Ferguson

[Raven]

I Think this has been building up for several decades
whether it be racial profiling ,unfair sentencing due to race,
harassment or otherwise and the Brown case fiasco was the straw
that finally broke the camels back.

Now the opposition to police brutality
have become allot more Organized and this is sadly only the beginning.

Rodney King is a perfect example and not much has changed since
he was brutally beaten with a baton .....except now it's shoot fast
and ask questions afterwards as demonstrated by the senseless killing
of a 12 year old with an air pistol.

Granted it looked exactly like a real gun
but it has only thrown gasoline on an already burning fire.

[spence]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Yet - they are getting the majority of the free pass compared to everyone else.

I think people will question the law enforcement's apparent decision to let the fires burn. They got burnt with over-reaction before but can't be absent.

I hate seeing the "militarization" of local law enforcement but what happened last night was what they feared would happen in August. They deserve some of the blame but I think the lion's share does go to the unruly mob AND the "Activists" that are riling them up.

And many elements of the media as well.

What I'm not hearing much of is the bigger issue. A police force in need of rehab, a poor community disenfranchised, a lot of confused and contradictory information and a decision made behind closed doors with a promise of evidence being released...then taken away.

The officer may well have been 100% in the right but considering how tortured this case has been to make a decision behind closed doors, call a state of emergency well in advance, continuously call for calm and then release a lengthy explanation at 9pm...WTF are they thinking?

[spence]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

I guess the governments flyover with dropped leaflets to disperse the crowd did not work....the leaflets said, "Job Applications."....

There's been a flurry of facebook meme's with variations on this theme. I'm wondering if many don't even realize how offensive this is?

[buckman]

Originally Posted by spence

They're called criminals Buck.

No excuse for their actions but also there should be no excuse for how the local PD and government have really exacerbated the tensions in this whole affair from the start.

You blame the police department and the government???
By government I assume you mean the Obama administration. That I agree with.
CNN, The Al Sharpton's of the world, the Black Panthers, the black caucus, And just about anybody who wants to make the divide between blacks and whites larger ...that is who I blame
But mostly I blame Michael Brown
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by spence

What I'm not hearing much of is the bigger issue. A police force in need of rehab, a poor community disenfranchised, a lot of confused and contradictory information and a decision made behind closed doors with a promise of evidence being released...then taken away.

Yes, this is the "bigger" issue. It is another niche issue in the plethora of issues in our country which must not rest with the people of a community, or state to sort out. All the "issues" that plague us as a country of "diverse" cultures must not be left to local cultures to evolve and sort out their problems. Only the hand of a disinterested central power is capable of molding us into a unitary society with "correct" values and principles. And those values and principles must not be left to some national vote by people who have little in common, other, perhaps, than to be free to practice their own values and principles. Even that would be too chaotic, un-resolute, and unjust to some "minority." And there will always be a minority or minorities.

So local police forces, communities (disenfranchised or otherwise), must step aside and let the central power with its superior experts step in and sort things out in the correct way. Which is what the so-called "disenfranchised" community in Ferguson and in the rest of the country are requesting in the wake of the verdict.

Do not let a crisis go to waste.

The ultimate "issue" of "social justice" must not be left up to the whims of stupid Americans.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

I think people will question the law enforcement's apparent decision to let the fires burn. They got burnt with over-reaction before but can't be absent.


And many elements of the media as well.

What I'm not hearing much of is the bigger issue. A police force in need of rehab, a poor community disenfranchised, a lot of confused and contradictory information and a decision made behind closed doors with a promise of evidence being released...then taken away.

The officer may well have been 100% in the right but considering how tortured this case has been to make a decision behind closed doors, call a state of emergency well in advance, continuously call for calm and then release a lengthy explanation at 9pm...WTF are they thinking?

"I think people will question the law enforcement's apparent decision to let the fires burn"

As to the first riot, it was the police's fault because they over-reacted. Last night, it's their fault because they under-reacted. Got it. How much blame do you assign to the feral rioters?

"a poor community disenfranchised"

Right. Textbook liberalism. It's not that these people need to learn new values (or go to jail to rot), they only rioted because of what society (especially white society) has inflicted upon them <sniff>. The tides are less predictable than this bullcrap.

