Ferguson Market and Liquor was looted last night, targeted by protesters demanding “justice” for Michael Brown.
I’d like someone to explain the logic of that act to me, please. Please. That was the store where Michael Brown was captured on video shoplifting and assaulting a clerk prior to his fatal encounter with Officer Wilson.
How dare that store be robbed by an unarmed teen! No, that doesn’t work. How dare an employee be assaulted by a shooting victim! Hmmm…no, no, that’s stupid. How dare the business allow the media to mention its name in connection with the examination of whether Mike Brown was just a gentle giant who wouldn’t hurt a fly or intimidate a clerk! That can’t be it, can it? Or is it, “Let’s honor Mike by really hurting that small business where he stole some blunts and shoved that little clerk!” Really?
What exactly is the theory of justice here? My mind is open, it really is. I so want to understand.
Absent a persuasive explanation, however, I must conclude that anyone who sees “justice” in punishing Michael Brown’s innocent victims, however the teen met his demise, no more understands the concept of justice than I understand string theory, and I have no interest at all in listening to such an individual’s theories, protests, or rants about a subject about which that they are not only embarrassingly ignorant, but deluded as well.
What they did is injustice. They don’t know the difference between injustice and justice, which tells me that neither they nor anyone allied with them, supporting them or sympathetic with them should be taken seriously or heeded.
And when we are told, “The police are biased against people who think looting a store is justice!,” I am compelled to answer,
“As well they should be.”
Ethics Alarms 
Free Booze Jack. Are you really looking for those punks in that footage to actually be there for Michael Brown’s memory?
You think it was just happenstance that this store was the first one targeted? I don’t.
Was it the first for sure?
You are still giving the rioters some benefit of the doubt that they are there for other reasons than rioting. Since they are likely there only to be thieves, I would submit they are making an extremely weak half hearted justification based on symbolism. Just more proof they are dumb.
All I know is what the reliable American media tells me.
It has the Liquid Courage there. Had it been a candy store it would have been further down the list (though Brown might not have tried to rob a candy store in the first place).
-Jut
Oh, he might have. He was just a kid!
They are stupid punk kids (betrayed by the education system) and taught by pop culture and media that rebellion is what kids do, so GO DO IT. History has provided them an extremely comfortable setting where they have never had to really witness consequences for serious actions like rioting, so they don’t really expect it would happen to them.
These are the puppies described in R.A.Heinlein’s Starship Troopers who were never potty trained ever, then as grown dogs, pooped on the carpet and were extremely confused, even indignant, when master then decided to spank them…
> These are the puppies described in R.A.Heinlein’s Starship Troopers who were never potty trained ever
It had been bothering for months that I could not remember where I heard/read that analogy. Thanks Tex, now I have one sanity point restored.
>>”(betrayed by the education system)”
Betrayed by parents who did not parent placed the burden on the schools.
Yep…key to all this.
From a commentary site with amusing bits as well as serious:
“For those of you who don’t read the Czar often, well, you should. Because BJ knows where this is going. Possibly 5% of the protesters standing by in Ferguson are there because they have a sense of frustration and rage over the incident. Probably another 50% are folks there who just want vent because they’re liberals and bloody protest is ever so much fun until it gets real. The Czar expects these folks to be older, mostly white, and looking for their own personal March-on-Selma moment to show their spoiled and futureless grandkids that the older Boomers still have historical validity. Another 30% are just there to loot. They won’t go first: they want to wait until the crap really starts to fly; then they’ll grabs their stuff and take off. The remaining 15% are there to riot.
And not just to get angry. And not to loot. They are the pros, who show up at every G7 summit, every climate conference, every flashpoint news event (including Stanley Cup wins). They got plane tickets, they all nod to each other, and have everything they need to make cocktails and tear gas out of household stuff. They were there in Seattle, in 1999, and every event since. They are pros. They aren’t interested in the outcome, the looting, or the neighborhood. They just want to hurt cops and other authority figures. And after Ferguson, they will jump on another plane and go home, eagerly waiting for the next event.
The Czar doesn’t make this up: many law enforcement agencies even know quite a few of the rioters by name and photograph. They are leftists, not anarchists, and they love this crap. Because they can hurt people.”
Brilliant.
I’m going to repeat myself…the apologists for the rioters in Ferguson are saying that the looters are from out of town (I never thought Fox News would be such but apparently they are. Just watched a story explaining that very thing). Out-of-town looters will come for hundreds of miles for electronics, clothes, jewelry, liquor in quantity etc. but if a grocery store is being looted, it’s home grown. The people going after that liquor and grocery store are from there and given how quickly they advanced on the store after the decision was announced, this was planned and organized, with the assault troops just waiting for the signal. Well, they got it, and I have to tell you, I am not impressed by their definition of “justice”. I prefer Webster’s.
Who was standing on a stage yelling “burn this bitch down”?
I meant to add:
Was it some out of town provocateur or was that one of Ferguson’s home grown?
I didn’t fact-check this and I find it a tad bit hard to believe, but apparently CNN reported that it was Michael Brown’s step-father urging the crowd to “burn it down!”
