Sunday, August 31, 2014

Ex-Virginia Gov McDonnell Blames "Crazy" Wife in Bribery Case

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Estranged? Or just Strange?

Previous Related Posts:
Ex Gov Bob McDonnell and Wife Indicted
Cuccinelli Loses in Virginia, GOP Heads Explode
McDonnell and Cuccinelli Fight War on Women in Virginia
Jim DeMint Pushes Vaginal Probe Opportunities

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The Ex-Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell is letting his estranged wife take the blame for their downfall. He testified last week to looking the other way and just not noticing that his family was taking expensive gifts from health-food guru Jonnie Williams. In effect, he is throwing his wife completely under the bus like the coward he is.



So after Labor Day there should be a verdict. Stay tuned. :)

From the Daily Beast
McDonnell has been accused of taking more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from businessman Jonnie Williams in exchange for government assistance promoting a health food product made from tobacco. A coterie of aides and political consultants helped the McDonnells project the image of the perfect family: Governor, Boy Scout, former Redskins cheerleader mom, five children, values up the kazoo. Behind the scenes, it was more like the Home Shopping Network. Emails reveal Maureen McDonnell lobbying Williams for an inaugural dress, eventually spending $17,000 of his money on a shopping spree in New York to cover her inaugural wardrobe and sundry other events befitting the first lady of Virginia.
. . . Maureen McDonnell may have signed off on the legal strategy. But the strained look on her face as she enters the courtroom, and the reporting on how she and her estranged husband never exchange even so much as a glance, suggest she didn’t know how awful the trial would get—that whitewashing his behavior would mean blackening hers and turning them both into objects of ridicule, not sympathy.

From CBS News
(Daughter) Jeanine McDonnell said her parents rarely spoke to each other in private, going back decades. She also said her mother developed an unusually close friendship with Williams.
Part of the McDonnells' defense is that they could not have engaged in a criminal conspiracy because they barely talked to each other. Maureen McDonnell's lawyer also said during opening statements last month that the former first lady had a crush on Williams, who "duped" her into thinking he cared for her.
While the attorney, William A. Burck, did not label Williams her "lover" or say the two had an affair, he did say that most people would call their relationship "inappropriate."
. . . "I think she had a mild obsession with Jonnie," she testified.

From Politico
. . . McDonnell laid out the painful details of his marriage, step by step, sounding by turns earnest and devastated.
When he said he scolded her, during his days as Virginia attorney general, for using a campaign list to help promote her “nutraceutical” products — dietary supplements that are supposed to provide health benefits — he was clearly depicting himself as the ethical one in the relationship. But he also tried to sound like the understanding husband: “I knew she was upset about that. It was her job. It was what she was good at.”
. . . Unfortunately for McDonnell, he didn’t always hit the perfect notes when talking about the money his family received from Jonnie Williams, the businessman to whom the couple allegedly traded favors for gifts and loans.

WVEC-TV
(Prosecutor Michael) Dry ... asked McDonnell why he didn't disclose thousands of dollars worth of golf trips, clubs and accessories. Last week, McDonnell said they weren't reported because of a breakdown in the system that the staff uses to track gifts but he reiterated Monday that it was ultimately his fault the gifts weren't reported.
The judge ended today's (Aug. 25) testimony by asking Dry if he was close to being finished and Dry said he was not. The judge then looked at the jury and said, "Maybe it's just me, but does this feel like the longest day of your life?"



From Richmond Times-Dispatch
Maureen McDonnell’s chief of staff depicted the former first lady Wednesday as a screaming “nutbag” in search of a designer handbag and an emotional rescue.
. . . Mary-Shea Sutherland’s testimony on day eight of the McDonnells’ federal corruption trial portrayed a frustrated first lady placated by Jonnie R. Williams Sr., a free-spending dietary-supplement impresario, then CEO of Star Scientific.
Sutherland depicted Maureen McDonnell as so undone by her privileged surroundings and financial limitations that the first lady grabbed at gifts, raged at staff, and even falsely accused the Executive Mansion chef of trying to ruin her Christmas by serving “bad shrimp.”
The tawdry testimony led some courtroom spectators to roll their eyes, shake their heads and snicker in disbelief.
















