, or any of the other sundry of offenses that so many other players, all of them welcomed back with open arms by the league, have been charged with.

The NFL, and the sports “journalism” community in particular, has engaged in an obvious conspiracy to keep Tim Tebow from doing what he does better than most of the players who play his position in the league. The idea that he isn’t good enough to start in this watered-down league is ridiculous. Along with millions of other fans, and virtually no “expert” journalists, I will be rooting as hard as I can for him to shut them all up and succeed with the Eagles.

Liz Wahl Wants to Get Rid of Bloggers

As usual, a significant story this week was all but ignored by the mainstream media. Liz Wahl, a former reporter for Russia Today, who gained a great deal of positive mainstream media exposure after dramatically resigning on-air last year, testified before Congress on the “danger” of bloggers. She actually compared bloggers to terrorists. This isn’t the first time that the establishment has inferred this.

Wahl arrogantly dismissed bloggers like me, and countless others, with the time-honored labels of “extremists” or “fringe.” She railed against the internet because “it provides a place for these people..where they can congregate and feed off each other’s biases.” This is the firm mindset of an establishment “journalist.” Only “experts” can assess the news, give opinions and propose action. It’s madness for the common riff-raff, the unwashed masses, to even imagine they can understand the multitude of intricate problems in the world today. There are no simple solutions. We all (meaning the working class and poor) must sacrifice. Pick your favorite cliche.

People like Liz Wahl are the reason why it is so crucial to keep the internet free from FCC-style control by the establishment. It’s why we must all strongly oppose the misnamed “net neutrality” act. The government can’t stand the fact that average people finally, at long last, have a free, unfettered way of communicating with each other, and transmitting news and information to millions, without the filter of mainstream journalists.

Wahl’s stunt of resigning on-air from RT was a wonderful career move. She appeared on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, and was praised by the likes of Barbara Walters. More importantly, she was a guest on The Colbert Report, which instantly made her “cool” in the eyes of those who think that Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are daring renegades and “cutting edge.”

The fact that Congress is holding hearings to discuss the “danger” of the internet, while ignoring real pressing matters of concern to all Americans; for instance, the explosion of police brutality all over America and the importation of even more immigrants-most of them illegal-while American citizens struggle to find work and have to deal with shrinking wages and benefits, should tell you all you need to know about your elected representatives. The ones that voters supposedly just returned to office at a Politburo-like rate of 96%. The ones who shirk their responsibilities time and time again, while permitting the executive branch to run roughshod over them, and the judicial branch to become legislators.

Ms. Wahl, for your information, the “bloggers” are our greatest hope at this point. We certainly can’t depend upon “journalists” like you to report the truth. “Reporters” like you not only defend tyranny, you appear to relish it. You, and the establishment you serve, are terrified of the power of the press. The bloggers and other independent voices on the internet are exposing the lies of the state, and the putrid performance of the mainstream media in passing along those lies without asking any questions, or without the slightest trace of skepticism. No, your skepticism is reserved for the “bloggers” and the whistleblowers, not for the wrongdoers and systemic corruption in business and government at all levels.

As Alex Jones likes to say, there is a war on for your mind. Fewer and fewer Americans are falling for the hackneyed practice of favored celebrities making fun of those who question vaccines and what’s in them, or “truthers,” “birthers” or any garden variety “tin foil hat wacko conspiracy theorist.” There’s a man behind the curtain. The emperor is not wearing any clothes.