What’s interesting in the news today?

1. A Grotesque Pantomime of Repression and Redemption

From CityJournal  “The American understanding of riots and racial violence was shaped a half-century ago, during the insurrections of the 1960s. To judge by the responses to the current rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, little has changed since then. After riots have wrought their physical and psychic damage, some invariably declare that the unrest was constructive. Patricia Bynes, a Democratic committeewoman for Ferguson, rationalized that the events in Ferguson would benefit the entire metropolitan area because, she said, “St. Louis never has had its true race moment, where they had to confront this.” She was topped by Missouri Highway Patrol captain Ron Johnson, who has been leading the police response in Ferguson. Speaking to a unity rally at a local church, Johnson suggested that, somehow, Brown’s death was “going to make it better for our sons to be better black men.” One rioter, who wouldn’t give his name, admitted that “If it wasn’t for the looting, we wouldn’t get the attention.” The virtue of disruption, academics and observers argue, is that it gives African-Americans a crisis with which to bargain. But after 50 years, what has this bargain achieved, except to cultivate a community that excels in resentment?

It’s not just African-Americans who are stuck in the sixties. Reporters are still seeking out the Kerner Commission’s white racists, who are ultimately to blame for all racial problems. Historians and sociologists are offering structural explanations for the violence; whites in general, and small businesses in particular, have little to say but simply flee to safer climes. In Ferguson, after a week of unrest that included looting and rioting, we know very little about the incident that resulted in Michael Brown’s death, despite the release of the first pathology report. The officer involved is in seclusion and has given no public statements. The Grand Jury, should one be convened, will likely have only a vague picture of what happened.”

“In Ferguson, the media’s preferred narrative—a “gentle giant” of a young black man gunned down for no reason by a racist cop—was short-circuited by a videotape, taken minutes before his death, depicting Michael Brown strong-arming a diminutive store clerk who’d caught him stealing a box of cigarillos. Deflated, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer described the video as a “smear.” Does he think the tape should have been suppressed? His CNN colleague Jake Tapper, just back from apologizing for Hamas in Gaza and justifiably angered by the misuse of military equipment to intimidate suburban civilians, subjected the state’s Democratic governor, Jay Nixon, to a vigorous grilling. Tapper suggested that Nixon had some atoning to do for his supposedly racist past before he could be relied on to take action in Ferguson. If only Tapper had been so hard-edged with Hamas.”

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2. Who are the agitators? And why isn’t this guy under arrest?

From WeaselZippers  “We’ve seen all manner of outside agitators at work seeking to use Ferguson for their own ends. Perhaps the worst of the lot are the Revolutionary Communist Party, who are actively ginning up the violence.

The white man in the middle inciting the crowd with the bull horn is Gregory Lee Johnson, a long term member of the Revolutionary Communist Party. The RCP has “Clubs” in various cities.”

“Antonio French, who tweeted the picture, is an alderman who has been tweeting coverage of the events in Ferguson. French claims Johnson was the instigator of the action. Other tweets id him as encouraging molotov cocktails, one even says Johnson had a grenade. Notice in the first video how he was within a few steps of police, including Captain Ron Johnson.

Gregory Johnson was infamously involved in the flag desecration case that ruled burning the American flag was protected speech. He was described by another activist as an “obnoxious young transplanted New Yorker” who would show up at “every local demonstration with a bloody, severed pig’s head (tendrils still trailing along) that he’d drag along on a leash and collar while shouting anti-imperialist slogans; the pig, of course, was the United States.” Truly a lovely human being.”

CONTEN WARNING!! for language in the video.

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3. Well, you know what they say about payback….

From HotAir  “Well, who could blame them? After Harry Reid used the Senate floor for weeks to demagogue the owners of Koch Industries for their legal and instructive engagement in the political process, he had to be expecting a little pushback. The Kochs don’t do anything small, however, and Politico’s Ken Vogel and Burgess Everett report that they are laying the foundation for a two-year effort to send the Senate Majority Leader into a much-deserved political oblivion:

Harry Reid’s reelection is more than two years off, but the Koch brothers’ political machine is already methodically laying the groundwork that will be used to try to take him out.

The efforts in recent months have been largely subterranean, but they are unmistakable. A handful of nonprofit groups in the vast political network helmed by allies of the conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch have established or expanded permanent ground operations in Reid’s backyard. Focused on wooing key demographics like Latinos and veterans, they’ve also paid for ads assailing the Senate Democratic leader. …

As Reid last week ambled from an SUV to a side entrance of an MGM Grand here for a speech to the supportive United Steelworkers International Convention, he told POLITICO he wasn’t worried about the Koch forces’ buildup in his backyard. “I’ve always been targeted. … That’s not news,” he said, playfully dismissing a question about whether there was a personal element to the Koch effort. “I don’t see that they have any reason to come after me. Why would they?”

Ummmmm….. maybe because you abused your position of authority to bash them on the floor of the Senate on a daily basis. Ring a bell Harry?

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4. Making the best of it.

From MSNNews  “Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry is pressing forward after a criminal indictment with a smiling mug shot and an ice cream run.

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5. Oh boy…. They must be scraping the bottom of the new exhibit idea barrel. 🙄

From CNSNews   “Hundreds of photographs, papers and historical objects documenting the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are being added to the Smithsonian Institution’s collection Tuesday, including items from the popular TV show “Will and Grace.”

Show creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick along with NBC are donating objects to the National Museum of American History. The collection includes original scripts, casting ideas, political memorabilia surrounding the show and the series finale. The network agreed to donate props, including a pill bottle and flask, a sign from “Grace Adler Interior Design” and Will Truman’s framed college diploma.

Kohan told The Associated Press that the Smithsonian’s interest in the show featuring gay principal characters was a validation they never dreamed about when the sitcom began airing in 1998. “Will and Grace” ran through May 2006 depicting four friends both gay and straight, eventually ending with the main characters coupled off with children.”

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