There Goes the Neighbourhood

Further to this comment here, Laurie Penny wants us to know that she knows more than the Ferguson jury:

Meanwhile, Gateway Pundit has coverage of the ongoing violence. 

As you can see, nothing says “we are righteous and entitled to deference” like smashing and looting a local woman’s cake shop. And smashing and looting the mini-market that Michael Brown robbed and then running away laughing, and looting the local phone shop, and burning down the local pharmacy, and burning down the local auto spares business, and the local pizza restaurant, and the local beautician’s, and then shooting at the firemen who are trying to put those fires out before other people lose their livelihoods too. You know, for “social justice.”

Other locals, however, have taken the high road – by bragging on Facebook about those lovely new shoes that were sourced somewhat mysteriously during the commotion. Note the new owner’s chosen hashtags: #NoJustice. #GotMine. Here’s a fellow protestor expressing his grief via the classic medium of big screen TV theft. And when words alone can’t express the woe, there’s always the option of carjacking the elderly and then running them over. 

Here’s an innovation by our betters on the left. Disapproval of “riot-shaming” is now a thing, apparently, and we mustn’t tut at people behaving like savages. Gawker’s Matt Bruenig, who writes about “economic justice,” goes further and says riots are a good thing, a way to chastise the police, and therefore we need more of them. Presumably, Mr Bruenig doesn’t expect himself ever to be on the receiving end of the violence and looting he endorses. Similar sentiments are aired by budding intellectual Laurie Penny, who reminds us that we mustn’t “condemn the violence of citizens hungry for justice.” So what to do? Well, fear not, Ms Penny and her chums are having a huge meeting about “what happens next.” 

Again, it’s worth noting that Laurie’s “huge meeting” and much of the protesting is based on the assumption that those doing the meeting and protesting know better than a jury that spent months studying the evidence and then made a decision according to the law. To assume one knows better than the jury - based on less information - is both begging the question and an act of hubris that’s hard to top. And yet many of the people doing it imagine themselves as righteous, even heroic.

Updated via the comments, which, as so often, is where the action is.

Comments

[Rafi]

To be fair, she thinks she knows more than most of us about everything.

[Craig Mc]

"thinks" is too generous.

[Nikw211]

This Tweet from the Gateway Pundit link above seems to be a rather more eloquent summary of the reaction:

Natalie DuBose after #Ferguson looters attacked her cake store to get justice for Michael Brown.

[David]

Well, nothing says “we are righteous and entitled to deference” like smashing and looting a local woman’s cake shop. And smashing and looting the mini-market that Michael Brown robbed and then running away laughing, and looting the local phone shop, and burning down the local pharmacy, and burning down the local auto spares business, and the local pizza restaurant, and the local beauticians, and then shooting at the firemen who are trying to put those fires out before other people lose their livelihoods too.

You know, for “social justice.”

[David]

Of course Laurie Penny is hardly alone in her presumption. She’s conforming quite nicely.

[Greg]

In Laurie Penny world, when Black men steal cakes from a black woman; is this law or justice?

[Connor]

Bad Penny on the side of an ugly mob. Shocker.

[Stuck-Record]

Liberal magic. Right there in the jury room.

If the Grand Jury had chosen to indict it would have been an affirmation of the people standing up to a corrupt black-murdering hegemony, and Penny (and her ilk) would have praised their clear-thinking social progressive intelligence and humanity.

Instead, they are magically transformed into a bunch of black-hating racists – especially the three black jury members. Apparently they make themselves sit at the back of the bus, the swine.

Remember black folks: White liberals know better than you!

[Jonathan]

Just shows that leftists are completely impervious to facts.

[RY]

The political vandals and arsonists in the White House, and their mouthpieces in the MSM (including the likes of Ms Penny), have been agitating for this since day one.

They have now helped to achieve exactly what they wanted.

[David]

Here’s some of that sympathetic protesting we hear so much about. These high-minded young people, filmed in Portland, merrily wish death on “all the cops,” or, as they put it, “neoliberal fascist pigs.”

[David]

And here we see what I assume is the same group of ‘protestors’ finding themselves at odds with a black chap. Watch them argue. See who they are.

[Jamie MacMaster]

"I'm not local"

That's okay. We'll take deep thinkers from anywhere.

