Taking chances with contempt to avoid perjury?

Our power went out this past week, and the absence of white noise emanating from my CPAP machine caused me to jettison an otherwise long, comfortable slumber in time for the Christmas holiday. Draping myself in a bathrobe and my wife's fuzzy pink slippers (I'm not particular about attire until after I've had my breakfast and morning scotch), I lumbered down the stairs to face my estranged family.

I peered out the kitchen window, temporarily blinded by the brilliance of fresh snowfall in the morning sun, and grabbed a pair of my wife's Sam "Ace" Rothstein sunglasses to hide my eyes from the nightmare I could have eluded by staying asleep.

Again, little has changed since we last spoke, Patriots, and I take little comfort in having been correct with my predictions more than a month ago.

Of course, I'm referring to the Mark Anthony Barmore fiasco.

As you read here first in November, powder burns on Barmore's hand was crucial evidence to exonerate officers North and Poole in the grand jury's eyes.

So, what about the statement to police from a 17-year-old girl (Marissa, Pastor "Apostle" Melvin Brown's daughter) that Barmore surrendered peacefully with his hands up and head down? As it turns out, according to the testimony of at least one other witness, Marissa probably couldn't see what actually transpired in the seconds before shots rang out.

I suppose it's possible he may have head his hands up at one point, but the officers say Barmore went for Poole's gun. During that struggle, State's Attorney Joe Bruscato said, Poole's gun discharged, accounting for the powder burns and the bullet superficially striking Barmore's neck.

When Jesse Jackson led marches here in Rockford recently (how far he's fallen since marching with King in Memphis), Barmore's family felt it was appropriate (probably at Jesse's urging) to picture their fallen kin's dead body on picket signs. Their point was that he'd been shot in the back, which he was. But that's not to say the officers were not justified.

Now, believe me, I have no love of the police apparatus in general, because I've been the target of many fascist tactics by law enforcement in my life. But I'll say again that I think the black community has chosen the wrong battle in this instance, and so has Rev. Jackson in trusting the word of the Browns.

That brings me now to Pastor Brown, who has consistently called officers North and Poole murderers. Really, Melvin? Why don't you tell us what you did prison time for before conveniently finding the Lord in time to be paroled?

Has the African-American community at large been historically fucked over in American society? Absolutely. But that doesn't make it right to vilify two men who, by most accounts, acted appropriately under the circumstances. That will not make things right, and nothing otherwise is "owed" to anyone. That's an unjust victory you're not gonna be proud of when you stand before Jesus, Allah, Odin, or whomever one prays to.

Yes, North and Poole have pulled their triggers before in the line of duty (which I guarantee will be the cornerstone of the civil suit against them), but even if they have itchy trigger fingers, you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that the officers marched into a day care center full of witnesses with the intention of shooting Barmore to death. If they were going to kill a man in cold blood, they wouldn't have done it in front of witnesses, I guaran-damn-tee.

Would things have gone down the same way if the incident had unfolded somewhere on the "white" east side? I think so.

Yes, it's true that cops often cover for other cops, but my gut tells me that's not the case here. Could it have been handled in a way that no one would have died? Perhaps. The civil case will be the major news story throughout 2010, so if you're sick of hearing about it, move. Or, if you're like me, nod off and wake occasionally to see if the landscape has changed. However, it seldom does around here.

As I wrote in November, Pastor Brown is sure to see dollar signs and keep the controversy alive. Religion is a very lucrative business. If you don't believe that, just look at the clothes, cars, jewelry, etc. he and his family are "blessed" with in doing the Lord's work. They seem to be doing awfully well as humble servants of low-income parishioners.

However, there remains one question the Browns are hoping no one will ask: Who allowed Barmore into the day care, thus endangering the children entrusted to the House of Grace? Again I ask, where is the class action suit against the day care from the parents of these children put in harm's way?

Perhaps it is one thing if Barmore sought sanctuary in the church itself, but it's quite another to barricade oneself in the midst of children. Then, factor in that North and Poole were advised he may have been armed, and you've got a real situation on your hands-one that needed to be diffused decisively under the circumstances.

As the lone voices alleging wrongdoing on the part of North and Poole, it is very telling that the apostle's wife and daughter, Sheila and Marissa, decided not to show up to provide testimony under oath to the grand jury last week. They have legal representation, so they knew what they were getting into by keeping their holiday vacation plans instead.

It is obvious they were advised it's better to face contempt-of-court than to lie under oath and face perjury charges. They'll use whatever penalties they face to their own advantage. Then, they'll be on the offensive in the civil case, without having to be called liars by the grand jury. They might even win some money, but I'm sure it'll be used for the Lord's work to bring healing to the divided Rockford community.

I'm going back to bed, but stay tuned.

Where to begin?

A few of you precocious little Patriots just won't leave me alone. It seems I have no choice but to emerge from my hibernation early as another election season looms on the horizon of the new year. I'm cranky, ruthlessly drunk and likely to maul any poor bastard who dares speak a word to me before before I've had my breakfast.

