Many Police Killings, but Only Ferguson Explodes

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Photo Credit: AP / Jeff Roberson

Photo Credit: AP / Jeff Roberson

There was little violence after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer last July. Peace prevailed when at least four other unarmed black males were killed by police in recent months, from New York to Los Angeles.

Then Michael Brown was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri. And waves of rioting have convulsed the St. Louis suburb for more than 10 days.

Why Ferguson?

The response to Brown’s death turned violent because of a convergence of factors, observers say, including the stark nature of the killing in broad daylight, an aggressive police response to protests, a mainly black city being run by white officials — and the cumulative effect of killing after killing after killing of unarmed black males.

“People are tired of it,” said Kevin Powell, president of the BK Nation advocacy group, who organized peaceful protests after the Florida neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman was found innocent in Martin’s killing.

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Photo Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Photo Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Holder’s stop in Ferguson is deeply personal

By Kevin Johnson.

Attorney General Eric Holder flew to Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer leading an investigation into a police shooting.

He also arrived as an African-American who said he understands the racial tensions that have fueled days of protests that have been marred by violence and mass arrests since the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

“I am the Attorney General of the United States, but I am also a black man,” Holder told Ferguson residents at a community meeting. “I can remember being stopped on the New Jersey turnpike on two occasions and accused of speeding. Pulled over. … ‘Let me search your car’ … Go through the trunk of my car, look under the seats and all this kind of stuff. I remember how humiliating that was and how angry I was and the impact it had on me.”

Holder was here primarily for briefings on the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into possible civil rights violations related to the fatal shooting. He offered perhaps his most forceful and personal assessment yet of how the 18-year-old man’s shooting has reignited a long history of racial “mistrust and mutual suspicion.”

“The eyes of the nation and the world are watching Ferguson right now,” Holder told a group of community leaders assembled at a local community college. “The world is watching because the issues raised by the shooting of Michael Brown predate this incident. This is something that has a history to it, and the history simmers beneath the surface in more communities than just Ferguson.”

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Fast and Furious Documents Must be Provided to Congress, Judge Rules

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to provide Congress with a list of documents that are at the center of a long-running battle over a failed law enforcement program called Operation Fast and Furious.

In a court proceeding Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson set an Oct. 1 deadline for producing the list to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The Justice Department says the documents should remain confidential and President Barack Obama has invoked executive privilege in an effort to protect them from public disclosure.

The House panel says the Justice Department documents might explain why the department took nearly a year to admit that federal agents had engaged in a controversial law enforcement tactic known as gun-walking.

The Justice Department has long prohibited the risky practice. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives used it with disastrous results in a federal law enforcement probe in Arizona, Operation Fast and Furious.

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High School Student Claims She Was Suspended For Saying ‘Bless You’ After Classmate Sneezed

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Photo Credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP / Getty Images

Photo Credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP / Getty Images

A high school student was allegedly suspended after breaking a class rule of saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezed.

Kendra Turner, a senior at Dyer County High School, said bless you to her classmate who sneezed and the teacher told her that the term was for church.

“She said that we’re not going to have godly speaking in her class and that’s when I said we have a constitutional right,” Turner told WMC.

When she defended her actions, the teacher told Turner to see an administrator. The student said that she had to finish the class period in in-school suspension.

The girl’s parents were told by school leaders that their daughter shouted “bless you” across the room and that it was a classroom distraction.

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Congrats To Texas Dems For Turning Rosemary Lehmberg’s Drunk-Driving Conviction Into National News

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Indicting Rick Perry seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, he’s a Republican who might run for president in 2016!

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The 35.4 Percent: 109,631,000 on Welfare

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

109,631,000 Americans lived in households that received benefits from one or more federally funded “means-tested programs” — also known as welfare — as of the fourth quarter of 2012, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau has not yet reported how many were on welfare in 2013 or the first two quarters of 2014.

But the 109,631,000 living in households taking federal welfare benefits as of the end of 2012, according to the Census Bureau, equaled 35.4 percent of all 309,467,000 people living in the United States at that time.

When those receiving benefits from non-means-tested federal programs — such as Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and veterans benefits — were added to those taking welfare benefits, it turned out that 153,323,000 people were getting federal benefits of some type at the end of 2012.

Subtract the 3,297,000 who were receiving veterans’ benefits from the total, and that leaves 150,026,000 people receiving non-veterans’ benefits.

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Almanac Predicts Colder Winter, Hotter Summer

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Photo Credit: Rob Shenk

Photo Credit: Rob Shenk

The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the familiar, 223-year-old chronicler of climate, folksy advice and fun facts, is predicting a colder winter and warmer summer for much of the nation.