[R. Sherman]

I suppose we should not be surprised by the reaction of Ms. Penny and her ilk. Law is objective. "Justice" when disconnected from law is purely subjective, bears no relation to facts and exists only to serve a narrative. It is the typical Leftist view of reality.

[DH]

Liberal magic...

There is no way to win against such powerful sorcery.

Imagine this scenario...A white man steals from a corner shop after swaggering in and bullying the owner with his thuggish cohorts. A black police officer tracks him down to a god-forsaken neighbourhood known for gang violence, drugs and shooting.
The black policeman trails the suspect and is punched in the face twice and has his car door forcibly shut on him during the pursuit.
He calls for backup and tries to persuade the suspect to come quietly.
Instead, the suspect charges towards the officer. The black officer fears he is going to take a possibly fatal beating so, as a last resort, opens fire. The suspect keeps charging through the bullets, despite being hit 11 times, drawing ever closer. The officer pops him one more time through the head, killing him.

The black police officer is later found guilty of unlawful killing by the Grand Jury, is declared the victim of racism by Jesse Jackson, Gary Younge and Laurie Penny and anarchy breaks out on the streets of Ferguson. Left wing pundits start ending their tweets with #DarrenWilsonisinnocent.

[Nikw211]

Watch them argue. See who they are.

So that's what crossing the Farce Horizon looks like.

[David]

Here’s a local protestor bragging on Facebook about her new shoes, which she ‘acquired’ during the smashing, burning and general commotion. Note her chosen hashtags. #NoJustice. #GotMine.

Here’s a fellow protestor expressing his grief via the medium of big screen TV theft.

And nothing says “social justice” like carjacking the elderly and then running them over.

[David]

Ed Driscoll has more. The TV juxtapositions may amuse those with a rather grim sense of humour.

[RY]

President Obama -

"We need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make. There are Americans who agree with it and there are Americans who are deeply disappointed, even angry. It's an understandable reaction."

So, then : Permission to riot?

[J]

"Nothing proves that you live in abject terror of being killed by cops like torching a Little Caesars on your way to stealing a flat screen."

https://twitter.com/stephenkruiser/status/537121509848780800

[David]

Incidentally, key documents from the jury proceedings, including forensic evidence, medical reports and interviews are available here.

[DH]

So, then : Permission to riot?

Rather like his ill-advised If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon remarks.

[JerryC]

So, then: Permission to riot?

Definitely! However, the die was cast long before Obama got up and did his community organizer schtick last night with riots on the other half of the split-screen. The local authorities, from Missouri Gov Jay Nixon to St Louis Mayor Francis Slay to the heads of the various Police enitities have been pandering to the Ferguson lynch mob non-stop since August. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could see where this was headed...and yet the authorities were completely unprepared for what went down last night.

[RY]

Why it's ok to ignore the grand jury's decision.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/24/3596621/in-powerful-video-legal-experts-explain-why-the-grand-jury-in-ferguson-was-set-up-for-failure/

[David]

Speaking of those sympathetic protestors in other cities, here’s a group of leading intellectuals photographed in Seattle. Apparently, whatever the grievance is on any given day, they must never miss an opportunity to blame the Jews.

[David]

Oh, and the left-leaning Salon, home of “fearless political journalism and cultural analysis,” tweets: “Last night’s ruling affirmed what we already knew: America is a white supremacist state.”

It’s like a tsunami of stupid.

[RY]

Very much in keeping with the general tone that's been coming out of this White House over the last six and a half years.

[JuliaM]

No doubt the race hustlers will be moving on to the next cause (probably the 12 year old with the replica gun) before the ashes in Ferguson have even cooled...

[RY]

@Julia

And blithely stepping over the many, many, bodies of tragically killed black victims of black perpetrators.
Some human lives lost, apparently, aren't worth mentioning.

[Darleen]

Leftists are delighted in the flames of Ferguson (do note that Democrat Gov. Nixon mobilized the National Guard last week then refused to deploy them into Ferguson last night).

All those signs "Black lives count"

Sure they do, as fodder.

[David]

At last count, 25 local businesses, many of which were owned and run by black residents, have been torched, and more vandalised. As those businesses are local employers, I’m sure the economic future of Ferguson is looking brighter by the minute. After all, who wouldn’t want to invest there?

[RY]

After all, who wouldn't want to invest there?

You can never have enough Detroits.

