I remember that time. My ex was a police officer, he was able to show me the exact moment those offecers crossed the line. It was pretty quick in. We were all stunned that they were found not guilty, and saddened, but not shocked by the aftermath. I wish I had seen Senator Bradley's speech. What a man. I hope we can get this country headed back in the right direction. I know my kids and their friends have better attitudes and respect for others than a lot of folks from my generation.
I am a 67-year-old Canadian. I remember the politics of Bill Bradley. I am a registered INDIAN, First Nations man, in Canada. I am grateful to witness there are passionate politicians that will stand for equality for all human beings.
When Bill Bradley was running for President in 2000, he made an appearance in Albany, NY, and my Republican parents and I went to hear him speak. We ended up standing off to one side, as there were no seats available when we arrived fifteen minutes early. As the organizers of the event started the event, with some preliminary speakers, my parents and I suddenly realized the man who was standing next to us was Bill Bradley, who, when he realized we recognized him, approached us to shake our hands and greet us, followed by some general talk about the campaign. Then it came time for him to speak, and he was as knowledgeable and as passionate about the issues as we expected he would be. (My parents were impressed by him and would probably have voted for him in the New York primary, if they had been registered Democrats.) But what impressed us the most was that, as soon as he finished speaking, he stepped off the platform and walked back over to us, to shake our hands and briefly finish our conversation, before he moved on to shake the hands of the others in attendance. His recognition of us as worthy of his time and interest, without ever asking if we were even Democrats who could vote for him in the primary, showed him to be exactly the kind of human being we need in elected office: someone who truly cares about the people he encounters.
Thank you for your post. What a wonderful and memorable experience you and your parents had in meeting Senator Bill Bradley. That's so impressive of the kind of person he was.
We may not be perfect, but there are others FAR worse. You think America is racist? Try visiting China as a non-chinese. Let me know how your visit goes.
I am in northern California. LEO here have been influential on the positive side of police standards and training. The academy has methods to weed out potential bad apples. Among the first to use a virtual reality training simulator. Same sim encounters using different ethnicities and with different levels of refusal to comply. So, it became a stain on law enforcement when the FBI arrested 10 officers from two cities on a variety of corruption charges. That after a black mayor of one city nearly got into a fist fight with the white chief for not conducting an investigation. Indications are the officers became radicalized over time. Years ago a respected multi agency drug intervention task force was dismantled for a time when 1 officer decided to dip into the evidence room snow and money. Lack of oversight partly to blame. When law enforcement management looks the other way, bad things occur.
😭. Remember it well like it was yesterday. We live 2 hours north of LA. I was in shock because I had followed that trial closely. I told my wife Los Angeles will burn tonight. My wife passed 6 years ago. The trial had been moved from LA to all white extremely affluent simi . Thank you Bill Bradley. I’ve never seen that clip of him. There are decent folks in this world and they are almost all on the Blue team. Please vote blue.
No, you guys (and everybody else on the planet) would be lucky if you had people in politics who live in the NOW, not in the confederate slave era or some other random point in the past.
So sorry we have Supreme court justices that dont automatically vote down partisan lines like RGB no matter what the actual rule of law and the constitutions says. I mean you have one that cant tell what a woman is ? That your standards.SMDH.
30 years ago Living Colour released the great album Stain. Relevance? It's taken this long for this Australian (me) to understand that sample quote "56 times in 81 seconds". It was Bradley's voice. What a man. What a band. What a horror. Sadly, we in Australia often treat our indigenous folk no better.
34 comments below this and they all missed the point. Lawrence's point wasn't about promoting his time working with Bll Bradley. It was about the stance he took against racism. Hopefully comments above mine won't miss the mark, or fail to recognize the gravity of this episode of American history.
OMG! I must be living under a huge rock. I didn't know anything about Bill Bradley. I am embarrassed to see how vapid I must be. I can't recall ever hearing his name before. Wow. I wonder how many 'intelligent' people are like I am, insulated from entire sections of knowledge??