Brunch is served.

I see not much has changed since I nodded off after my last post in September. Main Street is still closed downtown, the city is still spending money it doesn't have, Ted Biondo is still on the county board and Apostle Brown is still trying to stretch his 15 minutes into a miniseries.

The vaults under the downtown pedestrian mall must have been a problem, indeed. This project was supposed to be finished by around Labor Day. I suspect we'll be seeing some more quietly-presented, vaguely-described change orders in days to come, for overruns the mayor isn't gonna be proud of. Don't expect aldermen to call him on it, though. Like the Metrocentre, it's a commitment they'll all have to bear like a colostomy bag.

Aldermen have other ways of getting even, but the net effect will be a tax increase. This week, they commandeered a $600,000 debt payment, because they're banking on the federal or state government swooping in to pay the city's bills.

Instead of being responsible stewards of tax dollars, William Charles will probably get the $600,000 to resurface streets the city's most influential constituents live on, and the bond payment will still have to be made somehow. If I had to guess, either a bunch more non-union employees are going to lose their jobs, or your taxes will pick up the slack.

Being a holiday week, I'm using some vacation days before the end of the year. I plan on being up all night. After all, someone has to make the Bloody Mary's at 6AM when the zombies start filing in for political tailgating. Later this morning, Ted Biondo will probably be ordered off the county board by a judge. We want to be there when it happens, but metal detectors and armed deputies in the lobby could be difficult to get by with straight faces stuffed with Lion's Club mints to hide the unmistakable stench of drunkenness.
We're not celebrating because we dislike Ted, but because we finally might catch a glimpse of the elusive Carolynus Gardnerus soon . This bottom-feeding Democratic specimen is finally gonna have to come out from behind Dan Lewandowski's apron. No newspaper or TV station has been able to find her in the many months this scumbaggery has dragged on. What's she gonna do when she actually has to show up for a board meeting? Shit, she might even have to move back into her district. Being a county board member is hard.

Ted, we'll see you back on the board next year after you've spanked Gardner back into the subservient obscurity she's earned.

For at least a month now, reports have been leaking out alleging that Mark Anthony Barmore had powder burns on his hand, which would tend to support the officers' account that the member of Pastor Melvin Brown's flock had his hand on a gun in the scuffle that left him shot to death by police. Brown still calls the shooting a murder, but an investigation is ongoing.

Meanwhile, I'm sure the Apostle is scheming to keep the gravy train flowing. For a related story on RRStar.com recently, a reader suggested in a comment that Brown keeps yelling "murder" to deflect attention away from the fact this his wife allegedly let Barmore into the building/day care. The reader went on to wonder why none of the parents of the children in the day care were questioning why Barmore was welcomed into the building. Why, indeed.

It's even been suggested that Brown allegedly paid Jesse Jackson to bring his fish and goose soiree to Rockford. By the way, I wasn't the only one who thought Jesse was drunk when he spoke during city council. A source tells me Jackson allegedly smelled of booze in the hours before his comments.

That aside, the black community has some good points, even if they might have picked the wrong battle in this instance. When you have cops investigating cops, it's pretty safe to assume any use of force will be deemed justified. But even Ann Thompson-Kelly (the alderman with perma-surprise, apparently courtesy of cosmetic surgery) backed down from the NAACP's idea of a police review board made up of citizens. Instead, she decided it's enough to just talk with police, and the best chance the the community has ever had for a civilian review in use-of-force cases has been frittered away.

I don't look forward to the announcement of justifiable homicide in the Barmore case, even if it's true. It's not likely to ease perceived racial tension, and I suspect Brown is salivating. This is just getting started, unfortunately.

Cripes. If you don't pay attention to national news, you might have missed that Congressman Don Manzullo called Islam a "savage religion." Wow.

WREX managed to catch Don saying this. Naturally, because Ch. 13 had the scoop, it went almost ignored by the other local media, but it made big news nationally. The congressman who once ran on term limits has since backpedaled, saying the comment only applied to the Guantanamo detainees.

Unless I'm mistaken, Manzullo has a law degree laying around somewhere. In his strictly anti-Obama stance on the prospect of detainees being moved to Thomson, IL, Don appears to be forgetting the inconvenient matter of due process in his assumptions, while apparently doubting the local labor force is capable of keeping potentially dangerous terrorists from escaping from locked metal boxes.

Manzullo's archaic arguments imply housing the detainees in his district will somehow turn the rural town into a target for terrorists--LOL

What the Thomson deal really tells me is that Manzullo has gained absolutely no respect from colleagues during his years in Congress. Obama is basically shitting in Manzullo's back yard, Don thinks, and I suspect that's indicative of a need for stronger leadership in the 16th District.

We'll get into some of the election stuff later, once I've coughed all the bong resin from my lungs and wiped the cobwebs from my eyes.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
-Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear