Perhaps the Best Weapon of All.

The repercussions still ripple in Ferguson, MO after the death of Michael Brown. After the media's weak attempt to garner sympathy for the officer by posting a phony photo of the officer having been beaten up (it wasn't the officer), the citizens have continued their protests. But now they will be taking to the polls instead of the streets.

Voter registration is skyrocketing in Ferguson. Anthony Bell, a St. Louis 3rd Ward committeeman, arrived shortly after the shooting and watched Brown's body lay on the street for hours. That's when he decided to begin to actively register voters. And he's not alone. Rita Days, the St. Louis County Director of Elections says that her office has been fielding questions from individuals and groups asking how to register voters. The NAACP's League of Women Voters, as well as sororities and fraternities have taken classes to learn how to register citizens.

In the election coming this fall, the biggest issue will be the race for county executive of St. Louis County between Republican State Rep. Rick Stream, and County Councilman Steve Stenger, a Democrat. However the real impact may not be felt until next spring when three Ferguson City Council seats are up for grabs.

In a town that many still count the days by how many days police officer Darren Wilson remains free since killing Brown, over 8,000 new voters will weigh in in November, and maybe many, many more by next spring. And perhaps a new era can be ushered in without bullets and tear-gas.

And maybe this can be a lesson for the rest of the country. Register. And vote.

Death and guns.

An Oklahoma prosecutor decided last week to go for the death penalty in the recent beheading case there. Good for the prosecutor. But if the perpetrator would have merely shot her, would they be as zealous? I don't know. But I hope we all recognize that a life is a life no matter how it was taken.

And by the way, when the guy started in on his second victim, and the plant manager shot him to stop him, where are all the gun control freaks crying out about how he shouldn't have had a gun at work?

Think about if a teacher at Sandy Hook would have access to a gun. Could kids have been saved? But no. The faculty there were law abiding citizens, and Sandy Hook was a "no gun zone." Once again folks, these people are called criminals because they don't obey the law.

The Supreme Court Does a Side-Step

The conservative Supreme Court last week took a side-step that most didn't see coming. A court that is so eager to give favorable nods to Hobby-Lobby and other conservative issues, got a little faint of heart when it came to the decision of same-sex marriage in the US.

My theory is this: They being certain that this is an issue that is going to happen, the tide is rolling with no end in sight, decided not to betray their conservative brethren and elect to just fail to do their job, and opt for hiding behind some vague States rights idea. They have opted for the decisions in the lower courts to stand.

So without the Supreme Court taking a clear and decisive stand, West Virginia, Virginia North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The irony of the fact that all of these states seem to be the bastion of Republicanism does not elude me.

Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia still all ban same-sex marriage as does Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. But several states now are awaiting the rulings of lower courts. These are Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Idaho.

Rather that rule on whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry as both proponents and opponents asked them to, the Supreme Court just decided to not decide. How convenient. What a bunch of wimps.

However this Republican majority Court are being clever in a way. They understand that even though it was they who dared not stand up and say "Gay Marriage is Unconstitutional" (because as scholars of the law they know it isn't) they decide to look the other way. All the Republican states that now have to allow gay marriage will resent it. Will they think, "Wow, we were really betrayed by our conservative buddies on the Court"? No. In their typical shallow way they will only remember that it happened in the Obama years.

As they believe as they do of every problem in the world, it's the fault of that uppity President.

Isis, you are messing with the wrong people.

A few days ago, a most horrendous, torturous, inhuman event was video taped and posted online for the civilized world to be sicken by; the murder of James Foley, an American journalist covering the middle-east in Syria. Some English (UK English) speaking terrorist, after forcing Foley to make the statements he'd been fed, committed a horrendous and brutal act upon him.

Intelligence Agencies from around the world already have it narrowed down to about 5 guys this murdering maggot is. But actually he is only a symptom of the problem. The problem is we have a global Nazi party forming. I know the word Nazi is thrown around more inappropriately than any other word we have, but in this case I use it as a metaphor for what is going on in the Mid East.

This Army of Terror is growing in numbers and in strength everyday. New members are flooding in to this grisly group of madmen constantly. Including Americans; one was declared killed in fighting there today.

Over 100 Americans have left America to go and join Isis. And how do they do that? Isis is social network savvy. They have a Facebook page! Twitter! All the rest. There are Germans, French, and English also flowing in. This chills me. And they are recruiting American women. They want blonde American housewives boarding planes with plans to blow it up.

Today President Obama sent out a message: America never forgets, our reach is long, and we will take necessary action. You hear that Isis? Our reach is long. We never forget. We prevailed over Nazis, and by the way, although also evil, they were a lot smarter than you.

Today the President deployed drones for "surveillance". Translation? We want to know when we hit a spot, that you're actually there.

This type of ugly terrorism takes up way too much of the time of our leaders. Think about it. Starting with President George H. W. Bush, our leaders have had to spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with the middle east. And it took a toll on all of them. Our President looked weary dealing with it today.

Our reach is long Isis. This ugliness cannot continue. We are coming.

Shoulder the Weight Mr. President.

Housing Construction bounced back in July hitting it's highest levels in 8 months.

GM, Chrysler, and Ford are solvent again.

The war in Iraq ended.

Unemployment has fallen to the 6% range.

Bin Ladin's dead.

The Stock Market is booming.

A very pleasant and mellow summer in mid-Michigan. Not one 90˚ day yet.

I blame Obama.

