Who's Policing the Police?

A funeral is happening today. It's certain to attract a large crowd. In fact, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) is in Ferguson, Missouri, today.

Michael Brown's funeral is today. The Brown family has asked for calm in the St. Louis region today. And it remains to be seen how long the calm will last, especially since Ferguson Police still refuse to answer questions on Officer Darren Wilson's slaying of Michael Brown. There was never even an incident report filed.



And not only that, but Ferguson Police still refuse to admit they have a serious problem on their hands. Sure, they're finally dialing back the violence now. However, they're still refusing to take any accountability for their actions against local civilians.



Before Darren Wilson joined the Ferguson Police Department, he worked at the Jennings Police Department. He was let go in 2011... Along with the entire rest of the police force. Jennings Police had developed such a horrifying record of police brutality that the city council decided to dissolve the whole police department and start anew.

Apparently, this didn't faze Ferguson Police at all. Sure, it's never good to simply assume the worse and presume guilt before proving innocence. However, it's always a good idea to perform background checks on prospective enployees and investigate Wilson's role in the Jennings debacle.

Why didn't Ferguson Police seriously investigate Darren Wilson's record in Jennings? Why has Ferguson Police instead taken to Fox "News" to villify the victim? And why are the usual G-O-TEA suspects once again trying to stifle serious discussion on the serious issues surrounding Ferguson?



Once again, the actions of a mostly white police force against a minority-majority community has become a media circus full of heat yet lacking light. Once again, we're hearing outrageous accusations to go along with nonsensical conspiracy theories. What we have yet to hear are answers from Ferguson Police. So many in the media are rushing to put Michael Brown on trial, even as Michael Brown's funeral is underway. Yet who's policing the police?

Ugliest of Double Standards

This really says it all. This pretty much explains everything. This is why Ferguson, Missouri, has come to resemble the type of war zone we thought could only emerge in some far away land like Syria or Ukraine.



ACLU has already called for the removal of "Officer Go Fuck Yourself". After all, it's anything but appropriate for a "peace officer" to point his rifle at unarmed civilians and yell, "I will fucking kill you".

Ironically, Kansas City, Missouri, police officer Marc Catron had taken to social media to castigate the late Michael Brown along with the mostly African-American demonstrators in Ferguson protesting his murder. The Kansas City Police Department has placed Marc Catron under review for his Facebook rants.

Here's the problem. We expect demonstrators to remain peaceful. We expect them to refrain from violence. Yet when police officers turn violent on unarmed civilians, we hear constant excuses and endless attempts at blaming the victims.

Already, Ferguson Police have been working overtime to demonize Mike Brown. They seem to think he's the one who should be standing trial instead of Darren Wilson. But last time we checked, Darren Wilson shot Mike Brown dead.



This is nothing new. In fact, Metro Police does it all the time here in Southern Nevada.

But this must end. Now. This is the ugliest and bloodiest of double standards. Darren Wilson had the privilege to shoot first and ask questions later. He now has all the rights of due process that (Missouri taxpayers') money (and white privilege) can buy. But what does the Brown family have? A dead son. And now, these scurrilous attempts at blaming the victim.

And what do the nonviolent protesters of Ferguson have? Nonstop attacks on their character. And nonstop threats from local "law enforcement". This is the ugliest of double standards.

Disconnect

Violence and turmoil erupted again last night. This time, tear gas was used. Rocks were thrown. (More) Journalists were arrested. And Ferguson endured its most brutal night of conflict yet.

Ferguson has become a flashpoint in the growing conflict over police brutality, ongoing economic injustice, and institutionalized racism. But for G-O-TEA media pundits, this is just another chance for them to peddle conspiracy theories and inflammatory rhetoric.



Apparently, they haven't paid close enough attention to what's happening in Ferguson. While police continue to attack both protesters and journalists, most of the protesters have been dissenting peacefully. Oh, and they've also been cleaning up the street every morning. That's certainly something we typically don't hear from G-O-TEA media spinners decrying the "lawlessness" of Ferguson.



Even CNN's Don Lemon had to experience firsthand the reality of what's happening there.



This unrest first erupted because of public anger over the murder "good police work" of Michael Brown. Yet instead of answering questions and allowing for any kind of justice, police have added fuel to the fire by unleashing so much brutal force on both protesters and reporters. And now they're wondering why Ferguson is so tense and why a few demonstators have turned to rocks and Molotov cocktails to fight back.