Interesting to see if this goes up or down...

http://www.jammiewf.com/2014/shock-poll-lawless-president-falls-below-40-approval/

[Darleen]

Oh geez, the Juicebox Mafia at Vox are whining that the Grand Jury had "too much evidence."

I really want to slap someone.

[David]

I really want to slap someone.

Maybe you could vent your anger on the young Mr Friedfeld. He seems very forgiving.

[dicentra]

Here in Salt Lake City, an unarmed white kid was killed by a non-white cop last August.

That cop's not being prosecuted, either.

Oh look at the riots and fires. Look, look.

:: crickets ::

[David]

Apparently, we mustn’t “condemn the violence of citizens hungry for justice.” But fear not, Laurie and her chums are having a huge meeting about “what happens next.”

[RY]

But fear not, Laurie and her chums are having a huge meeting about "what happens next."

At the Harvard Law School...well that ought to solve it then.
No doubt, with their brilliant minds and collective social justice credentials, they'll be able to put all the problems in Ferguson right. If anyone can do it - it must be Laurie and chums.

Perhaps they will be inspired by the Harvard Law School alumnus ( currently in the Oval Office ) who won the Nobel Peace Prize -
for doing absolutely nothing.

I love the way they think "what happens next" is in their hands.

[Nikw211]

But fear not, Laurie and her chums are having a huge meeting about “what happens next.”

Bizarrely, I almost want to be a fly on the wall at that particular meeting just to see how accurate (or otherwise) my predictions of the likely proceedings would turn out to be.

If only there was someone there with some kind of discrete handheld video recording device and a YouTube account …

[RY]

@Nik

if only...

One assumes serious vetting takes place, and only recognizable cult members are permitted entrance.

Alas.

[Hal]

The political vandals and arsonists in the White House, and their mouthpieces in the MSM (including the likes of Ms Penny), have been agitating for this since day one.

They have now helped to achieve exactly what they wanted.

. . . . . Ehn!?!?!!!?

Do explain, instead of---as Penny does---reciting rote dogma.

In and of itself your statement certainly made no sense whatsoever . . . .

President Obama -
"We need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make. There are Americans who agree with it and there are Americans who are deeply disappointed, even angry. It's an understandable reaction."

Ah yes, quite reasonable, that . . .

So, then: Permission to riot?
Definitely! However, the die was cast long before Obama got up and . . . . . .

And that didn’t make any sense either . . .

Certainly, let us look at rioters:

At least a dozen people were arrested and 30 injured, with 20 taken to area hospitals. The troublemakers seemed to revel in the chaos and damage they caused, with one telling a local newspaper, "It's just like a rush. You're revolting from the cops. It's a blast to do things that you're not supposed to do."

and also see . . .

. . . riots erupted in the largely white town of Morgantown, West Virginia. Why? Because West Virginia University's team beat Baylor at football. The rioters "lit fires, pushed over street lights and threw rocks, beer bottles and other items at police," reported the local news. Police and fire vehicles were damaged. Eight people were arrested. Were the riot police, the National Guard, or a state of emergency declared? No. the city is just considering a law to ban upholstered furniture from outdoor areas, since the "tradition" of setting fire to couches apparently fueled the protests.

And even more . . .

Earlier this year, students at the University of Minnesota rioted after their team lost the hockey championship. In 2013, Michigan State students rioted after their team won the Big Ten. The same year football fans at the State University of New York in Cortland rioted even before the game started. And in 2011, after the University of Connecticut won the national basketball championship, students rioted in the streets.

These occurred in places with mostly white people. In these instance there were injuries, property damage and arrests. Why aren't we talking about the epidemic of sports-induced violence among white people? Why aren't we calling on state and federal agencies to crack down on their clearly destructive lifestyles?

For the full article that the above are quoted from, there is of course the basic fact that truly stupid idiots have nothing to do with color or ancestry . . . . and truly stupid idiots will decide to randomly rampage, and destroy property just because, and go running out of Foot Locker and thiefin' shoes . . .

Oh, and if for some reason you still have some surreal fantasy of attempting to get someone to go along with trying to blame Obama or anyone else but the idiots in the riots, that last link there refers to the England riots of the summer of 2011, and the exact same behavior and reasoning . . . . .

