To say that conservative pundit Ben Stein has seriously lost it is not really open for debate. To say he ever had "it" in the first place is quite debatable. Just last week, Stein appeared on Newsmax to discuss the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, where he made the following statements:
- "He wasn't unarmed. He was armed with his incredibly strong, scary self."
- "It's a very sad state of affairs. I mean it used to be, there was a time ... when lynchings of African-Americans were not that incredibly rare. Now the lynchings are the police and it's just an outrage."
- "...it's the very large, so-called victim attacking the policeman who winds up dead." (with regard to Brown and Trayvon Martin)
- "I mean if they didn't just, would not attack the policeman, if they would just talk to the policeman in a reasonable way instead of attacking the policeman, nobody would be dead."
First off, George Zimmerman wasn't a police officer. As a matter of fact, he went against the police's orders to not follow Trayvon Martin.
"...it's the very large, so-called victim attacking the policeman who winds up dead."
Translations:
"It's the large, so-called unarmed victim that gets followed by an armed wannabe neighborhood watchman who goes against the policeman's wishes on following him who winds up dead."
and
"It's the large, so-called unarmed victim that appears to have tried to surrender to the policeman who winds up dead."
Secondly, if George Zimmerman didn't go against the police's wishes and follow Trayvon Martin, nobody would be dead. If Darren Wilson didn't get trigger-happy, nobody would be dead. When Cliven Bundy threatened the government, many like Stein called him an American hero. If he had talked to them in a reasonable manner, he'd likely be referred to as a coward by these same individuals. If that had been Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin, their opinions would likely have been reversed. Unfortunately, there are too many occurrences in this country when an African-American (male, most likely) tries being reasonable with law enforcement and he gets shot and killed as a result, because the police viewed him as threatening.
That last line gets at the very heart of what's really wrong with Ben Stein's statement of, "He wasn't unarmed. He was armed with his incredibly strong, scary self."
If Officer Darren Wilson truly felt his life was in danger, he could have just shot Michael Brown in the legs, before handcuffing him, and taking him in to the police station for questioning. No matter how "intimidated" Wilson may have felt, that gave him no excuse to shoot an unarmed man as many times as he did, especially twice in the head. Sadly, the following two scenarios probably aren't very extreme exaggerations of what Stein and his ilk believe are proper reactions by law enforcement.
Scenario #1: An armed white man yelling at people while on a median in a downtown area
Charles Mansion: :: waves his gun around ::
Mothers and their children: :: run away ::
Officer Michael White: "What do you think we should do?"
Officer Darren Worthless: "Let's see what else he does before making a move."
Charles: :: continues waving his gun around :: "See this? This is a gun! I could use it to shoot and kill any one of you, but it wouldn't be the gun shooting and killing you with a bullet; it would be me. That's because guns don't kill people; people kill people!"
Businessmen: :: run away ::
Officer White: "This guy is causing too much of a disturbance, don't you think? We should probably calm this situation down some."
Officer Worthless: "Are you kidding me? This man is a hero! He's standing up for our Second Amendment rights!"
Officer White: "That's right! Thank you, sir! Great job!"
Officer Worthless: "F'ing A right!"
Both officers: :: fire their guns in the air :: "Yee-haw!"
Scenario #2: An unarmed black man walking on the sidewalk of a downtown area
Officer Michael White: "Whoa! Big black dude - 12 'o'clock. Keep your eyes on him."
Officer Darren Worthless: "Will do. He looks like trouble."
Benjamin Teddy: :: reaches down ::
Officer White: "He's reaching! Get ready to fire!"
Officer Worthless: "I think that's a gun! Fire! Fire! Fire!"
:: the officers shoot and kill Benjamin Teddy ::
Officer White: "Oh, crap! He was just going to pick up a piece of paper he dropped!"
Officer Worthless: "It looked like a gun, right? I felt threatened. Did you feel threatened?"
Officer White: "You know I felt threatened. Think we'll be safe in court?"
Officer Worthless: "Don't sweat it. It was a big black dude. They'll believe us."