Ferguson

Michael Brown fit the general description of a suspect in a convenience store strong-arm robbery (translation: unarmed), of a box of cigars. General Description? A big black guy. A cop pulls up. He calls Michael over to the car. (You will never convince me Michael approached the cruiser of his own volition).  Certain parties want to contend Michael had the box of cigars in his hands. Totally unsubstantiated and contrary to eyewitness accounts. The cops wants to pretend the suspect tried to wrestle the officer's weapon away from him. Question? If this malarky was true, why had the officer brandished his weapon on a routine stop of a suspect in an unarmed robbery? So at some point the officer gets out of his vehicle, and according to several eye-witnesses, the officer brandished his weapon, the suspect put his hands in the air and said "don't shoot" and the officer then shot him, and killed him. Six times. One of the kill shots was apparently as he was falling.

I hope the Grand Jury does a thorough job, and talks to all of the eye-witnesses. But I fear, that this new era of "Black men....Happy Hunting!" Does not prevail. Remember the "loud music" kids that were actually trying to escape in Florida, and the guy shot and killed one of them anyway? Trying to escape and he cried "I felt threatened."

There are good police and there are bad police. And one thing I learned from my 27 years in law enforcement is that bad police always get good police hurt. Look at Ferguson. The alleged bad police is in hiding and the good police are in harm's way. I don't know if this young police officer was a cowboy, started something he didn't know how to control, or if he did everything exactly right. Hopefully everything will come to the light of day.

Let me digress a moment and talk a little bit about Trayvon Martin. You remember? That college-bound honor student that George Zimmerman decided should leave this world? Here's what bad police-like wannabe (not even real police) Zimmerman did: He disobeyed Police orders to stay in his vehicle. He got into a confrontation. He put his hands on the kid. It got physical. The kid starts to get the best of him. So he shoots him dead. Now, here's what good police do: "Hey, there, where are you headed? Him: "Home to watch the NBA game." The good police then says, "Can I give you a lift? You don't want to miss the first tip!" So he gives the kid a lift home. What does good police gain? He knows this young man is home. He knows where this young man lives. He's created good will. That whole "To Serve and Protect" thing.

People are pissed off. Many. I am. And they have a right to be angry. I'm angry. But here's something to ponder: don't aggravate, don't instigate.....litigate. And let the Grand Jury do it's job. I hope it's clear that if this guy is actually a weak-kneed little Barney Fife wannabe, he'll get the deserved murder charge and spend his life in prison. A place not known for being kind to the kind of sissies this guy may be. But that is a fantasy. Even if he is not worthy to wear the uniform, but you know he won't be punished. Evidence be damned, the white guy will get an award.

Now they are trying hard to spin it any way they can. "He had marijuana in his system." That means he was mellower and less likely to want any trouble, dummies. "He lunged at the cop." I don't believe it, because there were nearly a half dozen eye-witnesses. But let's say he did. So? Officers are trained to out-maneuver in these situations. I spent 27 years around real hardened criminals, without a weapon. No weapon. Did I ever get lunged at? Yep. Did the perp get the death penalty? Nope. And if this myth were true, why not draw your taser or your pepper spray, cowboy? ("Cowboy" is a term cops give to other cops who are over-zealous and want to play like their in an action movie.)

According to eye-witnesses: Hands in the air, and he takes 6 shots. Autopsy statements indicate the two to the head may have been when he was down on the ground.

I will be interested in what a probably all white Grand Jury will conclude after hearing all of the evidence.

I have known thousands of cops in my life and believe me, being Police doesn't always mean right folks.

God bless America.

The Convoluded Congress.

So let me see if I have this straight.

The Republicans last week failed to pass their own Immigration Reform bill. So then they turn to the President demanding that he fix it. He contemplates expanding his version of the 'Dream Act' by Executive Order. So now, The House Majority Leader wants to sue the President, and some are using the I word. You know, that obligatory act of Republicans to Impeach Democrats.... and in this case for trying to serve the American people because Congress refuses to.

Just this week President Barrack Obama surpassed President George W. Bush in the number of Executive Orders Issued. Just this week. And George W. seldom had to use them because for many years he enjoyed a Republican House and Senate. Remember? That's when they all bellied up to the trough for stuff like tax cuts for the 1% and a War in Iraq. But The Speaker of the House now is barking about suing the President for using his Executive Privilege to try and accomplish something for the American People because apparently the President wants to leave a positive legacy more than Speaker Boeghner does.

But no President in history has had to deal with this kind of discernible hatred at every level. Speaker Boughner, your legacy will be that you have presided over the worst Congress in history. Your Congress has done approximately 1/10th of what the infamous "Do Nothing" Congress did. You're a better man than that Speaker Boughner. At least I'd like to believe that. Too bad you're afraid of the Tea Party. They are making you look like a sissy.

President Obama has the audacity to be black. "WE ARE NOT RACISTS!" Republicans shout from the money mountaintops. So then, tell me why this is the worst Congress ever? Why have they totally abandoned the American people to wage a war on President Obama? What could be different about this guy? He is maybe the most intelligent President of my lifetime (I started with Eisenhower), he's not overweight, he's not the first Harvard grad, we've had them before.....he's grown the economy by amazing standards in any economists book, he's ended a war, the GNP is doing well, we've added jobs every month of his Presidency save the first 3, unemployment is at about 6% and apparently falling, housing sales and construction are up, upwards of 8 million people who didn't have health insurance before have some form of it now, the stock market is booming, and he and a single Admiral came up with a plan to get Bin Ladin. One can only imagine what could have been accomplished for us if the Congress would have been a constructive partner in bettering America instead of trashing the President.

Sit back for a moment and imagine what the Affordable Care Act might be had Congress set about constructively tweaking it to keep getting it better. What if they would have spent just half the time they spent trying to repeal it on trying to make it better for citizens? Congress that is your job after all.