Charles Barkley, changer, defends the thin blue line
I used to be a basketball fan, but haven’t watched the sport in decades. I do remember Barkley quite vividly as a player, for his hulking (he was stocky rather than super-tall) aggressiveness that sometimes segued into combativeness.
Odd that Barkley has all these rather conservative thoughts, and yet he makes it clear he is a big Barack Obama fan. I’m not sure why, but my guess is that loyalty to race and the first black president trumps Barkley’s ability to connect the dots on Obama:
Looking Barkley up, I find that he’s that rarest of rara aves: a right-to left-changer. He was apparently a Republican for his entire career (and not shy about saying so, which must have been interesting), and even considered running as a Republican for governor of Alabama in 1998. Then in 2006 Barkley changed his mind, mainly over Republicans’ opposition to gay marriage, which he strongly favors, and opposition to their management of the Iraq War. He sounds a bit more like a libertarian to me than a Democrat, and in fact in 2007 he said he’s not a Democrat, he’s an Independent.
[NOTE: Barkley had gotten a lot of publicity for his remarks on Ferguson. But a bit earlier, he took a similar stance in the Trayvon Martin case.]
“What would the neighborhoods be like without the cops?” Barkley’s got it exactly right.
I have a neighbor who’s a retired cop. The stories he tells curl my hair. When they go on duty everyday, they just want to come home alive. Because their are dirtbags out there who will challenge their authority, they have to be prepared to use force. When you are in an encounter, there are only seconds – even micro-seconds – to make judgments about how much force is appropriate. The truth is, if you want to get beat up or killed, resist arrest or assault a police officer. They are trained and prepared to use force and they sometimes use too much. But that’s always on the precautionary principle that one can never be sure how much is just right, so more is better. Make no mistake about that.
The lesson that most people should take away from the Michael Brown, Eric Garner killings is that it is stupid in the extreme to resist arrest or challenge the cops. Yes, some policemen are less then courteous in their dealings with citizens. Those of us who feel we have been mistreated by the police can always deal with the situation through official channels. We should all be glad we have that right. In many countries there is no such right. In the meantime if you’re confronted by a cop, follow his commands and live to have your day in court. That’s better than ending up in the hospital or the morgue.
I can respect Barkley because he seems to come to his own conclusions independent of the msm meme. Do I agree with him 100%, of course not, but I do believe he is, for the most part, an independent thinker. Just by differing with bho, holder, sharpton, etc. he shows his ability to think outside the play the race card box.
Barkley is a regular commentator during the NCAA basketball tournament. He usually has a bold and different take. Sharp guy.
Blacks were 100% Republican up until the New Deal and for good reason. Martin Luther King, both Jr. and Sr. were Republicans as well but by that time the blacks had mostly changed parties due to the social welfare programs. Condaleeza Rice and Colin Powell represent the tail end of the post Civil War black identification with the Republicans.
There does seem to be some slow movement back as evidenced by very negative comments about Brown and Martin by some black preachers and politicians from the South but it’s not significant so far.
first white born and raised biracial with no african american slave blood, but from a slave owning family.
I use to be an ardent support for gay “marriage”, but now I’m not. I’d like to see how Barkley came to support such a bizarre “right.”
And if the GOP “lost their minds” I wonder what he thinks of the DNP. Do they have the heads on screwed right?
A libertarian doesn’t go around talking about black jack money for taxes.
Barkley’s got it exactly right.
Why don’t you ask Detroit that.
Ymaraakar: “Why don’t you ask Detroit that.”
A good point that I hadn’t thought of. Touche’. 🙂