Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

All hail the time of the bunny!

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Republicans do not pay their debts.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

White supremacy is terrorism.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

No one could have predicted…

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Post-racial America / To the Surprise of No One

To the Surprise of No One

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If white people went through as much bullshit as black people did, we would be burning down buildings in every state in the nation:

The St. Louis County prosecutor’s office is investigating an accusation of misconduct on the grand jury that is hearing the case against the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Ed Magee, the spokesman for county prosecutor Robert McCulloch, said they received the information from a “Twitter user” Wednesday morning.

“We are looking into the matter,” he said.

An account of possible jury misconduct surfaced Wednesday morning on Twitter, when several users sent messages about one juror who may have discussed evidence in the case with a friend.

In one of those messages, a person tweeted that they are friends with a member of the jury who doesn’t believe there is enough evidence to warrant an arrest of the officer, Darren Wilson.

The same person who tweeted about being friends with a member of the jury has also tweeted messages of support for Wilson.

Special Prosecutor. NOW.

Well done, Jay Nixon.

Reader Interactions

100Comments

  2. 2.

    Art

    Jeebus.

    I think any video news coverage from Ferguson should be titled like the old Batman TV series whenever they featured the the bad guys hideout.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Okay, so I had previously said that people should not be bothered by the fact that the Grand Jury was expected to take a long time and that things like that do happen and blah, blah, blah… This shit, on the other hand, if true is not to be expected or tolerated.

  4. 4.

    Anoniminous

    Ferguson is SO last month. Now everyone has moved on to the dreaded plague of Ebola sweeping the nation.

  7. 7.

    JPL

    I’m surprised but pleased that Michael Dunn was found guilty of first degree murder. Of course, it should not have taken two trials but the outcome was good.

    I really do feel despair for our country though when Ron Kessler was used on the local CBS feed for a voice of reason about the Secret Service.

  8. 8.

    Mike J

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    This shit, on the other hand, if true is not to be expected or tolerated.

    On the other hand, the fact that it was tweeted is the only novel thing here. Were it not for twitter the same people would still be on the grand jury and they would still hold the same opinions about it. We just wouldn’t know about it.

  9. 9.

    JPL

    @geg6: yup.. I called a friend several times today to talk me down and she said how. It’s time to fight back in outrage but I don’t know how.

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mike J: And McColluch is being smart by getting this info out there right away.

    Any MO licensed lawyers out there? Is it possible to indict using an information in MO?

  15. 15.

    lamh36

    @WesleyLowery 2m2 minutes ago
    Just talked to Brown family attorney Ben Crump about these allegations http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/10/01/grand-jury-hearing-ferguson-shooting-is-being-investigated-for-misconduct/ … if they’re true he says “wholly inappropriate”

    @WesleyLowery 2m2 minutes ago
    Crump: if grand jury member is talking to a Wilson supporter “appropriate thing for prosecutor to do is impound a new grand jury” #Ferguson

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: Yeah, if this shit is true or if they suspect that it might be true, this grand jury needs to be dismissed.

    @RaflW: Of course the DoJ is watching this closely.

  18. 18.

    Anoniminous

    @JPL:

    That dude was a real charmer

    “I’m the victim here … I was in a room with three black guys.”

  23. 23.

    JPL

    @MomSense: There is a good chance that the races in GA will have a runoff and at that point, I think you are right. In a runoff it’s difficult to get people to vote again.

  24. 24.

    Patricia Kayden

    @lamh36: To be blunt, I wonder about the racial breakdown of the Grand Jury. Hope it’s not a good old boys situation. Get rid of this jury and start again.

  26. 26.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @JPL: I am glad that the DA didn’t just say, “Fuck it, he’s already going to jail for 60 years.” First degree murder (i.e., premeditated intentional killing) has, I think, a huge symbolic value.

  27. 27.

    jl

    @lamh36:

    To be fair to Matthews, he accused presidents in general of being ‘lazy’. And his two guests pushed back fairly hard

    Also to fair to Matthews, he inflicted one of his fact free rants on his audience and engaged in fantastical speculation about how easy it would be to get new superstars to fill out his last two years on office He also misrepresented what ‘the generals’ (which generals?) said about the need (right now!) ground troops in Iraq and Syria. I do not recall any generals saying that they recommended that and were rebuffed.

