Politics Ferguson

Well, I think the background of the photo Baraka posted speaks for itself. Specific example.

'Cause either that or Mugatu's "Derelicte" has taken off in commercial interior decorating.

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I see where you're going--and I get it--but intent, intent, intent.

 

Overly polite rioting.

Oh, Canada.

 

I thought you you were kidding but when I looked it up it seems that out of the ten major riots in Canada you covered most of them.
The Gastown Riots - AskMen

 

Just as it clearly depends on the skin color of the looter. After all, when we're not dispossessing people of color of their freedoms by way of overpolicing, unjust institutionalization and perpetual debt-slavery, we can at least rob of them of their agency by selectively casting their actions as those of an animal, lacking conscience and consideration. In fact, let's consider a taxonomy of legitimate looting just to see how low they've sunk.

Let alone the absurd expectation that a group relegated to a second class existence, denied many of the freedoms their citizenship should guarantee, should have any real respect for the police, private property and capitalism, when all three are inextricable aspects of the systemic abuses they are subjected to. On the whole, the Ferguson protestors have shown an incredible amount of restraint.

That said, where are all the 2nd amendment loving, pro-militia, anti-tyranny types when you need them? If this isn't tyranny then what is?

 

Hey, you won't hear me calling Ferguson some nightmare of public disorder. It's tame compared to even a room temperature soccer riot. I didn't see a single flipped car on fire. The Canadians do it better.

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So, the Michael Brown protestors have shown restraint? Versus what? Storming the police station, demanding Officer PewPew's head on a stick? What exactly are they holding back from doing?

And exactly how would not holding back help their message? I'm confused about how anything other than non-violent protest sends the right message to the stormtroopers in charge.

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The "2nd Amendment loving, pro-militia, anti-tyranny types" are on the other side of town in the houses clinging to their Bibles and their shotguns. Because that's what dumb crackers do.

You won't see armed citizens in the streets defending protestors, anyway. The Man has already made it clear that any group that carries arms openly has to be a terrorist organization.

Doesn't matter what your skin color is, Big Brother wants to be the only kid on the block with guns on display. God forbid the playing field be even remotely fair, you know.

 

The first couple of nights were the only cases of looting and burning.
After that it the older and wiser heads prevailed, folks who had experience going all the way back to the civil rights movement in the 60's, other members of the clergy, and even the Nation of Islam, started organizing and keeping the crowds under control.
It was on the cops after that.

When the State Troopers took over it got better one night, then the next couple of nights they had a hard time getting the cops from other areas to stick with the program.
But as more and more cameras showed up the police knew there was no way they could up the kind of brutality they had been doing.

When the whole world is watching shooting innocent bystanders with rubber bullets and teargassing children starts to be a problem.
Sadly all the years that a quarter of the city budget was maintained by rousting the black population was never covered in the papers until this happened.

 

Generally speaking (and especially from a nice theoretical remove) I'm not opposed to violent protest. You won't see my doughy ass hurling molotov cocktails but I wouldn't consider it unjustified or undeserved if the Ferguson protestors learned a few new tricks. This is considering the extent to which their local police departments are essentially harvesting them like human batteries in The Matrix. Voice of the voiceless, etc. That said, the best possible means is of course voting these fuckers out of office but considering how many of these people have passed through the prison system, I'm not too sure how viable an alternative that is.

 

As someone on teh Twitter pointed out, it isn't like you can say "If you don't want to get shot, follow the nonviolent path of Martin Luther King."

 

Yeah, have you seen the pictures of Selma?
Nobody got shot but police dogs, fire hoses and batons on little kids are not too far off.

The things is we were supposed to have learned from that, made a promise never to repeat it.
So WTF is going on?
How is it we're getting worse?

 

Really, there's more black on black crime than white on white? Care to cite a source for that?

How about "most violent crime occurs between people who know each other".

 

Let the people protesting legally exercise their right to protest.

Treat the rioters, looters, and arsonists as criminals. Do not follow the LAPD example of not going into trouble spots for fear of antagonizing the rioters, looters, and arsonists.

The chief of police in Ferguson, Thomas Jackson, should've known better that to put up a "Blue Shield." His job should be on the line for mishandling the shooting of Michael Brown, whether or not it was justified.

 

If your kids watch tv, they already know that.

 

Some interesting observations by a marine on Ferguson and the police.

Marine Says Ferguson Police Dressed Like ‘They Were Fighting The Battle Of The Century'

 

I have to take issue with what the former marine said. I'm pretty sure the marines didn't use rubber bullets. They probably preferred fragmentation grenades. The police in Ferguson don't have machine guns, artillery support, claymores, and air support. So no, there is no comparison. And again, check the gun arsenal thread. There are already tens of thousands of ar-15s in the hands of our fellow citizens. And rifle rounds will go straight through any bullet resistant vest worn by an officer in the normal course of his duties. Btw, how many innocent civilians were killed by our military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan? I'd say probably a lot more than have been killed by law enforcement officers.

 

Except we don't know how many civilians are killed by police officers because no one collects those stats.