Administering a "Dope Slap"; If Only I Could, Edition

I can try to paraphrase what I overheard soon after the news came out that six Baltimore cops were being charged for killing Mr. Gray: "They had to indict those cops in Baltimore because otherwise, the thugs would have burned the city to the ground."

Here's a clue that a city has a problem: When the residents trust street gangs over the cops. A lot of this traces right back to a Giuliani-wannabee, Martin O'Malley, who parlayed running a city which operated on a "if yer brown, yer down" oppressive policing regime, into the governorship of the state.[1]

The only reason the City of Baltimore hasn't paid multi-million dollar civil judgments is that state law caps their liability at $200K per maiming, beat-down and killing. It's a law that places with bad cops, like Prince George's County, have been using for years as a way to avoid having to deal with their badged-up goon squads.

I suppose there is a chance that the City's attitude of "fuck you and your Constitution" may end up being litigated in Federal court, where the state's damage caps don't apply.[2] But I digress.

I submit that anybody who thinks that there would have been anything other than another coverup of police brutality without the riots is smoking meth. While riots over police brutality are nothing new in this country[3], it would seem that now, the power structure is starting to pay a little bit of attention.[4]

And isn't it funny that it's only when a cover-up isn't in the cards that the union rep of blue-suited goons wants a special prosecutor.[5]

We'll see if they can obtain convictions. Given that prosecutors around the country have had a long track record of making sure that people of color are excluded from juries on the flimsiest of reasons, I'm not holding my breath.
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[1] The little fuck wanted to run for President, but between his moves at gun-control (which has been driving Beretta out of the state) and his talent for naked racial oppression, good luck with that, Marty.
[2] It'd be silly to even suggest that the "strict constitutionalists" of the Tea Party and whatnot would ever lift a finger in support of the people who have been illegally detained by the cops. Maybe the protestors should have tried to graze cows in the city parks.
[3] Though the Right refuses to recognize that.
[4] But don't worry: There is almost a national system for ensuring that abusive and murderous cops get to keep their badges and guns.
[5] The cops in Ferguson were happy with the one they had.