they need to demand that everyone be taught about the importance of voting and government in their lives. Once they understand the basic principals of their/our governance, they should run for office and vote in all local, state and national elections. They should spread the word that voting in and out those who would destroy their spirit is the best and most peaceful way to change their circumstances.

It is our laws (written primarily by and for the rich) and politicians who send police out to persecute and murder black and other poor men, and sometimes women. for minor offenses or for acting out untreated mental illness. This is nothing new, and certainly nothing progressive. Go to central booking on any hot night. Decades ago hundreds of people who had no AC or vacation homes were being booked for sitting on their stoops and having a beer after a long hot day of menial work. Now it is marijuana, fare beating and other such things. and sometimes nothing at all, that get people arrested, beaten up and murdered by police.

Police need to be trained and encouraged to de-escalate situations involving minor crimes. We need to change this police culture of violence with impunity, which starts from the top. A man should get a ticket for selling loosies, not arrest and a death sentence. Banksters and corporations evade taxes in the billions and almost never even serve a day in jail. Both parties have been guilty of massive transference of wealth and services from the 99% to the top.

Privatized for-profit prisons owned by those same Banksters and corporations that evade taxes, are ripe for abuses and injustice as well discrimination - this is the reality. We need to de-militarize peace keeping and stop militarizing policing.

This is how status quo wants it. "The U.S. Census Report finds that 50 million Americans are poor. Fifty million voters is a powerful block if they ever organized in an effort to pursue their common economic goals. So, it’s crucial that those in the wealthiest One Percent keep the poor fractured by distracting them with emotional issues like immigration, abortion and gun control so they never stop to wonder how they got so screwed over for so long."

"Ferguson is not just about systemic racism — it's about class warfare and how America's poor are held back" - TIME, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

What Cornel West refers to as "The Niggerization of America" and Chris Hedges proclaims as "Sacrifice Zones" and urban reservations, and Glenn Greenwald examines in " With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful".

And when such powers finish diminishing everyone else, will turn on themselves? Just asking?

Are the 'ruling class' turning on themselves, now . . . doesn't appear so.

I agree that a thorough and fair
investigation is very needed. A rush to judgment won't help.
Questions being posed is one thing but there must be proof. I do not
condone violence. I don't think it helps anything and may in fact
have an effect opposite to the desired outcome. Somehow anger must be
deflected from destruction. Therefore I support peaceful protest and
truth in journalism. Dialogue is indeed important but it must be
accepted that it might or might not be persuasive to the other side.
But at the same time it can not be punished because it is not in
alignment with someone else's ideas. In keeping with a true
non-belief in violence I think the right to kill must be looked at.
Shoot-to-kill may need to be modified. Especially in light of
militarization of the police. I can only see mounting anger and
hatred and, perhaps, mis-use. Because people are fallible. And so is
power. It is easy to say such an increase in weaponry is needed for
safety but it is a very small step to turn that on the very people
you say you are trying to protect. All it takes is a spin on the
motive. Or a false witness. And you can justify just about any
atrocity. I absolutely see the logic of once you resort to lethal
force it equals death. But what about the consequences of that policy
on so many levels? Maybe our society is too far gone to come back
from the brink. To me that is the saddest statement of all. That we
are complacent with our behavior. That we are happy with the world as
it is today and we have given up trying to search for ways of
improvement and no longer think positive change can occur.

I personally do not like or advocate
the increasing use of cameras in our society. To me if the only way
police and people can be deterred from acting badly is to be
photographed 24 hours a day our species is already doomed. I don't
understand why we accept this kind of world as if that is the natural
progression of our species. How about a 90% decrease in brutality by
force of will for good instead of fear of reprisal? Then you would be
saying something worth listening to. In the long run the fact that
evil is tolerated is part of the problem because it is getting
increasingly difficult to tell the good guys from the bad in this
world.

Short term, the case is in the hands of the Grand Jury. As long as the progress is being monitored, only patience is required at this point.

Long term, the people of Ferguson need improved education and jobs. Trade in the military weapons and vehicles for books, training and good paying jobs with futures to look forward to.

I am told that "this is how police are trained" so the use of life-terminating force is acceptable, even with those with mental illness, developmental disabilities, etc. That tells me that training and police education needs to be CHANGED. All citizens have the right to live (as do police officers). I always assumed police were trained in deescalation and crisis techniques in order to preserve life, especially with those whose inability to communicate or comply may have to do with disabilities and mental health issues. I was apparently very, very wrong.