Now don't get us wrong, we never condone violence. Two wrongs never make a right. No one should be celebrating the suffering of real human beings. So why don't Ferguson city officials and their G-O-TEA media apologists understand this?

Ironically, these very G-O-TEA media spinners were condemning local and federal law enforcement here in Nevada when they were trying to simply enforce the law in Bunkerville. When Cliven Bundy and his Patriot Movement militia buddies were engaging in armed conflict against federal agents, G-O-TEA politicians & pundits were praising them as "freedom fighters". Yet when a very large majority of protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, demonstrate against the wrongful execution of an innocent man, they're demanding water cannons and condemning voter registration drives.

Does anyone else notice the disconnect here? We wonder what may be causing this logical disconnect. We wonder why they're describing something that's far different from what the rest of us are actually seeing there. And we wonder why they're condemning protests that are less violent than the protests they championed on live TV 24/7 just four months ago. Why are we seeing this disconnect?

Missouri Burning

Why there? Why now? Why this? Why Ferguson?

On Thursday, we discussed how the history of de jure and de facto racial segregation have shaped the turmoil that's come to define Ferguson today. Desert Beacon just dove deeper into the St. Louis region's troubled past. Needless to say, it's a troubled past full of racial discrimination, municipal government turf wars, and sharp economic transitions.

Yet even as we're starting to understand how and why this is happening, we're still shocked by this. Why is this happening in America?



We've witnessed the incredibly disturbing trend of police militarization. Why are "peace officers" using weapons of war, sometimes even against unarmed civilians? Back in June, Congress had the opportunity to support bipartisan backed legislation to curtail a US Defense Department program that ships excess inventory of heavy artillery to local police departments. When it came to the House floor for a vote in that chamber, it failed by a huge margin. (And for the record, all of Nevada's House Members voted against this amendment.)



We now have a better sense of what Ferguson's and other police forces are using against civilians, but we must also address why they are using these military grade weapons against civilians. Why did Officer Darren Wilson shoot Michael Brown? It certainly wasn't because of the alleged robbery that the store never reported to police. So why did this occur?

And why have there been so many other "officer involved shootings" (and beatings) of unarmed civilians? Why are police officers allowed to commit acts they tend to arrest other people for? And why are we being told to just "submit" to this type of abuse?



And remember, we're not immune to this here in Nevada. Particularly in Southern Nevada, Las Vegas Metro Police has a disturbing record of "officer involved shootings" and excessive use of force. This is an issue that reaches far beyond Mississippi River.

But for the time being, Ferguson has become the epicenter of this horror. This corner of Missouri has become the burning reminder of something far too many of us have been far too afraid to publicly address. And it remains to be seen what else must occur (and who else must be hurt) before we finally take seriously this threat from within.

Protect & Serve

We know it's not an easy job. We know it's a very dangerous job. We know this is the kind of job that most of us are too afraid to take up.

However, none of that excuses this. None of that excuses the horrific human rights abuses we've seen at the hands of the police in Ferguson, Missouri.



Ironically, much of the very brutality we've criticized in Iraq, Syria, Russia, and other nations with rather spotty human rights records is now underway here in America. Think about that. No wonder why the rest of the world often doubts our "commitment to freedom".

The violence in Ferguson didn't erupt overnight. It's the product of decades of racist housing policies, limited economic opportunities for communities of color, and local "law enforcement" who have provided anything but.

We realize that law enforcement has come under attack in recent months. Right here in Las Vegas, 2 Metro Police Officers were murdered by 2 Patriot Movement/sovereign citizen extremists. And just this week, a sovereign citizen in Dallas attacked firefighters and police officers. With radical right domestic terrorism on the rise again, public safety officers have become moving targets for these extremists.

However, this does not condone police violence against unarmed civilians. The threats posed by extreme right militias that grew out of the racist "posse comitatus" movement do not condone extreme violence against historically oppressed minority communities. And the day to day pressure of "life on duty" does not condone the brutal slaughter of Michael Brown and other unarmed civilians.



President Obama just called for calm after multiple nights of police attacks on protesters, police violence against journalists, violent riots, and looting in Ferguson. However, this problem isn't limited to Ferguson. It's a problem that's prevalent across the nation.

We've even witnessed it here in Southern Nevada. Even today, Las Vegas Metro Police's top cops refuse to acknowledge the severity of their growing list of "officer involved shootings". Justice still hasn't been served in cases like the Adam Greene's. Police brutality is just as much of a problem here as it is in the St. Louis region.

