Mining Trash for Squirrelly Journalism

“Don't be rude. No, I'm not going to give you a question. You are fake news!” – President-elect Donald Trump to interrupting upstart CNN's Jim Acosta on January 11, 2017

Oh, the deplorable state of the American press. Was the death knell to progressive reporters signaled by John Kelly's column about mating leopard slugs in his driveway in August of 2015? How about in March of 2016 when he wrote yet another trivial piece on a credit card circular found in his mailbox? Did these non-news renderings tip some karmic scale, accelerating the downfall of this whole disreputable industry? Indeed, one assuming that the above was the bottom of The Washington Post's journalistic barrel would be wrong. It turns out for the MSM that January of 2017 has set a new low.

Not to be outdone by the insipid Mr. Kelly, his colleague Courtland Milloy has literally mined his curbside trash receptacles for “newsworthy” material. With the same annoying persistence as the marauding raccoons he bemoans, he opines about a humane way to be rid of them. (Is using a pellet gun with a “silencer” considered cruel? Has every local government and private wildlife agency been consulted? If only the raccoons had a union or a lobby with which Mr. Milloy could also confer!) Ah, how all pests of the world mindlessly go about their business without a thought to the messes they make—or the nonsensical situations they relate. Thus, it's obvious that this hack has found parity with the furry varmints who have outsmarted him.

With the upcoming inauguration a little over a week away, is there no relevant issue worth focusing on? How about the fact that President-elect Donald Trump will be slightly older than Ronald Reagan when he assumed the presidency? Undoubtedly, the changing of the guard will have a major impact on a city that is already one of the most interesting and influential places in the world. In any case, there are still plenty of legitimate bandits around. For example, Mr. Milloy need only look to Annapolis where disgraced former state delegate William A. Campos (D-Prince George’s) has pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme and long-standing corruption. As nature determines that Mr. Milloy's raccoon bandits run in packs, what of the suspiciously sudden resignation of Michael L. Vaughn (also D-Prince George’s)? Therefore, he need not confuse his trash-can desperadoes with the real, two-legged kind.

These myopic scribblers—content to look to their own doorsteps for “worthy” subjects—waste valuable newspaper space. As a new year's resolution, only stories for the public good—which actually hold readerly interest—should be featured. Given the preponderance of biased media “fake news”—as specified by Mr. Trump regarding CNN—has The Post joined their ranks? Now, that sounds like an ideal topic for a newspaper exposé.

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Poverty, a Mental Illness?

“You have people who are... whose poverty is such that it creates a mental illness and it's just not being addressed” (in Washington, D.C.) – Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy on WMAL's Mornings on the Mall (June 27, 2016)

Progressives masquerading as journalists these days have go-to narratives to explain away criminality. First, they irrationally (and relentlessly) blame the inanimate object—the gun—not its user. Of this, Courtland Milloy's “To black kids living amid violence, it matters little who fires a gun” (July 13, 2016) is typical. Actually, he's completely wrong. There is a world of difference between appropriately armed white hat elements (the police, legal gun owners, the military) of our society versus chaos-causing wrongdoers.

As an example, last June four ski mask-wearing young men robbed eight retirees at the Hillcrest Recreational Center tennis courts of money, credit cards and jewelry. It was broad daylight, multiple guns were used, and three of the four were teens of similar ages as the victims' grandchildren. Hypothetically, if the elders had been legally armed this assault might have been prevented (or evened the odds.) After all, criminals (as Democratic politicians) sensibly fear an armed population. Realistically, as police can't be everywhere, this dynamic actively discourages crime and protects innocents (no matter their skin color).

Mr. Milloy aptly observes, “That's [the robbery] not just surreal. It's appalling.” Indeed, where are the fathers of these lost boys to teach them safe and proper conduct? (Put simply, right from wrong.) Recall that Democratic welfare programs have provided (for more than half a century) an economic incentive to single mother households. Hence, generations of fatherless boys running wild in minority communities. (Who else but they engage in all too common D.C. neighborhood shootouts? Does Mr. Milloy believe this dangerous activity is being perpetrated by law-abiding citizens or thrill-seeking cops?) Make no mistake, LBJ's progressive policies have destroyed the black nuclear family unit—and with it virtually any chance of upward (capitalistic) economic mobility.