    In other words, Matthews made a braying ass of himself. But, I guess he gets an audience that enjoys those Matthews train wrecks on national TV.

  28. 28.

    Turgidson

    @lamh36:

    Rove has a talent for falsely imputing the obvious faults of his former boss onto President Obama. A pile of verbal diarrhea from Rove’s bff Ron “Keep up the Fight” Fournier about Obama’s laziness will follow shortly.

  29. 29.

    Patrick

    @lamh36:

    Matthews stated: “If [Bush’s] gamble that he can create a democracy in the middle of the Arab world” is successful, “he belongs on Mount Rushmore.” [Hardball, 12/16/05]

  31. 31.

    jl

    @jl: Why can I not edit my own damned comment?

    I meant to type: “To be fair to Matthews, he accused presidents in general of being ‘lazy’. during their second terms”

  34. 34.

    Jim in Santa Fe

    This situation is so out of control, it is abominable, pure and simple. I cannot believe that we are here at this moment in time with this level of ineptitude. Astonishing.

  35. 35.

    Patrick

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Doesn’t it also matter if his conviction gets tossed on appeal? In other words, now they would have successfully appeal and toss two convictions, not just one.

  36. 36.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: Hear hear. Not a clue about MO informations. I agree that It’s wise to get this out in the open now, but IMO, there is an urgent need for a new grand jury and an independent prosecutor.

    DOJ is undoubtedly keeping very close tabs, but you know, the AG is different from all previous AGs in a way I can’t quite describe. So DOJ will clearly have a bias against fine upstanding LEOS who are attacked.

    /cracker channeling in final sentence.

  37. 37.

    lamh36

    @jl: excuse me if I’m at the point where “being fair” is getting really tiresome. Is this the first time for Tweety saying some really tone deaf bullshit…nope.

  38. 38.

    rikyrah

    If white people went through as much bullshit as black people did, we would be burning down buildings in every state in the nation:

    Ya think?

  40. 40.

    Comrade Jake

    OT, but anyone catch Reza Aslan’s recent obliteration of a pair of CNN hosts on Islam? It is a thing of beauty. Video is up on Media Matters.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @dmsilev:

    I let TV go a few months ago, so these days when I hear Chris Matthews at all it’s on the Sirius XM audio feed of MSNBC.

    May I just say, he is every bit as spittle-flecked, crimson-faced, and apoplectic on the radio is he is on the Tee and Vee. There’s a reason the Symphony Hall channel is right next to the “Lean Forward” gang on my dashboard. I need quick relief from Tweety at the touch of a button.

  43. 43.

    jl

    This also OT, but maybe related in some way:

    The Republicans In ‘Republicans Are People Too’ Ad Are All Stock Photos
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/republicans-are-people-too-stock-photo

    Another entry in the annals of GOP outreach. They’ve moved on from a vaguely Hispanic looking guy with goatee. bulging biceps and tats to an attractive young black woman.

    To be fair their thoughtful young pasty white man is from Stock Images Land too. The Land of Getty, a magical land, is the land in which they live! Maybe someplace close to the Jumblies?

  44. 44.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Patrick: Interesting thought. I hadn’t considered that. The appeals might well be consolidated, but one would be dealing with the actions of two different judges and juries.

  45. 45.

    lamh36

    @sharl: The tweet from the friend was caught by Ferguson activist Shaun King. He has been on Ferguson since the beginning and unlike some people, he is continues to follow the story and keep searching and processing new information.

    he’s the one who caught the tweet and re-tweeted and got the screen capture.

  47. 47.

    jl

    @lamh36: I felt my paired twin fairs produced a snark. Sorry if that did not come across.

    I don;t watch Matthews enough to know for sure, but I doubt this is a long held Matthews thesis. But maybe a BJ Matthews expert will know. I think he pulled it out of his ass and was quick enough to make it an accusation against second term presidents in general so as not to be obvious about it. Or, maybe Matthews just has no clue what he is saying much of the time.