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Child Kills Gun Instructor with Uzi

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Some idiot parents took their nine-year-old daughter to a gun range in the Arizona desert, where she was encouraged to fire an UZI assault weapon at a target. When the instructor put the weapon on automatic, the child couldn't handle the recoil and accidentally shot the teacher, blowing off his head.

This death brought to you by the #NRA and the #GOP in 'Merica.



From CNN
Charles Vacca was accidentally shot in the head as he instructed the 9-year-old girl how to fire an Uzi, an Israeli-made 9mm submachine gun. As she pulled the trigger, the gun jumped out of her left hand toward Vacca, who was standing beside her.
"To put an Uzi in the hands of a 9-year-old ... is extremely reckless, " CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes said.
Gun experts contacted by CNN on Wednesday said young children should be taught to shoot with single-shot firearms rather than submachine guns.
. . . Chief Deputy Mohave County Attorney Jace Zack told CNN on Wednesday that prosecutors didn't foresee criminal charges.
The Mohave County Sheriff's Office said the girl was with her parents. The three reside in New Jersey.
Asked about the culpability of the girl's parents, he said: "We have considered the parents, but if anyone was culpable it would be the instructor for putting a deadly weapon in her hands."

The owner of the Gun Range defended the girl's right to shoot an Uzi, because it was on the child's "bucket list." Now since when do 9-year-olds have a "bucket list?" Do gun nuts really believe the stuff they spout day after day?

All In With Chris Hayes Transcript, via Daily Kos

Chris Hayes: "... you told a reporter that a 5 year old can shoot a 22 if they have their parents consent. Could a five year old also conceivably shoot an uzi...?"

SS: "...we don't let anybody enter the range -- except on the Eddie Eagle program... -- unless they're eight years old or older -- and we grow some pretty big eight year olders out here in Arizona...

... This was a very mature young lady, and it's something she wanted to do and her parents were treating her. You know, this was a big -- something that was high on her bucket list to do and her parents took her out to do what she was gonna do...

... It's something she did, it's a tragedy and my heart goes out to her...

… We're a very tight knit group here. It's more like family. I don't want any of my people to stub their toes, let alone get killed in the process, you know it's heartbreaking."

CH: "... why would you let an eight year old shoot an uzi? I mean what's the possible upside? The downside is so horribly clear. What do you say to people that just look at this and their jaws are on the floor?"

SS: "Well, you know I tell you we've had probably 100,000 people shoot on our two ranges combined, and we've had of that probably 1500 to 2000 have been kids. The kids rent a lot of automatic weapons, we do birthday parties for children here, we do bachelor and bachelorette parties...

... we've got first aid kits and the god-darned things are brand new. Never had an injury in the place."


















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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

#NRA Portrays Gun Control Activist Shannon Watts as a Stepford Wife

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Previous Related Posts:
Open Carry Storms the Home Depot
The NRA's Scary Tone-Deaf Message
NRA Against the World
Gayle Trotter says Weak Women Need Assault Weapons
Newtown: Now is the Time for Gun Control

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The National Rifle Association is always proud when a woman straps on a gun and walks through Target or Home Depot, but they really despise women who want gun control. That's why in a recent article, the NRA is attacking Shannon Watts, the activist Mom who created "Moms Demand Action."

In an article called "Not Watt She Seems," NRA has chosen to demean Watts by making her the caricature of a 50's retro paper-doll housewife surrounded by household objects such as a feather duster, an iron, and a spatula. In essence, the NRA is depicting women as Stepford Wives.

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From the Article in America's First Freedom Zmag
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG IS BANKROLLING “MOMS DEMAND ACTION,” WITH SHANNON WATTS AS HIS STAND-IN, STAY-AT-HOME MOM.
BUT A CLOSER LOOK REVEALS HER COVER STORY TO BE PAPER-THIN.
Ms. Watts was not an activist or involved in gun issues prior to the shootings at Sandy Hook on Dec. 14, 2012. The day after the tragedy, she started a Facebook page called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America....
. . . The registered address for her pr firm was a residence, so presumably she was running her pr firm out of her house. Her children were all well into school-age or older, so it’s likely that she had plenty of time to run her business during the day. Watts’ biography on Linkedin.com states that she ran the public relations firm until June 2012. Also, for the 20 months ending in June 2012, she was a consultant for the large public relations firm FleishmanHillard. Also, in May 2010, Watts and her husband opened the Watts Fine Art gallery in Zionsville, Ind. There’s nothing wrong with that, except “running a streetfront art gallery plus public relations business from my house” is not the impression conveyed by “stay-at-home mom.”

