Sucks To Be You, Ramsey

There's nothing funny about this incident, in which Philadelphia police are videotaped brutally beating suspects. But at the same time, you can't help but smirk a little when something like this happens... and it's NOT in DC. So nyah nyah to you Philly, you're stuck with our sloppy seconds in charge of your police department, and look what's happened already! Hey, you guys don't happen to be looking for a new CFO too, do you? We got one who's got about 50 million reasons to be looking for a new job. You can have him, cheap. Expect a resume soon.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the video, which was taken from a local news channel's traffic helicopter, it's pretty shocking. Up to 15 policemen are captured on film beating, kicking and generally assaulting three suspects after pulling them from their car. Chief Ramsey, stating the blindingly obvious, said in a TV interview on Tuesday, "The video kind of speaks for itself." Umm, yeah. While promising a full investigation, Ramsey and the Mayor almost try to excuse the incident, saying it might have been related to stress because of the murder of a police officer over the weekend. As it turns out, though, these people weren't even suspects in that particular case.

Worst of all, while everyone else in the world seems to think this is news, if you were to just read the Philadelphia Inquirer online, you'd probably not even notice the story. It's more than halfway down the page, well "below the fold." Apparently, the big print is reserved for such important stories as "Harried Homeowners Seek Out Help," and "Phil Sheridan: The Flyers' Hatcher is tough, and then some" today. I archived the page here in case you aren't reading this today.