Now, spinning himself silly, this Washington Post scribbler comes full circle with his laughable claim that poverty causes mental illness. (A whole new category for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)!) Interestingly, mental defect is the exact excuse this fop used to rationalize the barbaric actions of Omar Mateen (the ISIS-inspired Orlando mass murder of 49). What if some in the crowd at Pulse had legal guns strapped to their hips? Innocent lives would have very likely been spared. Guns in responsible hands—for the preservation of life—is the reason for the Second Amendment. That's not something dishonest men of Mr. Milloy's ilk will ever address. It's easier to make a cushy living promoting fictions in weekly columns populated by bogeymen: American “intolerance,” and gun-totting racists and sickos.

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Orlando killer: “victim” needing mind control?

Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy is correct that “a mind-set is as perilous as a gun.” Unfortunately, his thinking is as convoluted as batty Omar Mateen's; the perpetrator of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Is Mr. Milloy suffering from a personal, phantom style Stockholm syndrome? (By osmosis, a politically correct writer—rather than traumatized victims—robotically defends a mass murder? Perhaps this “journalist” should be evaluated by the psychiatrist his column cites.) According to him, this executioner of 49 (who injured an equivalent number) at a Orlando gay club (ironically named Pulse), is also a victim. Specifically, he claims Mateen suffers from “pseudocommandoism”:

“The pseudocommando often kills indiscriminately in public during the daytime [dance clubs however, are crowded at night], but may also kill family members [Mateen didn't] and a ‘pseudo-community’ he believes has mistreated him,” James L. Knoll IV, a forensic psychiatrist, wrote in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law in 2010. “He comes prepared with a powerful arsenal of weapons. . . . He has no escape planned and expects to be killed during the incident.”

Well, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Let's put a fancy horse harness on a donkey—and excuse it as a stallion! As all good morally flexible dolts, Courtland Milloy fashions a foggy narrative intended to mitigate Omar Mateen's obvious barbarity. Why? Because he's spinning a supportive, corresponding narrative to Mr. Obama's fanatical gun blame game. What's the underlying, unifying theme? That this person wielding the guns—the architect of the massacre—is not truly responsible. Same as another “trustworthy” source with an agenda—the father, Seddique Mateen—none of these jokers want this mass murder rightfully pegged as a radical Islamic terrorist.

That's the reason for all of this psychological gobbledygook. It implies sickness—rather than politically inconvenient criminality. Indeed, the “riddle” that is Omar Mateen is straightforward and simple: any adult individual is responsible for his own actions. That truism trumps any secondary consideration.

That basic accountability isn't even a blip—a consideration—on Courtland Milloy's radar speaks volumes about his mind-set. In essence, he isn't covering a story so much as he's covering up for one. Instead of speaking to this fundamental issue, this columnist offers a kitchen sink of excuses for the “victim” who pulled the trigger. For starters, Mr. Milloy blames the school system for not putting an end to childhood teasing Omar received for being overweight. Later, in adulthood, the abused ex-wife is demonized for not involving the police in their domestic struggles. (Third, the police—who were never notified—are made theoretically responsible to put an end to Mateen's violence.) Fourth, the cherry on the pie of this layered absurdity, is that Mateen targeted the gay community because he was rejected by them:

“It has been reported that Mateen frequented Pulse many times before staging his attack. He also had reached out to several men through a gay dating app. But, by most accounts, he could not make lasting friendships and usually ended up sitting alone getting drunk.”

Does Mr. Milloy believe that dating apps exist for the humanitarian purpose of group counseling rather than hook ups? Further, who doesn't drink at a bar, or experience rejection? In any case, that doesn't justify Omar Mateen's shoot out at an Orlando dance club like it's the Wild Wild West's O.K. Corral.

Speaking of guns, to his credit, even this enabling fop doesn't wholeheartedly subscribe to the president's malarkey of blaming inanimate objects. Speaking of another troubling mind-set is petulant Mr. Obama's. In truth, he's a liberal fascist who conveniently exploits tragedy to promote his hard left anti-American agenda: anti-Second Amendment gun restriction. Indeed, legal guns in virtuous hands is not the same thing as weapons used by wrongdoing criminals and terrorists. Mr. Obama makes this exact, nebulous straw man argument. It is blatant political misrepresentation to the American people by a fundamentally dishonest politician. As a member of the press, Courtland Milloy has a journalistic duty to expose such manipulations, not be a collaborating cheerleader for them.

