Unsolicited Advice for Ferguson

(Cartoon/Courtesy of www.investors.com/cartoons)

Protestors were in the streets of Ferguson last night,

Angry at the failure of Grand Jurors to indite 

Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Some began to riot and set fire to the town.

Liquor stores were looted; there were rocks and bottles thrown

And, despite the pleas for peace, the anger's only grown.

Shots were fired, highways blocked, with multiple arrests.

Tear gas filled the streets patrolled by guys in Teflon vests.

Unlike this Grand Jury, I do not have all the facts.

I just know there are too many senseless, violent acts

Where a young, black man is killed for looking like a threat.

They don't get the benefit of doubt that white kids get.

"He looked like a demon," is what Darren Wilson said.

Now, because that's how he saw him, Michael Brown is dead.

Young, black men know they're perceived with deep mistrust and fear.

How we change those attitudes is not exactly clear.

One thing that I guarantee won't help is rioting.

Fueling racial prejudice will not fix anything.

Criminals demanding justice? That seems pretty strange.

Peaceful demonstrations are the only way things change.

Dear Mr. President; Wish You Were Here?

Should have stayed in Massachusetts, Mr. President;

Here, on Martha's Vineyard, where your 2 weeks "off" were spent.

Skies are blue and cloudless and the weather's, finally, warm...

But you're back in Washington and face a nasty storm.

Tear gas clouds from Ferguson are drifting down your way;

Turbulence across the pond as borders start to fray,

Plague winds out of Africa, a Middle Eastern front,

With you at the epicenter - where you'll bear the brunt

Of the rain of fecal matter critics throw at you,

Blustering in outrage at 'most anything you do.

Come on back to Massachusetts.  Stay 'til Labor Day.

(I'd still be exhausted...  That's a lot of golf you play.)

Not as if you don't deserve it.  If we're keeping score,

You've had less vacation time than most who came before.

Not as if you're really out of touch so don't feel bad...

W. took twice as many days as you have had.

Unsolicited Advice for Missouri's Governor Nixon

(Photo/Courtesy of youtube.com)

 

"Always listen to police," is what I've told my sons.

"They'll protect and serve you and, besides, they're wearing guns...

"Doesn't do to argue with a person who is armed."

But I've never really worried either would be harmed.

Both my sons are white, suburban teenagers, you see.

That police might kill my kids had not occurred to me.

I cannot imagine how a black man's mother feels;

I have tried to do it...  The imagination reels.

Teenage boys do stupid things sometimes; that's just a fact.

If it's bad enough that the police get in the act

Studies show that, if you're white, you're probably okay...

If you're black they handcuff you and haul your ass away.

It's no wonder white police do not inspire trust.

Something has to change...  I think diversity's a must.

We need more equality within policemen's ranks.

Then we have to ask ourselves; do local cops need tanks?

A Peaceful Night in Ferguson, MO

Good question.  (Photo/ksdk.com)

Ferguson stayed calm last night for, though "the law" was near,

It was not their local forces wearing riot gear.

There weren't any S.W.A.T. teams pointing automatic guns;

There weren't K-9s snarling for a chance to bite their buns.

Protestors in Ferguson are upset with police;

One just killed an unarmed boy.  Since then, there's been no peace.

Roving mobs set fires and then stopped to grab some loot.

Elsewhere, crowds began the chant of "Hands up" and "Don't shoot."

Heavy-handed tactics - armored trucks and stun grenades,

Tear gas, rubber bullets, cops dressed up for Black Ops raids -

Didn't lead to confidence from people in the town

Who are, justly, angry at the killing of Mike Brown.

No one's sure if last night's peace will hold, although there's hope.

(Highway cops will stay to help the local forces cope.)

One thing that seems certain is this kind of tragedy

Strikes at young, black men with an alarming frequency.