I am seeing many posts about the fear people have about our
police. Some about the actions of a few officers and some about
the alarming equipment law enforcement might obtain from
demilitarized sources. Well let me add a few cents worth as I
know something about the subject. I speak from experience,
maybe a lot of it. As a career law enforcement officer rising
to the rank of Lieutenant and Division Commander with 29 years
experience as well as an additional 5 years as a Network
Administrator/IT Director for another NJ Police Agency.

Officers shoot as a last resort and to stop the aggression. Not to kill. But some posters here are dreaming if you think we can shoot weapons out of the hands of bad people. Only on TV, I'm afraid.

Like many citizens, I don't like to see law enforcement
officers have casual contact with those they serve, dressed in
BPU's (Battle Dress Utility's) and an assault weapon strapped
across their chest. I believe if you send the message to the
public that you expect severe confrontations, you may just get
them. I believe that officers understand and are trained in the
use of force continuum and that they may use one level of force
more severe than that used against them. I believe that officers
are professionals and should be treated as such.
As we are representative of the communities we serve, sometimes
corrective action to weed out those who act inappropriately
must be taken.
No officer is above the law, that's why we have laws,
prosecutors, judges and juries. (No news agency is part of that
system and should not pretend they are)in twelve of those years
of my career I hosted and produced a tv show about law
enforcement, took live calls, and answered any question put to
me or my guests. That is transparent policing.

Now a few pointers
1. The police are not your punching bags. If you're pissed off
at the world, we know you may want to take it out on the symbol
of society, but there is no constitutional right to abuse the
police or resist arrest (If you think it's unlawful, submit and
see a lawyer and the judge)

2. Yeah, the police love it when the gov't and military give us
free stuff. I used to go to Lakehurst NAS under the 1033
program and review surplus equipment under the DRMO (Defense
Re utilization Marketing Office) we tried to get lots of things
just in case. Our biggest scores? Not weapons and tanks but,
Computers, MRE's, Radio's, Teaching equipment etc. And the
communities got tractors, trucks and other like equipment. If
you think we didn't need that kind of stuff just ask Chris"The
Sky's Falling" Christie who continues to cut cut cut while his
twitter staff all get raises.

Everyone is
missing the main issue. Laws and systems need to be changed so that police can
not act with impunity. They must be held accountable for their actions. Anyone
not held accountable for their actions can naturally run amuck.

Currently the
deck is stacked. Officers do have the power to use force, even deadly force,
when reasonable and necessary in the performance of their duties, so they get the
legal benefit of the doubt. Police officers have the authority to use deadly
force when it is reasonable and necessary and usually are not second-guessed.

“The prosecutor
of any jurisdiction has sole discretion to bring charges against a potential defendant.
The grand jury is really a tool of the prosecution. Only the prosecutor may
appear, present evidence, examine witnesses and give the grand jury advice on
what the law means. There are no rules governing the evidence that the grand
jury may be presented or may ask for. It is extremely rare for a grand jury not
to return an indictment that the prosecutor wants issued since the prosecutor
controls all of the information given. In this case, it might be politically
savvy for the St. Louis prosecuting attorney to present an extremely weak case
to the grand jury, full of good information about the officer, bad information
about the victim, and no information that would suggest the shooting was not
justified. That would provide political cover.

Asking
a jury to convict a cop is really hard in most jurisdictions. To most jurors,
cops are the good guys, and the people shot are often (not always) bad guys or
not clean. In addition, while Ferguson is two-thirds African American, the jury
that would hear the case would come from St. Louis County. The county is 70
percent white.

I
respect the police and I know they have a dangerous job. But police will
continue to abuse their power needlessly if they do not have to pay.

There are laws in place already. This incident is about enforcing those laws which so far, the county police and prosecutor have been, to delicately put it, "dragging their feet on." I believe they still have not disclosed the Wilson's incident report which should have been completed contemporaneously with the incident. So what's the hold up? I think the Ferguson protestors got it right from day 1 by making the demands enumerated in Mr. Moyers' post, to subject all of these state actors to the law. More power to them!

CRUCIAL: When people die in police custody, the investigation should be handled by independent investigators, not the DA's supported by the local police unions. As it stands, police can get cleared of wrongdoing in under 48 hours by their DA friends, which is shockingly unethical. This man below, Michael Bell, argues accurately that if police knew there would be an appropriately rigorous investigation--much like the FAA investigates airline crashes--there would be far fewer lethal incidents than we have currently.

http://www.politico.com/mag...

What will happen if he gets off?

Demand that the Governor and the prosecutor Quite Playing Hot Potato!