No Indictment, No Peace

It's been over three months since Michael Brown, an 18-year old African American resident of Ferguson, Missouri, was shot and killed by a white police officer named Darren Wilson.  Brown was unarmed.  He also happened to be a suspect in a convenience store robbery, according to police.  Since then, things have been rather tense in the St. Louis suburb as police, demonstrators and the rest of America waited for the other shoe to drop.

Monday was the day it did drop.  A grand jury, after months of investigation and inquiry, had decided not to indict Wilson.  A jury that reportedly included nine whites and three African Americans.  Not that it was unexpected, mind you.  It's just that they and most other juries still believe officers wearing blue uniforms can do no wrong, despite possible evidence to the contrary.  Not unlike looking the other way when Our Heroes in khakis commit war crimes in the name of Freedom and Democracy.

Despite pleas from Brown's parents, President Barack Obama and the governor of Missouri to remain calm, it was obvious to all that once the decision was announced, Ferguson would erupt.  And erupt it did.  Bottles, rocks and tear gas have been flung.  Cars and businesses were torched.  Stores were looted.  Scores of people arrested.  Just like every other case of civil insurrection since at least the 1960s, except this one was played out live on TV.

It's understandable to see why African Americans in Ferguson and elsewhere feel the way they do about the grand jury verdict.  They have felt that they've been given a raw deal by white-dominated law enforcement, government and society in general for keeping them poverty-stricken, drug-addicted, and forced to live in areas where violence thrives.  It's been that way for centuries.

So the answer lies in burning and looting your own neighborhood, setting back progress for years if not decades?   That's probably because most protesters don't have access to the superior firepower law enforcement possesses, so they have to have something to retaliate against.  But they end up hurting themselves.

The Civil Rights Movement may be a chapter in the history textbook you've already forgotten, but it does serve up a valuable reminder:  Working for change is a lot more effective than tossing bricks.  Being in a position of authority doesn't mean you have to act like a jerk.  Respect is a two-way street.  Bromides aside, the days ahead in Ferguson, Missouri should tell us a lot about how race relations in America have and haven't changed.  And also why the legacy of Michael Brown and others who ended up just like him isn't to shoot first and ask questions later.

Did KSTP See The Sign, Or Miss The Point?

Entrance to the KSTP studios on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

KSTP (ABC 5) has been a pioneering Twin Cities news station since going on the air in 1948.  There were even times when they had the top-rated newscast in the market.  This is not one of those times.

Recently "5 Eyewitness News" (as KSTP likes to call themselves) aired a report in which they showed a picture of Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges posing with an African American canvasser named Navell Gordon during a "get out the vote" drive, in which they gestured at each other in a manner that some might take to mean they were using gang signals.

KSTP did not identify Gordon in the report, but they did mention that he had a criminal past.  According to the Star Tribune, the man was charged with drug and firearm possession, but said he was trying to straighten out his life.

The KSTP report indicated that certain law enforcement officials--namely a police union president that the Strib said was having a running beef with the mayor--believed that the finger pointing gesture Hodges and Gordon used were also being used by a north Minneapolis gang.

Mayor Hodges bears some of the responsibility for this controversy.  No matter how innocent they say the gestures were, posing with a man with a criminal record looks bad on TV  In the future, she might want to rethink how she's portrayed in photo-ops.

This incident has been all over social media, mainly taking KSTP to task for bad reporting, racial stereotyping, and willingness to believe cops with a grudge.  The station's current reputation as a Fox News wannabe (they're an ABC affiliate) stems from owner Stanley Hubbard's reported contributions to conservative political candidates and organizations, which sometimes influences news coverage.  Hodges, by the way, is a Democrat.

If KSTP and other media outlets can prove that Hodges has gang connections, then she should resign as mayor.  If they can't, then they should issue a retraction and an on-the-air apology.  (Which begs the question:  Why are the other Twin Cities TV stations silent on this issue?  This isn't just KSTP's problem.)

As it is, KSTP is standing by its reporting.  If the finger gestures are as innocent as everyone seems to believe, then the whole story is something about nothing.  And everything that's wrong with 21st century journalism.

UPDATE (11/18):  KSTP continues to take heat for its report on the finger-pointing, even as they continue to defend it.  A local health insurance provider named U Care has dropped its advertising from the station.  Hubbard got into it with some protesters during a speaking engagement at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, refusing to back down and apologize as his station is being ridiculed from coast to coast.

In all the finger-pointing about the finger pointing, one thing gets lost.  What's going to happen the next time there's a gang-related shooting somewhere in Minneapolis, and either a police officer or an innocent bystander gets killed?  Are they gonna blame this on the mayor, too? Or KSTP?  If that happens, then the comedians can leave the room.

Congress Turns Red (And So Do The Voters)

English: Official photo cropped of United States Senator and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Republicans will soon control Congress by winning a majority in the previously Democratic Senate and maintaining theirs in the House of Representatives, the result of midterm elections that reflected the anger of voters who have seen what years of gridlock have done to the country.  Or maybe it's a reaction to all those political ads that people loathe, but TV stations love because they're getting a financial windfall from it.

In truth, the GOP has been running the show in Washington for the past few years by yelling the loudest and getting little done while Democrats--even when they had a majority--cowered.  Not to mention undermining a President who they believed should never have taken office to begin with.  And you wonder why voters were angry.

President Barack Obama has not helped himself with low job approval ratings, slow reactions to crises involving Ebola and ISIS/ISIL, and the general sense that things really aren't getting better despite the improving economy.

Both the President and GOP Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (who most assume will be the next Senate majority leader) have stated that they heard the voters and have pledged to "work across the aisle", so to speak, to get needed legislation passed.  That's what you'd expect them to say the day after an election.  On key issues such as immigration and health care, however, the two sides are so far apart that compromise is not even considered.  And if the President doesn't like the legislation he's been given, he can always use a veto or an executive order as the last word.

So prepare yourselves for more of the same finger-pointing between the parties while very little gets done.  The 2016 campaign begins in three . . . two . . .one . . .

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Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, this state has become an oasis of blue for the Democrats in a sea of red.  Governor Mark Dayton and Senator Al Franken won new terms without having to resort to recounts, handily defeating their GOP opponents.  Also going back to Washington are Rick Nolan, Collin Peterson, Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison.

The Republicans had something to crow about, too, to go along with their national victory.  Congressional incumbents John Kline and Erik Paulsen were re-elected, and Tom Emmer is replacing Michele Bachmann as the Sixth District representative.

The big story, really, is that the GOP has taken control of the Minnesota House.  The Democrats retain control of the Senate only because they weren't up for election this year.  With a divided Legislature, Governor Dayton will have a much tougher time getting his agenda passed in his second term.  It also increases the possibility of another state government shutdown caused by budgetary gridlock, something both sides say they'll try to avoid.  Again, just like with Congress, we'll believe it when we see it.