And after all, as RY does remind us, the easiest way to win the Nobel Peace Prize is indeed to provide the solution to all the previous problems just by getting elected to be the President Of The United States . . . . !

[dicentra]

Oh, and if for some reason you still have some surreal fantasy of attempting to get someone to go along with trying to blame Obama or anyone else but the idiots in the riots

Obama could have defused the situation LONG before that verdict was handed down. He made sure he gave his mealy mouthed speech after the rioting had already started, when it couldn't do any good.

It is true that some rioting happens quite without any prodding from Obama.

It is also true that Obama and his ilk fantasize about widespread race riots throughout the country. REVOLUTION, dontcha know, instrumental to bringing about Fundamental Transformation.

Frances Fox Piven admired the Watts riots in 1968 and prescribed more, for the Cause. She's totes down with the cause to this day.

The fact that other riots occur that are utterly unconnected to anything Obama might do is utterly irrelevant. That doesn't stop him and his comrades from stirring things up every time there's a white cop vs black kid incident on which to impose Teh Narrative.

The riots were not the result of The People of Ferguson™ expressing spontaneous outrage; the riots were fomented and stoked and detonated by groups like the Black Panthers, OWS leftovers, and other professional rabble-rousers, who gathered in Ferguson like flies on manure, poised to bust stuff up and burn it down.

Word on the street is that Obama called took some of of the rabble-rousing leaders aside and advised them to stay the course.

Chaos favors the tyrant. What with releasing illegal alien criminals from the jails, inviting children up from CentAm, arbitrarily changing Obamacare, and issuing Imperial Immigration Commands — I gotta ask you: if he were trying to provoke chaos to his own benefit, what would he do different?

[David]

Ed Driscoll reminds us that the New York Times saw fit to publish Officer Wilson’s home address, just in case anyone needed to know where it is, while the left-leaning Slate published a photograph of the man’s home. Just to be helpful.

The word, I think, is doxing.

[David]

Two more, via Ace.

Carol Anderson, an associate professor of African American studies at Emory University, tells us that the cause of the Ferguson riots is actually ““white rage,” a term she uses six times.

While MSNBC’s Lisa Bloom wants us to know that “charging” is a “racially tinged and offensive word.”

[Joan]

But fear not, Laurie and her chums are having a huge meeting about “what happens next.”

What's the betting that includes some OWS-style acting out?

[David]

What’s the betting that includes some OWS-style acting out?

Well, something that involves unrealism, hyperbole and immense self-flattery. That’s basically what she does wherever possible.

It’s worth noting that Laurie’s “huge meeting” and much of protesting is based on the assumption that those doing the meeting and protesting know better than a jury that spent months studying the evidence and then made a decision according to the law. To assume one knows better than the jury - based on less information - is both begging the question and an act of hubris that’s hard to top. And yet many of the people doing it, including so-called intellectuals, imagine themselves as righteous, even heroic.

[Nikw211]

From yesterday's Channel 4 News, UK (extracts):

Jon Snow [in the studio]: Good evening! As if to underline America's unfinished business with race, once again a town rises in protest over a decision not to proceed in a case involving a white a policeman and a black teenager.

Kylie Morris [In Ferguson, MO]: Once that decision was made that Darren Wilson should not be charged, there was not enough evidence for him to face a criminal trial […]

Not only is it a matter of racial politics here that this 18 year-old teenager, Michael Brown, an unarmed man, from a very well thought-of family in the black community was killed by Darren Wilson his body allowed to lay in the street for four and a half hours police say due to the necessity for a criminal investigation but obviously that really raised passions here [ … ] Ultimately, for Ferguson because here Michael Brown's death is not only a matter of racial politics, It's something that's taken very personally.

Many in the crowd hoped it might be possible that the jury would send the white officer to trial [ … ]

The epicenter of violence directly outside Ferguson police station where officer Darren Wilson once worked. It is his version of events, combined with the physical evidence, which seems to have persuaded the grand jury he didn't commit a crime despite shooting an unarmed teenager six times.

Photos released by prosecutors show minor bruising from the struggle he says which happened when Michael Brown lunged for his gun.

He described the face of the teenager in the terms 'It was like a demon'

The 6'2" police officer portrayed himself as a five year-old wrestling Hulk Hogan.

Incidentally, Morris neglects to mention that Brown was a 6' 4" 250 Ibs male nor that other 18 year-olds are thought to be old enough to be capable of serving in frontline combat units in war zones, so repeatedly calling him a teenager seems a tad disingenuous.