For the record, lecturing Obama and this columnist sound like ivy tower academics. Specifically, Mr. Milloy's obtuse advice is to do nothing while a killer's deep-seated psychosis is further studied:

“Better to find out more about where the killer mentality comes from and what can be done to change the mind.”

Exactly how does an external person change someone else's thoughts? Well, good luck with that. Mr. Milloy's suggestion is either completely impractical or worse, subtly Orwellian. (Does this lover of progressives want some kind of unspecified mind control for the murderous?) What else could the article's subheading, 'The mind-set of a killer is a danger to society that is worth neutralizing' mean? (Calling Kurt Vonnegut's fictional character “Harrison Bergeron.” Tell him his buzzing handicap—a hat to bring its wearer to state-mandated average intelligence—is ready!) Even Barack Obama is not this unhinged. The president only wants more ultra-constitutional authority to further undermine legal gun ownership. In the final analysis, Mr. Milloy's non-solution is just as nonsensical as Mr. Obama's refusal to say the “magic” words 'radical Islamic terrorism.' In both cases, if one intentionally never gets to the heart of a problem (by correctly naming it), one can never hope to achieve its resolution.

Words, as labels, matter. So do social mores of appropriate conduct. While cultural norms and laws often rightfully shape human behavior, one should certainly be free to think whatever one wants. To that end, one wishes Courtland Milloy would keep his thoughts—and his “1984” style dystopian fantasies—to himself.

Twitter: @DavidHunterblog

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Michelle's Chastising, Honest Mirror

If ever there are two peas in a political pod they are Barack and Michelle Obama. Even before Mr. Obama's first election Michelle Obama said of her fascist hubby, “Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.” That sounds like something that would come easily out of the mouth of a Castro spouse rather than a supposedly liberty-loving first lady. Indeed, Obama and wife are chock-full of these nebulous statements which when seen correctly lay plain their anti-Americanism (that the similarly biased MSM ignores.) Family vacationing from Cuba or passively watching her mindless husband tango in Buenos Aires, who besides brain-washed millennials (who waste their votes on Socialist Bernie Sanders) believe in the Obamas' fidelity to America?

While Courtland Milloy's biological age technically precludes him from the millennial generation, his role as The Washington Post's resident racial-scribbler—and his latest Michelle Obama puff piece—has the same probative value as millennial ideas about future political leadership. Of this lady, Mr. Milloy sycophantically sings the blues: “Michelle Obama, still standing tall, chin up, despite nearly eight years of enduring... racial contempt for the Obamas [and] an unprecedented barrage of ugliness toward her.” Fundamentally, this statement is patently false, and irrational. Precisely how can a voting citizenry who freely, proudly and publicly elevate the first Afro-American couple to the White House—not once, but twice—be secretly guilty of “racial contempt?”

In retrospect, although well-intentioned, a hope-filled American people foolishly gave the Obamas an eight-year key to the kingdom: stewardship of the greatest country in the world. In return, the Obamas—like the petulant low-rent tenants they are—have entirely squandered a golden opportunity to unify the nation as MLK dreamed. Worse, they have been MLK's antithesis, having wrecked the joint abroad (read: the Middle East) and at home. Domestically, they have constantly exploited “history-based racial grievances” (read: Democrats' victimization playbook) whenever a gracefully long-suffering public (not Michelle as Mr. Milloy wrongly claims) legitimately complains about her husband's job-killing, wealth redistribution policies. For example, almost 10 trillion added to the debt is just one of the Obama booby prizes left to yet unborn future American generations to pay for. Exactly who is being ugly here? Is it the Obamas who act with the carelessness of Roman emperors or the American people who have generously entrusted them with such never-ending faith?

It's a wonder to me that a beneficiary of more than seven years of tax-payer funded 24-hour Secret Service protection would ever have “ a lot of sleepless nights... fearing how my girls world feel if they found out what some people were saying about their mom.” So, 'Madam Political Correctness'—like all proponents of anti-First Amendment word-burning—worries about what other people say about her. That's a pretty high class problem to any Chicago mother whose child is gunned down by the ongoing, almost daily black-on-black homicide ignored by the Obamas since their 2008 departure. Mr. Milloy equates the act of one unhinged gunman that broke a White House window in September 2014 or the generations-removed vandalized Georgia monument (dedicated to her slavery-born great-great-great grandmother) as spurious evidence of how she has greatly suffered ugliness to rule us. Meanwhile, ensconced in perpetual 5-star accommodations (that would make pampered Marie Antoinette green with envy) with Air Force One at the ready and a cadre of personal assistants in tow, the Obamas' attitude of arrogant entitlement has disgraced MLK's memory in the same manner as their lack of care has betrayed the black community.