Both officers: :: laugh and walk away ::
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-stein-michael-brown-unarmed
- "He wasn't unarmed. He was armed with his incredibly strong, scary self."
- "It's a very sad state of affairs. I mean it used to be, there was a time ... when lynchings of African-Americans were not that incredibly rare. Now the lynchings are the police and it's just an outrage."
- "...it's the very large, so-called victim attacking the policeman who winds up dead." (with regard to Brown and Trayvon Martin)
- "I mean if they didn't just, would not attack the policeman, if they would just talk to the policeman in a reasonable way instead of attacking the policeman, nobody would be dead."
First off, George Zimmerman wasn't a police officer. As a matter of fact, he went against the police's orders to not follow Trayvon Martin.
"...it's the very large, so-called victim attacking the policeman who winds up dead."
Translations:
"It's the large, so-called unarmed victim that gets followed by an armed wannabe neighborhood watchman who goes against the policeman's wishes on following him who winds up dead."
and
"It's the large, so-called unarmed victim that appears to have tried to surrender to the policeman who winds up dead."
Secondly, if George Zimmerman didn't go against the police's wishes and follow Trayvon Martin, nobody would be dead. If Darren Wilson didn't get trigger-happy, nobody would be dead. When Cliven Bundy threatened the government, many like Stein called him an American hero. If he had talked to them in a reasonable manner, he'd likely be referred to as a coward by these same individuals. If that had been Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin, their opinions would likely have been reversed. Unfortunately, there are too many occurrences in this country when an African-American (male, most likely) tries being reasonable with law enforcement and he gets shot and killed as a result, because the police viewed him as threatening.
That last line gets at the very heart of what's really wrong with Ben Stein's statement of, "He wasn't unarmed. He was armed with his incredibly strong, scary self."
If Officer Darren Wilson truly felt his life was in danger, he could have just shot Michael Brown in the legs, before handcuffing him, and taking him in to the police station for questioning. No matter how "intimidated" Wilson may have felt, that gave him no excuse to shoot an unarmed man as many times as he did, especially twice in the head. Sadly, the following two scenarios probably aren't very extreme exaggerations of what Stein and his ilk believe are proper reactions by law enforcement.
Scenario #1: An armed white man yelling at people while on a median in a downtown area
Charles Mansion: :: waves his gun around ::
Mothers and their children: :: run away ::
Officer Michael White: "What do you think we should do?"
Officer Darren Worthless: "Let's see what else he does before making a move."
Charles: :: continues waving his gun around :: "See this? This is a gun! I could use it to shoot and kill any one of you, but it wouldn't be the gun shooting and killing you with a bullet; it would be me. That's because guns don't kill people; people kill people!"
Businessmen: :: run away ::
Officer White: "This guy is causing too much of a disturbance, don't you think? We should probably calm this situation down some."
Officer Worthless: "Are you kidding me? This man is a hero! He's standing up for our Second Amendment rights!"
Officer White: "That's right! Thank you, sir! Great job!"
Officer Worthless: "F'ing A right!"
Both officers: :: fire their guns in the air :: "Yee-haw!"
Scenario #2: An unarmed black man walking on the sidewalk of a downtown area
Officer Michael White: "Whoa! Big black dude - 12 'o'clock. Keep your eyes on him."
Officer Darren Worthless: "Will do. He looks like trouble."
Benjamin Teddy: :: reaches down ::
Officer White: "He's reaching! Get ready to fire!"
Officer Worthless: "I think that's a gun! Fire! Fire! Fire!"
:: the officers shoot and kill Benjamin Teddy ::
Officer White: "Oh, crap! He was just going to pick up a piece of paper he dropped!"
Officer Worthless: "It looked like a gun, right? I felt threatened. Did you feel threatened?"
Officer White: "You know I felt threatened. Think we'll be safe in court?"
Officer Worthless: "Don't sweat it. It was a big black dude. They'll believe us."
Both officers: :: laugh and walk away ::
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-stein-michael-brown-unarmed
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