Sunday, August 17, 2014

Ferguson's Congressman Lacy Clay Jr. Has 'Zero Confidence' In Local Cops

In the interview linked above, Clay opines (Michael Brown case): "He was already assassinated, so now you're going to assassinate his character? What kind of human being are you?"

The video of Michael Brown committing felony robbery minutes before he was shot by Officer Darren Wilson depicted his character, period.
As for all the backlash against militarizing the police...

Clay voted Against Amendment to Limit Military Surplus Transfers to Local Cops, Just Two Months Ago
 Snippet of a transcript of Rep. Grayson's argument in favor of his amendment before the vote (including Clay's), killed it:
"I think we should facilitate a view of America where the streets are safe and they don't resemble a war zone, no matter who is deploying that equipment. We don't want America to look like an occupied territory. I hope for the support of my colleagues, and I reserve the balance of my time.
COPS Funding - 2009
Clay Applauds $10.3 Million in COPS Grants for St. Louis City & County Recovery Act Will Fund 50 New Police Officers in City of St. Louis, 11 New Officers for St. Louis County Municipalities
“I’m proud that stimulus funds flowing through the COPS program will help make our community safer and keep more officers on the job,” said the Congressman. “The City of St. Louis, along with University City; Pagedale; Kinloch; Jennings; Country Club Hills; Bel Ridge and Berkeley will receive a total of over $10.3 million in COPs Recovery Act grants.  That will allow the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to hire or rehire 50 police officers. 
Odds and ends about Clay:
Clay married his wife Ivie in 1992, when he was a state senator.  He filed for divorce in 2009.  Ivie initially found out about the divorce "only through the media."  Clay had the court file sealed.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington issued a report in June 2007 saying that Clay's sister Michelle Clay is a registered lobbyist for the Kansas City airport and previously for the city of St. Louis. They reported that in the 2006 election cycle, Michelle Clay's law office, Clay and Associates, received $51,800 in consulting fees from her brother's campaign funds, along with an additional $9,963 for reimbursements. In the 2004 election cycle, Michelle Clay's firm received $52,514 for consulting, and in 2002 Michelle Clay herself was paid $32,00 for campaign management and legal fees. During the 2004 election, Clay's campaign reimbursed his father more than $6,000 for book purchases.

This man and his father have been in congress since 1968.  He worries about raising his 13 year old son in his community - he thinks the "policing" should be changed.  The policing.  Rich.  Forty five years and he believes his contingency would be better served with a warmer and fuzzier police department than jobs with steady incomes.
In Ferguson, Missouri, a community of 21,000 where the poverty rate doubled since 2000, the dynamic has bred animosity over racial segregation and economic inequality. Protests over the police killing of an unarmed black teenager on Aug. 9 have drawn international attention to the St. Louis suburb’s growing underclass.
Ferguson, once a majority white community that’s now about two-thirds black, highlights that dynamic. Coinciding with the decline in white population is a rapid rise in poverty since 2000, a period that includes the 18-month recession that ended in June 2009. [link]
Could it be that Congressman Clay is a bigot, which he was more than happy to announce in 2007:

"Clay made headlines in early 2007 when, as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (co-founded by his father), he objected to the possible inclusion of U.S. Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, a Caucasian who represents the majority-African American district in Memphis and had made a campaign promise to attempt to become the first white member of the CBC. Although it is not part of the CBC's bylaws that members must be black, all members so far have been black.  Clay told Cohen "that he could not collaborate with the Congressional Black Caucus for the benefit of his black constituents 'until your skin turns black. Quite simply, Rep. Cohen will have to accept what the rest of the country will have to accept — there has been an unofficial Congressional White Caucus for over 200 years, and now it's our turn to say who can join 'the club.' He does not, and cannot, meet the membership criteria, unless he can change his skin color." [Wikipedia]

The citizens of Ferguson complain that only one city council member is black....he is:
St. Louis Alderman Antonio French fined $38,000 for ethics violations: ST. LOUIS • The Missouri Ethics Commission has fined city Alderman Antonio French nearly $38,000 for a string of campaign finance violations, including using an improper bank account, commingling funds between his campaign account and his personal account, and using a personal PayPal account to raise campaign money.
Your ex State Senator Robin Wright Jones:
Former state Sen. Robin Wright-Jones spent thousands of dollars from her campaign fund on clothing, groceries, car repairs, restaurant tabs, dry cleaning, tickets and even video games, the Missouri Ethics Commission said Wednesday.
The expenses — and Wright-Jones’ refusal to testify about them — prompted the commission to find “probable cause” that she had broken a state law that bars candidates from converting campaign funds to personal use.
And last, but certainly not least, the attorney representing Dorian Johnson, the less than credible witness in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer:
Former St. Louis mayor admits mishandling legal fees: ST. LOUIS • A state panel made it clear Monday that former St. Louis Mayor Freeman R. Bosley Jr., a lawyer, will face disciplinary action from the Missouri Supreme Court.
At a hearing here called by the Missouri Supreme Court’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, Bosley admitted he mishandled clients’ funds through his law firm, Bosley & Associates.
Former STL Mayor Bosley gets delay in trial over alleged $78,000 debt: Attorney and former St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. was back in court Tuesday — again as a defendant — in regards to a claim that his firm owes more than $78,000.
Maybe it's time people used their common sense and stopped voting in self-serving politicians who have done nothing for you and stop blaming it on everything and everyone else.  No matter what your income and social status, you have a right to vote and you can hopefully read - so research the candidates, don't just buy their bullshit.