  51. 51.

    jl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Whiter conservative very serious person pundit, I think. He was needed to balance something, probably. But, he said Matthews was full of it. I guess he has more self respect than the average conservative hack.

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jl:

    Ha! That “attractive young black woman” has been in dozens of ads over the last little while. There was a great thing I saw this morning on Facebook basically telling her life story through all the things her photo has advertised. Funny stuff. Not sure I can find it again but if I can I’ll provide a link.

  55. 55.

    scav

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well, the DOJ has also been watching — even speaking to repeatedly — the FPD about the tricky and apparently novel difference between everyone claiming to be Darren Wilson on wristbands and sporting their actual names on actual badges on their actual physical on-duty bodies, let alone next to body cameras with the ON switch correctly applied. There’s certainly a community there showing us by their actions everything it is to be MO Missouri and yet MO MO Missouri after that.

  56. 56.

    Kathleen

    @lamh36: Exhibit A and Exhibit B regarding two other posts today in which racist tropes directed at Obama were discussed.

    Poor Karl is still waiting for those votes from Southwestern Ohio to come in and Chris is a typical Mainslime Media tool. These people should be mocked ceaselessly and relentlessly.

  58. 58.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jl:
    @JPL:

    Well, if that’s the case then good for him. Stopped clock, blind squirrel, but good for him. I usually think it’s a good thing when people push back at Tweety.

  61. 61.

    raven

    @jl: Yea, put me on with John O’Neil from the Swiftboat Vets. Tweety sucked his dick for the entire Kerry campaign as breathlessly moaned “thank you for your service”.

  63. 63.

    Kathleen

    @Patrick: Also, too, Chris saw sparkly magic pony dust when Bush strode on the flight deck after the “Mission Accomplished” landing.

  64. 64.

    jl

    @SiubhanDuinne: But is nice to know that the GOP incompetence at doing anything but being obstructionist assholes continues.

    If you are going to do this, why not pick the most used faces in stock photo galleries?

    Might work. People who bought the purse she was holding, drive the car she was driving, give to the charity where she works smilingly, etc. will surely be very impressed that she is a GOPer.

  65. 65.

    sharl

    @Comrade Jake: Ooooh, thanks for that! I tracked down the video (6m3s), and Aslan really did hand those two CNN dimwits their heads.

    I wish he had done that to the dummy on Fox when – a year ago, maybe? (too lazy to look for it) – she asked him what right he had as a Moslem to write about or discuss Christianity. I wonder if she simply took him by surprise with such bone-deep idiocy.

  67. 67.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @jl:

    If you are going to do this, why not pick the most used faces in stock photo galleries?

    They. Don’t. Actually. Give. A. Fuck. Just going through the motions.

  68. 68.

    kc

    @jl:

    Also to be fair to Matthews, the images of Dubya in his flight suit costume gave him a four hour erection.

  69. 69.

    Patrick

    @Kathleen:

    Indeed. That night Matthews said these curious things:

    Chris Matthews on MSNBC called Bush a “hero” and boomed, “He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics.” He added: “Women like a guy who’s president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It’s simple.”

    http://www.thenation.com/blog/174127/ten-years-ago-bush-declared-mission-accomplished-and-media-swooned

    That statement is all one needs to know about Matthews’ credibility.

  70. 70.

    scav

    Wait wait wait, can we ever possibly be so lucky as to get some GWB crafted artwork based on the new batch of stock Republicans to go with his artwork of world leaders he has known personally? Collect the full demographic!

  71. 71.

    Eric U.

    Matthews is a republican tool. If he ever says anything that hurts the republican cause, it’s just to keep his reputation intact so that he is a more effective republican tool

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @scav: The Feds can’t just charge in like a bull in a china shop. The basic crime here is some level of homicide (my guess: second degree murder – intentional but no premeditated). That is a state level crime. The feds, with a few exceptions, can’t prosecute a homicide. The feds will watch, and if the state fucks it up, they will step in with civil rights violation charges. That is what happened to the people involved in the killing of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.

  75. 75.

    jl

    @Patrick: No one would ever dare call Matthews lazy, in any way. Look at all the facts and history and specifics he brings to his sober statements; how he carefully steps us through his evidence and logic.