Shannon Watts, via Chicago Tribune
"The idea that I might be able to stay home and do something other than cook and clean seems beyond their grasp," Watts says. "They believe real moms wear dresses from the 1950s and use rotary telephones and iron — which, in my opinion, is what the dryer is for."
The image is an odd move for an organization so actively courting women to join their ranks.
"For them to denigrate women, who make up the majority of the electorate, seems incredibly short-sighted," Watts says.

Rebranding?

The NRA ultimately loses the argument by insisting that Watts has no right to be as accomplished as she is, since she calls herself a stay-at-home mother. That is insulting to all women throughout history, It seems as if Wayne La Pierre believes the old cliche of women being "just a housewife," as if women were ever "just" anything.

The ironic thing about the NRA's argument is that it portrays Watts as both an accomplished and effective activist, so they are admitting they have a Renaissance woman as an adversary. And now that they are throwing down the gauntlet, even bringing the ages of her children into their criticism, they deserve whatever despicable fate awaits them in the future.

Watts and @MomsDemand fought back in social media with the hashtag #MomsNotMaids and graphics making fun of the NRA's backward and sexist view of women.



















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Monday, August 25, 2014

St. Louis Area Cops Out of Control ~ With Updates

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Previous Related Posts:
Lies of Darren Wilson - No Broken Eye, No Police Report
Ferguson: The Shocking Death of Kajieme Powell
Monday Night Mayhem in Ferguson
Journalists Attacked and Arrested in Ferguson

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From the beginning, it's been obvious that Ferguson area police have anger problems and aren't properly trained in the use of firearms, not to mention the inherent racism in the targeting of African Americans. What is shocking to the world is that these guys seem totally fine with their violent threats and impulses.

UPDATE: Sergeant Mike Weston

Via The New Civil Rights Movement:
Sergeant Mike Weston took to Twitter this week, complaining about "libs", giving out false information, insulting Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson's approach to community policing and threatening to seek out visiting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in order to "punch him in the nose."

Note: He has since deleted his twitter account:

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Weston also attacked State Patrolman Ron Johnson who was brought in to calm down the crowds, calling his method "Hug-A-Thug."

Tweet pic via Crooks and Liars

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UPDATE: Officer Matthew Pappert

From the Telegraph
The police department in Glendale, another St Louis suburb, said Friday it had suspended one of its officers who expressed contempt for the Ferguson protesters on his Facebook account.
. . . "I'm sick of these protesters. You are a burden on society and a blight on the community," wrote Pappert in one of at least five posts that went up since Sunday.
"These protesters should have been put down like a rabid dog the first night," he added.
In a reference to the Boston Marathon bombing, he also wrote: "Where is a Muslim with a backpack when you need them."
The Glendale Police Department, in a statement, said it suspended Pappert upon learning about the posts on Friday. It also cancelled a neighborhood block party for fear it might be disrupted by protesters.

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Here is Detective Corporal Ray Albers pointing a large weapon at journalists while threatening to "F***in Kill" them. Albers was put on leave after this video surfaced.



UPDATE: Ray Albers has resigned.

From Huffington Post
Lt. Ray Albers, 46, stepped down from the St. Ann police department on Thursday, the St. Louis Dispatch reported. The resignation comes just a little over a week after The Huffington Post and other outlets confirmed Albers' identity in footage of the officer threatening civilians protesting the death of Michael Brown.

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Next we have Sargent Major Dan Page, who made an openly racist speech back in April, and who has also been relieved of duty.


This is the same policeman who unnecessarily pushed CNN's Don Lemon on the air.



Chief John Belmar told Don Lemon that he was "embarrassed" by Dan Page's remarks, and he made an apology to anyone offended by it.

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UPDATE Dan Page has retired with Full Pension!!!

