I never thought of it that way, but I've been hearing Jay Nixon's name all my life. He would likley be offended by a Richard Nixon comparison. As DH said, the National Gaurd is supposed to just be providing security for the police command center.
I think people outside of St. Louis can't really understand the dynamics at play here. I think in most places the city of Ferguson wouldn't exist. It would simply be a neighborhood of a larger city. St. Louis is a big town, the 19th largest metropolitan area in the country with a population of about 3million people. The actual City of St. Louis is one of only 3 independent cities in the nation. It is a seperate entity that is surrounded by, but not part of, St. Louis county. St. Louis County is divided up into 90+ cities with 70+ different police departments. In many of these municipalities fines and court fees from traffic stops account for up to 50% of their budget.
In a situation like this a breakdown in the chain of command is bound to happen. A city like Ferguson has a small town police department dealing with big city problems. It's not as like Ferguson is a small town in out-state Missouri. It is a small municipality that is in the heart of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. There is not good cooperation between the cities. No one wants to give up their power and control and the various cities are constantly competing against each other instead of working together.
Another problem is that many of the cops don't live in the city they are actually policing. The officer who shot Mike Brown lives (lived) in my neighborhood, a town that is 99% white, while working in a town that is 70% black. My point being that often the police have no vested interest in the city they are patrolling and often times there is an "us vs. them" mentality instead of a "protect and serve my community" mentality.
I don't pretend to know the facts of the initial incident. The facts are not, and may never be, known. What I do know is this was a terrible situation made worse by a completely inept police department and then made worse further still by opportunists looking for excuses. People have taken sides based on opinion and prejudice, not facts. The metro area is divided, people are digging in on their posistions and it's hard to see any good coming from it.