Published Wednesday, the New Hampshire-based almanac predicts a “super-cold” winter in the eastern two-thirds of the country. The west will remain a little bit warmer than normal.

“Colder is just almost too familiar a term,” Editor Janice Stillman said. “Think of it as a refriger-nation.”

More bad news for those who can’t stand snow: Most of the Northeast is expected to get more snowfall than normal, though it will be below normal in New England.

Before unpacking the parka, however, remember that “colder than average” is still only about 2 to 5 degrees difference.

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Texas Gov. Perry Turns Himself In

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Photo Credit: Travis County Sheriff’s Office

Photo Credit: Travis County Sheriff’s Office

Texas Governor Rick Perry was booked on two felony counts of abuse of power for carrying out a threat to veto funding to state public corruption prosecutors. He was booked-in, fingerprinted and had his mugshot taken, which is standard procedure for every defendant charged with a felony.

Perry smiled during his mugshot and removed his new signature glasses.

“The actions that I took were lawful, they were legal and they were proper,” said Perry to supporters.

Dozens of people cheered on the Republican governor when he reported to the Travis County Courthouse on Tuesday.

“I’m very pleased that he’s standing strong and not going to back down on this,” said Perry supporter Edeanne Howes.

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Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson Slams Media for 'Glamorizing' and 'Giving Platform' to Ferguson Rioters

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

On Tuesday, Ron Johnson, the captain of the Missouri Highway Patrol, blamed the media for “glamorizing” and giving a platform to violent thugs intent on causing violence and agitating crowds in Ferguson, Missouri.

In an appearance on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown after another night of rioting and confrontations, Johnson told host Craig Melvin that “we have a lot of media that have not done a great job” and made the situation worse–and tougher for police. He said that on Monday evening, when small crowds started to swell in size, “that criminal element, that got out here with masks on, that wanted to agitate and build up the crowd, would stop in front of the media.”

“The media would swarm around them, give them a platform and glamorize their activity,” Johnson said…

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Mitt Romney: Obama Worse than Even I Expected

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Photo Credit: AP / Chris Tilley

Photo Credit: AP / Chris Tilley

When Mitt Romney stumped here Tuesday for a trio of Republican candidates for Congress, the event had all the trappings of a “Romney for President” rally.

The crowd chanted, “Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!” They applauded loudest when the 2012 Republican standard-bearer took center stage, eclipsing the three Republican candidates who actually will be on West Virginia ballots in November.

Outside the event, union activists demonstrated. They denounced Mr. Romney as a “fat cat” and the “king of exporting jobs.”

Mr. Romney endured the same kinds of attacks during his run as the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

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Before You Pass Judgment On Rick Perry…

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By Duane Patterson.

Rick Perry thought her to be a disgrace, and wanted her to resign. She didn’t. So he took the next step and threatened to veto funding for her office. In response, a grand jury handed down an abuse of power indictment for coercive use of a veto late this afternoon. So the woman who was belligerent and intoxicated stays, Rick Perry is the bad guy and needs to go. Right. Got it.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP / Tony Gutierrez

Photo Credit: AP / Tony Gutierrez

Texas Perry indicted for coercion for veto threat

By Paul J. Weber and Will Weissert.

A grand jury indicted Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday for allegedly abusing the powers of his office by carrying out a threat to veto funding for state prosecutors investigating public corruption – making the possible 2016 presidential hopeful his state’s first indicted governor in nearly a century.

A special prosecutor spent months calling witnesses and presenting evidence that Perry broke the law when he promised publicly to nix $7.5 million over two years for the public integrity unit run by the office of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Lehmberg, a Democrat, was convicted of drunken driving, but refused Perry’s calls to resign.

Though the Republican governor now faces two felony indictments, politics dominates the case. Lehmberg is based in Austin, which is heavily Democratic, in contrast to most of the rest of fiercely conservative Texas. The grand jury was comprised of Austin-area residents.

The unit Lehmberg oversees investigates statewide allegations of corruption and political wrongdoing. It led the investigation against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican who in 2010 was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering for taking part in a scheme to influence elections in his home state – convictions later vacated by an appeals court.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Rick Perry’s Lawyer Says He Will ‘Ultimately Prevail’

By Colin Cambell.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) isn’t backing down after being indicted by a grand jury.

Not long after news of the indictment broke Friday evening, Perry’s office released a statement maintaining his innocence and declaring he “will ultimately prevail.”

“The veto in question was made in accordance with the veto authority afforded to every governor under the Texas Constitution,” said Mary Anne Wiley, Perry’s general counsel. “We will continue to aggressively defend the governor’s lawful and constitutional action, and believe we will ultimately prevail.”

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