There is a reason why it takes at least two and often three or more large policeman to overpower a single individual without causing harm to anyone involved.

The implication that as an adult male of 6'2" Wilson somehow should have been able to easily face down someone of considerable size and strength is completely implausible. The further implication that this was therefore a struggle between a man and a child is obscene.
As to the question of race … how would these events have been any different had Wilson been a black officer? From what I understand of the events (and admittedly I've not read everything there is to read on the matter), none whatsoever.

[David]

Nik,

As with the Occupy saga, it’s one of those events that reveals how unreliable – and often simply mendacious – the mainstream media is.

[Henry]

I was listening to Clive Stafford-Smith (British very leftwing anti-death penalty lawyer who worked in the US) talking about how he'd be defending someone and the jury had "lynch-mob ties".

If things really are still as bad as he says then you can understand why these places become powder kegs.

But I think the crux is this: when you talk to a Guardian-reader about this they will will watch the video and STILL side with the people attacking others, looting and destroying businesses. And I've seen the videos - it was an orgy of violence, definitely not a protest.

Your leftwing-person-with-a-conscience will frown piously and say, "there are some very angry people there" - implying that historical (and perhaps present-day) racism somehow justify extreme brutality.

What galls is when the same person would turn on me for simply being a white male, denouncing me for my privilege. So just about getting by in life as a white man is unforgivable - beating the sh*t out of people as a US black is ok because they're "angry".

Its the most blatantly obvious double-standard. I don't kwno how it could be more clear, but they still can't see it.

[DH]

Because the best way to protest the shooting of a young black man is to go out and shoot another young black man.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/25/man-shot-burned-amid-ferguson-violence/70096226/

[rjmadden]

And the way to prove that black men are unfairly suspected of being involved in crime is for hundreds of black men to get involved in crime.

[David]

Meanwhile, in Portland we see banners that read “The rule of law is a joke,” “Wake up Amerikkka” and “Rebellion is justified” being waved about by people who, like Laurie, believe that they know better than a jury that spent months studying the evidence. And who then go on to assert their high moral principles by obstructing cars taking people to hospital and being hysterically aggressive towards random police officers. Irony isn’t the word.

[El Duderino]

'Oppressed people of Palestine standing up for the oppressed people of Ferguson. Truly beautiful picture!'

https://twitter.com/endapartheidx/status/536999183946092544

Surprised she didn't manage to get a climate change reference in there, too.

[David]

Oh, and disapproval of “riot shaming” is now a thing among our betters. Because one mustn’t disapprove of people behaving like savages.

[David]

Also, “Building a jail is building hate.”

[WTP]

I was listening to Clive Stafford-Smith (British very leftwing anti-death penalty lawyer who worked in the US) talking about how he'd be defending someone and the jury had "lynch-mob ties".

I'd be real curious to know what constitutes a "lynch-mob" tie. The last lych mob in the US occurred about 50 years ago.

[Hal]

An Oh, By The Way, passing note . . .

Kylie Morris [In Ferguson, MO]: . . . .

. . . . his body allowed to lay in the street for four and a half hours . .

Sooo, one afternoon some couple of yearsIsh or so, I'm strolling up the street towards the corner leading to my apartment, at about 5something in the afternoon, and I can see the police lines from the next block. And once I arrive, I see where a couple of hours or so earlier someone had parked his car across the street from my apartment, at which point someone else walked up to him and shot him---rather totally not a normal occurrence for my neighborhood; the main deduction established after a few days was that he was parked to meet someone who called him in transit, the someone shot him, and then went back to somewhere else.

I think the coroner's pickup might have occurred by about 8, 9something PM, mebbe even 10 or later . . .

[Henry]

WTP,

This is from CSS's Desert Island Discs (recorded in 2004) where he said

I was just doing a case in Louisiana where I'm representing a 16 yr old black kid and the prosecutor (white guy, very racist parish) comes up to my client Laurence Jacob .. and says "Boy we're gonna hang you". But at the same time the prosecutors also wore lynch mob ties, ties with lynch nooses on. It's amazing how overt things are

Dunno if they actually were associated with lynchings. I did a bit of searching and found this report - apparently there was something in the NYT as well.

