It's Not The Riot That Scares Me

Those marching in the streets and demanding the indictment of Darren Wilson are doing no less than taking chisels to the foundation of our judicial system. More accurately, they are swinging sledgehammers at it.

I recognize that is pretty strong statement, but please stay with me. I don't come to that conclusion lightly, nor do I wish to offend. However, that is exactly what I mean to say...so I'll just go ahead and say it.

One may be aware of the all the evidence available to the public.  One may also understand the legal system, the role of the Grand Jury, and the constitutional rights of our citizens (including Darren Wilson.)   But nobody who satisfies both of those conditions could possibly, in good faith, still call for the indictment of Darren Wilson.**

Should indictment come back from the Grand Jury (for the record, I think it won't,) it could only mean that the citizens on that Grand Jury chose to acquiesce to the demand of those threatening to turn North St. Louis County into the Gaza Strip rather than fulfill their obligation to justice.  

As a 7th grader, I was taught by Jay Buck of Crestview Junior High School that our constitution protects us from prosecutors charging citizens with crimes without meeting a standard of proof.  They need to either convince a grand jury of citizens, or a judge, that there is probable cause of a crime having been committed by the citizen he or she wishes to bring to trial. 

Just as our constitution protects our freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, it protects our freedom from being unmeritoriously charged with crimes.  Like all of our rights, and especially in this time, it is paramount for us to defend this gift from our founders with vigor and fortitude.  

We must not cast our rights overboard to appease a mindless mob of angry voices...no matter how terrifying the threats. None of us know who the mob will turn on next, nor do we know what demands it may make in the future if empowered by the indictment Darren Wilson.  

Riots we can live through.  But we must not give an uninformed and angry mob a voice in our judicial system.  The Innocence or guilt of a man is never to be tried in the court of public opinion, but instead in a courtroom and only when merited by probable cause.

Be prayerful that the grand jury understands what is at stake here.

** I obviously left a highly contentious point completely undefended.  I did so to enable a more expeditious unwrapping of the crux of this biscuit.  For those interested in the point's defense, I submit a separate essay below....

There is zero credible evidence (available to the general public) upon which to indict Darren Wilson for a crime in the death of Michael Brown.

I realize that to some, this is quite an incendiary statement. Yet I ask everyone to take a deep breath and hear me out.  I reach this conclusion neither mindlessly nor uninformed.  

The initial story is quite harrowing.  Michael Brown is walking down the street when Officer Wilson (motivated by racial hate) pulls him into the police SUV and initiates an altercation.  Michael Brown breaks away and flees, only to be shot from behind by Officer Wilson.  After absorbing the blow, Brown then turned and surrendered on his knees, with his hands up. Un-accepting of the surrender, Wilson unloaded his gun into the helpless Brown....his last round being execution style to the top of Brown's head. A citizen had been executed in cold blood.

This story immediately hit the Twitter/Facebook feeds of the world. Unaccountable, bomb-throwing bloggers amplified it loud and far. Before the body was cold, this narrative had sparked outrage throughout the community and would later birth a full scale riot lasting for days.

The problem is that the story has proven to be utter bullshit.  No evidence corroborates this story.  None.  The science of the case and other evidence collected, absolutely and without equivocation, refute that version of events.

Brown was not shot in the back.  Brown was not shot while kneeling on the Ground. Brown's hands were not up when he was shot, nor were his palms facing out.  The story of an execution is completely false...either the result of lying or the inherent unreliability of eyewitnesses...but absolutely proven false nonetheless.

Furthermore, Darren Wilson was not capable of pulling Brown into the police SUV with one hand.  I don't think Andre the Giant could have done that.  Brown was 6'4", 300lbs., and had the mechanical advantage of being on both feet.  He would not have been moved by the single hand of a seated man.  This doesn't pass the laugh-ability test.  How a sentient being could possibly believe it is beyond me.  It is certain that Brown attacked Wilson in Wilson's police SUV and had is hand upon the officer's gun when the first round of shots were fired.  

So we know for certain that it didn't start how the initial eyewitnesses said it started, and we know it didn't end how the initial eyewitnesses said it did.  The whole encounter took like 40 seconds. There isn't much more than a beginning and an end.