It's time to talk. We can't ignore this any longer. And really, we also need serious action to curb this disturbing trend of police militarization and excessive force against civilians. Law enforcement will never enjoy the respect they should otherwise expect if they don't respect the citizens they're supposed to protect & serve. It's time we address this problem and prevent more of these horrifically senseless deaths.

Did "Frothy" Just Render Nevada GOP Irrelevant?

Last night, Willard Romney was rejected by another set of voters. This time, Republicans in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado all said they didn't want him as their nominee. The ultimate irony here is that Mittens had won all three states in 2008 when he was "the conservative alternative to John McCain", but now G-O-TEA voters want a "conservative alternative" to him. So can "Frothy" Ricky Santorum really go all the way to Tampa this summer?

It's still unclear how he can really compete against all of Mittens' money as the contest turns to "Super Tuesday". But then again, it's unclear how Mittens can keep proclaiming himself "The Inevitable One" while continuing to lose in critical states. Steve Kornacki reminded us earlier this morning that despite what Mittens wants us to believe, what happened last night matters.

Romney’s campaign knew trouble was coming, which is why they started Tuesday by releasing an expectations-lowering memo that pointed out that John McCain lost 19 individual contests in the 2008 race and emphasized the long game. And they hoped that the fact that no delegates were directly at stake in any contests would lead the media to downplay the results.

But the delegate situation was mostly a red herring. Really, there was no difference between the caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and those that were held in Iowa on Jan. 3. In all three states, Republicans gathered at precinct caucuses that officially functioned as the first in a multi-step process to choose national convention delegates. At the local caucuses, Republicans were polled on their presidential preference, with the results not tied to delegate allocation. So if the political world is going to treat Iowa as a legitimate nominating contest, there’s no reason not to extend the same treatment to Colorado and Minnesota.

And while Missouri’s primary truly was a beauty contest (no delegates of any type were selected or allocated), 250,000 Republicans voters still turned out for it. That number is considerably lower than the 2008 total, but it still represents a significant statement by that state’s Republican electorate, especially when you consider that Romney only mustered a quarter of the vote without one of his chief foes on the ballot. [...]

February was supposed to be a cruise control month for Romney – a series of effortless, momentum-building victories that would marginalize his opponents and lead to one emphatic, nomination-sealing sweep on Super Tuesday. Instead, he now faces a real challenge just to make it through the rest of the month, which will include contests in Michigan and Arizona, without any more embarrassments. And the prospect of further setbacks in early March, when Ohio and several Southern states that are culturally ill-suited to Romney will vote, now seems likely.

What’s worse for Romney is that Santorum may get such a boost out of his big night that he further marginalizes Gingrich and gets the one-on-one shot at Romney that he’s long coveted. In this sense, the Missouri result may actually be meaningful; Gingrich wasn’t on the ballot, but it seems that his would-have-been supporters flocked to Santorum. If Gingrich fades out now and Santorum claims the lion’s share of his voters, he could do some real damage – maybe even this month. The flip side, of course, is that Santorum will now experience what Gingrich has faced for the past few weeks: a withering and well-funded assault from the Romney campaign.

And if that isn't crazy enough, consider this. Nevada Republicans jumped through all sorts of ridiculous hoops, and ultimately caved to the RNC and New Hampshire election officials, just to get that shiny little RNC seal of approval for its caucus. So what exactly does the Nevada Republican Party have to show for it? The supposedly "meaningless beauty contests" in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri actually changed the national conversation in a way that Nevada's never did, and now rumors are surfacing that national Republicans are indeed considering yanking Nevada off their early calendar.

Think about it. Nevada Republicans tried their best to put on a glitzy show for the RNC and national media. They staged a big conference in October, one that included a big debate. Yet as soon as they succumbed to "The Great RNC Cave of 2011", which was right after that big conference and big debate, the media stopped caring and the RNC went back to bashing President Obama from DC.

And even as Mittens was basking in the radioactive glow of his Nevada "win", Ricky went on to campaign in "the meaningless states"... And now, "the meaningless states" have upstaged the Nevada G-O-TEA and captured the media's attention.

Great job, Nevada Republicans. You botched your own caucus. You're now begging "Big Government" for a "socialist" state-run primary bailout. And now, a bunch of supposedly "meaningless beauty contests" are getting more attention than your meaningless "fracas caucus" fiasco ever will.

