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I Have a Dream – Address at March on Washington

August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four 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.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last

The island nation of Haiti has suffered the worst natural disaster in history.  Officials are predicting that hundreds of thousands could be dead.  The people of Haiti are afraid to sleep in their homes (if their lucky enough to still have one) for fear of another devastating after shock bringing down concrete resulting in more death.  The presidential palace has collapsed and the president of the nation is homeless.  They need our help.  Please donate to the Red Cross or the Fairfax County Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team who were one of the first responders in Haiti beating Canada and other countries. Haitian citizens need water and ready-to-eat food.  Monetary resources will help them get it.

Some ways that you can donate are by texting  from your cell phone or donating  directly to the Red Cross here.

Text “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 on behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee

To make an automatic $10 donation to the Red Cross, text “HAITI” to 90999; the money will be charged directly to your cell phone bill.

Donate directly to the Red Cross through its website here. You can also donate via telephone by calling (800) RED-CROSS or (800) 733-2767.  Even a single dollar will help the people of Haiti get the necessities they need to cope with this catastrophic disaster.

President Obama made a statement today to those fighting for human rights in Iran:

Before I leave, let me also briefly address the events that have taken place over the last few days in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States joins with the international community in strongly condemning the violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens, which has apparently resulted in detentions, injuries, and even death.

For months, the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality, even on solemn occasions and holy days. And each time that has happened, the world has watched with deep admiration for the courage and the conviction of the Iranian people who are part of Iran’s great and enduring civilization.

What’s taking place within Iran is not about the United States or any other country. It’s about the Iranian people and their aspirations for justice and a better life for themselves. And the decision of Iran’s leaders to govern through fear and tyranny will not succeed in making those aspirations go away.

As I said in Oslo, it’s telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation.

Along with all free nations, the United States stands with those who seek their universal rights. We call upon the Iranian government to abide by the international obligations that it has to respect the rights of its own people.

We call for the immediate release of all who have been unjustly detained within Iran. We will continue to bear witness to the extraordinary events that are taking place there. And I’m confident that history will be on the side of those who seek justice.

Did President Obama speaking with Sergeant Crowley sanction bad behavior amongst police officers who regularly engage in “overreactions?”  Having read Sergeant Crowley’s written report  this writer can say that even if every word in the report is true it was pretty clear that the sergeant coaxed Professor Gates out of his house so that he could arrest him.  It is also clear from Crowley’s report that even if we accept, as Crowley claims, that Professor Gates was speaking to him in a “tumultuous manner” and calling him “racist” (the other officer on the scene said that he did not hear the word ”racist” as Crowley claims) that is not an excuse for the sergeant to abuse his position simply because he was offended.    It is hard to believe that the professor was behaving in a “tumultuous manner” given the height and stature advantage that Crowley had on him.  Not to mention that the sergeant had a GUN.  My point is that Crowley is a police officer employed to “protect and serve” not to use his position to get angry and get even.  ”Tumultuous” speech inside a person’s home aimed at the officer is not against the law regardless of whether its racial or otherwise.  It is the officer’s job to deescalate the situation by walking away.  Instead, Crowley arrested a 5’7″ 57-year-old disabled man who walks with a cane at his home.  Crowley did so after establishing almost as soon as he arrived at the residence that Gates was the owner of the home and no law had been broken.   Crowley also continued to engage Gates inside his home by Crowley’s own accounts.  Why didn’t Crowley just leave?  The sergeant had done his job why continue arguing?  According to Crowley’s report, Gates asked him for his name and badge number several times.  Crowley reports that he gave his name and badge number to Gates once but Gates did not hear him because Gates was speaking over him.  Crowley further reports that Gates continued asking for his name and badge number but he told Gates that he would only speak with him if Gates stepped outside.  Gates reports that after he stepped outside  his home Officer Crowley said to him “thank you for accommodating my request, you’re under arrest.”  Crowley does not claim that he ever felt threatened.   Why did Gates have to step outside his home for Crowley to give him his name and badge number?  Why would Crowley coax Gates outside his home to arrest him?  Because he could not arrest Gates inside his house without a search warrant.  Is this good policing?  Is the fact that Sergeant Crowley is now invited to the White House a license to rogue police officers to act with abandon the next time they are confronted with a similar situation?  We are not sure that this is a good message to send to law enforcement given the number of instances reported each year concerning police misconduct and abuse of position by police officers.