"make a decision behind closed doors"

That's called rule of law, something not valued very highly by your side. In that state, grand jury proceedings are secret. Do we change the rules every time Al Sharpton opens his fat mouth?

Let's also mention that Obama was obviously in a unique position to bridge this divide a bit, and like everything else, he's been an abject failure, as we are far more polarized than when he took office.

Looks like there was zero evidence to support an indictment. Even if you concede that the cop was wrong to fera for his life, that shouldn't be a crime. It might be cause for dismissal from the police force.

This thug (that's right, "thug", I said it) strong arms an elderly clerk to steal cigars, somthing that 99.99% of the population woulk dnever think of doing. Then he's walking down the middle of the street, the cop tellls them to get out of the street and walk on the sidewalk, he refuses. Instead of complying, there is a struggle inside the police car?

You want to struggle with a cop who has a gun, you takes your chances.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by buckman

You blame the police department and the government???
By government I assume you mean the Obama administration. That I agree with.
CNN, The Al Sharpton's of the world, the Black Panthers, the black caucus, And just about anybody who wants to make the divide between blacks and whites larger ...that is who I blame
But mostly I blame Michael Brown
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

"You blame the police department and the government???"

Of course he does. That's Liberalism 101, the lack of personal responsinbility. You see, these people have been anointed by liberals with "victim" status, and so anointed, NOTHING they do is ever their fault. It's always someone else'e fault, preferably the fault of someone with lighter skin pigmentation.

"By government I assume you mean the Obama administration"

i'm sure that's excatly what he means...

"The Al Sharpton's of the world, the Black Panthers, the black caucus, And just about anybody who wants to make the divide between blacks and whites larger ...that is who I blame
But mostly I blame Michael Brown"

There it is, summed up almost perfect. I'd say the police botched certain aspects of the investigation (left his body on the street for a long time, kept changing the official story of what happened). I'd also be leaning towards faulting the police/National Guard for letting the riots happen. In my opinion, the best way to prevent something like that is an overt display of overwhelming force, THAT'S a deterrent to people like this, you just need sufficient numbers, and the government has the responsibiity to the law-abiding citizens to do anything that's required to prevent this. Those store owners who lost everything should never have to pay a cent in taxes again as long as they live, and send the bill for repairs to MSNBC and tax cheat Al Sharpton.
.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by spence

I think people will question the law enforcement's apparent decision to let the fires burn. They got burnt with over-reaction before but can't be absent.

Few issues: They only have so much resources so they have to triage to protect themselvers, the "City Square", and to protect the lawful protestors and arrest the "thugs".

They cannot get fire personnel safely into fight fires in areas that are not safe and then maintain that safety corridor. There was gunfire going off in addition to brick throwing, looting, and burning.

If they go in very heavy handed they may exacerbate an already deteriorating & fluid situation and have a bigger issue they are unable to control.

Originally Posted by spence

And many elements of the media as well.

Many elements of the media did a major disservice to the situation on he ground. I watched CNN until midnight and their crack staff weere more than happy to run opinion rather than sticking to the a Joe Friday.

Originally Posted by spence

What I'm not hearing much of is the bigger issue. A police force in need of rehab, a poor community disenfranchised, a lot of confused and contradictory information and a decision made behind closed doors with a promise of evidence being released...then taken away.

So how do you round out that circle? Turn the police department into a diversity formula reflecting the racial makeup of the community? Quotas?

Originally Posted by spence

The officer may well have been 100% in the right but considering how tortured this case has been to make a decision behind closed doors, call a state of emergency well in advance, continuously call for calm and then release a lengthy explanation at 9pm...WTF are they thinking?

So what to do here? Change the laws to fit the wishes of the residents of Ferguson? Or ignore the laws and provide a "sentence" that appeases a community outrage at the expense of the officers civil rights?

Instead, the applied US law and when the prosecutor felt there was not enough evidence to indict the officer, a Grand Jury was formed to have a group of CITIZENS of the community hear the testimony, review the facts, and inspect forensics to see if the case warranted ELEVATION to press criminal charges. The Grand Jury did not feel there was sufifcient evidence to elevate the case.

