Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Nothing worth doing is easy.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

This really is a full service blog.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

T R E 4 5 O N

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Everybody saw this coming.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown

Reader Interactions

42Comments

  3. 3.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    I think that the response on the part of the residents of Ferguson will be non-violent, and I think the MSM is going to be sulky about it. Why didn’t they give us our riot footage? So mean!

  4. 4.

    Big ole hound

    Prediction. Wilson will not be charged. Otherwise why wait for a workday instead of last weekend for the “demonstrations” to start. I do hope I’m as wrong about this as my NFL card was this weekend.

  5. 5.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    At least the grand jury walked back their plan to create a weekend-long riot, which I guess is nice.

  7. 7.

    Cacti

    The fix has been in since Jay Nixon preemptively declared a state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard.

    Wilson will walk and will be making the rounds on Fox News and AM radio in the coming days.

  8. 8.

    srv

    If they had waited until Friday they could have gotten a nation-wide riot. Fox could have been a sponsor.

  9. 9.

    Laertes

    @Cacti:

    I’d say the fix has been in since McCulloch was given the case. For all practical purposes, Wilson has been on trial in a proceeding with a defense attorney and no prosecutor. They’re announcing their verdict today, but such a process has only one possible outcome.

  10. 10.

    The Dangerman

    @Cacti:

    …and will be making the rounds on Fox News and AM radio in the coming days.

    IANAL, but he could still be charged in the future even if the Grand Jury doesn’t indict. If I am correct and I was his lawyer, I’d tell him to shut his fucking mouth for the rest of his life (or until double jeopardy kicked in, which I presume means a trial).

    I’m still predicting indictment for something.

    ETA: Do we have a time for announcement?

  13. 13.

    TooManyJens

    And of course, after months of McCulloch saying that all of the evidence would be released if the grand jury didn’t indict, it turns out that that was apparently bullshit:

    For months, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch has promised to seek a court order immediately releasing nearly all evidence before the grand jury in the Michael Brown shooting case if Officer Darren Wilson is not indicted.

    And he has said that the judge overseeing the grand jury, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Carolyn Whittington, already has agreed to order such release if requested.

    But, with the grand jury’s decision expected this week, the county court’s top administrator on Sunday said no such agreement exists. He said Whittington has not agreed that she will release evidence in the grand jury review of the Aug. 9 shooting death of the unarmed teenager by the Ferguson police officer.

  14. 14.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @The Dangerman: Sadly, my prediction is that there will be no MO state indictment. What the Dept of Justice will do is an open question (duh).

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): It might still be on the table for political purposes, but it would be pretty damn hard to successfully prosecute Wilson for civil rights violations, given the standard of proof required and the available evidence (that we know about). I’ll be really surprised if the feds go that route, though it makes all kinds of sense for them to leave it on the table as an option so people don’t lose all hope for justice all at once.

    ETA: I’m not a lawyer; just my $0.02 after reading up on it.

    PS: Good luck with that interview!

  17. 17.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I saw the trailer for Selma last weekend, and I thought to myself, “This ain’t history no more”. What the fuck happened?

  18. 18.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Betty Cracker:

    They successfully prosecuted a couple of the Rodney King cops on federal charges, so I have some hope that there could be federal charges in Brown’s killing.

    And thanks! My palms are sweaty as hell and the interview’s not for another 3 hours. ☺️

  19. 19.

    Punchy

    Prediction. Wilson will not be charged.

    Predictions with similar probabilities: The sun rises in the East, the BoSox overspend for marginal players, and my spawn demands I read “Shoe La La” at bedtime tonite.

  21. 21.

    Face

    Can they charge Wilson with something other than manslaughter? Conduct unbecoming, like in A Few Good Men?

  23. 23.

    Violet

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Good luck on the interview! Do some deep breathing exercises before you go in. If nothing else it’ll be good for you. Should also saturate your body with oxygen and both energize and calm you down some. Repeating some positive statements can also help: “I am smart and capable. I am a good fit for this job.” That kind of thing.

  24. 24.

    Timurid

    From the CNN live blog:

    “The grand jury looking into the shooting of Michael Brown has been released and sent home, local and federal law enforcement sources tell CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz. The prosecutor will formally announce at 5 p.m. ET that a decision has been reached by the grand jury. The announcement of the actual decision will come later, the sources said.”

    So they’re only going to announce that a decision was made, but no other details? Even with the jury released and no further changes possible? Are they planning to sit on this all week to protect Thanksgiving and Black Friday?

  25. 25.

    lamh36

    So I’m seeing announcement to come at 8pm. Just after nightly news and just in time for nightfall

  26. 26.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Timurid: That actually could mean that the jury returned a true bill on some count. Under MO law, an indictment cannot be announced until the defendant is in custody.

  27. 27.

    Elizabelle

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Good luck!

    RE topic: Darren Wilson very recently married a fellow cop, with whom he’s apparently been living (although not at their house, which they abandoned not long after the M Brown shooting).

    My first thought: now she can’t testify against him.

    Maybe it was trulove …

  28. 28.

    Tree With Water

    Powers that be in the republican party relish the prospect of massive civil unrest. If that sounds over the top, recall those people plotted and unleashed the Iraq War.

  32. 32.

    Another Holocene Human

    @The Thin Black Duke: 30 years of hollowing out the American Dream brought all that reactionary white rage right back up to the surface.

    Also hate radio. I wouldn’t discount how much they normalized and affirmed more and more open racial hate and enacting that hatred. And they provide some sort of (made up) fodder every day to keep the fires burning.

    Hate propaganda works.

  33. 33.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s a good point, in that it provides time for Wilson to turn himself in. Alas, I’m not that much of an optimist.

  34. 34.

    Pogonip

    Per CNN (admittedly not the most reliable source) it will be announced today at 1700 that the grand jury has reached a decision. The decision itself will be announced “later.” I can still win the pool!

  35. 35.

    lamh36

    @WesleyLowery: From beginning, I’ve been told 2 pressers:
    1st Gov. Nixon urging everyone to remain calm.
    2nd prosecutor Bob McCulloch

  37. 37.

    TooManyJens

    @jesseltaylor

    Ferguson will announce at 9 PM that the grand jury’s verdict is at the middle of a giant labyrinth protected by an armored Minotaur

    Sounds about right.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    @catclub:

    Rwanda.

    Oh, yeah. And for that reason, I think we should see that hate radio is dialed back. It’s not “entertainment.” It can have very real consequences.

  41. 41.

    bobbo

    re the woman who shot herself in the head:
    I am not buying the boyfriend’s story at all, sorry. She jokingly waved the gun, he ducked, rear ended another car, the gun went off, bullet got her in the head. Too many implausibles.

  42. 42.

    ellennellee

    isn’t this great? we get another george zimmerman in our midst.

    i’d say pass the popcorn for a parallel story arc, but could anything be more predictable or boring? or more disgusting.

Comments are closed.