CSS is really rather biased to the progressive left, I think - he apologises for his "privileged" background, which is tedious - but we're not talking about Laurie Penny here. He's by no means an intellectual lightweight. Incredible person, in fact. .

I wasn't suggesting that lynchings happen any more, to my knowledge anyway. But the memory of quite a lot of nastiness will be fresh in people's minds (partly because they keep being reminded of it). It's still worth keeping in mind when discussing Ferguson.

My point was that, despite the history, it's very dangerous to use different standards when judging violence - especially when talking about thugs who don't give a shit, and are anyway destroying businesses belonging to blacks and whites alike.

[WTP]

ahhh. Ties as in neckties. Though to call them lych MOB ties is a bit disingenuous. But then consider the source. Not to excuse such idiotic behavior but some elements of the Old World still can't get over nor understand what has made this country successful. It simply MUST be due to our ass backward hillbilly ways which are rife throughout. Auschwitz, Angers, Rotherham, and such not withstanding.

[pst314]

"we mustn’t condemn the violence of citizens hungry for justice."

Okay, then how about this: Every time someone is murdered by black thugs playing the "knockout game", thousands of people of the victim's race descend form a mob and randomly attack black person, beating and shooting them, burning their cars and homes? How would our leftist friends feel about that?

[JerryC]

A prosecutor with a necktie with noose images on it? In 2004? I am having a hard time believing that one.

On a side note, this Kylie Morris person saying that Mike Brown's family was "very well thought-of family in the black community" made me chuckle. If Lesley McSpadden and Louis Head are pillars of the Ferguson black community, I'd hate to think of how bad the people who aren't well thought-of must be.

http://fox2now.com/2014/10/22/police-investigating-assault-and-theft-following-argument-between-brown-family-relatives/

[David]

Amid the Ferguson grimness, and specifically further to this, a spot of good news.

[RY]

David,

Really good news.

[WTP]

From one who promotes The Good News...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oTUqOBJsRdg

[David]

In other, less cheering news, Gawker’s Matt Bruenig, who writes about “economic justice,” says riots are a good thing, a way to chastise the police, and therefore we need more of them. Presumably, Mr Bruenig doesn’t expect himself ever to be on the receiving end of the violence and looting he endorses.

[Henry]

A prosecutor with a necktie with noose images on it? In 2004? I am having a hard time believing that one

Some time between 1998 & 2003. See my link above and also google search results for:

"Clive Stafford-Smith" "Lawrence Jacobs" tie

..including quotes. Several stories on the issue are returned

It's perhaps not quite as clearly related to the lynchings as Stafford-Smith claimed - hard to tell the context in that community.

Incredibly stupid stunt to pull in a trial for a capital offence though.

[Ralph]

Perhaps all the white people should just move out and leave all the black people to persue their nirvana in peace.

[Nikw211]

UCLA's "[d]istinguished Professor of History" Robin D.G. Kelley has put academic rigour to one side for a moment to write a very emotive response to recent events, for example here:

We all know the names and how they died [ … ] unarmed and shot down by police under circumstances for which lethal force was unnecessary. We hold their names like recurring nightmares, accumulating the dead like ghoulish baseball cards. […] And I’m only speaking of the dead—not the harassed, the beaten, the humiliated, the stopped-and-frisked, the raped

And also here:

… leaving Brown’s bullet-riddled, lifeless body, on the street for four and a half hours, bleeding, cold, stiff from rigor mortis, constituted a war crime in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

And this is even before he gets to his argument, which is that:

… what we are dealing with is nothing less than permanent war waged by the state and its privatized allies on a mostly poor and marginalized Black and Brown working-class

The Black community of Ferguson and adjacent communities experience war every single day, in routine police stops, fines for noise ordinance violations (e.g., playing loud music), for fare-hopping on St. Louis’s light rail system, for uncut grass or unkempt property, trespassing, wearing “saggy pants,” expired driver’s license or registration, “disturbing the peace,” [ … ] The criminal justice system is used to exact punishment and tribute, a kind of racial tax, on poor/working class Black people.

It is a tragedy when young men and children are shot and killed by law enforcement, of course it is; and it's also not unreasonable for a professor to write a personal, emotional piece on an issue clearly close to his heart. However …

With so many opinion pieces from bloggers and bloggers pretending to be journalists (e.g. Gawker’s Matt Bruenig) out there, turning up the emotional volume as high as it'll go, it's a little disappointing to find someone who you would hope would be capable of delivering a calmer and more rational analysis, not only adding his own voice to the already deafening cacophony but trying to outdo them.