The vocal community, the agitators that went to Ferguson, and the media that beat the drums of sensationalism had already made up their mind on rumor and hearsay that the officer was guilty and demanded "justice" for Michael Brown.

The law ain't perfect but it is pretty good & when fairly applied it is color blind.

Grand Jury: A grand jury is a legal body that is empowered to conduct official proceedings to investigate potential criminal conduct and to determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may compel the production of documents and may compel the sworn testimony of witnesses to appear before it. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning.

[Fly Rod]

Originally Posted by spence

There's been a flurry of facebook meme's with variations on this theme. I'm wondering if many don't even realize how offensive this is?

Offensive...UUU say Offensive .....I think it was very Offensive for these thugs not being held accountable for burning; robbing and stealing from businesses.

That's Offensive.

[Sea Dangles]

Payless was hit again
All the workboots remain on the shelves
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Raider Ronnie]

I'm still waiting for an explanation why the announcement came at 9pm.

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

I'm still waiting for an explanation why the announcement came at 9pm.

Maybe so that the commuters and normal street and business traffic would be home by that hour and would not get caught in the possible mayhem.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

I'm still waiting for an explanation why the announcement came at 9pm.

We have a media driven society .
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[FishermanTim]

It must be amazing to have all the time in the world to protest?
Heck, we even had protestor here in MA that didn't have to work today either!

What does it all mean?

To me it means that people are frustrated with their lives, either because of what they did or didn't do to better themselves, and they feel that true justice is the right to destroy others property and act in a most UNCIVILIZED manner.

Thug is too nice a word for these social rejects.

To paraphrase an oldie but goodie: "Can't we all just get along?"

[scottw]

[Raven]

i protest myself
so in response
i just send back telepathic messages
that say " shutttttt Uppppp!!!"
the reply is always.......... "and then? "

[iamskippy]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

I'm still waiting for an explanation why the announcement came at 9pm.

Cause of the time zones. And the government wants you to have nightmares before bed what better way to strike fear of innialation into the hearts of its people.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by detbuch

Maybe so that the commuters and normal street and business traffic would be home by that hour and would not get caught in the possible mayhem.

Bingo.
Holy #^&#^&#^&#^&, we actually agree on something.
It's a Thanksgiving miracle!

[Piscator]

In addition, they also said they wanted all kids home from school, school buses off the street as well as after school activities over.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[nightfighter]

Wonder if Spence is out shutting down highways in protest...... The day before Thanksgiving???? They ought to be more afraid of Das driving their family to Grand Ma's that the cops....

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

Bingo.
Holy #^&#^&#^&#^&, we actually agree on something.
It's a Thanksgiving miracle!

Ah . . . so you believe in miracles! Actually, my sense is that we agree on a lot more than you might think. Your posts could have been mine years ago. Been there. Thought such. Experience (and study), much of it, has caused me to change. From your point of view, though, it might be senility rather than experience.

Off topic, but nice to feel some agreement with you.

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by Raven

i protest myself
so in response
i just send back telepathic messages
that say " shutttttt Uppppp!!!"
the reply is always.......... "and then? "

Nice poem. I like it.

[FishermanTim]

Originally Posted by scottw

I laughed my arse off at this!

[Nebe]

Omg scott!!! Too funny!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[ThrowingTimber]

The first nights riots this week, the girl with her baby looting the liquor store was a precious moment.

[DZ]

Great vid Scott - I laughed but was still amazed at how simple those suggestions are and how many people don't have the common sense to follow them.

A while back I was researching racial profiling. I found this link which really puts it into perspective.
http://www.threatcore.com/racial-profiling-it-works/

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

I'm watching Fox now and they say the announcement will come at 9pm
Why the hell 9pm at night ???

I read that the reason for the 9:00 announcement was to make sure businesses were closed and kids were home. That way the only people on the streets were the troublemakers.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[PaulS]

The was a funny video.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Raider Ronnie]

I'll be this guy is not an Al Sharpton supporter or one of the morons saying Seahawks QB Russell Wilson "is not black enough"

[rphud]