It's Caucus Night... All Over Again.

6:00 PM-

Cheese, louise. Just when we couldn't get enough political drama today, we get three more G-O-TEA contests to digest. Check here for updates on the vote counts and delegate counts. Apparently, tonight may finally be "Frothy" Ricky Santorum's night. After he nearly got Iowa robbed from him, Santorum may finally get some real momentum if he wins the Minnesota Caucus, wins the Missouri Primary (which may do nothing for his delegate count, as it's only a "beauty contest", but at least it can give him bragging rights), and at least finishes a strong second in Colorado (preferably well enough to keep Mitt Romney well under 50%).

As usual, I'll be here to liveblog all the craziness here with you. And of course, we'll debunk whatever stupid media spin occurs and fact check any fact-free rants made by the G-O-TEA candidates in their "victory speeches" later tonight.

6:10 PM-

Well, at least Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri will have a ridiculously easy "credibility bar" to pass tonight... Or will they? Because all these states had problems with the new RNC primary/caucus rules, none of the contests tonight will actually (at least directly) determine delegate allocation. Yikes. But before we gloat too much about this, just look at what happened to Nevada Republicans. And now, they want the state to bail them out! And of course, this also means they want "we the people/taxpayers" to bail them out! And I thought Nevada Republicans were against "socialism"?



6:25 PM-

So far in early returns, "Frothy" Ricky Santorum is running away with Minnesota and Missouri. Can Mittens catch up? And again, does it really matter? With exactly 0 delegates actually at stake tonight, Willard Romney's campaign will certainly try to spin tonight's results as "meaningless". Will Ricky be able to convince the media pundits to think otherwise?

6:45 PM-

NBC News just projected a Santorum win in Missouri. Congrats, "Frothy". So far, things are looking up for him. He's also leading in Minnesota right now, and he's even leading in very early returns in Colorado (!!!) right now. I guess tonight just isn't Mittens' lucky night. Good thing for him that no actual delegates are at stake tonight.

7:10 PM-

Here's some good food for thought, courtesy of TPM publisher Josh Marshall:

The word coming from the Mitt campaign is that Missouri doesn’t really matter because there are no delegates there and they didn’t commit time or money. The problem, though, is that Santorum doesn’t really have any time or money to commit there either. And if you’re the frontrunner, the presumed nominee, you get clobbered in a swing state just because you didn’t aggressively campaign there? That’s a very, very low standard. Santorum is clearly leaning hard on evangelicals. And really this isn’t about Santorum. It’s about Romney. Absent crushing spending and a week or so to focus on a single state, Romney seems to have a really rough time. That’s bad, especially in the Midwest where a Republican candidate has to run strong. And especially when he’s faltering in national polls versus President Obama.

We've talked about it before, and I guess we'll have to talk about it yet again tonight. If Mittens is so "inevitable", then why can't he win here? And why won't Republican voters actually turn out to confirm him as their nominee? Clearly, Mitt Romney is still not all that popular with his own party right now. And we're seeing that on full display tonight.

7:20 PM-

NBC News just projected Rick Santorum to win Minnesota. He's been up in early tallies, and apparently his lead has become too big for the others to overcome. And now, supposed "inevitable" one Mitt Romney is in third place there. Yikes.

Again, don't be surprised to hear Romney's campaign spin this as "meaningless". But when he can't win these states and start wrapping up this process, especially considering he's the one with the "top of the line" campaign and top of the field fundraising, there's a real problem in G-O-TEA World.

8:00 PM-



Oh, lordy help us. "Frothy" Ricky Santorum is now doing his "victory lap". And he's already resorting to the desperate G-O-TEA character assassination against President Obama. Oh yes, he's the evil, "uppity" black guy who thinks he can rule over the po' lil' white folk!

Oooh, and he won't listen to the po' lil' white teabaggers who want to "DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!!"

Give me a fucking break, "Frothy"! Oh yes, and WHEN I finally do get gay married, I'll be sending you an invitation... Just to chap your hide, you bigoted jackass!

8:35 PM-



OK. This is just ridiculous. Santorum flat out rejects sound science, rejects basic human dignity, and flat out rejects sanity. And yet, Republicans tonight seem to be rejecting lukewarm Mittens to get some of that real Santorum tonight.

Yuck. They can have him, for all I care.

And I think that's all for tonight.