Non-aggravating felonies
It’s good news any time somebody is spared the threat of state-sponsored murder, but something tells me that non-uniformed citizens of the great state of South Carolina have not been granted the same courtesy that police officer Michael Slager has been granted when confronted with video evidence of the murder they committed, as well as evidence of their attempt to cover up that crime and lie to police. Prosecutors say Slager won't be considered for a lethal shot of poison because there were no "aggravating circumstances" in his shooting of an unarmed black man suspected of a tail light infraction. Aggravating circumstances in the state include items like rape, robbery, kidnapping, other felonies, but not other felonies, apparently, like planting evidence.It’s still good to be a cop in this country, protecting the 1% from the 99%. Should we now doubt the eventual likelihood of a conviction in the killing of Walter Scott? Remember that it wasn't just Slager that lied. Before the video surfaced, the North Charleston police reported that there was a tussle between Scott and Slager and that Scott gained control of the officer's taser and attempted to use it against him. Also, why was Scott pulled over to begin with? It's not a traffic violation in the Palmetto State to drive with only one workable tail light. At most, this should have been a courtesy stop.
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Is there anybody out there whose hand you would not shake? Where I’m from, you’re taught to extend your hand if somebody extends theirs to you, but certainly there are some political figures whom I consider corrupt—a great many of them actually—that would cause me to hesitate before reaching for a hand. This list is more or less the list of the lawmakers that have criticized President Obama for shaking hands with Raoul Castro last week.
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Obama’s second term has seen some valuable progress made towards warming relations with Iran, a country with a large percentage of Western-educated citizens and, not that long ago, one of the Middle East’s most progressive countries. Unfortunately, some in Congress fail to understand that the launching of a war is a failure of diplomacy, not a variation of it. The flip-out in Congress over the Iranian nuclear deal should show us definitively how strong and long the tentacles are that extend from the anti-Palestinian lobby in Washington.
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Fortunately, on this Jackie Robinson Day, the Cardinals are not the focus of the news stories regarding the scarcity of African-American players on Major League Baseball rosters. Thanks, Jason Heyward.
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Quote of the day: My wife, to me, as I walked out the door Monday night en route to a condo association meeting, "Don't talk too much. Let other people talk."
posted by CM @ 9:24 PM
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