Actually he didn't just tell you.
He showed you. The video is all over the place and most everyone saw it.
The fact that everyone saw it, of course, isn't stopping Mayor Rawlings-Blake from claiming she said no such thing. That has presented us with quite a pair of videos - one of a person making a statement, and another of the very same person insisting shortly thereafter that she never made the statement.
Skip to about 4:00 to see the moment of truth, followed by the moment of untruth:
Now, two things about this:
Her staff came out and issued a clarification insisting that when she said "destroy," what she really meant was peacefully protest. For a moment, let's assume for the sake of discussion that this is true. Since anyone can see that she did, in fact, say "destroy," wouldn't it be more effective for her to own up to the misstatement and explain what she really meant? Some people would still pass it around on social media as a gotcha, but it wouldn't have nearly the impact if she copped to it as an honest mistake.
Instead, she insists she never said it and blames the media for "twisting her words"? They didn't twist anything. They reported what she said. If they weren't understanding her words correctly, it's on her to explain them better.
The second thing is that I'm trying to come up with a possible innocent explanation in the event one felt like giving her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you could buy that she said "destroy" when she meant to say "demonstrate," since people who wanted to demonstrate would need space to do so safely.
But the way she's reacting to the video of her actual words makes me doubt that. A person doesn't get that angry and defensive when they're on the spot for an innocent mistake that's easily explained.
I think she meant what Mark Fuhrman thinks she meant:
Let's let the rioters blow off some steam and then maybe they'll get it out of their system and go home.
That fits perfectly with the liberal view of such matters. People are angry and emotional and they need to be allowed to have their conniption fit. If some cops get hurt or a CVS gets burned down, they're the oppressors and the capitalists anyway, so who cares? Just don't agitate the rioters by bringing out police in riot gear and everything will calm down soon enough.
I think that's what she meant, and she worded it in a way that was just a little too honest for her own good. That's why she got so angry when her words got national attention. Liberals hate it when they say what they really mean and people notice.