How is the Cambridge Police Union speaking out in support of Sergeant Crowley without having witnessed the incident or asking Professor Gates his side of the story any different from the President speaking in support of his friend?  One wonders if such a strong reaction would have occurred if President Obama had spoken out in support of  his white friend which could have just as easily been the case.  The guy is a friend of the President’s and the President spoke out in support of him…newsflash…the President is….is….HUMAN!

As for the larger issue of  racial profiling?   It is a reality.  The Department of Justice conducted a study in 2005, released in 2007, where 17.8 million drivers were stopped.  The study showed that blacks were almost three times as likely to be searched when stopped by a police officer than whites, 9.5% to 3.6%.  In terms of arrests, blacks were more than twice as likely to be arrested than whites, 4.5% to 2.1%.  When it came to drivers being subjected to force or threat of force, blacks were almost four times as likely to be subjected, 4.4% to 1.2%.  Racial profiling exists. The majority of African-Americans and Latinos have experienced it.  Now can we all sit down and have a rational and constructive discussion about it?

The Valley Swim Club, a Philadelphia swim club advertising “open membership” refused entry to a group of African-American day campers who had paid the required $1900 membership fees.

“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.”

The next day the club told the camp director that the camp’s membership was being suspended and their money would be refunded.

Didn’t Rush Limbaugh alert the club that we have an African-American president and thus all racism magically disappeared.   What freakin year is this….1950?!  What is also really sad is that all the white children are alleged to have exited the pool immediately, no questions asked, as if it were perfectly normal not to be in a pool with black children.  So much for the “post-racial society.”  The Valley Swim Club’s written response to media inquiries is as follows:

“There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion… and the atmosphere of the club,” John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.

It’s amazing that the drafter of this statement surmised before its release that it is a perfectly legitimate and reasonable statement that will be accepted by the vast majority of people reading it.  For those who are inclined to give the club the benefit of the doubt please ask this question; why would the president of the club use the word “complexion” in this context?  The only way the sentence phrasing makes sense is if you are using the word to deliberately send a bigoted message.  And no you do not get a pass if you voted for Obama, help with Martin Luther King Day events, live in Pennsylvania (or North instead of the stereotypical South), and participate in the Organizing for America program.  The “some of my best friends are black” defense does not apply.  Unbelievable.

This calls for community activism through churches, local businesses, civil rights groups, and Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, Democrat, who represents this district (Montgomery Alabama County) in Congress. Philadelphians also need to contact the Attorney General Tom Corbett  (Republican) to request Read the rest of this entry »

My question is why didn’t someone tell me that Denzel Washington was sitting right next to my section????

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones for their tremendous loss.  The following statement was released by the U.S. Holocaust Museum:

Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns died heroically in the line of duty today. There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events. He served on the Museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’ family.

We have made the decision to close the Museum tomorrow in honor of Officer Johns, and our flags will be flown at half mast in his memory.

White House response:

The President and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar offer condolences.

President Obama:

I am shocked and saddened by today’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world.

Today, we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time.

Secretary Salazar:

Today, we witnessed an act of violence and hatred in one of our world’s most sacred sites of remembrance.  This horrible crime took the life of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, whose courage in the line of duty saved lives and protected the hallowed halls of the Holocaust Museum.  Americans’ thoughts and prayers tonight are with Officer Johns’ family.

We are also reminded of the great sacrifices our law enforcement officials, including security guards and the Park Police who protect the National Mall, make every day on our behalf.  This tragic act of violence only reaffirms the lessons of peace and human dignity that the Holocaust Museum teaches.

