Eugene Robinson's Blog, page 106

Sony Pictures’ killer headache after being hacked

It seems there is something to offend everyone in the upcoming Hollywood comedy “The Interview.” At this point, I’m guessing, most wounded of all may be the Sony Pictures Entertainment executives who greenlighted the film.Read full article >>

Eugene Robinson: Senate report shows that the U.S. answered evil with evil

The “debate” over torture is almost as grotesque as torture itself. There can be no legitimate debate about the intentional infliction of pain upon captive and defenseless human beings. The torturers and their enablers may deny it, but they know — and knew from the beginning — that what they did was obscenely wrong.Read full article >>

Despite progress on racism, the uncomfortable truth is that work remains

President Obama’s observation that racism is “deeply rooted” in U.S. society is an understatement. Racism is as American as the Fourth of July, and ignoring this fact doesn’t make it go away.

These truths, to quote a familiar document, are self-evident. Obama made the remark in an interview with Black Entertainment Television, telling the network’s largely African American audience something it already knew. The president’s prediction that racism “isn’t going to be solved overnight” also came as no surprise.

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The Eric Garner case’s sickening outcome

“I can’t breathe.”

Those were Eric Garner’s last words, and today they apply to me. The decision by a Staten Island grand jury to not indict the police officer who killed him takes my breath away.

In the depressing reality series that should be called “No Country for Black Men,” this sick plot twist was shocking beyond belief. There should have been an indictment in the Ferguson case, in my view, but at least the events that led to Michael Brown’s killing were in dispute. Garner’s homicide was captured on video. We saw him being choked, heard him plead of his distress, watched as no attempt was made to revive him and his life slipped away.

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What America’s police departments don’t want you to know

Michael Brown’s death was part of a tragic and unacceptable pattern: Police officers in the United States shoot and kill civilians in shockingly high numbers. How many killings are there each year? No one can say for sure, because police departments don’t want us to know.

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Dehumanizing Ferguson

The name Ferguson should become shorthand for dehumanization.

No one should have been surprised that police officer Darren Wilson was not charged in the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. I’ve written before, and likely will have to write again, about the tragically low value our society places on the lives of young black men. Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch led the grand jury in a manner that seemed designed to indict the unarmed Brown rather than the man who shot him dead. The outcome was not in suspense.

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Chuck Hagel’s replacement must be cautious

It’s a surprise to see President Obama actually fire someone. But I have to worry that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s forced departure may signal further expansion of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Syria.

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Marion Barry, a mayor who changed his constituents’ lives

My first job at The Washington Post was covering Marion Barry in his first term as mayor. Over the years, as he settled into a sad pattern of self-destruction, his name was reduced to a punch line for late-night comedians — but never for me. The man I knew was always an original, always the real deal, and the city he shaped should mourn his passing.

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On Bill Cosby, hard to keep the faith

Afew weeks ago, I spent a delightful afternoon and evening with Bill Cosby. I was the emcee of a gala for historically black Claflin University, which is in my home town of Orangeburg, S.C.; Cosby was the headliner. Both of us were donating our time to a worthy cause.

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Boehner’s immigration inertia forces Obama to act

Oh, please. All the melodramatic Republican outrage isn’t fooling anybody. The only reason President Obama has to act on immigration reform is that House Speaker John Boehner won’t.

I repeat: That’s the only reason. The issue could have been settled a year ago. It could be settled in an afternoon. The problem is that Boehner refuses to do his job, preferring instead to spend his time huffing and puffing in simulated indignation.

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