East St. Louis

East St. Louis.  A little town on the banks of the Mississippi, just across from that other St. Louis, seems to be experiencing some problems.  Gang problems, juvenile problems, parenting problems.  Government problems.  The mayor of the city, whom I'm virtually certain is a Democrat, is announcing some extreme measures to gain control of his city.

**Minors are to be off the streets at ten o’clock on both weeknights and weekend nights.
**Minors on the street during school hours will be arrested on sight.
**Police will also perform I.D. checks on street corners and conduct gun searches, and Parks says he won’t hesitate to call in the National Guard if the spike in violence continues.
East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks announcing crackdown on youth violence “The loiterers will be arrested, not warned, but arrested. Those who are hanging out at 11th and Bond, 15th and Lynch, 38th and Waverly, wherever you happen to be, if you are loitering, you will be arrested.”

Sounds extreme, doesn't it? Yeah, I thought so too, but then we get to the most racist part of the whole order. ID cards.

“Vehicles that are moving will be stopped and searched for guns, weapons, drugs, and open alcohol and any other violations that are taking place,” Parks later told KMOX’s Mark Reardon. “People who are walking, people who are bicycling, can be stopped and searched for the same and, when it comes to state IDs, we’re going to be confirming that state IDs are in place for everyone involved.”

Wait a minute! ID Cards? But those are racist. They suppress the minority vote. And how are all those Democrats going to vote if they're locked up in the local jail? Without the ID Cards you won't even be able to walk down the street, much less pull a voting lever.

Just so you don't think that the Mayor of East St. Louis is an old Bull Conner guy, a picture would help.

I notice that he's wearing a blue suit and a red tie.  If I were the cops, I'd ask for his ID, then lock him up for wearing gang colors.  The best quote today is from the Gun Counter forum.

State ID cards are those magical objects that this mayor decrees that everyone MUST have just for the privilege of walking around ....but if certain people are asked to show these IDs for voting they transform into symbols of racist voter suppression. Or something.

Welcome to the Police State. Of course, in Illinois the Constitution hasn't been in effect for several decades.