This is an absolutely outstanding journalistic report and a professional presentation by Laurence again as so many before - Please continue in this line - I'm sure your outstanding journalistic work is highly appreciated by many more people you can think of.
To my embarrassment, I don't remember this man. But I realize that I missed a great man who stood up for injustices made in the name of racism. Thank you for bringing this man to my mind. I will look more into him now and remember him.
Lawrence. You were a suite and tie. You're like the guy I would expect to face in the most boring office. There is this formality. There is this expectation of facing a bureaucrat. Yet you speak these words of wisdom and love. Like in this one. In deep admiration, of the giants you somehow seem to be surrounded by. It adds a balance and scope to your work, that is awesome. You will probably never read this, as this will drown in the comments, but I often find myself admiring you. Because as much as you admire the people you speak of, I simply admire you, as you share this with us. That tapping that pen. Well. That's power. The power of love. The power of justice. Told the way, only you can. You sure know how to inspire people. Because these are the stories I would love to be able to tell, this is the way I aspire to tell them. And you're all wearing boring suits. Ties. and stuff. All this formality. Yet what impresses me, is the love and the wisdom. You probably never read this, but I don't care: Thanks. I follow US politics closely these days, but when asked what is happening over there, I point to you. Because you remind us, of who you guys really are. I then point to Biden, because you both speak of the same. We are simply in your debt.
I had the pleasure of testifying before Senator Bradley in his role as Senate Finance Chair on legislation relating to the removal of the Elwha Dams in Washington state. He was informed, asked great questions, displayed humor and understanding. An example of what leadership can be.
In 1965, John McPhee (my "desert isle" author of choice) wrote a book entitled "A Sense of Where You Are" about Bill Bradley's college basketball career at Princeton. Well, that's ostensibly the subject, but in true McPhee manner, it is so much more -- a magnificent, kaleidoscopic view of the man, how he played the game, and how he saw not only "the play", but how he saw the entirety of things. It was the first of McPhee's writing I encountered, and it changed my world, shifting my perception all those years ago. They are both magnificent. You can find the piece online in the January 25, 1965 edition of 'The New Yorker'. I assume it was then expanded into the book, or perhaps was abridged for the magazine. Either, or both, are well worth reading.
A very powerful statement. The sound of the pen repeatedly hitting the podium is a stark reminder of what was felt by Rodney King. It must have felt interminable to him. 😢😢 Oh, how we need this type of leadership today.
Bradley was a great Senator and I remember that floor speech. It made a kid in Alabama proud that a U.S. Senator was calling out injustice instead of playing it safe and "backing the blue."
Lawrence does a great job. It's just discouraging that mainstream news, especially political news serves a very small slice of busy America. The subject of voting for president came up in my 5th grade classroom last week. Turns out less than half my parents even vote, much less sit and watch a story about a senator. It's like the "teacher quitting" videos and the thousands of comments, most of which are very spot-on, being watched mainly by other teachers. No one cares.
I absolutely loved Bill Bradley. He used to come in and eat at my mother's restaurant back when he was in politics. He used to come in and order quiches (my mother owned a health food restaurant in Northern New Jersey) back in the 80's. He was a really genuine guy. He dedicated his life to serving the public when he was in office. I'll have to check out his play.
That was deeply inspiring. I wait, it seems, my entire life to see even a single display of racial justice and I wonder how that is possible. How can we as a nation have grown up so little, learned so few lessons, understood almost nothing at all on the most American subject; racism.
The only way things can change is for each one of us to be the change we wish to see in this world. Make a pledge this very minute to become active in speaking out against wrongs & making a difference. Stand up for those unable to stand up for themselves. Give someone a hand up when you can. And always treat others as you wish to be treated. Simple things that make miraculous differences.
John McPhee, who made a career writing non-fiction for The New Yorker magazine, taught writing at Princeton, has published 40+ books with Farrar, Strauss & Giroux had his break writing a long piece about Bill Bradley in his last year playing college ball. Published first in New Yorker, then in book form by FS&G as A Sense of Where You Are, it is a great book…and McPhee’s talent is obvious.