A memorial fund has been set up by the American Jewish Committee, Washington DC chapter for the Johns family.  The following statement was released by the AJC.  See full statement here.

The American Jewish Committee’s Washington, D.C. chapter has set up a memorial fund to benefit the family of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, who was killed Wednesday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The organization said it will soon have a place on its Web site where one can contribute, but those who want to donate immediately should send checks made out to the American Jewish Committee, with “Holocaust Museum Memorial Fund” in the memo line, to:

American Jewish Committee, Washington Chapter

C/O Melanie Maron

1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 1201

Washington DC 20005

One hundred percent of the contribution will go to the Johns family.

Eugene Robinson won a Pullitzer Prize yesterday for his award winning commentary in the Washington Post on then Senator Barack Obama’s road to the White House during the 2008 presidential race.  Congratulations Mr. Robinson  you absolutely deserve it!!

Justice Clarence Thomas does not speak much from the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States and his statement last week about this pesky obsession Americans have with the Bill of Rights explains why.  See Thomas; statement below.

The evening was devoted to the Bill of Rights, but Justice Thomas did not embrace the document, and he proposed a couple of alternatives.

‘Today there is much focus on our rights,” Justice Thomas said. “Indeed, I think there is a proliferation of rights.”

“I am often surprised by the virtual nobility that seems to be accorded those with grievances,” he said. “Shouldn’t there at least be equal time for our Bill of Obligations and our Bill of Responsibilities?”

Can someone please explain to where in the Constitution is there a Bill of Obligations or a Bill of Responsibilities?  Did he really ask such a question?  Is this an attempt to display a depth of cognative ability that comes across as

Here’s another doosey

“I have to admit,” he said, “that I’m one of those people that still thinks the dishwasher is a miracle. What a device! And I have to admit that because I think that way, I like to load it. I like to look in and see how that dishes were magically cleaned.”

It is scary to think that this man is charged with interpreting laws involving patents, technology, national defense, privacy, all of which have advanced markedly since the ‘magical’ invention of the dishwasher.

It turns out that Jim Cramer along with other cronies within the Wall Street chattering class may not always be on the up and up when predicting how well a company or stock is doing.  Read the following account of how CNBC and many of their financial “journalist” are manipulating Wall Street for their own personal gain.  This relates to the current financial crisis because the SEC is currently investigating whether abusive or illegal practices such as those described below brought down Bear Stearns and Lehman.

This rabbit hole involves the thugs surrounding Jim Cramer and some of the top financial “journalists” from the New York Times, WSJ, Fortune magazine and BusinessWeek, top hedge funds, the Mafia, and the DTCC. It also includes “blackmail, smear campaigns, espionage, fraud, harassment, extortion, bribery, rumor-mongering, sabotage, off-shore money laundering, political cronyism, frivolous lawsuits, witness tampering, biased financial research, false identities, bogus credit ratings, bribery, libelous blogs, bad science, forgery, wiretapping, counterfeiting, collusion, lying, cheating, threats and theft.”

Apparently Cramer and his wife had figured out how to manipulate the markets by way of the media long before his entry into television punditry.   This is directly from Cramer himself:

“We had it down to a science in 1992: my wife would pick stocks that technically looked ready to go up, or she would keep track of merchandise to see what was down to tag ends. She would then generate a list of stocks that could move quickly on good news. Jeff would then go to work calling the companies to try to find anything good we could say about them. I would call the analysts to see I they were hearing anything. When we found a stock that looked ready technically to break out, or where the supply had been mopped up, and Jeff found something positive at the company, and I knew the analyst community didn’t know anything positive, we would load up with call options and common stock and then give the good news to our favorite analysts who liked the stock so they could go do their promotion. That would get the buzz going and we would then be able to liquidate the position into the buzz for a handsome profit.” (Confessions of a Street Addict, page 61).

More detail about Cramer’s background from the distinguished and highly repected business editor and financial reporter for the Columbia Journalism Review Mark Mitchell.

