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Distortion of
Dorner Manifesto by Mainstream Media
by Michael S. Rozeff
Recently by Michael S. Rozeff: Why Pick on Targeted
Killing? Indict the State
Expect severe distortion of
the Dorner Manifesto by the MSM. You cannot simply read headlines and expect to
know anything. You have to do more research than that to understand any issue.
You also cannot read only the news articles of one or a few sources, especially
the established or mainstream media. These routinely editorialize within
so-called news accounts. They selectively choose and distort
material.
A case in point is an
article popping up in Google news that
is here. It is written by Sharon Bernstein and it's under an NBC affiliate
(4NBC Southern California). I have also already seen and read a CNN article that
interspersed misleading editorial statements with quotes from the Dorner
Manifesto. Bernstein's article is totally irresponsible journalism.
Ms. Bernstein msinterpets
Dorner as choosing victims on the basis of race and sex bias. This is completely
false!! In each case where race and sex are mentioned, he focuses on their
behavior and what he charges them with doing. More on that below.
Her headline reads
"Manifesto: Alleged Cop Revenge Shooter Named Targets, Blamed Asians, Hispanics
and Lesbians."
Dorner DOES NOT BLAME
Asians, Hispanics and Lesbians per se. In each case, he blames them for specific
reasons. These reasons are lousy reasons for murder, to be sure. But it is clear
that he is not targeting various members of the LAPD for their race or sexual
preference alone, but for their BEHAVIOR as he sees it.
I will first provide three
quotes that show that he has nothing at all against the LGBT
community:
"Ellen Degeneres, continue
your excellent contribution to entertaining America and bringing the human
factor to entertainment. You changed the perception of your gay community and
how we as Americans view the LGBT community. I congratulate you on your success
and opening my eyes as a young adult, and my generation to the fact that you are
know different from us other than who you choose to love."
"It's time to allow gay
service member's spouses to utilize the same benefits that all heterosexual
dependents are eligible for. Medical, Dental, Tricare, Deers, SGLI, BX,
Commissary, Milstar, MWR, etc. Flag officers, lets be honest. You can't really
give a valid argument to as why gays shouldn't be eligible as every month a new
state enacts laws that allow same sex marriage."
"LGBT community and
supporters, the same way you have the right to voice your opinion on acceptance
of gay marriage, Chick Fil-A has a right to voice their beliefs as well. That's
what makes America so great. Freedom of expression. Don't be assholes and
boycott/degrade their business and customers who patronize the locations. They
make some damn good chicken! Vandalizing (graffiti) their locations does not
help any cause."
What does he say about
lesbian officers in general, as a class? Nothing. He singles out certain ones
that he thinks are treating males unfairly who are under their
supervision:
"Those lesbian officers in
supervising positions who go to work, day in day out, with the sole intent of
attempting to prove your misandrist authority (not feminism) to degrade male
officers. You are a high value target."
Dorner says that he is
making certain LAPD police, characterized by race, as his targets, each because
of a different reason. It is the reasons that are important to him, not the race
per se. In each case, race comes in because it is linked to a particular
injustice that he perceives and dislikes.
Take the case of
Hispanics:
"Those Hispanic officers
who victimize their own ethnicity because they are new immigrants to this
country and are unaware of their civil rights. You call them wetbacks to their
face and demean them in front of fellow officers of different ethnicities so
that you will receive some sort of acceptance from your colleagues. I'm not
impressed. Most likely, your parents or grandparents were immigrants at one
time, but you have forgotten that. You are a high value target."
Dorner sees an injustice in
Hispanic police who mistreat other Hispanics in order to get ahead in the
LAPD.
Ms. Bernstein failed to
mention that Dorner, who is black, also targets certain Black officers and
certain Caucasian officers, again, not for their race per se but because of a
perceived injustice.
In the case of Black
supervisors, he is concerned with those who demean white officers under their
authority:
"Those Black officers in
supervisory ranks and pay grades who stay in south bureau (even though you live
in the valley or OC) for the sole intent of getting retribution toward
subordinate caucasians officers for the pain and hostile work environment their
elders inflicted on you as probationers (P-1's) and novice P-2’s. You are a high
value target. You perpetuated the cycle of racism in the department as well. You
breed a new generation of bigoted caucasian officer when you belittle them and
treat them unfairly."
In the case of white
officers, he is concerned with those who are intent on victimizing
minorities:
"Those Caucasian officers
who join South Bureau divisions (77th,SW,SE, an Harbor) with the sole intent to
victimize minorities who are uneducated, and unaware of criminal law, civil law,
and civil rights. You prefer the South bureau because a use of force/deadly
force is likely and the individual you use UOF on will likely not report it. You
are a high value target."
Dorner
does indeed categorize his targets by race, as Ms. Bernstein's article partially
reports. This is not central to his thought or action. Mistreatment of
subordinates is central to his thinking, and this includes his personal case and
his personal frustrations with getting the LAPD to change. Dorner's case should
not be transformed by irresponsible reporting into the acts of a person
motivated by racial hatreds. Neither should he be dismissed as one who is
"mentally ill".
He has made himself judge,
jury and executioner. That's for sure. In this respect, he echoes President
Obama with his targeted killings. He even uses the same term, target. Both have
their reasons for their killing. Both are wrong.
February 14,
2012
Michael S. Rozeff [send him mail] is a retired Professor of
Finance living in East Amherst, New York. He is the author of the free e-book Essays on American Empire: Liberty
vs. Dominationand the free e-book The U.S. Constitution and Money:
Corruption and Decline.
Copyright © 2012
by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted,
provided full credit is given.