*This is fascinating Lawrence. I knew nothing about this, and I'm feeling a bit 'crook' ( **_as the Aussies would say_** ) this morning, but this cheered me right up!* 👍😎🇬🇧☕
8 years of Bill Bradley in the White House wouldn't have featured the Bush Tax Cuts for rich slobs. No WMD either. Don't blame me, I voted for him in the primary.
I loved Bill so much... Amazing Senator... Still adore Lawrence though... It will be a sad day when we lose him... Him hitting that desk, I absolutely remember that and it really hit home over Rodney King.. I will never forget that day...
America has it's problems, EVERY country has it's problems, but Bill Bradley, Nelson Mandella, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Alexei Navalny, President Biden and people like them give me hope that things will get better.
Thank you Laurence! That was a fantastic report!! Thank you Bill Bradley, saw you play at MSG! I was in L.A. for the riot after the Rodney King verdict.. our running joke back then was L.A. had four seasons of it's own. Earthquake, mudslide, fire and riot 😞
Let's place any alternative reality to rest. Bottom Line -The judgement is NOT going to be overturned on appeal -This degenerate is NOT going to be re elected. VOTE Early VOTE Blue 🔵 VOTE for sanity and democracy VOTE Democrat 👍
My God, seeing that beating of Rodney King again was sickening! Bill Bradley is the kind of citizen who is NOT afraid of the truth! Stand him next to DT, who too many American adore because they share his racism.
Thank you Lawrence for this glimpse into our history - I did not know about Bradley’s work in the senate regarding this seminal moment in American history- even though I was 33 at the time - unemployed after a layoff but soon to become a U.S. government civil servant at NASA for the next 32 exciting years.
Absolutely brilliant report. Thank you for reminding us how wonderful Bill was and how we should still be outraged. A group of men in Mississippi "the goons" were just arrested for beating Blacks in their town. Where is our voice today ? too quiet.
This lovely story ranks up there with the one you did about General Austin a while back. I like getting teary because of a beautiful legend rather than a sad disappointment. Thank you.
I think of Bradley not knowing anything about trade negotiations and then putting in the tough, hard yards to become a leading expert on the matter. Then I think of the former guy entering the WH clueless and leaving the place not having learned a darn thing. About anything. And yet he has a shot at doing it again! What a crazy world this is.
TERM LIMITS FOR PUBLIC OFFICE Senators = 15yrs max (senators can go and be HR) Supreme court = 15yrs max (you RETIRE) House of Representatives = 20yrs max (HR can go on to be Senators) President and VP = 8yrs max (can go and be Senators if they so desire) They senators/HR cannnot become lobbyist till after 3yrs of leaving office!
Bill Bradley: The best President that America never had. This is exactly what Politicians of every stripe, background and party (and even every country) should be aspire to be like. His decency just shines through and he made such a powerful impact, not by using any kind of violent rhetoric, just by using his pen. In a world full of people like the former president, be more like this gentleman. Vote 💙 all the way!
My geometry teacher and the JV basketball coach at my high school played basketball at Festus HS, the big rival of Bradley's Crystal City. He was a sophomore Bradley's senior year, the best player on his team, and his coached believed in man-to-man defense. He got to "guard" Bradley. He said Bradley could have scored on him every time down the court, but he took pity on him and passed most of the time. Crystal City still won by 25 and Bradley only got 30 or 40 points, but he said Bradley was incredibly nice to him during and after the game and encouraged him.
Mr O'Donnell, thank you for this report on such a rare individual and an even more rare politician. The NBA has produced some outstanding leaders, leaders that are too rare and far between. And thank you for directing me and others to his one-man-performance on MAX.
Excellent piece Lawrence, but why did it stop so early? It is a wonderful thing for enlightened White people who get it when so many others didn't back then and still don't. Thank you
