I did tune in to watch part of the announcement of the Michael Brown shooting decision last night. Although I wasn’t expecting otherwise, the announcement was such an obvious exercise in ass covering I changed channels before they got to the official announcement. Some politicians need to do a better job of faking sincerity.
Right from the beginning, when Governor Jay Nixon refused to name a special prosecutor and left the case in the hands of Bob McCulloch, the greasy and hopelessly conflicted local district attorney, this case was headed for the biggest public fix since the 1919 World Series. The people in Ferguson knew it. The police knew it. Even Nixon knew it; he declared a state of emergency a week before the grand jury’s decision was handed down. McCulloch simply abandoned his duties as a prosecutor and dumped the evidence on the members if the grand jury without giving them any direction at all. Both of them relied, tacitly, on the fact that they knew the benefits they all would get of the thousand doubts that we give to the people we empower to take another person’s life — “under the color of law,” as the legal jargon has it, and in this case that couldn’t be more ironic.
See also Betty Cracker’s comments on witness # 40.
What were they thinking when they waited until after dark to announce the grand jury’s decision? Anyone have any clues? They could have managed to announce it in the morning if they had been so inclined, but they put it off until 8 pm. Did they want the results they got?
Ed – the authorities NEEDED the results they got. Now discussion is off the verdict and the manner the authorities rigged the grand jury proceedings to ensure what they got. We have race riots – that automatically makes the cops heroes and the protesters a bunch of smelly Ni***rs. Mission accomplished.
Opinion – if MLK had been in charge, the protesters would have KNOWN in advance what to expect and had a protest planned – a peaceful demonstration that would have shut the town DOWN. The group that the protesters should have been appealing to is now decided by the violence that they are in support of thee cops.
Maha’s bigger asshole theory bites the black community because burning buildings make the protesters the bigger assholes.
Doug, you’re right! It’s a classical maneuver. Mission is accomplished.
Witness #40 is a piece of work.. Who in their right mind writes ” I swear” in a diary or a journal where they are essentially speaking to themselves or recording their thoughts? I mean, to use the term I swear would indicate that they don’t even believe what they are saying to themselves.
About the night-time announcement: as Mayor Richard Daley said, “The police are not here to create disorder, they’re here to preserve disorder.”
To self-serve and self-protect.
Was the grand jury all white?
Was the grand jury all white?
No it was 9-3. The evidence shows that Mike Brown was a punk too big for his poor education, a product of the slum he grew up in, a slum designed by us. The evidence also shows the cop was a poorly trained dimwit not qualified to be a nightwatchman. A scared rasict with 13 bullets and a badge. The problem is not with what happened that day, the problem is with how it has been marketed and manipulated at every possible step. Every Grifter with a law degree or a website every phoney cable newsman. This lays our corporate media bare for what they are, money changing rasict opportunists. I was watching Obama’s pressor yesterday, poorly timed but he gave it anyway, while he was speaking the 3 cables showed him with a live split-screen of Fergeson. I thought that was disresprectful but they were all doing it. It was only msnbc, the supposed liberal channel that rewound the tape, the scene was not violent enough they rewound the tape they had to show the Black President next to the black kids trying to burn the white cop car. Not cnn, not FAUX, it was msnbc. After 10pm while the buildings burned the programmers decided it was time to run the commercials. The wrong buildings in the wrong city are being burnt.
And of course, after months of telling the local black population not to protest at night, that they reported the results in the evening – like Doug said, that wasn’t done by accident.
And here’s another reason his press conference was held at 8pm local time – AKA: Prime Time – it would be covered all over the state and country when people are watching TV.
This of course, will set-up that useless DA for a run for Congressman, Governor, or Senator.
“These of course, will set-up that useless DA for a run for Congressman, Governor, or Senator”
Or maybe he could a job as a cable teevee pundit to analyze the next shooting of an un-armed teenager! CNN has hired Mark O’Meara (the guy who got George Zimmerman off) as a legal expert on all things black and white!
I was initially convinced this was a case of murder by the cop, and I still have issues with how the investigation was handled as well as Wilson’s story—and of course Ferguson has its own ugly history. But WaPo published a very helpful diagram of what was found at the crime scene (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/national/ferguson-diagram-of-the-scene/?tid=sm_fb). Note that almost all the shell casings were found behind or even with Brown’s body. This seems to confirm that Brown was moving toward Wilson as these shots were fired.
Seems to be a giant cluster fuck. Something to consider ; have cops travel in pairs like in the TV show “Adam 12”. It may reduce the anxiety on the cop’s end, and make hostile responses by the person being stopped less likely. Police violence on citizens has reached a high, and cops seem more likely to take a person to the ground now more than ever. We have had a number of cops murdered in Florida in recent years which does fuel the us vs them idea.
I’m pretty annoyed by the right wing response, and of course, if you don’t agree the kid was a thug better off dead , that makes you a Commie America hating liberal.
But I just happened to turn on the TV, and Tony Bennet and Lady gaga are singing, and they’re really good. A needed break from the war zone.
I just happened to turn on the TV, and Tony Bennet and Lady gaga are singing, and they’re really good.
I saw that a couple weeks ago; it freakin’ amazed me.
Re cops on the beat, I like the idea of “epaulet cams.” (Shoulder-carried mini-cams.) For the honest cop’s protection, as well as the public’s. And for pity’s sake, African-Americans of Missouri, please please please register and vote! Job One: take out that d-bag McCulloch.
I was reading some of the transcript and have a question: If I understand Officer Wilson correctly, Michael Brown took a swing at him–with his right hand–from the driver’s side of the police vehicle. If this is true, why was the right side of Officer’s Wilson’s face showing the suggested bruising?
Also, aren’t Grand Juries different than regular trial by jury, whereas one can be called back for a Grand Jury?
chris …That’s a good question. I guess the best way to answer it is the same way I answer my wife when we are watching a TV crime drama. She usually points out and comments about inconsistencies and errors in the details of the story. And I usually reply, It’s just a story, a fiction, so don’t look to close because it will detract from enjoying the overall beauty of the show.
One big reality show, swami.
Bennet and gaga were indeed amazing together, Joan.
I gotta commend the screenplay writers of the Ferguson Story. It certainly was a bold move to introduce witness #40 as a character who was seeking to overcome his niggraphobia when he stumbled upon the shooting of Michael Brown. It certainly adds credence to the adage that truth is stranger than fiction.
erinyes… Adam 12? 🙂
“McCulloch simply abandoned his duties as a prosecutor and dumped the evidence on the members if the grand jury without giving them any direction at all.”
As I’ve been telling people time and again, the prosecutor’s job is not to simply present evidence, but to present a case. Big difference. The prosecutor did not do his job. The whole thing is a joke.
Yeah, martin milner and Kent McCord, “one Adam 12, rampart division, LAPD” then we would watch the lafd show “rescue 9-11”, Colombo, and “the night stalker”. ‘Loved those ’70s TV shows. 🙂 🙂
IMO cops in pairs would be a great idea. But as we all know, that costs more money, which nobody wants to spend.