From MSNBC
Officer Dan Page, a 35-year veteran of the force, had his last day on August 25th. Sergeant Colby Dolly, aid to the St. Louis County Police Chief, told msnbc by phone that Page is expected to receive his full pension.

I doubt anyone is happy that he is getting his full pension. Stay tuned because I expect we will hear more about that.

Also, Page made even more weird comments earlier this year - conspiracy stuff. He must be watching Alex Jones.

Via Slate
In a handful of interviews unearthed by Rachel Tabachnick of Political Research Associates, Pages further opines that there is a military plot to overthrow the United States and establish a one-world government, that sexual assault in the military is “99.9 percent” fictitious, and that “through our government education system your Caucasian females are telling young black males that the white male is the enemy.”

Okey-Dokey. *eyeroll*

From the man in charge of Dan Page:

"I joined this police department 28 years ago because
it was a professional agency and it remains so today.
We cannot have these kinds of comments and behavior."



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UPDATE: As of 8-30-14, Darren Wilson still has not shown his face or made a statement through an attorney



The Washington Post has a story this Monday morning about the fact that Mike Brown's killer, officer Darren Wilson, originally served on another police force so corrupt they disbanded it!

From Washington Post
After going through the police academy, Wilson landed a job in 2009 as a rookie officer in Jennings, a small, struggling city of 14,000 where 89 percent of the residents were African American and poverty rates were high. At the time, the 45-employee police unit had one or two black members on the force, said Allan Stichnote, a white Jennings City Council member.
Racial tension was endemic in Jennings, said Rodney Epps, an African American city council member.
“You’re dealing with white cops, and they don’t know how to address black people,” Epps said. “The straw that broke the camel’s back, an officer shot at a female. She was stopped for a traffic violation. She had a child in the back [of the] car and was probably worried about getting locked up. And this officer chased her down Highway 70, past city limits, and took a shot at her. Just ridiculous.”
Police faced a series of lawsuits for using unnecessary force, Stichnote said. One black resident, Cassandra Fuller, sued the department claiming a white Jennings police officer beat her in June 2009 on her own porch after she made a joke. A car had smashed into her van, which was parked in front of her home, and she called police. The responding officer asked her to move the van. “It don’t run. You can take it home with you if you want,” she answered. She said the officer became enraged, threw her off the porch, knocked her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach.

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UPDATE: Justin Cosma

Cosma was seen guarding the Ferguson Police station during a protest on Saturday Aug. 30, 2014:





Huff Post has the story of Officer Justin Cosma, the Ferguson cop who detained journalists Wesley Lowrey and Ryan J. Reilly of Huffington Post when they were charging up their phones at a local McDonald's. On that night, Cosma refused to give his name or his badge number, and chose to arrest the two writers instead of simply telling them how to return to their cars. They were later released without charges, but there's no doubt they have been trying to find out more about Cosma ever since.

Surprise! Cosma didn't turn into a sociopath just for the protest, but was already embroiled in a Civil Rights Lawsuit over hog-tying a 12-year-old child - that's right, hog-tying! - when the kid was merely checking his own mailbox in front of his own house. Hello, Lord Voldemort - we didn't know you worked for the Ferguson Police Department.



From Huffington Post:
"The lawsuit alleges that Justin Cosma and Richard Carter, two deputies with the Jefferson County, Missouri sheriff's department in 2010, assaulted my client during an encounter on my client's driveway while his mother was inside their house.
My client was 12 years old at the time, shirtless and was not suspected of any criminal behavior. He was checking the mail. The deputies approached my client and the encounter quickly escalated. My client was restrained, choked, thrown to the ground and hogtied by the two deputies. He suffered scrapes and choke marks to his neck. No charges were ever brought against my client. It is my understanding that Justin Cosma is currently an officer with the City of Ferguson."...




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Sunday, August 24, 2014

Lies of Darren Wilson ~ No Broken Eye Socket and No Police Report

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Previous Related Posts:
Racist Rescue for Darren Wilson with @GoFundMe
Monday Night Mayhem in Ferguson
Heading to #Fergustan ~ Gov. Calls Out National Guard
Ferguson Update: Shooter Identified, Tanks Return
Journalists Attacked and Arrested in Ferguson
Ferguson Missouri Uses Militarized Police on Protestors

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Twitter was abuzz last week after material was released saying that Michael Brown had given police officer Darren Wilson an eye-socket fracture during their tussle through the window of a police car. Somehow Darren Wilson supporters thought that would mitigate or explain the way he shot the young man down in anger or pain or whatever.