    Most of these pundit people have staffs. What do Matthews’ staff researchers do? Or maybe he doesn’t think he needs any, since memories of ol’ TIp and The GIpper hashing out deals over drinks is all he needs, his fogged memories of that relationship is the ultimate philosopher’s stone. Maybe he researches hashing things out over drinks…

  76. 76.

    scav

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well, granted, but in number 3 you seemed to be admitting that maybe bridges were being crossed and some forward creep could be reasonably be anticipated. I just got over-excited.

    ETA and I was grumpy about the behavior of the PD, they need to get themselves under control of the actual law and not acting out like they both write and enforce it at will, in a vacuum

  78. 78.

    sharl

    @lamh36: Yep, and he’s on twitter as @ShaunKing.

    IMO in addition to his quick social media reflexes, he seems to bring along some pretty decent analytical capabilities as well. I liked this tweet-stream (first tweet in the blockquote here):

    Can I tell you something real quick? I said it before, but actions today make me believe it’s absolutely true. Here goes…

    We’ve absolutely spotted a trend…

    When Bob McCulloch & other Missouri government officials respond to an accusation, that means they feel strongly it isn’t true. However…

    When Bob McCulloch and other Missouri government officials go completely silent on a real accusation, that means they it has real weight.

    Notice, to this day, that GovJayNixon will not even come close to addressing the depths of his relationship with Wilson Supporter RoordaJ

    Notice, to this day, in spite of the evidence, that no officers will even remotely address the lie they told about how far Mike Brown ran.

    When we viewed the syllabus they have for how to talk to the media, it advised police to not even say “No Comment” on thorny issues.

    In other words, only comment on something if you are reasonably confident if you can beat it, otherwise, stonewall and remain silent.

    If you are ever wanting to truly understand where an explosive case is weak, look for the area in the case shrouded with the most silence.

    For instance, did you notice today that St. Louis County just flat out admitted they will NEVER release the police report. That’s your hint.

    Notice, very carefully, how the OhioAG refused to allow the public to see the John Crawford video until AFTER a decision had been made.

    That’s all. Just follow the silence with Bob McCulloch, GovJayNixon & others.

    FYI, I took out the twitter @ in several places above, since FYWP has treated it as a link in the past and thrown my comment into moderation for being over the 3-link limit.

    Also, “RoordaJ” refers to Jeff Roorda, a former policeman and current member of the lower house of the state legislature, who is now running for the state senate. He’s a Democrat (fwiw) and ally of Gov. Jay Nixon, and has been (at least in the early days of all this) up to his eyeballs in the efforts to support Mike Brown’s killer (Ferguson cop Darren Wilson).

    No political escape (or political future beyond MO) for Jay Nixon on this one. {plays teeny-tiny violin…}

  79. 79.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @scav: Watching carefully to see if the locals do their jobs is what the feds should be doing right now. In comment 3, I also noted the “if true” caveat. Until and unless the state blows it, the feds won’t come in. Federalism.

  81. 81.

    jl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Well, damn. She is impressive. A Christian charity worker attorney office assistant and aeronautical biomedical electrical computer mechanical design environmental industrial and civil engineer.

    Quite a role model. Everyone young woman will aspire to be a Republican now.

    And her car broke down, so she needed to go to payday loan shark. She is one of the ordinary people. Probably gave to much to her very impressive charity organizations.

    This could be a turning point. Watch out, Dems!

    What do we know about the hip Hispanic looking dude and the thoughtful young pasty white guy? I bet they have impressive lives too.

  82. 82.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: I noticed that and fiercely hope that he does just that. He has no other way to win here, and this grand jury needs to be dismissed.

  83. 83.

    Belafon

    @sharl: Shaun’s also writing for Daily Kos now, and in Markos’s introduction to Shaun, he included this block from Shaun’s life:

    High school in rural Versailles, Kentucky was brutal for me. In middle school I had starred in the school play, was Vice President of the Student Council, had a ton of friends, kept a girlfriend, and was pretty much the happiest 13 year old on earth. High school was a rude awakening for me. I quickly found myself in the middle of decades old racial tensions and became the focus of constant abuse of the resident rednecks of my school. I had half a dozen fights my freshman year, had a jar of tobacco spit thrown on me in the middle of the school day, and came a few feet away from being run over by a pickup truck full of guys who chased me down and nearly mauled me as I walked home from a school dance. I reported it to the school, having saw each guy in the car, but they did nothing about it.