Cramer, who is a sociopath, owns TheStreet.com with Marty Peretz, who is an aristocrat. Peretz is also the former editor of the New Republic magazine. He dabbles in high finance and Harvard professing, which has resulted in his entrusting a large portion of his family fortune to a close-knit group of hedge fund managers, several of whom were his students. For example, Cramer was his student. Then Cramer was destitute. He lived in a car with a loaded gun hidden under the seat. Eventually, though, Peretz gave Cramer some money to start a hedge fund, which Cramer managed with celebrated ruthlessness until he resolved to seek spiritual enlightenment as a TV news host.

Cramer had originally planned to run his hedge fund out of the offices of Ivan Boesky. Shortly before he was to move in, however, the feds busted Boesky for insider trading, making him one of the most famous criminals of the 1980s. (This is not necessarily to suggest that Boesky is the “Sith Lord” mentioned in Patrick’s “Miscreants Ball” presentation. Some people have wagered that Patrick was referring to Michael Milken, a business colleague of Boesky known as the “junk bond king,” who also went to prison in the 1980s. Patrick has since modified the analogy, saying that the crime has multiple masterminds – “like Al Qaeda”).

When Boesky went to prison, Cramer worked instead with hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt. The media portrays Steinhardt as a financial wizard, a deep thinker and an all-around swell guy. The truth is, he’s a thug who perfected the concept of trading on privileged information, and pounded it into the heads of his employees. “What’s your edge!?” he’d shout, pacing his trading room floor. “What’s your fucking edge!?” After one of Steinhardt’s tirades, a top employee (and the godfather to Steinhardt’s children) had a heart attack. It is said that Steinhardt showed no remorse.

Indeed, Steinhardt has one of the most fearsome reputations on Wall Street. Which is perhaps unsurprising given that Steinhardt’s father, Sol “Red” Steinhardt, was a mobster once described by a Manhattan district attorney as the biggest Mafia fence in America. Steinhardt Sr. worked for the Genovese organized crime family, with goons like Meyer Lansky and Vinnie “Blue Eyes” Alo, before he was sentenced to a number of years in Sing-Sing prison.

By Steinhardt Jr.’s own account, the principal partners in his first hedge fund were the Genovese Mafia, Ivan Boesky, Marty Peretz (the aristocrat who funded Cramer), and a man named Marc Rich. Rich is closely connected to Ronald Greenwald, described in the authoritative book Red Mafiya as the man who, along with the Genovese family, brought the Russian Mob to America.

In 1983, Rich was indicted for trading illegally with Iran while Islamic revolutionaries were holding the American embassy hostage in Tehran. Along with his associate, “Pinky” Green, he fled to Switzerland. In 2001, Steinhardt, a big-time operator in Democratic circles, convinced Bill Clinton to give Rich a scandalous presidential pardon, but Rich remains in Switzerland to avoid paying his tax bill.

In the early 1990s, Steinhardt shut down his hedge fund after he was implicated in a scheme to corner the U.S. treasuries market – a horrendous infraction with serious implications for the U.S. economy.

So this is a rough crowd. Says one Wall Street trader: “It was the day the bad guys came to town — when Steinhardt and his people arrived.”

One of Steinhardt’s people is Jim Cramer. Another is Cramer’s wife, who was known as the “Trading Goddess” when she worked as Steinhardt’s head trader. Maria Bartiromo, a CNBC anchor known as the “Money Honey,” is married to the top partner in Steinhardt’s newest hedge fund. (A former employee of Cramer’s hedge fund has written that Cramer often fed tips to the Money Honey, trading ahead of her stories, and it is rumored that she recruited him to CNBC.)

And then there is David Rocker, the short-selling hedge fund manager believed to be scheming, along with Cramer and Herb, with Gradient Analytics, the financial research shop under SEC investigation in 2006.

Cramer says he’s met Rocker only once – apparently while squeezing the grapefruit at some grocery store. But the truth is, Cramer knows Rocker well. Rocker is a former employee of Steinhardt’s hedge fund. He worked there at the same time as the Trading Goddess.