The source was This post by Gateway Pundit
The Gateway Pundit can now confirm from two local St. Louis sources that police Officer Darren Wilson suffered facial fractures during his confrontation with deceased 18 year-old Michael Brown. Officer Wilson clearly feared for his life during the incident that led to the shooting death of Brown. This was after Michael Brown and his accomplice Dorian Johnson robbed a local Ferguson convenience store.
. . . Local St. Louis sources said Wilson suffered an “orbital blowout fracture to the eye socket.” This comes from a source within the Prosecuting Attorney’s office and confirmed by the St. Louis County Police.



The bogus eye report was accompanied by what appeared to be some type of diagram or X-ray of Wilson's head injury.

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Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs exposed that the picture wasn't connected to Wilson at all, but was lifted from a website and edited:
And there’s more evidence that Hoft is trying to pull a fast one again; here is the original image posted at the AAPOS site, showing a CT scan of a blowout fracture (on the left), compared to the image posted at Gateway Pundit by Hoft (on the right):

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Notice the difference? In the version posted by Jim Hoft, the text at bottom right that says “UNIV OF IOWA” has been crudely erased. Caught you, Jim.
Was Hoft trying to mislead his readers into thinking this was the actual X-ray (or CT scan) of Darren Wilson? His text does not make it clear it wasn’t Wilson’s CT scan — and the words “UNIV OF IOWA” have been blacked out, quite deliberately.
If Hoft’s intent was to mislead, it worked. All over Twitter and right wing blogs, the wingnuts are raving about “Darren Wilson’s X-ray” that shows a fractured eye socket — but this is just a generic example image of an unknown person’s CT scan.

CNN also reported that the whole story about the "Orbital Socket" injury wasn't true.

From CNN Transcript August 21, 2014
LEMON: OK. We're learning some information regarding officer Darren Wilson's supposed injuries that we have been discussing and talking about here.

One of those injuries that has not been reported by CNN, but it's making its way around other media organizations and also on the Internet -- here's the thing. So according to a source close to the investigation, the officer, Darren Wilson, did go to the hospital after the altercation and the shooting death of Michael Brown.

He did have X-rays done. He had a swollen face. But the X-rays for a broken or a torn eye socket came back negative. That source says it is not true at all. He did not have a torn eye socket. And so he is saying that unequivocally -- he unequivocally denies that, saying it did not happen. But he did have a swollen face. He did go for X-rays. And that is the very latest on that. But he said obviously there was some sort of scuffle, Brooke, because, you know, it was swollen. But that eye socket tear, whatever, it's called a tear or rupture or fracture to the orbital lobe -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. OK, so a source saying he did not have this broken or fractured eye socket.

LEMON: Did not. Did not.



That won't come as a surprise to anyone who has followed this case, since Wilson is seen casually walking around Mike Brown's dead body in the street instead of holding onto his own eye and screaming in pain. No paramedics are seen giving him assistance either.









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The Non-Report

The Ferguson Police Department finally released a "report" on the death of Michael Brown, but there are some major problems. It is barely a report at all - just a one page of fill-in-the-blanks boilerplate with nothing attached to it.

As President Obama might say, quoting Gertrude Stein, "There's no there there." It's a non-report report.

View it here, via the ACLU



From The Wire
The incident report the Ferguson Police Department has on file has little more than the who, where and when of the shooting. It doesn't say what happened, it doesn't say how, and it wasn't even reviewed by a supervisor until 10 days after Michael Brown died. The report was given final approval on August 20.
. . . It's clear now that Ferguson police knew then that they didn't have the incident report they were asked to release. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell argued that Jackson essentially admitted there was no incident report last week when he said "we've pretty much given you every bit of information that we have now — I don't think there's anything else that we have to give out."

