Why did I title this “Ferguson, Part I”?

Because we all KNOW there’s going to be more than “one part” to whatever happens when the Grand Jury announces their determination of the facts based on the testimony they’ve spent so long hearing.

As we all wait on tenterhooks for the determination of the Grand Jury, and for what happens next, we have to consider some basic facts.

Intelligence from the field has told Missouri’s Governor Nixon that he needs to call out the National Guard and have them ready.

Agenda-driven outside protesters are already there, and have been poised for quite some time. The protesters’ alliance encompasses many of the usual suspects in the race-baiting-for-money world, and more.  In a New Thing, the protesters have issued Rules of Engagement that they, uh, demand that the police follow: No protective gear allowed for cops, more than they’d usually wear, that sort of thing.  Uh, yeah…

Here’s a hint: when YOU propose “Rules of Engagement,” YOU are preparing to ENGAGE.

Some of the “protesters” are on the internet requesting donations of things like gas masks and, I’m told, even bullet-proof vests.  Huh.  Wonder what they’re planning to draw upon themselves…

I am hearing, “Don’t worry. It will be a peaceful demonstration.”  This from the same people who are talking about blocking highways (in bitterly cold winter weather) and keeping people from getting to and from work, ambulances from getting to hospitals, fire trucks from getting to fires, people from arriving at or departing from the St. Louis International Airport, etc. Keeping parents from picking up kids at school, and causing parents and kids alike who can’t make that connection, to panic.

I’m sorry, but that sounds to me very much like “disturbing the peace.”  Can anyone tell me how disturbing the peace of people who are not involved in the thing you are protesting is NOT a crime?  Can anyone tell me how, by definition, disturbing the peace is PEACEFUL?

Both sides seem to expect a verdict exonerating the officer who pulled the trigger. If it goes that way, I sincerely hope that people who have invested themselves heavily in potential violence protesting that verdict experience a sudden attack of massive self-control, and don’t do it.

But, a long cynicism-producing life tells me that this is not the most likely outcome.

If things “go south,” I can think of at least one cop (not me) who has suggested flamethrowers.

Many more observers, looking at the frigid weather in the Ferguson/St. Louis area – which many of us “in the business” believe may be a factor in the announcement being delayed this long – are of the opinion that fire hoses could come into play if extreme mob violence has to be contained.

I’m not recommending fire hoses, mind you, but given that the police in Ferguson have been shot at repeatedly since this whole thing began, and to the best of my knowledge the cops haven’t thrown anything but gas and rubber back, if things go violent a Night of the Frozen Ice Protesters might be preferable to another Kent State.

Readers, your input is welcome.

156 COMMENTS

  3. I suspect that robert jean was trying to say, “M. Ayoob should be listened to. P.S. I can’t type.”
    Agreed on both points. 🙂

  4. I suspect that robert jean was trying to say, “M. Ayoob should be listened to. P.S. I can’t type.”
    Agreed on both points. 🙂

  5. I suspect that robert jean was trying to say, “M. Ayoob should be listened to. P.S. I can’t type.”
    Agreed on both points. 🙂

  6. I suspect that robert jean was trying to say, “M. Ayoob should be listened to. P.S. I can’t type.”
    Agreed on both points. 🙂

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