Under the guise of the yellowest journalism, Courtland Milloy repeatedly promotes the general fiction of hidden “American racism.” To reiterate today's “proof”: a toppled marker and a broken window. To any clearly thinking person, how do two isolated, indirect acts of criminality demonstrate anything of greater importance? Simple answer: they don't. Leftist ideologue Milloy has manipulated these unremarkable, unconnected occurrences to conjure a bogeyman out of whole cloth designed to silence warranted criticism of Ms. Pouty-Face 'hashtag bring home our girls.' (Incidentally, since her 2014 selfie, it seems the hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls by the Islamic Extremist group Boko Haram have fallen completely off the Obama radar—same as America's current prospects as the Obamas globe trot to tropical locales: Cuba, Buenos Aires and beyond.)

Mr. Milloy's fortuitous column artificially burnishes Michelle Obama's flagging reputation, much like that of her politically lame-duck husband. It's all rubbish, of course. A distraction from all of the above; a change of subject from the real 300-pound gorilla shrieking a reality that no one in the MSM will address. That truth: criticism of the Obamas has nothing whatsoever to do with skin color. It never has. In the 21^st century, the American people have graduated to the consistent use of MLK's content of character as a means of evaluation. (Proof of this is seen everywhere in the greater acceptance of gay rights and gay marriage.)

In the case of the Obamas, they have failed to honor American economic and geo-political interests or dearly-held cultural values. All the while, they are rightly blamed for living-large while the rank and file have suffered mightily under the inept, tone-deaf ministrations of Mr. Obama—and his no better, coddled wife.

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Unearthing first president's slavery bones

In Courtland Milloy's “Washington's birthday got spotlight right: On his slaves” he fails to practice the ancient wisdom in the Latin phrase De mortuis nihil nisi bonum: “of the dead (say) nothing but good.” Last Monday—on what would have been George Washington's 284th birthday—our intrepid race-scribbler visited our first president's home, Mount Vernon. And unlike the rest of us who embrace the everyday tolerances of the 21^st century such as generations of accepted interracial marriage—and newly established gay nuptials—only Mr. Milloy is surprised that the slaves' contributions are honored with a special wreath-laying ceremony. For starters, he should have had a clue as the event occurred at the Slave Memorial Circle: a place whose name, and very existence, denotes honor to the mistreated ancestors of our black American brothers.

Beyond those purely ceremonial elements, the slave quarters have been restored, a model of a slave cabin was also built, and an archaeological dig was underway at a burial site. For his part, Mr. Milloy is certainly doing his part to “dig up the cadaver”of America's shameful participation in the 18^th century U.S.-African slave trade. Indeed, even students who slept through their history classes know Mount Vernon was a working farm with slave labor. It's no secret. To the contrary, it's not only fact, it's common knowledge. Prominent in every American age, George Washington remains a person of his time, a slave owner (as countless others). Therefore, its specific emphasis in Mr. Milloy's aforementioned title is highly suspect of a 21^st century political agenda.

For the record, at 6'2, George Washington literally and metaphorically towered above other great contemporaries: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin to name but a few. Further, as a rarely equaled historical figure—likely more beloved today then during his own lifetime—he remains our 2nd most admired president after union-preserving Abraham Lincoln. That does not negate the fact that he was imperfect like the rest of us, and make mistakes like anyone. So, why Mr. Milloy's specific myopic fixation regarding George Washington's ownership of slaves?

Mr. Milloy neglects to mention any of these mitigating factors including the reality that slavery was an unfortunate, but then necessary economic system to the 18^th century mind. Recall, the Industrial Revolution, and mechanization, had not yet happened. In any case, in 21^st century hindsight no civilized person would approve of such inhumane practices to one's fellow human beings. Therefore, what is its newsworthy relevance to today's Washington Post?

