Over the last few days a number of readers have sent us the link to the video below.
The speaker is the Sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (the City of Milwaukee has its own separate police force).
Sheriff Clarke is a black Democrat politician (sheriffs are elected), and a refreshingly outspoken law enforcement officer. The whole speech at the Press Club, of which this is an excerpt, concerns his observations about the “vultures” who flew into Ferguson Missouri in order to take full advantage of the crisis there, even perhaps hoping to have a hand in creating the resulting conflagration. At the time of this speech the grand jury had yet to reach a decision regarding the lawfulness (or not) of the actions of the Ferguson police officer who shot the young black man, Michael Brown.
Many Americans have become increasingly cynical and fearful as they observe the entitled behavior of police across all areas of the country. The aftermath of the Boston Marathon terrorist attack and the police behavior there is emblematic of our fears. Just use a search string which includes the words «Boston Marathon military tactics police Waltham». It is dispiriting.
The Washington Post has given seat and voice to one of the more knowledgeable and popular critics of the new-style LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) who have been unleashed on unsuspecting citizens. These are not the police our fathers would remember. You can read Radley Balko here.
Sheriff Clarke is not among the new breed Balko describes- which may be why he has been repeatedly re-elected in a bastion of liberal Democrats. He transcends partisan politics to address the needs of the citizens who elect him and whom he serves.
It takes guts to be in his business and still be willing to bust on Eric Holder. Every criticism he makes of the now-former (thank heavens) head of our Department of Justice is a full-on body shot. Holder is a disgrace; Obama’s choice of the man to destroy DoJ succeeded at the task he was given. That work reflects accurately on their ultimate aim: to tear down what they hadn’t built.
Below the fold is Sheriff Clarke’s CV. It was cited on the You Tube channel which posted this excerpt from his speech at the National Press Club:
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, WASHINGTON D.C. — Sheriff Clarke talks about Ferguson Missouri and how politicians and irresponsible groups came like vultures on a roadside carcass to exploit the situation. Eric Holder made a bad situation worse with self-serving rhetoric. 9-17-14
Clarke is a lifelong resident of the City of Milwaukee and in March 2002 was appointed Sheriff by Governor Scott McCallum, and eight months later was elected to his first four-year term, earning 64% of the vote. Sheriff Clarke is now in his third term, having been re-elected in November 2006 and 2010, increasing his victory margins to 73% and 74%.
Clarke graduated summa cum laude from Concordia University Wisconsin with a degree in Criminal Justice Management, and in May 2003, Concordia honored him with their Alumnus of the Year Award. Sheriff Clarke also is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. This prestigious school trains law enforcement executives from all over the world, and provides management and leadership instruction. In July 2004, he completed the intensive three-week Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Sheriff Clarke was honored in May 2013, with the Sheriff of the Year Award from the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association for, “demonstrating true leadership and courage. . . staying true to his oath, true to his badge, and true to the people he has promised to serve and protect.”
The citizens of Milwaukee County are fortunate to have him. Sheriff Clarke is a ray of light in our darkening country where far too many sheriffs’ departments and state police bureaus are becoming militarized and bureaucratized, leaving the average person on his own in what all too often looks like a vastly sovietized “democracy”.
His memorable description — like vultures on a roadside carcass — made me wonder if, like our sheriff’s department, his county officers become responsible for finding various means to remove these numerous rural roadkill carcasses to keep the roads safe.
Unfortunately for our country the Black Grievance Industry creates that roadkill in its drive-by greed and opportunism.
It is scarcely imaginable that someone with the intelligence and perspective of Sheriff Clarke can be dismissed so brazenly–but then again, Justice Thomas, Dr. Ben Carson, Jason Riley, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, etc., etc., black intellectuals for whom those of us who desperately want black Americans to achieve GENUINE success quietly cheer have been denigrated (perhaps an unfortunate verb derivation) and impugned. Perhaps unimaginable to the Black hate mongers is the FACT that many of us want for the US nothing more than real, genuine, honest Black success. But it will occur only when individuals, including individual Blacks, accept responsibility for their personal behavior.
This is not an admonishment on my part, ed, because what you have written I mostly agree with, but wouldn’t it be much better if ethnicity was left out of all this political snake oil that plays on color. Wouldn’t things go that much better if what makes a real American was trumpeted as a virtue rather than play on what one’s tribal affiliations are?
My experience is that black people are every bit as capable and intelligent as anyone else. No question they are great Americans. Like any people who have endured the slavery experience they have the added burden of working through “issues”. Black Americans in spite of all the hurdles have thrived. The vultures keep many of their own people in slavery by playing the victim card. In my humble experience.
How refreshing to listen to a man who knows and is willing to call out those who are determined to not only undermine the very system that guarantees an ordered society,
but to also destroy the very fabric of what made America great.
A big WELL DONE to that Sheriff!
One quibble with Sheriff Clarke: He said he didn’t expect Holder to demagogue the issue. I expected nothing but racial demagoguery from Holder.
Not just the Black Grievance Industry, but also the revolutionary communists and anarchists who are happy to stir up the pot to give them an excuse for mayhem.
What a tragedy that people like Sheriff Clarke, Allen West and Thomas Sowell aren’t in prime leadership positions in the Black community. Instead it gets hucksters and rank opportunists.
The reality is worse. Most of them are unindicted criminals. Al Sharpton is one. Jesse Jackson with his infamous “Rainbow Coalition” ran a blackmail scheme against large companies…and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.