Lawrence O'Donnell did indeed predict that there wouldn't be much of a report, and his reasoning was that Darren Wilson would be told by the Police Union attorney not to incriminate himself by putting the story of that day into writing, in effect, setting himself up to plead the fifth amendment. However, that is little consolation to the family of Michael Brown, or the citizens of Ferguson, or the country for that matter, that Darren Wilson is planning to avoid any responsibility for killing Michael Brown.









From Yahoo News
The two-page document, which the Ferguson Police Department released only after pressure from journalists and civil liberties advocates, is largely redacted or left blank. The most egregious omissions are the victim’s name and a description of the offense – the fatal shooting of Brown.
“They are breaking the law,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.
The report, obtained by Yahoo News through the Missouri Sunshine Law, lists only the date, time and location. Fields for the type of incident, name of the complainant, and a summary of the circumstances are redacted.
. . . Missouri’s Sunshine Law states law enforcement agencies must promptly provide incident reports that include among other things, “name of the victim and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident.”






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#Ferguson ~ The Shocking Death of Kajieme Powell

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Another man was gunned down this week in Missouri, this time by St. Louis cops. Kajieme Powell had stolen several items including canned drinks and a honey bun from a local market, and was talking to himself and others on the street. A bystander started filming him while talking on the phone and was shocked when cops rolled up and shot the obviously mentally ill man several times at close range.

WARNING: This video is disturbing and violent!



They say the man had a knife, but it's not clear in the video, and he was obviously outnumbered by cops. So why the overkill once again while the whole world is watching? It would seem this is just another day in the St. Louis area, and the only plan they have is "shoot to kill."

From New Republic:
If you watch the video, there’s no denying that the introduction of police was a catalyst that rapidly turned a sad and touchy situation into a violent tragedy.
. . . Powell had a knife—Police Chief Sam Dotson described it as a steak knife. But he was not wielding it in the way officers claimed (or in the way it may have felt to them in the moment). He was not two or three feet away, but perhaps eight or nine. He wasn’t charging hard or issuing threats. To the contrary, he was demanding to be shot.
But that doesn’t mean the police needed to oblige him. It's hard to watch the video and not conclude that there should’ve been some safe way to preserve his life.

When you watch the video, notice that one cop rolls him over and attempts to put cuffs on him AFTER death. It's creepy and wrong in every possible way.These cops have no respect for the dead, which they proved with Michael Brown as well, leaving him bleeding in the road for a very long time after that shooting, then loading him into a van instead of an ambulance. What is wrong with them?

And when you read the list of tweets, it's also weird that the Mayor of St. Louis is named "Slay." Sometimes I feel as if I'm having a symbolic NRA-induced nightmare.




















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Racist Rescue: @GoFundMe Allows Page for #Ferguson Killer #DarrenWilson

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Previous Related Posts:
Heading to #Fergustan
Ferguson Update: Shooter Identified as Darren Wilson
Zimmerman Verdict: Not Guilty
Best Tweets From the Zimmerman Trial

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The Fundraising Site GoFundMe.com is allowing people to raise money for the defense of Ferguson, Missouri, policman named Darren Wilson, who shot Michael Brown dead in broad daylight on a city street for no apparent reason. I guess they are doing it because they like cops who kill unarmed teenagers. This echoes the NRA and Fox News support for George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin in Florida. But of course they aren't racist just for supporting a white officer who gunned down a teen, didn't write a report, and has been in hiding ever since.

Wilson Supporters also had a Rally for him today to whitesplain the Rule of Law to those who think gunning down unarmed people isn't a good idea, especially for police. But we are obviously ignorant.



I agree with this comment about the video:

these people dont know darren wilson, darren wilson hasnt issued a statement, darren wilson has filed no report regarding the incident. as far as they know darren wilson told everyone he wanted to kill the kid for fun. they have nothing of substance they are backing a person who has made no statement one way or the other. that shows their ignorance
~ JustinHolt2000

And the real tragedy is that the Ferguson Police Department is enabling this fundraiser by connecting it to their own at "Shield of Hope." How tone deaf, dumb and blind are they? Helping a child killer right after the Attorney General of the United States was in their city investigating Civil Rights Abuses - by the POLICE?