The answer is Black Lives Matter. The tortured, gerrymandered argument goes as follows: historical slavery (over since 1865) is “proof” that America has been a racist society since its inception—just look at Founding Father George—a slave owner! See: (despite the election of Barack Obama to the presidency twice) black lives sure didn't matter then—and almost 300 years later—they don't matter now. Utter nonsense to any clear thinking person with a pulse. Only a Washington Post “reporter” could twist a story that actually demonstrates open acknowledgment of past grievances into one claiming intolerance, its polar opposite.

As newspaper placement is everything, that's on the cover page of the Metro section, left, below the fold. Meanwhile, as an after-thought, buried in the back, bottom right corner is the bare bones mention of the February 12^th mugging and beating of a targeted soldier, Marine veteran Christopher A. Marquez, at a McDonald's by three Black Lives Matter youths. Despite being on video, the powers-that-be in D.C. investigating the incident are unwilling to readily accept the bronze star-decorated victim's explanation for the crime's motive without corroboration. Yet, its meaning is obvious: “black” lives matter, non-black ones not so much. So it is with The Washington Post. While it's laudable that their pages honor the memory of slaves long-dead, where they struggle mightily is in their defense of a majority of the living.

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Conjuring Civil War’s ghost in post-racial America

Why is The Washington Post’s resident Don Quixote tilting at the windmills of history in Obama’s post-racial America?   While the adage that “those that don’t know history are bound to repeat it,” the opposite extreme is Courtland Milloy whose myopic focus on Civil War struggles—fortunately and mercifully exactly 150 years now long over—ignore the passage of time and the clear evolution of America into a more accepting society.  Indeed, what greater proof of this new reality (inconceivable to people in Lincoln’s time) could there be: a black man is currently cooling his heels in the White House for a second term.  Mr. Milloy’s two beefs are a waste of valuable newspaper column space: he laments the supposed ignorance of the millennial generation claiming they don’t even realize that the Civil War was fought over the forced enslavement of black people; and he sees subtle racism in the fact that the general public sees more value in monuments depicting “battles and generals” rather than “freedom and slavery” at a military park in Fredericksburg, VA.  Undoubtedly, for many, slavery was a bummer pre-1865 and it sure is an irrelevant downer to Jane Q. Public and her brood now. 

Further, does the insipidly scribbling columnist Milloy really subscribe to the idea that the millennial generation—hooked into technological everything—does not know, for example, of the Oscar winning Steven Spielberg film “Lincoln” (2012)?  The truth is the racist culture embodied by the Old South is literally “Gone with the Wind” in America of 2015.  The “point” Mr. Milloy wishes to peddle in his ‘slavery’ column is White Guilt for things that happened to people no longer alive by people no longer living: six generations ago. 

Somehow this august generation should feel guilty for not erecting enough monuments to the vaguely eluded to “contributions of slaves” although Mr. Milloy—in his righteous fervor—never bothers to specifically articulate what those contributions were.  That is likely because he does not know—because the rest of the world has already moved on from this unfortunate chapter of American history—a point he clearly “misses” as he berates his readership for missing “his point.”

The greater “point” that Mr. Milloy doesn’t deal with in his column are the massive present-day problems that affect the black community happening in this time: 50 percent of Afro-American children aborted in the womb; out-of-wedlock births for blacks are over 72 percent; 90 percent of blacks in America are killed by members of their own race per 2012 crime statistics—to name just a few.  No doubt there is still work to be done.  However, the present is called the “present” for good reason: the “now” is the only place constructive societal change can be undertaken.

However, today is not as bleak as Mr. Milloy’s ‘slavery’ column would have the uninformed reader incorrectly infer about America of 2015.  To a great extent, we are actually living in a post-racial and inclusive society. There are Afro-Americans at every level of government, the private sector, the arts and sports.  Interracial marriages are commonplace and their children are vibrant, fully embraced members of our society.  Moreover, Eminem notwithstanding, rap music—a principally black form of artistic expression—is mainstream American music.  Likewise, black athletes and entertainers (recent Oscar winners include: Denzel Washington, Halle Barry, Morgan Freeman, Whoopie Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson) are lionized with an almost God-like status universally by white and black young people.  Indeed, blacks have taken over popular culture: movies "Be like Mike" (2002) and its sequel "Be Like Mike 2" (2006) are flattering references to NBA superstar Michael Jordan (whose $200.00 Air Jordan sneakers are highly sought after).  In this same vein, the white youth of today have eagerly integrated the rather questionable language and fashion sense of their black idols from Mr. T-style necklaces and jewelry to baggy jeans that hang down exposing the backside of the wearer. 