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/ferguson/burn-this-bitch-down-879056
Why do you find this hard to believe? Or that the mother of the “gentle giant” who tried to take a cop’s gun would recently marry a serial con? This family that has worked so hard to push the country into a greater racial divide—they have had a lot of help, for certain—is so far from any standards of good judgment and reliability, in other words, perfect for manipulation by the media, politicians and those with darker agendas.
The logic: The store reported the robbery and provided security camera footage that showed that Michael Brown was not a lovable teddy-bear. It showed that he was not the kind, gentle-giant that his parents and the rioters wanted to portray. It also gave lie to the story that Michael Brown was just walking around, minding his own business when a racist cop decided to hassle him. The store exposed their lie and for that the store-owner should pay. He and all the other store owners will know to keep their mouths shut when they are robbed next time. “Justice” for Michael Brown.
Well, I’ve heard it a million times…he didn’t deserve to die because he stole some cigars. I mean we can all agree on that, can’t we?
Actually, I don’t think there were any motives regarding Brown when it comes to the looting. All I have been hearing for months now is that there will be looting when the grand jury decision comes in. Looting is expected. Looting will happen. The city is prepared for the looting that will happen. The state is prepared for the looting that will happen. People will be mad and they will loot. Even if you see others looting, you shouldn’t loot. You might feel that looting is justice but you should not loot. Be prepared for the looting. Do not get caught looting even if others are looting. There are better ways to take out your frustrations than looting. Looting will help no one. Looting is just destruction not protest. We know there will be some looters who will try to use this unfortunate situation to their own benefits. We know you may feel like looting but let’s come together in silent solidarity. We call for peace because we know there will be looting. We aren’t giving permission to loot because you shouldn’t loot. But if you are so angry that you must loot..
And if you ever want to drink, do drugs or have sex…do not do that. I strictly forbid you to do these activities because you are just 10 years old but if you are going to do them, which you absolutely should not, at least let me know because I would rather you do these things at home where you are safe because there will come a point when you want to do them although you are absolutely not allowed to do that. And no looting either! I deplore looting but if you should ever find yourself looting which you should not do…just remember that the family needs a new television. But whatever you do…don’t loot!
Thank you, Sharon. Good way to start an otherwise depressing day.
Dragon…sometimes it gets so depressing that I have to find some humor even in the things that are absolutely not funny. I swear I saw the same looter in a photo taken the night the grand jury decision was announced and months ago when the rioting in Ferguson first began. He was leaning towards the category of a person with a very high body fat ratio and made an effort to cover his face but like many of the other looters, made no effort whatsoever to cover his rear end…and if it comes down to it, I can pick out that rear end in a line up.
I’ve seen the picture the owner standing in his vandalized and looted store. That speaks volumes in itself. So did the words of one of the rioters outside as they were breaking in. In the news video, you could hear him talking about how the owner, having boarded up his store and fled the mob, thus deserved to have his store broken into. Besides, “He’s no friend of black folks”. That was the justification. I wonder how much beer and wine they carried off to fuel their little street party?
Of course they don’t. There isn’t an example to show them.
The rot of a corrupt “law enforcement” system spreads to corrupt the whole of society. It breaks the whole social contract. There is no justice, only who has power.
A justice system can only function effectively when the vast majority of people believe that although it may be faulty,it’s inherently just, mostly.
The people of Ferguson don’t believe that.
Will the thieves and arsonists ever face any legal consequences for their actions? I doubt it.
Some might – though I have zero confidence that those punished are those factually guilty, rather than those convictable but innocent of wrongdoing..
the vast majority of people believe that although it may be faulty,it’s inherently just, mostly.
Which in fact it is, and most people believe that.
“The people of Ferguson don’t believe that.”
True 1) Because in Ferguson, as in many poor towns, it’s not. 2) Because too many people benefit by selling the lie that the whole system is rotten, and it is not. 3) It’s a great thing to believe if you or a loved one is breaking laws.
Concur in all three points.
My thesis is that unless you have a law enforcement system that is not manifestly unjust, civil disturbance is inevitable, whether the results of any particular case are kosher or not..
The disturbance will be at the local level if the problem is local, at the national level if the problem is national.
BTW having read through the transcript, I am of the opinion that the shooter is lying through his teeth. Too many inconsistencies with minor facts. A very carefully staged performance, script by the Officers Benevolent Association legal team.
But a conviction beyond reasonable doubt? Not a chance.
Would it be better as a matter of Public policy to let it go to trial anyway? Sorry, I don’t have that much faith in your legal system.
Ideally in a perfect world…..
1) Indictment as a prima facie case is established
2) Trial – judgment for the Defence, not proven.
3) Defendant gets costs of defence refunded.
4) Everyone sees justice as being seen to be done,
“The disturbance will be at the local level if the problem is local, at the national level if the problem is national.”
Does your thesis allow for the possibility that the “problem” is extremely rare even minute? That perhaps the “problem” is contrived and a matter of having very well convinced people to agitate for the sake of agitating?