Also it has been noted by many on Twitter that the GoFundMe organization skims off some of the donations to the tune of 8%. So in this case, they are profiteering from a death which is being investigated by both the Justice Department and a local Grand Jury.

Did I mention that many of the comments from those donating were so racist they were taken down by GoFundMe?
Mother Jones screencapped a bunch of the comments here

Here's another screencap in a tweet - click to enlarge:



Officer Darren Wilson GoFundMe Page

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Here is the message:

New GoFundMe site through Shield of Hope: https://www.gofundme.com/OfficerWilsonFundraiser

Good Afternoon,

We (being the admins of the page) began this GoFundMe site after our Facebook page “Support Darren Wilson” grew and we saw that there was a need for an online donation site for those who wanted to donate. We set up this GoFundMe page and it quickly gained enormous support for Officer Darren Wilson. Then, once we located the local charitable foundation, Shield of Hope (a non-profit organization), that has been designated as the authorized charity for donations on behalf of Darren Wilson, we began working together to have a GoFundMe page set up to collect and disburse donations for Officer Wilson through the Charitable Foundation. Unfortunately, to do so requires us to end collection on the current page that you are viewing now. GoFundMe does not allow transfer of existing campaigns, even to charities. Please know that all funds received from our events, this GoFundMe site and our TeeSpring campaign will be donated to Officer Darren Wilson, and in the future, donations will still be donated to Officer Wilson, but will be tax deductible for donors as well. Shield of Hope is a Certified Charity on GoFundMe, is available via public search with GoFundMe, and has been designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

. . . The Ferguson Police Department has requested that all donations that supporters may wish to mail be made payable to “Shield of Hope” and mailed to Shield of Hope, 9620 Lackland Rd., St. Louis MO 63114.

New GoFundMe site through Shield of Hope: https://www.gofundme.com/OfficerWilsonFundraiser

Mailing Address for All Mail in Donations:
Shield of Hope
9620 Lackland Road
St. Louis, MO 63114
Phone Number: 314-423-8003

Contact E-mail Regarding T-shirts and questions about the original GoFundMe page: istand4darren@gmail.com

As a group, "Support Darren Wilson" is comprised of many people who want to give others the opportunity to support Officer Darren Wilson during this time. 

We truly hope that everyone who has donated understands the transition. If not, please reach out to us. We do not want this to become a hindrance of the support Officer Darren Wilson is receiving.
Thank you for your understanding. We truly appreciate your time, efforts, prayers, kind words and donations. It means more than you could possibly know.
God Bless






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Friday, August 22, 2014

Media Obsession with Obama's Golf Game

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Previous Related Posts:
Optics Delusion: Twitter Erupts Over Obama Jeans
Michele Bachmann Gripes About Cost of Obama's Dog, Air Force One
Conservatives Tripping About Obama's Vacation
Obama's New Scandal Umbrellagate

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The media is obsessed with the fact that President Obama, like many of his presidential predecessors, is able to take vacations and (horrors) play golf whenever he feels like it. Because, you know, Obama can't possibly golf and THINK at the same time. Or maybe the press can't watch golf and think at the same time. Today they criticized him for taking a hike, because walking and thinking don't go hand in hand either. I think Henry David Thoreau and Gandhi might disagree with them. Surely Martin Luther King and every person who marched for Civil Rights would disagree that physical activity rules out thinking or pondering.

Anyway, it's all about "Optics" because there are BIG things going on in the world, and Obama should be solving them all NOW. How dare the President try to relax so he can deal with them when the time comes. How dare he recharge his batteries like every other President before him. Funny that no one cared when the Elder Bush was watching "Curly Sue" in the theater at the White House, or relaxing at the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Funny they never said this when President W. Bush was down in Texas at the BBQ ranch or choking on Fritos and then falling asleep on the couch in front of football at the White House. How many hours of sleep did W. need a night? Something like 14?

But the Optics of Golf meme is way to fire up the right-wing, or white-wing, readers, so some media outlets keep tweeting and reporting on what the black President is doing up in (usually white) Martha's Vineyard. And after the reporters tweet about golf, the trolls jump on the bandwagon.





