In every way possible, the dominant white culture has repeatedly extended the hand of friendship (through equal employment statutes, civil rights and social welfare programs) to our black American brothers.  It is their persistent resistance to accept our integrative overtures due to 150 year old historical grievances—never-ending and reiterated by Mr. Obama last week and echoed in Mr. Milloy’s July 1^st salt-in-the-wound “historical” column—that have nothing whatsoever to do with the current generation that populates America. 

To demonstrate how far we have come, there used to be a "one-drop rule" for a person of mixed race to determine that individual's non-white identity.  Being white, as close to white as possible—or even better "passing for white"—was a necessary mechanism of economic survival when racism ran rampant in America of the past.  Today, we have Rachel Dolezal, disgraced former president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington: a white woman who lied about her racial identity and passed herself off as black (a position that definitely would have landed her in the mad house in Lincoln’s time).

Since Mr. Milloy likes to wade in the annals of history he should follow the sage advice of the Ancient Greeks who said: “Only speak well of the dead” (related to both sides of the Civil War).  I would therefore encourage Mr. Milloy (and Mr. Obama) to join the rest of us in the 21^st century.  Their enslaved ancestors, if they had any, would have found the waters better than fine—a comparable paradise of tolerance—more than worthy of commemoration at that military park in Fredericksburg, VA that the public of today would flock to, with pride.

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re. Courtland Milloy's 'Is America ready to deal with slavery, or just continue to miss the point?' (Washington Post, June 30, 2015)

Democrats promote victimization, disregard youths' success roadmap: MLK's "Dream"

This is the Democrats' favorite divisive, 'whack-a-mole' political game: always blame the innocent, biologically dissimilar “other guy” for your individual troubles.

Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy makes his living tilting at this particular windmill with his thematically repetitive columns. Specifically he peddles the erroneous concept that a person, based solely upon superficial ethnicity, should blame society-at-large for a poor value system that informs worse individual behavior often leading to tragic results.  For example, in last week's 'For black youths, path to ruination, not success,' Mr. Milloy unfairly ignored the possibility of minority access to the American Dream through academic achievement. Specifically, last week's bogeyman was the fault not of poor individual choices, but the public school system which Mr. Courtland mischaracterized as simply a 'school-to-prison pipeline.' This assertion subtly infers that they are, in effect, the same thing: a societal holding cell victimizing the undesirable.  Worse still, Mr. Milloy's ideas imply the absurd standard of lower expectations predetermined by one's skin color.  

Certainly, the Ben Carsons of the world prove that effort, focus and character with a splash of good luck are enough to rise above poverty, humble beginnings or an ineffective public school system. This week, Mr. Milloy is at it again with black youths in the 'valley of the shadow of death.'  In both cases Mr. Milloy pigeonholes the same disadvantaged minority group as societal victims solely due to their pigmentation: the exact opposite of the intention of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy and, in specific, his seminal “Dream” speech in which he proclaimed:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” 

In this way, Dr. King desired to unify our culture as a color blind society in which to make an analogy one sees a human being as a Picasso masterpiece rather than the irrelevant frame that adorns him.  On the other hand, Mr. Milloy's picture is framed by his mention of the historically charged racial conflicts of Selma and his complaints of economic inequality as backdrops to blame this generation's epidemic of black-on-black homicide.  Therefore, unlike Dr. King--who no doubt would hold individuals of every stripe responsible for their actions--Mr. Milloy cryptically blames some vague overarching devil-made-me-do-it societal influence. To use his exact phrase the “morally disgraceful nation” is the truly responsible party.  
  

Well, who is that exactly?  Tying all elements of his narrative together suggests a subtle swipe at the dominant group (whites) that runs this country.  And assuming that Mr. Milloy is correct, does pointing it out in such a divisive manner promote the understanding and harmony that Dr. King wanted or is the net effect its opposite, the furtherance of discord and alienation?  Perhaps Mr. Milloy should take the context of Dr. King's words to heart before scribbling more of his own.

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