Mission Statement: This blog reviews the news of the day in light of 242 years of American history. "Nationalism," a modern day pejorative, has been our country's politic throughout history, until 2008. Obama changed that narrative. Trump is seeking a return to our historical roots. Midknight Review supports this return to normality.
July 1, 2012, the man had a pocket knife, was shot at 46 times, hit 14 times. This Right Winger (that would be me) thinks there has to be a better way than this. I my opinion, this was a cold blooded killing.
Before my Right Wing brothers start their ranting about my "compromise," the reader should know that I am not allowing any posted comments. Decide for yourselves, as you remember the man was mentally ill and was using the knife to fend off the police dog. Absolutely no one's life was in danger except the man in the middle of the street, about to become target practice for a group of cops who, obviously, needed to be spending time in the gym.
Once in a while, we have a Ruby Ridge or Waco, Texas -- incidents that ended in tragedy and injustice, when that did not need to be the case. While Ferguson does not appear to be in this discussion, certainly and from time to time, we have these examples of the criminal abuse of power.
Several years ago, in Delano, California, not far from my home town, the police raided a house, believing it to the home of a drug dealer. They shot the owner to death, stopping to reload their guns as they continued shooting, even after he had fallen back into his bed. As it turned out, they were in the wrong house, and the drug dealer was grandfather of six.
While police officers are not paid what they are worth (not even close), still, injustice happens, and our police force is "packing heat," the result can be horrendous.
Rather than divide into "blacks versus whites," in such matters, we should all work together to insure such tragedies do not happen. Keep in mind that ciminal injustice is not limited to the black community, ala Ruby Ridge and Waco. There is no excuse, however, for taking sides, and making decisions based on color. Antagonists such as Al Sharpton and/or the New Black Panthers, should have no place in the subsequent dialogue. At the same time, the families of those involved, should know that there are those who see the injustice and are angered by it. Rather than dividing us into opposing camps, we all should be working together, with our police force(s), to solves these problems and make restitution.
Before my Right Wing brothers start their ranting about my "compromise," the reader should know that I am not allowing any posted comments. Decide for yourselves, as you remember the man was mentally ill and was using the knife to fend off the police dog. Absolutely no one's life was in danger except the man in the middle of the street, about to become target practice for a group of cops who, obviously, needed to be spending time in the gym.
ReplyDeleteOnce in a while, we have a Ruby Ridge or Waco, Texas -- incidents that ended in tragedy and injustice, when that did not need to be the case. While Ferguson does not appear to be in this discussion, certainly and from time to time, we have these examples of the criminal abuse of power.
Several years ago, in Delano, California, not far from my home town, the police raided a house, believing it to the home of a drug dealer. They shot the owner to death, stopping to reload their guns as they continued shooting, even after he had fallen back into his bed. As it turned out, they were in the wrong house, and the drug dealer was grandfather of six.
While police officers are not paid what they are worth (not even close), still, injustice happens, and our police force is "packing heat," the result can be horrendous.
Rather than divide into "blacks versus whites," in such matters, we should all work together to insure such tragedies do not happen. Keep in mind that ciminal injustice is not limited to the black community, ala Ruby Ridge and Waco. There is no excuse, however, for taking sides, and making decisions based on color. Antagonists such as Al Sharpton and/or the New Black Panthers, should have no place in the subsequent dialogue. At the same time, the families of those involved, should know that there are those who see the injustice and are angered by it. Rather than dividing us into opposing camps, we all should be working together, with our police force(s), to solves these problems and make restitution.
I will add one question: Was this police force so retarded that it's arsenal did not include stun guns?
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