    A few months later, a group of guys in the school beat me within a few inches of my life. I missed the next 18 months of school recovering from three spinal surgeries and fractures to my face and ribs. I won’t even try here to explain the depths and extent of my physical and emotional pain, but it was brutal. I got some counseling for PTSD, learned the hard way that spinal surgeries leave a lasting impact, and finally found myself back on my feet.

  85. 85.

    Sterling

    Someone on twitter claimed to have a friend on the Grand Jury? That’s like people on reddit who claim to have just had a three way. Sure, it’s possible it happened. But it’s also possibly bullshit. I’d wait before I assume the tweet was true.

  86. 86.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sterling: I’d investigate like a motherfucker in a high profile case like this. If I were the DA, I’d also use these rumors as a reason to ask for an independent prosecutor and wash my hands of the case.

  87. 87.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: You and me both. Said the woman with marriage proposals to selected LEOs prior to the wise decision to have an independent prosecutor for a local LEO in 2001. I was on the short list for the assignment if that got vetoed by the fools government above the law department.

  88. 88.

    dmbeaster

    @Patricia Kayden: I don’t know the practice in MO, but grand juries tend to be volunteers who can spend the time, typically retirees. They are nothing like regular juries.

  89. 89.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @dmbeaster: In OH, a grand jury group is randomly selected by the jury commissioner from an annual jury list, and the grand jury is impaneled from that group by the grand jury duty judge, with additional candidates randomly drawn if a jury isn’t seated from the first group.

  90. 90.

    gian

    For this grand jury proceeding I am essentially curious as to what they’re doing. This happened in maybe a half hour. How many witnesses are there?

  91. 91.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @gian: The prosecutor can present as many witnesses as s/he wants in order to establish probable cause that someone committed a crime. They can be very quick of very slow, depending on the case.

  92. 92.

    Botsplainer

    @JPL:

    @geg6: yup.. I called a friend several times today to talk me down and she said how. It’s time to fight back in outrage but I don’t know how.

    The youthful version of Bill Ayers probably had the correct idea.

  93. 93.

    dww44

    @JPL: CBS has turned way right in recent years at both the local affiliate level and in the CBS News division. Not surprised they would have Kessler on. IMO, they are very much to the right of NBC and ABC. Give’m time and they will be snuggling right up to Fox, given that their President is a Fox News alum.

  94. 94.

    pseudonymous in nc

    Once again, I have to say that the first amendment kind of fucks over the criminal justice process in the US, because it makes the jury selection process bullshit. And grand juries feel like anachronistic stupidity. The US has all the bits of the British legal system that the British got rid of a long time ago because they were stupid, and also doesn’t have the tools to deal with jury fuckwittery.

  95. 95.

    dww44

    @JPL: Then what is needed in Georgia is a Moral Monday leader like Rev. Barber in NC. On Chris Hayes’ tonight, he mentioned a 3 pronged battle that is being waged: in the courts, in the legislature, and in the media to protect and expand voting rights. But, finally, he said: The battle must be most importantly engaged in the voting booth. That’s a paraphrase. He said it better. I can see how he’s inspired a movement in his state that’s being copied elsewhere.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I think s/he is talking about the fact that the media can say or print anything they want about a pending criminal case, potentially contaminating any jury pool. After the massive coverage of Ferguson in the MSM and on Fox News, do you honestly think they’re going to be able to find an impartial grand jury in the St. Louis area that will only look at the facts in front of them?

  98. 98.

    Sherparick

    The lack of empathy that about 60% of whites have for blacks is unlikely to change in the near future. It took WWII and the resulting Cold War, and America’s elite fear of the attraction of Communism in the former holdings of the European colonial powers in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East that motivated them to end legal end of America apartheid that came into existence after 1877, but that in turn sparked a white reaction that is still going strong after 50 years. See this: http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2014/09/they-are-effect-and-not-cause.html

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