4 ms·

Insightful. However, since we live in such hyper-partisan times where news outlets toe the political line and play to the cheap seats, this story will never be

Insightful. However, since we live in such hyper-partisan times where news outlets toe the political line and play to the cheap seats, this story will never be picked up by the national media. I'd be astounded if (or especially) a Krystal Ball or Tamron Hall or Chris Matthews gave this even a passing glance or the sundry treatment in one of their segments. Why? Because this is Northern California. Scratch that. This is the Bay Area. The No-Daily-Limit ATM for the DNC. Facts unchanged, if this were to have happened in a wealthy exurb in Florida or Texas, then any news producer who stumbled on this would have just struck prime-time Nielsen gold. Every two-bit Latino Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow coalition would be all over the story. Since this happens to be in a hyper-affluent town, the residents of which bundle and bestow generously to all sorts of progressive causes, both political and societal, they make an exception. I'm certain this sort of thing happens in the toniest parts of Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and other liberal bastions in the Northeast as well. It is precisely for those like the residents of Atherton who presumably demand tough law enforcement within the city limits, for everyone besides them (and yes this is largely a presumption since there are no facts to suggest that the residents have any say in this selective enforcement), the terms limousine liberal and champagne socialist were coined. This is why I heavily loathe all forms of partisanship and frown on extreme positions to both the left and right of the center. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limousine_liberal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limousine_liberal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_socialist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_socialist Edit: Additions

lobotryas 13y ago
Is this really insightful or is this another case of "correlation not implying causation"? Have you paused to consider the geography of these cities, their respectful populations, commute profiles or other socio-economic data? Of course not - you're a busy person just like all of us and we all rely on others to provide digestible, bite-size chunks of information arranged "just so" to help us come to the same conclusion as the author. But I digress. Please look at the above replies and consider that few things are as black-and-white as people want us to believe.
- wozniacki 13y ago
  All the statistics gleaned from incarceration surveys and law enforcement records cannot indubitably frame a police department for clear racism. and Conversely, all the statistics gleaned from incarceration surveys and law enforcement records cannot indubitably absolve a police department of clear racism. It's just the nature of the beast. Even if you were to be able to prove it, there will always be concern-trolls who argue,quite convincingly, that preventing police departments from aggressively enforcing the law (even with provisions such as Stop and Frisk in NYC) is in itself an injustice to the poor and vulnerable (many of whom might in fact be of the inflicted race, themselves). Eg: Barney Frank argues in favor of more policing of black neighborhoods as not doing so would be a disservice to the law abiding (black) residents who are also themselves victims of crime albeit from gang members who might be black,themselves. So STOP and FRISK is in essence justified, one could imply from Frank's rationale. This from an openly gay and progressive Democrat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW3xFGeGIWk&t=2m12s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW3xFGeGIWk&t=2m12s General perception has always been the scale used to judge whether a party is at the receiving end of overt or covert racism. Statistics have always been a sideshow. A sweetener, if you will, to seal the argument but not the primary means of smelling that something's awry in the way people are treated. Whether it is community policing or non-discriminatory housing. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/economy/discrimination-in-housing-against-nonwhites-persists-quietly-us-study-finds.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/economy/discrimin... Justice Potter Stewart's thumb rule for ascertaining whether something fits the definition of hardcore pornography applies here: "I know it when I see it." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it Whether Atherton is the most fitting poster child for the kind of limousine liberalism that I described, is another matter altogether. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if this happened in any of the most educated and virulently liberal nooks of the country. The fact is it does exist and yes it is a thing. It has been called the "Oh, don't give me any of that racist crap! My Husband and I gave money to Colin Powell!" strain of racism. To remove the last remnants of niggling doubt from those who genuinely suspect that such a pattern of behavior actually exists among the most gifted, accomplished and refined, while wealthy, members of our society, I give you this memorable exchange from the movie Cruel Intentions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2XlqE9OUg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2XlqE9OUg This has always been there and given the current mores of our society, is likely to persist unless we shed our partisan coats and overhaul our approaches to solving societal problems in a wholesale way.

lobotryas 13y ago

Is this really insightful or is this another case of "correlation not implying causation"? Have you paused to consider the geography of these cities, their respectful populations, commute profiles or other socio-economic data? Of course not - you're a busy person just like all of us and we all rely on others to provide digestible, bite-size chunks of information arranged "just so" to help us come to the same conclusion as the author. But I digress. Please look at the above replies and consider that few things are as black-and-white as people want us to believe.

wozniacki 13y ago
All the statistics gleaned from incarceration surveys and law enforcement records cannot indubitably frame a police department for clear racism. and Conversely, all the statistics gleaned from incarceration surveys and law enforcement records cannot indubitably absolve a police department of clear racism. It's just the nature of the beast. Even if you were to be able to prove it, there will always be concern-trolls who argue,quite convincingly, that preventing police departments from aggressively enforcing the law (even with provisions such as Stop and Frisk in NYC) is in itself an injustice to the poor and vulnerable (many of whom might in fact be of the inflicted race, themselves). Eg: Barney Frank argues in favor of more policing of black neighborhoods as not doing so would be a disservice to the law abiding (black) residents who are also themselves victims of crime albeit from gang members who might be black,themselves. So STOP and FRISK is in essence justified, one could imply from Frank's rationale. This from an openly gay and progressive Democrat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW3xFGeGIWk&t=2m12s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW3xFGeGIWk&t=2m12s General perception has always been the scale used to judge whether a party is at the receiving end of overt or covert racism. Statistics have always been a sideshow. A sweetener, if you will, to seal the argument but not the primary means of smelling that something's awry in the way people are treated. Whether it is community policing or non-discriminatory housing. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/economy/discrimination-in-housing-against-nonwhites-persists-quietly-us-study-finds.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/economy/discrimin... Justice Potter Stewart's thumb rule for ascertaining whether something fits the definition of hardcore pornography applies here: "I know it when I see it." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it Whether Atherton is the most fitting poster child for the kind of limousine liberalism that I described, is another matter altogether. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if this happened in any of the most educated and virulently liberal nooks of the country. The fact is it does exist and yes it is a thing. It has been called the "Oh, don't give me any of that racist crap! My Husband and I gave money to Colin Powell!" strain of racism. To remove the last remnants of niggling doubt from those who genuinely suspect that such a pattern of behavior actually exists among the most gifted, accomplished and refined, while wealthy, members of our society, I give you this memorable exchange from the movie Cruel Intentions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2XlqE9OUg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2XlqE9OUg This has always been there and given the current mores of our society, is likely to persist unless we shed our partisan coats and overhaul our approaches to solving societal problems in a wholesale way.