Republicans have looked for a narrative to defend the killing of Michael Brown since his lifeless body laid on a street in Ferguson, and now, with newly released information suggesting that Mike Brown had marijuana in his system, Republicans have found their talking-point.
Earlier today, I brought you a story of a rally that happened, not in Ferguson, but outside the area, where 125 people held a protest in support of the trigger happy police officer. Of the 125 people protesting, 124 of them were white. These people held their protest before the marijuana news broke, but now, Republicans like Rush Limbaugh and Bryan Fischer are ecstatic, hardly able to contain their enthusiasm in blaming Brown for his own death.
On his radio program today, Fischer happily proclaimed;
“We know now he did have marijuana in his system, and we’ve had stories, remember, we’ve had stories from Colorado, people going berserk on marijuana and killing people, hyped up on marijuana. So it’s more dangerous than people think”
She was unable to give consent to the sexual act because of her mental state. A judge ruled that 78-year-old Donna Rayhons – wife of Iowa Republican Representative Henry Rayhons and who resided at an elderly care facility – lacked mental capacity to consent to sex but Henry apparently wasn’t listening.
According to Iowa Press-citizen’s reporting, Rep. Henry Rayhons, R-Garner, who represents House District 8, was charged with third-degree sexual abuse, a Class C felony.
The charge stems from an alleged incident the evening of May 23 at the Concord Care Center in Garner, authorities said.
Rayhons, 78, is accused of having sex with his wife, Donna, who did not have the mental capacity to consent, according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint said that Rayhons was told on May 15 that Donna Rayhons did not have the cognitive ability to give consent to any sexual activity. On May 23, Henry Rayhons went into his wife’s room and pulled the curtain closed, the complaint said. Donna Rayhon’s roommate told authorities that she “heard noises indicating to her that” Henry Rayhons was having sex with Donna Rayhons, the complaint said. Surveillance video showed Henry Rayhons leaving his wife’s room and discarding undergarments into a laundry bag, the complaint said.
In June, a Hancock County District Court judge issued an order that named Suzan Brunes, Donna Rayhons’ daughter, her mother’s temporary guardian, according to a story in the Mason City Globe Gazette.
Donna and Henry Rayhon were married in 2007.
Donna Rayhons, 78, died on Aug. 8.
Henry Rayhons was arrested today and taken to the Hancock County Jail.
An employee of the Hancock County Attorney’s Office on Friday said the case would be prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office. That office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Before getting the bucket of ice water dumped on his head, Miami Cleveland NBA Star LeBron James nominated his son and the President of the United States, Barack Obama.
Sidenote – The president has been nominated a few times already. Is he ever going to take this challenge? I’m on the case. Also, ALS has already collected over $4 million in ice bucket challenge donations.
Ferguson police are still trying to suppress the protesters and their constitutionally protected rights, and they are also trying to suppress the information about those protests.
On Sunday night, hours before a curfew went into effect, Ferguson police used tear gas in trying to break up ongoing protests. Streaming the events live was Mustafa Hussein, a student who works at a local all-volunteer music station, Argus Radio. The station is using video equipment it purchased to live-stream concerts to broadcast the protests in Ferguson.
Tonight, as tens of thousands of people around the world watched, Hussein was threatened by an officer wielding a weapon. “Get the fuck out of here! You get that light off or you’re getting shot with this!,” the man shouts. That portion of the live-stream was uploaded to YouTube. Undeterred, Hussein continued broadcasting. Subsequently, he can be heard reporting the incident to a different officer and other reporters. He then called his dad to tell him he loved him.
There is always a segment of society that willfully choose to stay on the wrong side of history. Most of the times, this segment is often called The Republican Party. Now we cannot be sure that these people are in fact Republicans, but if I had to bet, that is where I’ll put my money.
While the crowds protesting in Ferguson have been predominantly African American, all but one of the demonstrators showing their support for Wilson were white. A stack of dark blue t-shirts, onsale for $7 and bearing a police-style badge stating: “Officer Darren Wilson – I stand by you”, quickly sold out.
One was bought by Martin Baker, a consultant and former Republican congressional primary candidate and the only black member of the crowd. “People are too quick to play the race card,” said Baker, 44, on widespread claims by black residents Ferguson residents that they are subjected to institutional racism by the city’s almost unanimously white authorities. “Lawlessness knows no colour.”…
The demonstration grew out of a Facebook group dedicated to the support of Wilson, 28, who has been placed on paid leave and is in hiding for security. The group was created soon after his name was released to the public last Friday. By the time the demonstration began on Sunday, the group had attracted more than 12,500 “likes”.
“There is a great deal of support in the St Louis community, nationally, and internationally for officer Darren Wilson,” one of the organisers, who asked to be referred to as E M Baker, said in an email to the Guardian earlier on Sunday.