Kelley in any case seems to be firmly ensconced in a particularly narrow cul-de-sac of the mind, which I think becomes clear as he reaches his conclusion:

In light of Missouri’s failure to indict Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown, calling for the withdrawal of the police—even temporarily—is a reasonable demand for people terrorized by state violence …

The whole thing is here if anyone is interested.

[Wien1938]

Well, David has shown again and again how ideologically committed to the doctrine of embedded white supremacy. It's a religious belief on the Left.
The crucial element is the concept that the identity of the victim is not the crucial determinant of justice but the identity of the oppressor. So, blacks murdered by blacks is an outcome of white oppression. And blacks killed by whites is a direct expression of "racism".
It's a teleology: A self-referencing system of thought.
The degree of cognitive dissonance must be astounding amongst these people...

[Jonathan]

This made me chuckle:

http://dandygoat.com/citizen-investigators-looting-ferguson-in-search-for-clues

[JerryC]

Thanks, Henry. Surely a regrettable fashion statement for a officer of the law.

[WTP]

My cousin has declared the Ferguson media discussions a watershed ending post-modernism and the beginning of Post-Factualism. I tried to tell him he has no such authority, as he has neither a PhD nor a proper megaphone. He's such an idiot.

[David]

This morning in a nearby café I overheard some people taking about the Ferguson saga. The imperviousness to evidence, even basic logic, was almost hypnotic. Forensic reports, which are consistent with the officer’s account, were ignored as if irrelevant. One chap seemed to think that so long as he could point to a different and completely unrelated case then what happened in Ferguson could simply be assumed. And the people saying these things didn’t sound like they were idiots. I mean, what they were saying sounded pretty dumb, but they weren’t actual knuckleheads. My guess would be they’d been to university.

They did, though, seem quite anxious to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. One that entailed siding with the person who had darker skin regardless of what happened, as best can be determined. There was some rumbling about how “obviously” the police are racist and how “obvious” it is that “society” is racist too, as if that were inarguable and sufficient to fathom a person’s innocence or guilt. I got the impression they were very keen to let each other know how opposed to racism they are, and therefore virtuous.

[David]

Further to the above, this, by Robert Tracinski in the Federalist, seems relevant:

The early reports were very clear that Michael Brown was a good, kind-hearted young man bound for college, that the shooting was totally unprovoked, that he was shot multiple times in the back, that he was executed in cold blood. Then the evidence, as it emerged, knocked down each of these claims one by one… But much of the damage is already done. The venal, incompetent mainstream media has already convinced millions of people that they just know Darren Wilson is guilty and that the whole justice system is racist and corrupt for refusing to throw him in jail for the rest of his life.

[Watcher in the Dark]

Ms Penny should really ask: "What happens when people acknowledge I know nothing about anything?"

[David]

Heather MacDonald on Obama’s irresponsibility:

To claim that the laws are applied in a discriminatory fashion is a calumny, unsupported by evidence. For the president of the United States to put his imprimatur on such propaganda is bad enough; to do so following a verdict in so incendiary a case is grossly irresponsible… This misinformation about the criminal-justice system and the police will increase hatred of the police. That hatred, in turn, will heighten the chances of more Michael Browns attacking officers and getting shot themselves. Police officers in the tensest areas may back off of assertive policing. Such de-policing will leave thousands of law-abiding minority residents who fervently support the police ever more vulnerable to thugs.

[RY]

Re: Heather MacDonald article,

President Obama, while addressing the United Nations, wishing to draw some kind of moral parallel between the ideologically driven atrocities committed by ISIS, and the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson MO., rates as one of the most extraordinary ( almost unbelievable ) things I have ever heard.

[David]

Meanwhile, in Seattle, a Christmas tree lighting event attended by small children was disrupted by “social justice” warriors. When their carols were drowned out by chanting and shouting, the kids began to cry. The protestors were apparently content with this outcome. But hey, it’s who they are.

[David]

And in Ferguson, some visiting “social justice” warriors tried to thwart shoppers by blocking doors and being generally obstructive because, you know, buying stuff is evil. And local businesses losing trade on their busiest day of the year is a good thing, obviously. According to these young and fearless warriors, “the only solution is a communist revolution.” Because that always works out so well.

