Let me be clear. I am not saying CNN is putting out worse lies than FOX on Darren Wilson - MIchael Brown case. But their "even handed" treatment , at least as perceived by the mainstream, is actually pretty much one sided in Wilson's favor. It's like someone on CNN got pissed that they overplayed the gentle giant talking points put out a little disingenuously by Dorian Johnson , felt burned by it, and are now going way too much to favor the Wilson side.
They keep trotting out that freaking lawyer who defended Trayvon Martin's killer for his expert advice. In this country, they couldn't find a SINGLE LAWYER who is respected and could give expert advice. Tone deaf much???? I don't give a damn if Mark O Meara is a soft spoken genial looking guy. For CNN to use this guy as their prominent legal expert is a slap in the face.
I have put out a prior diary bashing CNN about the one sided interpretation of the leaked facts. Finally CNN put out an angry but very straightforward articulate and credible (to me at least) activist, Bassem Masri. He was impressive in not backing down and was able to counter every single point made by the increasingly smug Scermonish.
Then they keep having this guy Democratic Missouri State Rep. Jeff Roorda who is accorded a lot more respect than Masri despite the fact that this guy keeps demonizing the protestors and shows not a single iota of regret and would not even concede that one could always reexamine procedures. This guy is so smug that I am ashamed of the democratic party in Missouri. No one ever challenges him when he states as fact that Brown reached for the gun. Forensics can only say Brown's hand at some point was near the gun when shot. It doesn't prove in any way that Brown was reaching for a holstered gun in an aggressive way. It could have been defensive to avoid getting shot. They let this guy Roorda get away with so much.
Back to Masri. Smerconish kept asking why he would not listen to Brown family's plea for peace. Brown's dad is representing his son in public. He can't show the true anger he feels. And even if he felt that way, we are still free to express our own anger. Masri was excellent in admitting that he let loose in the anger of the moment and that even if it is out of line, it is still freedom of speech and one should not worry about words and one should be more worried about unarmed people getting killed. Masri said in a free country he is free to express his anger as long as it is just words . Masri also added that they were taking de-escalation classes. Masri said that why should he wait for evidence because there is no evidence that can justify an UNARMED GUY not in close proximity being shot to DEATH. Masri worded it in a way that it made even the initial tussle irrelevant because any fair minded cop should not take his anger out on a fleeing guy who just turned back to surrender. He just said it like it is and I admire him for not putting up a front on TV. Smerconish makes a stupid analogy to shouting fire in a theater. Masri wasn't fooling anyone by saying "oh the cops are shooting at protestor A" and inciting a riot based on that lie. So the analogy doesn't wash. A protest is not just meant to be Gandhian like. For some people, it is a peaceful way to express their anger in words.
Smerconish kept talking about waiting for the evidence to show up. What evidence? the one where nothing was disclosed to the public so Wilsoin had the time to tailor his narrative around what they can present as evidence? And let's be blunt. Even if there is audio of Wilson saying in the transmitter(how convenient for htem that the channel changes mid tussle) that Brown is reaching for the gun, THAT IS NOT FOOL PROOF EVIDENCE based on more than one precedent of cops lying ON VIDEO that the person they were apprehending was reaching for the gun or resisting or attacking the cops when the video showed clearly none of that was happening. Cops are so good at lying, they do it in the heat of the moment instead of cooking up a lie later. Yet, CNN never brings up any of these precdents of cops being caught many times lying about the victim reaching for a weapon or resisting. Not once was Jeff Roorda confronted with this and asked why they should treat Wilson's interpretation as the holy grail of evidence.
[UPDATE]: THanks to the readers for fixing some of my typos. Also, thanks to DHARMAFARMER for providing the link of the video I was referring to.
Darren Wilson is going to walk free. Count on it. Scermonish and other CNN talking heads can talk about open minds all they want but they are reckless when they fail to say that this is unusual for a prosecutor to throw everything at a jury and letting Wilsoin testify uncontested(Without being cross examined by a prosecutor who gives a damn). How is that not tainting the whole picture? I seriously doubt they let someone sympathetic to Brown testify.
CNN just lacks the will and the talent required to combat this propaganda put out by the cops.