There is also a giant hole in the story making it unbelievable on its face. Wilson has no record of assaulting random citizens...yet we are to believe it was he, rather than Brown, who initiated the fight...despite Brown having just strong-arm-robbed a convenience store. It is infinitely more believable that Brown attacked Wilson than the other way around.  In fact, it is absurd to believe otherwise. (Sorry...that's just reality.)

With initial incendiary reports from the scene having been thoroughly and convincingly proven not-credible, one must ask "what credible evidence remains?" The answer: none that I'm aware of.

There are many other questions being asked, but none of them are germane to the decision whether to indict Wilson. 

Further, I could lay out point by point how the evidence and logical reasoning all adds up to Wilson's version of the events being true.  But I'm not going to because it doesn't matter.

We are all innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and to a jury of our peers.  The onus lies upon the state to prove a citizen committed a crime. It does not place the onus of proof on the accused. 

So again....

What credible evidence is there that Wilson committed murder?

The answer: none that I'm aware of.  

Signing Britt a Solid Move

Les Snead and Jeff Fischer have (seemingly) opted to address the wide receiver position by signing Kenny Britt rather than invest a high pick in either Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans.  To the bitching masses I say.

1.  Without regard to previous investment, wide receiver is not a top priority for this team.  They have huge needs on the offensive line and in the defensive secondary.  Right now, the Rams have five healthy and young wideouts that have proven themselves either useful (Quick and Pettis) or to have very high ceilings (Givens, Austin and Bailey.) 

2.  With regard to previous investments....From the last three drafts, the Rams have invested a first, second, third, third and fourth round pick at wideout.  Spending another top pick at wideout and ignoring more glaring needs seems foolish.

3.  Britt's contract maxes out at 2.9 million, and only 500k is guaranteed.  You can cut him if it doesn't work out, and if it does he represents tremendous value.  Early in his career, when healthy and with his head on straight, he caught 40 some balls for 700 some yards.  The Rams could use that!

4.  Brian Quick is teetering on the edge of bust-dom.  You've still got hope for him, but he is no sure thing to be a productive in 2014.  Britt is a similar build with a similar skill set.  Two rolls of the dice is better than one.

So you bring Britt in to compete with Pettis and Quick for a spot.  If Britt pans out, I don't think you'll miss either of those guys too much.  If Britt fails, you can cut him and move on with life.  Meanwhile, you spend those high picks at safety, corner, offensive tackle and guard.

Priced out of Creating Jobs.

"For many successful Americans, over half of all they earn is now taken by government. And reading The New York Times' year-end editorial, these may soon be seen as the good old days."

~Pat Buchanon (from his most recent column)

Imagine a small business owner doing pretty well for himself.  At the end of the year, he has made a few hundred thousand.  His business is running well, and he feels like he has the time to expand the business into another area or open another business.

Because of his income, he is taxed at the maximum rate from dollar one.  This certainly will influence negatively his decision whether or not to invest the money, energy ad time it takes to start or expand a business.

If you don't believe me, I would venture to guess you've never played poker.

Poker decisions are typically made as follows:  The player counts the number of outs (winning cards) remaining in the deck and then uses that information to calculate his odds of having the winning hand.  He then uses the amount of the bet and the size of the pot to calculate the return on his investment should one of his card hits.  From there, he factors for uncertainty....his outs might not be outs in the first place and he may lose even if one of his cards hits.  Nobody knows for sure what his opponent holds.

In the end, our player looks at what it costs him to play, his odds of winning and how much money he will make if he does win.  Using those three pieces of information he decides whether to call or fold.

But imagine if Uncle Sam was standing next to him and going to take 50% of that pot should he win.  Suddenly, the pot is half the size.  The math changes completely and a call that may have been super easy before now becomes a certain fold.

Using that analogy, it seems to me that these tax rates are costing us jobs.  There are certainly producers in our economy currently considering expanding or opening a business and thereby creating economic activity.  These men and women are considering buying equipment, hiring employees, leasing office space, purchasing inventory, hiring tradesmen, traveling and doing all sorts of things that create jobs and grow the economy.....

And every single one of them is also considering that the payoff is only half of what they earn.

As we make decisions regarding taxation, we need to keep this in mind.

From an Ocean View in Paradise, Let Them Eat Pineapple.

It's difficult to question the political competence of a guy that got himself elected to the presidency....but.... just what is BHO thinking with all his vacations?

He just spent ten days in Martha's Vinyard in August, and now he's going to Hawaii for seventeen days.  By the count of Townhall.com, this is the president's 10th vacation this year.

Times are bad.  People are pissed off at their government. This president suffers from a bit of disconnect with the rest of us anyway (anyone seen the price of arugula lately?)

If I had the president's ear, I would tell him to cool it a little bit on the globe trekking.   (Oh, and what about his carbon footprint?)

Excellence in Crisis Management at Mizzou

Head Coach Gary Pinkel, Athletic Director Mike Alden and the media relations staff at the University of Missouri Columbia should all go have a cocktail and celebrate.   Their handling of the bomb that went off in Columbia late Wednesday evening was a Tiger-Woods-tee-shot kind of perfect.  

I was listening when Producer Joe broke the news on KFNS sometime around 8:30 Thursday morning, and as I sit here Friday evening, the fire is all but out.  Credit the aforementioned for their swift and masterful response.

Embarrassing events like this linger only for as long as there is something new to report or some new angle emerges from which to view the story; therefore the strategy is to accelerate the news cycles and get the story over with as quickly as possible.

In this instance, it seems someone in Columbia has a flux capacitor and a 1.21 gigawatt power source.  Within 48 hours of the police officer lighting up Pinkel's SUV, all of these events....each worthy of a full newscycle....are over and done with.

• Gary Pinkel is arrested on suspicion of DWI.
• The evidence against Gary Pinkel is released.   Officers speak to the press.  BAC is reported etc.
• Gary Pinkel meets with the Athletic Director, then the School Administration and finally his team.
• The aforementioned parties all make issue statements and punishment is doled out.  
• The Athletic Director gets in front of the cameras.
• Finally (and most importantly) the entirety of the legal process.  All of it.  It's done.

Of course there are more stories to come. Saturday's game will obviously be overshadowed by Pinkel's absence.  The press will follow the week of practice during Pinkel's suspension.  His first game back will be a story, and I'm certain that if they go to a bowl game it will be mentioned that Pinkel isn't getting paid for it...but then?  As long as Pinkel stays clear of more trouble (as I'm certain he will) the story shifts back to the football team and the incident Wednesday night will soon be all but forgotten.

Obviously, it helps a lot that nobody was hurt, but the University did everything right from the get go here.

Pinkel fully cooperated from the start, obviously gaining the favor of the arresting officer and the Columbia Police department.  The head football coach at the University was arrested for DWI and the media was kept in the dark for ten hours in this day and age?  But wait, this guy was a lot more than just a head coach.  Most credit Missouri's success under Pinkel to his personal discipline and the manner in which that discipline is reflected by his players and coaches.

Alden immediately imposed severe and inarguably sufficient financial and personal consequences.  This whole thing will cost Pinkel about $300,000 in fines and forfeited pay.  He'll perform community service.  He'll write a full letter of apology to the University, players, students, alumni and fans.  For good measure, he'll even get a demerit in his permanent file. 

Pinkel then wasted no time accepting the punishment and meeting with his players and coaching staff.

Alden was certain to meet privately with all relevant parties at the University before cramming in the full blown news conference right before the evening news.

Then somehow the attorneys managed to wrap up the legal end today.  I'm not an attorney, but I can't imagine that adjudicating DWI's in a day is the norm.  Seems to me it usually would take months, but once again I credit the University here.

This is pure speculation on my part, but it makes sense to me.   Someone ( perhaps Mike Alden, University President Brady Deaton, or an attorney acting on their behalf) made a phone call and brokered a deal.  The University agrees to come down hard on Pinkel.  The Columbia Police Department agrees not create a media circus. The courts and the prosecutor's office agree to move swiftly in imposing whatever the standard penance is, and Pinkel agrees to support all the other institutions in their handling of the matter.

And just like that, the wildfire is contained.  Sure, it will smolder for the remainder of the season but the damage was kept to a minimum.  Nobody will lose a job and the football program shouldn't miss a beat in it's move to the SEC.

(Race Hustling) cat got your tongue?

The cowardice of the local media and opinionate is both predictable and infuriating.

For those who haven't heard, (and I don't blame you a bit) a 51 year old white man was beaten near death yesterday by a mob of between 10 and 20 black "youths."  Mayor Slay, on his way home from the Fox, happened upon the scene as the mob was dispersing and before police arrived. He called the police and ambulance, then he stayed with the man until help arrived.

