I think even people living in caves have heard this one, the opening remarks apology from Congressman Joe Barton…

“I’m speaking now totally for myself, I’m not speaking for the Republican party, I’m not speaking for anybody in the House of Representatives but myself. But, I’m ashamed at what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown; in this case a 20 billion dollar shakedown with the Attorney General…”

Which was followed later in the afternoon by a retraction of the apology to BP and some word salad to the rest of the folks that the intention of the speaker had been misconstrued.

The funny thing about is that the apology came about because the House minority leader, John Boehner, and House whip, Eric Cantor, told Barton that he would lose his position in the Energy and Environment committee if he did not issue a retraction.

Looks like Representative Barton was also the victim of a shakedown; one that threatened his position in power and since he did not want to relinquish that power, he allowed himself to be the next recipient of a shakedown. Ya fucked up, you should have held your ground if you were really ashamed.

Hopefully, this incident will bring up a greater question, ‘who do you trust less, the government or corporations’.

Saw the report of this on the news last night. A cafe in Portland, Oregon, The Red And Black Cafe called a news conference to explain their position as to why they asked a Portland police officer to leave the cafe.

The Red & Black Cafe is no place for a man in blue.

Police Officer James Crooker was asked to leave the vegan coffee shop in Portland, Ore., last month, a discriminatory move but not altogether uncommon at the java joint, a detective told FoxNews.com.

Crooker, 36, a 2-year veteran of the force, entered the Red & Black Café on May 18 and bought a cup of coffee before a customer approached him and said she appreciated his efforts.

That’s when John Langley, one of the co-owners of the collectively managed shop, approached the cop and asked him to leave.

Crooker left immediately. It was the first time something like this has happened to him in his nine-year law enforcement career, he told The Oregonian newspaper.

“The places that I’ve been kicked out of before have been places like the methadone clinic,” he said. “You’re there to protect them, but on the other hand they don’t know what that involves. Being gracious is part of it.”

Detective Mary Wheat, a spokeswoman for the Portland Police Department, characterized the incident as a “fluke” but noted the city’s ongoing tension between the police and some members of the community.

“This is Portland,” Wheat told FoxNews.com. “We have been dealing with that for years and years and years. It’s a very liberal city. We have anarchists here and we deal with them on a regular basis.”

The coffee shop attracts homeless individuals and activists, the newspaper reported, and Wheat said it is known to be “not friendly” to officers who work the area.

“Most officers would know that this is not a coffee shop that’s friendly to police,” she said. “It’s obviously discrimination to police. He works that area and he can’t go in for a cup of coffee — it’s not fair.”

The customer who approached Crooker, Cornelia Seigneur, is a freelancer for The Oregonian who blogged about the incident on her website.

“As I spoke with the café owner, I really never got a direct answer as to why he personally felt unsafe with a police officer in his establishment,” Seigneur wrote. “Bottom line, I think especially of the policeman I met at the red and black, Officer James Crooker, a human being who should be treated with respect and honor, like all human beings.”

Neither Crooker nor Langley could be reached for comment on Friday. An employee who answered the phone at the Red and Black café declined to discuss the incident.

“I’ve been taking calls about this all day and I’m kind of tired of talking about it,” the employee said. “I have a regular job.”

source: foxnews.com

It is fun to watch the video as it fits the Oregon ‘scene’. A co-operative managed by young entrepreneurs friendly to the alternative scene and involved with the neighborhood. We love finding spots like this in our own neighborhoods for their uniqueness. The cafe that is as much influenced by the neighborhood as the cafe influences the neighborhood.

The co-manager, Langley, asked the cop to leave after he, officer Crooker, had purchased the coffee and sat down. Langley explained that, “this event is no way comparable to racism for two main reasons, one of the reasons is that police officers choose to be police officers, they can put their uniform on and they can take it off. People of color are always people of color…another key point is their is a big power difference between the police communities of color that survivors of racism…”

He went on to say that “it can’t be credibly claimed that by asking the police to leave that the police have less access to food or coffee because they can go anywhere else, literally. But on the other hand where can people who have been survivors of police brutality, survivors of police abuse go and know that they are going to be of the presence of the police. Not many places.” starting at 2:48-3:10 in the video.

I wonder how many survivors of ‘police brutality and abuse’ are looking for a cafe to gather. How do you advertise, or do you really upon word of mouth. I’m betting he is just making word salad to excuse himself from doing a stupid thing. Let’s get it done with now, say it all together and loud, ‘Dude, ya fucked up’.

This is not about providing safe haven, this is about getting carried away. Quit making excuses and apologize to the officer. Not because he is an officer, because you made an ass out of yourself. The police bureau has grievous errors but that doesn’t excuse the majority of the good they do. If your cafe gets burglarized, who ya gonna call, victims of police abuse?