” We fully support officer Darren Wilson,” she said. “Our rally today is exclusively an opportunity for us to gather in ‘silence’ in a sea of blue to show officer Wilson, his family, the law enforcement community, and the world, that our support is strong and unwavering.”
Michael Brown’s preliminary autopsy report, which was obtained by The New York Daily News, shows that trigger happy police officer, Darren Wilson was not trying to arrest or subdue the 18-year-old teenager, no, the officer was out to make sure that Brown die on the spot for the unthinkable crime of walking on the street.
Officer Darren Wilson
According to the report, Wilson pumped at least 6 bullets into Brown’s body, the fatal wound struck Brown near the top of his skull and suggested he was bent forward when it hit.
The autopsy, which was also reported by The Wall Street Journal and CNN, came on the same day that Attorney General Eric Holder ordered an additional autopsy to be performed as part of the federal investigation into Brown’s death.
“Due to the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case and at the request of the Brown family, Attorney General Holder has instructed Justice Department officials to arrange for an additional autopsy to be performed by a federal medical examiner,” DOJ spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement Sunday. “This independent examination will take place as soon as possible.”
Brown, an unarmed African-American 18-year-old, was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson last Saturday. The autopsy reported that there was no gunpowder on Brown’s body, suggesting that the bullets might not have been not fired at close range. The report said that determination could change depending on whether gunpowder is found on Brown’s clothing, which have not yet been examined.
In a packed congregation at the Greater Grace Church in Ferguson Missouri, Rev. AL Sharpton along with the parents of Michael Brown and other civil rights leaders, held a “Unity Rally for Justice for Michael Brown” meeting, focused on getting justice for the slain 18 year old murdered by police officer Darren Wilson.
“These parents, they’re not going to cry alone … we have had enough,” he said. Brown’s shooting will be a “defining moment on how this country deals with policing,” Sharpton said. “Michael Brown’s going to change this town.”
“We need to thank him for the change he’s going to make,” said Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who has been put in charge of security in Ferguson, where nights of unrest, looting, and confrontations with police have broken out since Brown’s death. A curfew instated by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon would hold for a second night Sunday and last from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m., according to the State Highway Patrol.
Before the rally closed, Sharpton had the crowd repeat after him as he said: “I pledge, with all that I am capable of, to do my duty to stand for justice and for peace, and let Michael Brown be a point in history where we stopped devaluing the lives of people.”
In a Facebook post, Jeffery Eaton, the band’s lyricist wrote that he simply could not stand by and watch the unfolding in Ferguson Missouri, where an unarmed 18-year-old was murdered by a police officer.
In the post, Jeffery wrote;
I’ve been glued to twitter and live streams of Ferguson since last Saturday Night when unarmed 18 year old Mike Brown was shot to death by a police officer. All week I have been hesitant to speak, trying to wrap my mind around the complexities of it all while watching the demonstrations, protests and clashes with police. Now it’s 4 am on Saturday Night and I can’t sleep because all I can do is think about it. I realize I will never have the perfect words so for now, I will let them spill out and explain why I must.
I have no specific authority to speak on the subject, but I’ve been writing lyrics about life in this country for over a decade now. I view it as a conversation from the perspective of an angry American with other angry Americans. Ferguson must be a part of that conversation because it’s so important and happening so close to home. I am only speaking to encourage us all to look at our lives and the world around us honestly and to go much deeper than the mass media or advertising world had planned for us. I only want for each of us to claim the dignity that we deserve.
So what can I say about it? At the very least I can say that I don’t condone murder, especially when committed by a person hired to serve and protect us and paid by for by our tax dollars. I can say that the burning anger in Ferguson goes far beyond looting and random violence. This is not a temper tantrum or an excuse. This is a symptom of the disease. I think the people out on the streets in Ferguson are fed up. I think they are tired of being marginalized and pushed down. They are mourning the death of this young man, and are also very aware that his death has come to symbolize the disease. America is sick and we are angry. We want to be proud Americans, but we live under a shadow of shame. We don’t want our names on the bombs that burn the bodies of innocent people in the Middle East, but we know they are. We know we are not the world and we don’t want to be. Our America is our beautiful American music and the collective kind hardworking and independent spirit of the majority of our citizens. We know that no life is more valuable than another no matter where we were born or what color our skin is. Our leaders are not properly representing us and they do not have our best interests in mind. The endless war has not been justified to us and does not represent us. We feel more threatened than protected by the police. We are hostages to the dream. Our dignity, compassion and intelligence is being mocked by the actions of those in power.