[ Added: ]

It’s worth noting that most of the protests we’ve seen outside of Ferguson don’t seem at all designed to draw people in or elicit public sympathy. The protests, such as they are, have generally been presumptuous, belligerent, often threatening – blocking major roads for hours, harassing shoppers, ruining children’s carol singing – and are therefore likely to aggravate rather than foster any kind of public solidarity. Apparently, our brave little warriors don’t care about how annoying, opportunist and inappropriate they are. The thrill of the mob dynamic, the rush of power, is much more exciting. What they want, it seems, is to impose themselves on others while being ostentatiously concerned, or pretending to be concerned. As so often, it’s all about them and how they want to be seen.

[RY]

It's worth noting ...

It seems that they like upsetting and threatening people - that they think those people deserve to be upset.

[WTP]

Man working three jobs to feed six kids can't get to work because no justice, no peace say the peaceful protesters who say "no peace" cause like there's no justice, but they're peaceful. Guy should have thought of that before he had six kids, I suppose.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2853714/I-got-six-kids-feed-going-fired-Moment-angry-father-three-jobs-took-students-blocking-highway-Ferguson-protest.html

[PD]

As with the Occupy saga, it’s one of those events that reveals how unreliable – and often simply mendacious – the mainstream media is.

Yes, it does.

[WTP]

PD, even the story you link distorts, in the media's favor, the Zimmerman story. Re:

ABC News published a video of Zimmerman entering a police station and claimed it showed no evidence of any wounds. Once again, the conclusion was that Zimmerman was lying. Then, a few days later, ABC enhanced the video and the wounds appeared.

Actually what happened, and I do not recall it was ABC originally but I do recall watching the original broadcast of such, was that when the back of Zimmermans head was visible to the camera, there was a news crawler banner obscuring his wounds. All ABC (or whomever) had to do was drop the banner. No enhancement necessary. IIRC, and this may be inaccurate, Fox first broadcast the video without the banner.

[David]

Several righteous protestors admit that the facts of the case are irrelevant:

In keeping with what seems to be a college … “tradition,” the Associated Press reports on how — now that the Ferguson grand jury determined there was no truth to the claim that Michael Brown had his hands up when confronted by officer Darren Wilson — it isn’t really important if Brown had his hands up in a “don’t shoot” gesture… “Even if you don’t find that it’s true, it’s a valid rallying cry,” [said protester Taylor Gruenloh.] “It’s just a metaphor.”

And of course the Guardian’s Gary Younge has spent weeks repeatedly telling his readers that Michael Brown was shot simply for “walking down the street.” The articles in which he says this – I counted three of them - appear on a page with the caption “facts are sacred.”

[Nikw211]

"Ferguson protestors have gained the lead in TIME’s Person of the Year poll, with seven days to go in the voting."

[David]

At some point, I think, it stops being funny.

[brinster]

I'm buying more ammo. The only thing I have a problem with is, what will the rules of engagement be once the shooting starts. If, for instance, a dark-skinned person fires upon a light-skinned person, will the light-skinned person have the right to fire back?
Rules need to be established before the war starts.

[Spiny Norman]

I think it stopped being funny when a local NBC affiliate doctored the recorded conversation between Zimmerman and the police dispatcher, which was then picked by the national network, unquestioned.

A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.

[David]

A panel of journalists is startled and troubled by a statement of the obvious:

“If you look at the most credible evidence, the lessons are really basic,” [Rich] Lowry said during an appearance on Meet the Press. “Don’t rob a convenience store. Don’t fight with a policeman when he stops you and [don’t] try to take his gun. And when he yells at you to stop, just stop.” Those comments elicited gasps from a panel that included the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson and MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. Mitchell exclaimed “Whoa, whoa” during Lowry’s comments.

[Nikw211]

“Don’t rob a convenience store. Don’t fight with a policeman when he stops you and [don’t] try to take his gun. And when he yells at you to stop, just stop.”

Strange how such a seemingly unarguable set of statements can be considered so controversial.

[Donavon Pfeiffer Jr.]

Hate to inform the precious little snowflake, but law and justice mean different things everywhere. Justice is a concept of philosophy much like right and wrong. The law is a product of politics.