This post started out as something completely different about 40 minutes ago. Then all I had was a video of Baltimore's youngish mayor, Brandon Scott, during an interview on race-baiting whack-job Joy Reid's show. And the lad was going off on white people, egged on, of course, by the mistress of malevolence herself.

And my first reaction, honestly, was, "Build the damn bridge yourself, then, you miserable twit." Particularly knowing my initial response to the horror, and those of my friends, had to do with nothing but the ghastly occurrence we saw repeated over and over in front of our eyes. What it meant to any poor folks who might have been on the bridge. And what the aftermath was going to mean to a city that's been circling the drain for years anyway.

I even defended Scott when people dinked on him for comparing the collapse to looking like something out of a video game—because that's what it looked like. I mean, what is the acceptable comparison to those who parse appropriateness when something so surreal happens in real time? For God's sake, he was speaking in the stunned wake of the unimaginable. Any of us would have said, "Like special effects," or "disaster movie," or words similar. 

Everyone I know, everyone I work with and for, is shocked and heartbroken over the collapse and the deaths. We are grateful for the quick thinking that prevented worse, uniformly pulling for Baltimore to get the channel cleared and for everyone to get the hell out of the way so a new bridge can swiftly begin to rise.

That's why divisive, race-baiting, completely unnecessary venom like THIS from Baltimore's mayor is disgusting and discouraging. I don't care what flak he's catching - he needs to be bigger and better than this. You were elected to be the big guy in Baltimore's chair, dude - no one forced you to run for mayor.

Be it.

BALTIMORE MAYOR SCOTT: "[White people’s] way of life, of being comfortable while everyone else suffers is going to be at risk, and they should be afraid because that's my purpose in life."

pic.twitter.com/HAVvScN4ok

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 28, 2024

Not the words nor the sentiments needed right now from the mayor, and I don't care what color he is.

What is he going to say when those first Army Corps of Engineers crews arrive, who I guarantee will be mostly pale-hued? How about the fellows coming in with the massive Navy crane from Norfolk to remove the superstructure remnants from the channel? They're just the vanguard of the help that will be descending on his city.

You can't take those words back, Brandon Scott.

But you could apologize and say, "Thank you to everyone coming to help, whoever you are." 

IF you're a big enough man to shoot your yap off on Asylum TV, surely you have the cajones to do the right thing by the people you need far more desperately than you need Joy Reid.

IF

But there is another really disturbing angle here, and I want to address it. Yes, Brandon Scott, as mayor, should be able to nobly and silently suffer spurious personal slings and arrows for the sake of his city and its tremendous need.

But so-called "Republicans" and "conservatives" don't need to be pulling bull Schlitz out their quivers and nocking it to send. What I found when I initially started this post was pretty disgusting, and I have no patience with it.

Part of what got Scott's goat was being called a "DEI" mayor. Well, he should just grow up - he was elected, not appointed, and by a huge majority 

This flamethrowing pseudo-conservative jacka** got 26M views for his, frankly, racist little DEI smack at Scott. Community Notes worked the way they were meant to on the tweet, but the view numbers - Lord.

When was it decided that DEI was okay as a slur and/or could be used in any situation? 

There's a problem there.

It's also a problem when Republican candidates blindly repeat things on social media without any investigation whatsoever because it hits their talking points.

Take this GOP piece of work running for governor in Utah. Some relatively small "conservative" group on X decided it would be cool to go after the first black chick they saw on the Port of Baltimore's Board of Commissioners, and this Phil Lyman chimes right in.

Now, I know that both he and this little "conservative" group both thought they were being excessively clever in exploiting the Baltimore disaster to pump more anti-DEI narratives, but they should have done their homework first.

Like I did.

The first thing I did was wonder, "Well, what do other port boards look like," making allowances for the fact that I already know port commissioners would probably have little expertise in some areas. But I wondered how, say, the commissioners for Port Authority of New York - which DWARFS tiny little Baltimore - stacked up against what Mr Lyman and the group considered to be "DEI" appointments. "Virtue signaling imperiled the entire city of Baltimore" is what they are clearly implying.

Well. Huh.

• Mr. Lynford, currently serves as President and CEO of Educational Housing Services, Inc., the leading not-for-profit New York City organization that provides safe and affordable housing for college students and interns since 1987.
• Since 1993, Mr. Bollwage has served as Mayor of the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey, which is the fourth largest municipality in the state 
• For over 30 years, Steven M. Cohen has served as counselor and legal advisor in the public and private sector. He currently operates an advisory consulting firm. 
• Leecia Eve recently served as Vice President of Public Policy at Verizon, focused on driving Verizon’s deployment of 5G in the New York metro region.
• Winston C. Fisher is a Partner at Fisher Brothers, a New York City based real estate firm.
• Mr. Helmy is Executive Vice President, Chief External Affairs and Policy Officer for RWJBarnabas Health.
• Mr. Kelley is a Partner in the national real estate development firm, CHA Partners.
• Mr. LaBarbera has served since 2009 as president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
• Mr. McCabe is a partner at River Crossing Strategy Group, a lobbying and public affairs firm in New Jersey.
• Prior to her most recent appointment, Commissioner [Rossana] Rosado served as New York’s Secretary of State for nearly six years
• With three decades of private, public, and nonprofit sector experience, Michelle Richardson is known for the breadth and depth of her expertise in government and community development.

HOLY SMOKES AND SAINTS PRESERVE US

The entire PANYNJ Board is ALL DEI hires by the group and the candidate's metrics. There's not one damn sea captain among them...as I pointed out to both offending parties and which I will excerpt here:

Have you EVER ONCE looked at the resumes of the Board of COMMISSIONERS for the PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK? 

Tell me all about their EXTENSIVE dock working experience and how many of them are sea captains or security experts. By all means, I'd be delighted to hear how superior they are as far as knowing the FIRST damn thing about a port compared to this woman on the board of a comparatively minuscule port. 

It would be nice for ONCE if Republicans could engage the brains God gave them before their fingers or their mouths.

Blazing white-hot fires of ignorance are never the light you should use to guide your footsteps...or your fingers on a keyboard

There are enough divisive, racist, hateful jerks to go around already. When we are making such progress against an ideology as deeply burrowed into institutions and bureaucracy as DEI is now, why on earth would anyone want to dilute the point and cheapen the term?

Unless they're hiding their own moral failings.

Cheap scores help no one when they're WRONG.

Don't let them. Call them out. I don't care how big the account is or who.

We can't stand for what's right if we allow what's wrong in our own camp to pass.

We've gotta be better.