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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Governor Rick Perry Indicted and Booked in Texas

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Rick Perry's Mug Shot

Previous Related Posts:
Oops, Rick Perry Looks Like Grumpy Cat
Rick Perry thinks Obama is Sending Small Children to the Border
Gov. Rick Perry Attacks Wendy Davis

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Rick Perry, who desperately wants to be President of the United States, has been indicted in Texas for abusing his power as Governor. Maybe he shouldn't plan anymore trips to Iowa to campaign until he gets this cleared up. Just Sayin'.

Getting rid of something called the "Integrity Unit" probably wasn't a great idea. But please, proceed, Governor. Texas Democrats are popping corn. No, make that ALL Democrats.

From CNN
A grand jury in Travis County indicted Perry last Friday on two felony counts stemming from his threat to veto funding for a statewide public integrity unit run by Travis Country District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat, unless she stepped down, according to the special prosecutor in the case, Michael McCrum.
The case centers on Perry's June 2013 veto of the $7.5 million budget for the unit run by Lehmberg, after she refused his demand to resign following her drunken driving arrest and conviction.
Perry faces accusations of coercion of a public servant and abuse of his official capacity in connection with the threat and veto.



KXAN News
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Governor Rick Perry arrived at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin right at 5 p.m. Tuesday to be booked on felony charges stemming from an indictment issued Friday.
Perry arrived to supporters chanting “Perry, Perry Perry!” before stopping to briefly speak with the media before walking inside.
“I’m here today because I believe in the rule of law,” the Texas Governor said. He continued to speak saying the actions he took were “lawful and legal.”
“If I had to do so, I would veto funding for the public integrity unit again,” he said.
























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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Monday Night Mayhem in Ferguson

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Cover Photo by David Carson @PDPJ

Previous Related Posts:
Heading to #Fergustan ~ Gov. Calls Out National Guard
Ferguson Update: Shooter Identified, Tanks Return
Journalists Attacked and Arrested in Ferguson
Ferguson Missouri Uses Militarized Police on Protestors

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Another bad night in Ferguson, Missouri. The Governor announced yesterday that the official curfew was lifted. But just before midnight the tanks and heavily armed police rolled onto the scene out of nowhere. Suddenly shots were being fired, rocks were thrown, and tear gas filled the air. A few more journalists were roughed up or arrested, but hey - they are keeping the peace, right? Are we Russia now? No - eventually this mayhem has to end. The President is sending Eric Holder to Ferguson today, and hopefully the murderer of Michael Brown will be arrested, or they will at least explain WHY he hasn't been arrested yet. Is Darren Wilson even in Missouri at this time?

Stunning Scenes from Yesterday:














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President Obama Made a Statement Yesterday









This morning Tamron Hall Grilled the Mayor of Ferguson
on his BS statement "There's no Racial Divide Here"



The Press had another Hard Day's Night








Jake Tapper of CNN Denounced the Police Overkill

Via Mediaite
“I want to show you this, okay? To give you an idea of what’s going on. The protesters have moved all the way down there… they’re all the way down there. Nobody is threatening anything. Nobody is doing anything. None of the stores here that I can see are being looted. There is no violence.
Now I want you to look at what is going on in Ferguson, Missouri, in downtown America, okay? These are armed police, with — not machine guns — semi-automatic rifles, with batons, with shields, many of them dressed for combat. Now why they’re doing this? I don’t know. Because there is no threat going on here. None that merits this. There is none, okay? Absolutely there have been looters, absolutely over the last nine days there’s been violence, but there is nothing going on on this street right now that merits this scene out of Bagram. Nothing.
So if people wonder why the people of Ferguson, Missouri are so upset, this is part of the reason. What is this? This doesn’t make any sense.”


CNN's Jake Tapper Going In by 3030fm

And There Was Don Lemon




Don Lemon getting pushed around which caused some levity on Twitter. Not because the situation with police in Ferguson is funny, but because in the past Lemon made speeches that seemed to blame innocent kids like Trayvon Martin for attracting the ire of white people by wearing baggy pants and using Black slang. He had even mocked the protesters the night before as "these people." It somehow seemed poetic justice that the clueless Lemon got a taste of police brutality.

















Meanwhile on MSNBC - Rocks Were Thrown



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Great reporting by Yamiche Alcindor:

















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