St. Louis Riots

[OJsDad]

The real sad thing is that neither cop was from Ferguson, but from neighboring communities.

I wonder if the DOJ will classify this as a hate crime.  Nah, who am I kidding.

[Gusington]

Still waiting to see what the President has to say.

[Gusington]

Ah the President and Eric Holder both have made statements and tweets on the 'repugnance' of the shootings. Much better.

[Steelgrave]

Ah the President and Eric Holder both have made statements and tweets on the 'repugnance' of the shootings. Much better.

I think you missed the part where their "repugnance" was felt because some shots missed.....

I lived through every day of the Carter administration and I never thought to see such ineptitude in that office ever again....but Obama has proven me wrong. And I lived through the Nixon years and thought I had seen the worst of an Imperial Presidency. Again, Obama proved me wrong. Obama and Holder expressing anything resembling sorrow over the shooting of two cops is nothing more than crocodile tears. They fanned the flames. They played a part in this and now want to proclaim that they didn't realize it was gasoline they were tossing on the fire.

You know....it's not so much Obama's reaction that I wanted to hear as much as the reaction of the police. I wonder what cops on the line think about Washington's part in all this?

[Gusington]

My 'much better' was sarcasm FWIW.

[Steelgrave]

My 'much better' was sarcasm FWIW.

I know. Don't take my calm, measured response (talk about sarcasm, ha! ) as being directed at you. I think putting Eric Holder in charge of the Justice Department would be like putting Al Capone in as Treasure Secretary, letting Slaak babysit your teenage daughters or hiring Azz to move you. He is a disgrace and has used the "Justice" department as an extension of Obama's political agenda from day one.

Oh, and I hate it when you kids make me go to the urban dictionary to look up an acronym, LOL.   8) 

[Centurion40]

Says Steelie as he gives Gus a 'Dutch Rudder'.

[Steelgrave]

Says Steelie as he gives Gus a 'Dutch Rudder'.

Ok, (a) I saw what you did there and (b) I'm damn sorry I looked it up. You just ain't right, Cen.   

[Centurion40]

This is news??!!  ::)

Everything I know, I've learned from him:

[Steelgrave]

No.     ;D

[Swatter]

There was one other big thing in the report.  Ferguson was using fines and tickets as a major revenue source to run the city government.  If you disproportionally target one race for minor offenses, and use that as a major fund raising enterprise, then it becomes a problem.

That a common problem in the St. Louis area that cuts across many municipalities, regardless of the racial makeup of the community. I used to live in the community of 500 residents that would hold traffic court once a month, hundreds of people would be there. The community had one major street pass through it for about half a mile. There would be almost continuous traffic stops 24/7. The local officers would peel off down the road going well over the speed limit to pull some over for expired tags or a broken tail light. I highly respect officers in general, but policing that stresses revenue generation over public safety severely tarnishes the image of all police.

Ferguson should have the County Police take over, they are much more professional (though mostly white, so I guess that's out the window).  You also have to understand that even though Ferguson is 60% black, the surrounding communities are 95% black. That means your going to get a lot of people passing through town getting tickets who are black.

I have just thrown my hands up in frustration and stopped caring long ago about the lack of context Ferguson related stories receive by the media. The local media are themselves terrified to report the reality of the situation in the black communities of the area. They simply air the views or protestors and activists without filter, of course sandwiched in between the color blind reporting of the regular gun battles in the area.

[Swatter]

Thought I hit edit.

[Gusington]

Why is no one addressing the real problems of welfare dependence, chronic poverty and glorification of the gangster lifestyle, as well as the issues of lack of birth control and one parent families? These are the real issues facing black people. Is it somehow racist to note these things?

[Steelgrave]

Why is no one addressing the real problems of welfare dependence, chronic poverty and glorification of the gangster lifestyle, as well as the issues of lack of birth control and one parent families? These are the real issues facing black people. Is it somehow racist to note these things?

Yes.

Anyone bringing up those topics gets shouted down, Gus. But you know this already. White people aren't allowed to discuss it at all, even after genuflecting before the altar of white privilege. People of color are "Uncle Tom"ed if they depart from the narrative. We've seen Charles Barkley vilified, Bill Cosby (before the rape accusations even), Condi Rice isn't black enough, before supporting Obama neither was Colin Powell (but he's ok now). You can't have honest disagreements with Obama's policies because you're racist. You can't speak towards the root causes of the problem because only the targets of the narrative (i.e. you and I) may be affixed blame. Until this changes within the black community, nothing changes. It's sad, but as long as the Eric Holders and Al Sharptons call the tune, nothing is going to change.

[Gusington]

Well, in the words of a great warrior poet: 'f-ck that noize.'