Spin Cycle

If the head spins, too, it's understandable: the cycle moves at whiplash inducing speed.

Just one night earlier Honest Bob McCulloch had been the scourge of media; next day, his fair-haired boy was thrust onto its center stage.

No matter how very weird an appearance Darren Wilson's was, all dog whistles were loudly and clearly delivered to the intended audience.

Digby notes the very long history of this particular tune.

Results 100% Guaranteed

The case presented to the grand jury: prosecution of the victim.

Following days of manipulating the media to tease whether the decision was about to come, yesterday's announcement was made at night—just to ensure proper riot footage for Fox.

After the verdict, broadcasters thoughtfully gave McCulloch much valuable airtime. This, he used to blame "the 24-hour news cycle" and "social media" for his having had to even pretend to address Michael Brown's death in the first place.

Longtime observer of politicians,Charles Pierce, was moved to say

... this Bob McCulloch guy may be the single greasiest public servant I've ever encountered. I've never seen a DA who was so damned proud of himself for putting a grand jury on automatic pilot. ... And I've never seen such a perfect mixture of condescension and willful nonfeasance in my many years of watching how law enforcement in this country operates. This, after all, is a guy who once personally wrangled a grand jury to discover the identity of a whistleblower. This is a guy who once lied through his teeth about another police shooting, this one involving a car that allegedly "charged" a couple of officers, much as Michael Brown allegedly "charged" Darren Wilson. The kindest evaluation of McCulloch's record is that he is a very active prosecutor with a very clear sense of what he can make a grand jury do, if he chooses to do so, which he did not in this case, for reasons that are far from unclear. In the most high-profile case of his career, prosecutor Bob McCulloch insisted he was just a feather in the wind, just gathering evidence so the grand jury could make up its own mind...

Tbogg catches this: State of the Union, in a nutshell—

Mandating Game

Don't notice the low turnout. It goes without saying: Republicans elected, Mandate follows.

As Charles Pierce observed, among other things, "The Tea Party Is Not Dead, It's Just Wearing Shoes This Time".

I detected not the slightest pause for breath between "We Rule", and, "Keystone XL"...

Next up: judicial fix. Pierce again, on "...The Lingering Death of Health Care Reform" and its connection to sociopathy and Moops.