No "Credible" Person

Strange to use two football photos in less than a week on here, and I tend to think the NFL is so corrupt it probably ought to go away. Nonetheless, I draw attention to the ongoing clamor to anoint the late Ferguson Grand Jury result with the olympian flavor of received truth. Now, everywhere we look, no "credible" person believes Mr. Wilson, late of the Ferguson PD, was guilty of anything. For most of the same "credible" folks, Mr. Brown was guilty of pretty much everything. Thus doth the circle close.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the receiving corps of the Saint Louis Rams made a small show of solidarity with those folks who are still doubting the Authoritative Voice from on high. The fellers didn't boycott the game, they just raised their hands. They were nontheless booed. Then the St. Louis police got into it. As with other voices of authority, they opined that credible people support Wilson's innocence. Moreover, who does the NFL support--the paying customers, or the "thugs." It's the Romney line, in D major.

I'll give the NFL some credit, if it lasts. They have not given in to calls that the Rams' receiving corps be "disciplined." The whole point of the players' exercise in free speech was to raise questions, to resist this blanket of faux "credibility" descending over the whole landscape. It's a tough job these days. Whole tv networks are devoted to silencing all criticism of unbridled police authority. Anyone who objects simply is cast out, into the land of the non-credible. As Mr. Rumsfeld made a point of remarking on many occasions, there will always be someone who disagrees. It's the perfect answer. It demolishes all complaint and criticism, when coupled with enough social leverage. You think you're eyes are credible? Try saying that at some dinner party where everyone has already had plenty of the koolaid. You'll be lucky to keep even one eye working.

This is how it works in the so-called land of the free. In our state they're considering whether to start teaching American History without the usual "heros," and with some eye to the well-known and highly documented atrocities which embellish our history, start to now. Perhaps there'll be a day devoted to the Matewan massacre, or to the Flint riots, or to Gastonia. Perhaps someone will at least note that in the Founders' way of looking at things, for all that folderol about freedom, black people counted as 3/5ths of a person. Maybe in a few classes, though that might be a vain hope on my part, it might even be noted that even today, in NC, black folks count about 3/5ths. After all, more people in NC voted for Democrats in past November's election, yet we got more Republican congressmen. Strange math. Credible folks say shut the F up. Since the credible folks run our state, I'll be pretty amazed if this very sensible revamp of our public school history curricula gets beyond the in-house committee. Tom Tillis will be on the case and that'll be that. Robert E. Lee and George Washington and George Washington Carver, that's the ticket.

Thanks to the NFL, and to the Rams, last Sunday. It is for the moment marginally harder to generate the fog and make it stick.

Tuesday Night Update: Fox bought out the "big guns" last night, in their continuing effort to discredit any and all persons protesting the police treatment of Michael Brown: Allen West. Here's West's own record:

http://www.thenation.com/blog/170240/so-allen-west-wants-talk-about-his-military-record#

I was pleased to hear Chris Hayes clarify the obvious fact--the Wilson grand jury's decision did not prove anything at all about the question of whether Brown's hands were raised when he received the fatal wound from Wilson. The grand jury's decision was that it couldn't make a decision. It was led to that position by the prosecutor.

Meanwhile, the other MSNBC Chris is pretty much campaigning for Jeb Bush for President now. "Jeb will bring the country together," Matthews said. Where's my eye roll key?