And, until recently, Rocker was the largest outside shareholder in Cramer’s website, TheStreet.com. Cramer sometimes quotes the hedge fund manager on his television show, and once interviewed him live. Rocker is also a regular writer for TheStreet.com, where he bashes stocks that Cramer subsequently also bashes in multiple stories on both the website and CNBC.

In February 2006, the SEC is investigating Gradient Analytics for disseminating false information about public companies. The agency has affidavits from former employees who say that Gradient’s “independent research” is produced by recent University of Arizona graduates who know little to nothing about finance and essentially take dictation from hedge fund managers, including David Rocker.

One of these employees says that Herb conspired with Rocker to hold his negative stories (premised on Gradient’s false information) until Rocker could establish short positions. This is called front-running – a jailable offense. It is reasonable to suspect that Rocker had similar relationships with TheStreet.com (of which he has owned a substantial portion) and other media.

Not long before Cramer announced his SEC subpoenas, Rocker sold all of his shares in TheStreet.com. Cramer sold around $2 million of his own shares. If Cramer knew about the SEC investigation before he sold his shares, which was almost certainly the case, he was trading on insider information – another jailable offense.

But Cramer don’t know nothin’ about nothin’. And Herb thinks the SEC investigation is an outrage. So Herb and Cramer have commandeered CNBC. They are live on CNBC. Herb has jabbered something about a conspiracy – a conspiracy to get Herb.

And now Cramer is going to show us something.

He’s pulled out a big, red magic marker. Veins are popping, rope-like, from his bald cranium. And he’s snarling. Cramer is actually snarling while he uses the big red magic marker to scribble something on a piece of paper.

He holds the paper up to the camera.

It’s…it’s his government subpoena…Cramer has vandalized his government subpoena! On live TV… in big red letters…

It says, “BULL!”

See full account here

I struggled with whether or not to write about the Chris Brown and Rihanna situation but the details of the police report below are so disturbing that I am compelled as a matter of public service.  We must strengthen our domestic violence laws in this country.  Abusers in domestic violence situations need to know that when you put your hands on a female, or male in some instances, during the course of a romantic relationship you are going to jail regardless of whether you later reunite.  Chris Brown has this very clean-cut boy next door image and most would never suspect, if the report below is true, that he is capable of such violence.  Something else most would not suspect, Rihanna has reunited with Brown and the two are apparently trying to work things out in spite of the fact that he allegedly almost killed her.  There are other rumors that the two are either engaged or were married last week after they reunited in Florida.  This is quite tragic if true.  With the increasing amount ot teenagers reported to be involved in abusive relationships parents have an opportunity to use this as a teaching moment.  In doing so, they can communicate to their tweens and teenagers who hold these two pop stars in high esteem that the actions of both Rihanna and Brown are completely unacceptable and under no circumstances should be tolerated or imitated.  As for Rihanna, someone really needs to introduce her to Tina Turner.  As a survivor of domestic violence, perhaps the young pop star will be more apt to listen to someone like the iconic Turner who has been there and not only successfully escaped the situation but thrived in the aftermath.  Rihanna allegedly admits in the police report that the violence got progressively worst throughout the course of her and Brown’s relationship.  Why she thinks that all of a sudden it will get better after a couple of weeks of separation is beyond this writer but can probably be easily explained by a multitude of mental health professionals.  This is not okay and little girls and boys everywhere need to know that.  One of the main reasons that I am writing about this is because some in the media are asking whether Rihanna provoked Brown in some way as if to say that Brown may have been justified in allegedly beating the daylights out of her.  Are you kidding me?!  Not only is such a conclusion completely ridiculous given the photographs of the victim, the gender disparity, Brown’s history and apology, and other circumstantial evidence being circulated. But just read the police report below that was taken right after the incident,  defendants have been convicted of murder with less. 

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence please call the following 24-hour hotline for immediate help (800) 799-SAFE (7233).