For a news site looking to drive traffic, this is manna from heaven.  For the serious journalist, this is the kind of story that reminds you why you went to j school.  Editorial boards exist to comment on matters such as this.

But this story is barely being covered.  Four quick paragraphs buried under the tabs.

Sadly, this is exactly how this whole series of racial beatings have been covered.  Not just in St. Louis, but throughout the country.

The first one I heard about was at a fair in Wisconsin.  Dozens of black youths descended upon the fair near closing time and proceeded to beat random white men.  Four or more assailants to each victim.

Then came Philadelphia.  A series of these "flash mob" beatings or games of "knockdown" as they are known occurred rapidly over a short period of time.  After a couple of weeks, the mayor made a weak remark making clear that he was not completely deaf as to the events in his city.

Locally, there have been at least four of these attacks since early summer.  One of the victims was an 81 year old man.

Yet nobody is talking about this.  It is an outrage!

We have become so afraid of offending the perpetually offended, that our media and politicians are doing as little as possible about this and just hoping nobody makes them talk about.  Are we that afraid of the Al Sharptons of the world that we don't dare give this issue the coverage it deserves?  Is the Post-Dispatch so afraid of being called racist that it's willing to wipe its backside with Joseph Pulitzer's pledge while it hides in the proverbial bathroom hoping this will go away?

As a society, we can not tolerate this sort of thing.  There is a good reason that if the colors were reversed, then this would lead every newscast and be commented by on by all important officials and every editorial page.  In today's hypersensitive and racially charged world, rampant racial violence could very quickly escalate and disrupt civil tranquility.

It the politicians remain silent and the courts continue to dish out probation for these beatings, someone is going take justice into his own hands by arming himself and luring this gang into an attack that will end in a bloodbath.  Once that happens, all bets are off.

It's high time we all grow a pair and stop being intimidated by the race hustlers of the world.  Al Sharpton and his ilk raising their voice and accusing someone of being racist for dealing with this head on is of no more importance than same voices accusing someone of being a tomato.  Neither makes it true.

Internet Reasoning

Recently, I took to the interwebs to discuss the debt ceiling crisis.  A blogger linked to a news story regarding Democratic pressure on Obama to just invoke the 14th amendment and order the treasury to issue new debt.  I made a very benign comment about separation of powers and the left's objection to the growing executive power under President Bush.

This was the response I received.....and also a perfect example of  why one shouldn't argue on the interwebs.

"Steven - The issue isn't the political kabuki - Dems, Reps, Teabaggers, Obama are all happy to screw people in the service of their masters. The white hot rage on the right will be made manifest by a Brievik, some heavily armed Xian bloodthirsty nutcase whose hatred of Blackblack Oblackblack finally is pushed past the fundamental cowardice innate to that movement, ie, the 101st Fighting Keyboarders ("Arise Chickenhawks").

These are bad people, Steven. When a liberal is angered, we try, unfortunately not hard enough, to change the policy, or far more commonly spew nonsense about 3rd parties. (Why, yes I'm a lib, and proud of it, but I recognize our issues.) When a teabagger is angry, he DREAMS of killing people, bathing in the blood of libs, muslims, blacks,those slutty women who sleep with men who are not him and then have gaybortions. And more and more often, some of these assholes are finding the "strength within" to kill the hated Other.

I don't fear the Islamists, few in number as they truly are. They simply want you to convert or die. Most Muslims don't give a shit, they have their own lives to manage. I fear the American right-wing - they want control, to suck our your brains and replace them with THEIR version of Jesusjuice. If you're gay or liberal, and white, you can be redeemed if you mouth the appropriate phrases and cast your free will to the wind. (Of course, anyone failing the paper bag test, any woman inclined to think for herself, screw 'em. Lesbians are a special case because the church councils are still watching the films to determine if its a sin or not.) And there is a mechanism in place to allow the Baggers of Lightly Caffeinated Boiled Leaves to take power.

Hell, here in the Cities, in the largest school district, (in Batshit Kwazee Shelley's Congressional district, with the schoolboard populated by her personal friends), the bullying policy specifically exempts GLBT teens from protection from bullying, and in fact protects the bullies - go ahead, beat that queer.

The American right is the greatest threat to the future of the United States."

Wow!!!

The amazing thing to me is that this person is far from an idiot.  Grammar and vocabulary indicate an intelligent and educated person.