Strong work ethic will hopefully result in a simple humble life. Striving for the security of the upper class may mean falling short and drowning in debt. Greed may give you your dream home and a luxury car, it will certainly give you Ferguson, Missouri and Flint, Michigan. No matter what side of which argument you identify with, you must admit that there must be winners and losers in the game we play in this country. There is not enough room for us all in the upper class. If there was there would be no one to keep the castles clean. Whether by choice, circumstance or failure, we find ourselves at the bottom of the dream.
And the questions… So who are these people? Am I really one of them? Have we done it to ourselves? Should we all put our heads down and shut our mouths, work harder to make more money to insulate our lives from the poor neighborhoods and the anger and struggle that exists within them? Should we focus on a handful of looters and ignore the justified anger? Should we ignore the disease? Should we be scared to speak because we are not experts on capitalism, law enforcement, health car and international politics? Does this country belong to us? Does the world belong to us? Do our lives belong to us? Should I expect to be mocked for identifying more closely with the angry people in the streets of Ferguson than with the silent sinking middle class? Should we hope that last night was the last night in the streets? Should the people go home and get back to work before catching the attention of the entire nation and the entire world? Is it worth it?
Most of us would prefer to sweep these confounding problems aside and keep enjoying the ride, but it’s becoming more and more clear than we need to stop and change directions. Netflix and alcohol are not enough to keep our minds off it and now it’s past 5 am on Sunday Morning and the sun is coming up on my humble street in Kansas City. I don’t want to deal with it but I know that I am a heartless coward if I do not face it, so I let the words spill out. This won’t be posted till I get some sleep and give myself a chance to remain silent and do my part in maintaining the status quo. America, we’ve been going the wrong way for a long time. Ferguson slammed on the brakes, howled and bit back when Mike Brown was brutally murdered last week. Monday morning did not mean getting back to the grind and the next Saturday Night was not about having a beer and a laugh. Each moment since his life ended has been about problems that can no longer be ignored. #Ferguson#mikebrown
There can be no doubt that Governor Chris Christie will be running for president in 2016. He’s taken trips to the states with the earliest primaries and caucuses and he’s even begun commenting on foreign affairs. Not that he’s at all qualified in that area, but when did that ever stop him from talking? The most convincing evidence of his intention to pursue a national run, though, comes from his latest actions in New Jersey, and ironically, those might actually cause his downfall.
First up is the New Jersey economy, which is limping along in no small part to the governor’s refusal to do anything that will stimulate it. The jobs picture has not improved as much as the national numbers and Christie continues to blame middle class workers such as teachers, firefighters, police officers and government workers for the problem. Yes, he was able to get a landmark pensions and benefits bill through the Democratic legislature in 2011, but now, three years later, he’s gone back on his promise to pay a full public pension payment because he says that the problem has not been fixed and that workers need to pay even more for their future benefits.
The “No Pain, No Gain” tour has been a colossal failure so far mainly because the public is slowly coming around to the idea that public workers can’t be squeezed any more and that Christie’s refusal to ask wealthy New Jerseyans for more in taxes is good old fashioned Republican trickle down economics. The kind that hasn’t worked since Ronald Reagan tried it back in 1981. All it’s lead to is wealthier wealthy people and a scramble for decent wages for the middle and working classes.
What’s worse is that Christie appointed a committee to investigate why pensions and benefits need continued reform and
So any chance that this committee will be an independent arbiter or that it will fairly assess the pros and cons of Christie’s plan will be, say, nil.
The next clue to Christie’s intentions comes from the fact that he and his adviser’s are now becoming very stingy with information about the governor’s public schedule. This is a guy who ran on transparency and openness and is now going all legalistic on the public and saying things like, “You guys want everything. You’re not entitled to everything. So we give you what you’re entitled to under the law. And I think that’s fair.”
Fair, maybe. Politically smart? Not so much. If you want to be president, you should give the press the free stuff that it asks for and withhold the difficult information. That placates the press and makes it more likely that they’ll give you a pass on the tough issues. And what’s on the governor’s schedule that would preclude him from fully disclosing it? More helicopter rides? Getaways to the Bahamas? It just doesn’t make sense, and it belies Christie’s desire to be known as an open politician. That’s how he ran in 2009 and 2013. But now that he wants to be president, he’s playing political word games.
I suppose that Christie believes that yelling and belittling people who disagree with him is a sign of great leadership, but in the end, I think that this will ultimately sink him. Americans might be tiring of President Obama’s cool detached manner, but they don’t want a bully with a volatile personality in the Oval Office. We need a pragmatic, thoughtful person to interact with the country and the world.
All across the globe people are seeing the injustice in the murder of Michael Brown. All across the globe, except right here at home, where Mike Brown is essentially being blamed, his character being assassinated, as if he caused the cop to murder him.
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