 From the detective’s notes:

“Christopher B and Robyn F have been involved in a dating relations for approx 1 and half year. On Sunday Feb 8 at 25 hours Brown was driving a vehicle with Robyn F as the front passenger on an unknown street in Los Angeles. Robin F picked brown,s cellular phone and picked up a three-page text message from a woman Brown had had a previous relationship with.

“A verbal argument ensued and Brown pulled a vehicle over in an unknown street. Reach over Robyn F with his right hand and open the car door and attempted to force her out. Brown was unable to force Robyn F out of the vehicle because she was wearing a seat belt.  When he could not force her to exit he took his right hand and shoved her head against the passenger window of the vehcile causing an approx 1 inch raised circular contusion.

“Robyn F turned to face Brown and punched her in the left eye with right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F Osmouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle. Brown looked at Robyn F and stated “I am going to beat the s–t out of you when we get home! You wait and see!?

“Robyn F picked her cellular phone and called her personal assistant Jennifer Rosales. Rosales did not answer the telephone but while her vm greeting was playing Robyn F pretended to talk to her and stated “I am on my way home. Make sure the cops are there when I get there? (this statement was made while greeting was playing and was not captured) after Robyn f faked the call, Brown and looked at her and stated, ‘You just did the stupidest thing ever! Now I really am going to kill you.’

“Brown resumed punching Robyn F and she interlocked her fingers behind her head and brought her elbows forward to protect her face. She then bent over at the waist placing her elbows and face near her lap and in attempt to protect her face and head from the barrage of punches being levied by Brown. Brown continued to punch Robyn F on her left arm and hands, causing her to suffer a contusion on her left triceps that was approx 2 inches in diameter and numerous contusions on her left hand. Robyn f attempted to send another text message to other personal assistant Melissa Ford. Brown snatched the cellular telephone out of her hand and threw it out of the window to an unknown street. Brown continued driving and Robyn F observed his cellular phone in his lap. She picked up the cellular phone with her left hand, and before she could make a call, he placed her in a head lock with right hand and continued to drive the vehicle with his left hand.

“Brown held Robyn F close to him and bit her on her left hear. She was able to feel the vehicle swerving from right to left as Brown sped away. He stopped the vehicle in front of [address] and Robyn F turned off the car removed the key from inignition and sat on it. Brown did not know what she did with the key and began punching her in the face and arms. Brown began applying pressure to Robyn F left and right carotid arteries causing her to be unable to breath. She began to lose consciousness. She reached up with her left hand and began to attempting to gauge his eyes in attempt to flee herself. Brown bit her left ring and middle fingers and released her. While brown continued to punch her she turned around a place her back to against the passenger door. She brought her knees to her chest and placed her feet against Brown,s body and began pushing him away.

“Brown continued to punch her on legs and feet causing several contusions. Robyn F began screaming for help. And Brown exited the vehicle and walked away. A resident in the neighbor heard Robyn F,s plea for help and called 911, causing a police response. An investigation was conducted and Robyn F was issued a domestic violence protective order (EPO). Affiant conducted an interview with Melissa Ford who advised on Feb. 8 2009 at 2500 hours she received a phone call from Robin F from an unknown telephone number later identified as the telephone number of Officer Chavez. Robin F had advised Ford that she had been assaulted by Brown. At approx at 1 am Brown called Ford as nothing happened. Ford advised Brown that she had already talked to Robin F and was aware of what happened. Ford had advised brown that the neighbors had called police and that they were with Robyn F. Brown had asked Ford if robin F had provided police with his name. And ford advised him that she had. Brown hung up the telephone and did not call back.

“On Feb. 8, Brown turned himself in and was given a copy of the EPO and advised to not contact Robyn.

“On Feb. 17 Ford advised the affiant that she had received text messages from … a number that Ford recognized as belonging to Brown. In the text message Brown apologized for what he had done to Robin F. and advised Ford he was going to get help.”

 We really need to strengthen our domestic violence laws.