[THEHILL] Black Democrats will celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend by gathering near Ferguson, Mo., where a black teenager was killed by a white police officer last summer.
The number of white Dems with fortunes smaller than nine digits continues to dwindle...
The lawmakers, all members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), say they'll use the holiday to call on voters to get more involved in social justice issues while urging Congress to pass legislation overhauling the criminal justice system.
They're just calling on black voters, though. The rest are all racists.
Those issues have gained national prominence since August, when Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, after a confrontation on the streets of Ferguson, a largely black suburb of St. Louis.
After the gentle giant thumped him, reached into his police car to grab his gun, then went to charge him...
The tragedy led to weeks of violent protests in Ferguson and launched a national debate on a range of race-based issues, including police brutality, profiling, youth development and criminal justice reform.
The way the story was originally presented the "gentle giant" got lots of sympathy. Then the vid from the convenience store came out. Then the details of the incident came out. Then Al Sharpton showed up.
Revelations of a similar incident on Staten Island, N.Y., in July when a white police officer's chokehold during an arrest led to the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man have only fueled that debate.
By that time it was a black versus white issue. Whites were in the wrong whatever they did, wherever their sympathies might naturally lie.
Since those episodes, Democrats in both chambers have called for broad reforms, including efforts to combat racial profiling, tighten the nation's gun laws and scale back a Pentagon program supplying local police with excess military equipment.
'Nother words, they've been making political hay the while.
As part of that effort, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) this week urged President Obama, as part of his annual budget, to include funding for a program requiring law enforcers to wear cameras, a concept Cleaver had pushed unsuccessfully as legislation last year.
I believe that each incident should be recorded. The technology's just now getting small enough and light enough and cheap enough. The recordings protect the officers even more than the citizens. But it's probably still not cost effective. How many gigabytes does it take to store an eight-hour shift? Dash cameras will record traffic stops and mayhem that takes place in front of the car. Headpieces or vest cameras will show close-up to medium distance events but not peripheral events. Funding for the feds for cameras should maybe extend to FBI and DEA -- great for recording those little 3 a.m. drug raids, though the flash bang grenades might be hard on the microphones. Everybody else is a local concern and there's no reason to use federal taxpayer money or issue federal mandates. See Amendments Nine and Ten of the Constitution.
What is this 'Constitution' of which you speak...
"The tragic events that unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri should not be repeated, Cleaver, former head of the CBC, said this week.
Yer right. Perps should not try to knuckle cops, nor to charge them.
We can work to do this by giving our local police officers the best tools and training available to protect and serve our communities."
Really. You can believe him. He's a Dem politician.
Cleaver will be among the lawmakers gathering near Ferguson on Sunday to commemorate the King holiday.
It's a black holiday. The rest of us can bugger off.
Other lawmakers expected to attend include CBC Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), André Carson (D-Ind.), James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), Cedric Richmond (D-La.) and Lacy Clay (D), who represents Ferguson. Sunday's event will take place at Wellspring United Methodist Church in Florissant, Mo., which neighbors Ferguson.
An apparently all-black church. Quite appropriate. 
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