Not a good week for race relations in America. Two more black men killed by the police that seemed unjustified. Then the killing of 5 policemen in Dallas by an apparent deranged man bent on killing white cops. All so senseless. I don't have solutions here, just to offer my view of things.
First, as I said before, if police killing black men are so frequent today, how frequent was it when there was no cell phones to capture these incidents. You would think that racists cops know that the likelihood that they are being filmed is so much higher today that they have to pull back. I think some, if not most of the time, it is not racism but stereotyping of black men as being dangerous. So some cops overreact and lead to unnecessary violence. I think better training may help decrease some of these incidents.
The killing of officers in Dallas appear to be the work of one individual. This had nothing to do with the protest itself. This killer just used the protest as an excuse and an opportunity. So the protests are still justified. But if I was a leader in the protest movement, I would hold off a few days to mourn the officers and let law enforcement have a chance to take a breath. I think all those good guys who are protecting us deserve a break.
The killer was a veteran and had no criminal record. He had no terrorist connections. So no background check would have stopped him from purchasing a gun. That is why there is no reason to allow anyone to buy assault weapons. Those are not used for hunting or sports. They are just killing machines. If the NRA say that law abiding citizen should have the right to buy these weapons, I say this guy was law abiding until he killed the officers. He would have been stopped by the police before so many were killed or injured if he only had a hunting rifle.
I wonder about using a robot bomb to kill the killer. I take the police's word that it was the best way under the circumstance. But I think we need to look into this farther to see if trying to wait him out would have worked. I don't mourn the loss of this guy but at the time it was not definite that he acted alone so having him alive was important. Also using this to kill a civilian citizen is opening a Pandora's box from which there is no return.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
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Last week was a rough week. I have friends who are black and I also have friends who are cops, so I feel like I am in the middle. I don't think things are as bad in our society as it is depicted. I think that the media makes things worse because it polarizes people.
ReplyDeleteSo I think that it triggers strong feelings in people that already have extreme views on these things. I think, and hope, that people who can check themselves can see that all lives matter and that there are more good people than there are bad.
I know that my police friends have pre-conceived notions on people. I don't know if you can call it profiling or if it's just part of their training, since they are constantly on their toes and in anticipation for something to happen.
From what I've seen in the videos, I can't see any justification on the shootings. You might have a case for the guy who shot the guy in the car. But even in that instance, he should have had some restraint. Plus, the officer just stood there pointing the gun even after he shot him and didn't try to save his life.
As far as the shooting in Baton Rouge, I don't understand the need to shoot the suspect while he was already on the ground. The weird thing is that I heard that there were no body cameras on these guys, because they allegedly fell off. Seems a little convenient to me. Plus these officers need to go into every situation thinking that they are being filmed, so don't do anything that will get you in trouble.
I was shocked to hear that they used a robot to kill the guy in Dallas. I didn't even know that those things were available. It would have been nice to have captured the gunman but I think that the police were fed up of dealing with him and that fellow officers were already killed. So they took the easy way out and eliminated any more threat.
To your point, it does open up a Pandora's Box. I equate it to using a drone to kill. But I have to guess that it will be a necessary evil in the future. The only problem of course, is that if the technology falls into the wrong hands, it can be bad news.
By the way, the shooting in Dallas by a sniper took me back to the assassination of JFK. At first there were reports that there was more than one shooter last week. Could we be seeing another conspiracy here or are we sure this guy was a lone gunman?
I heard this morning that Bernie Sanders will endorse Clinton tomorrow. I guess it was bound to happen, though I wonder if I would have had more respect for him if he didn't endorse her. I have a lot of friends who do not like her and want her to be jailed. I tend to agree a bit, but also think that if she is not the candidate, that means Sanders is. And I don't know if I want him to be president. I also know that I don't want Trump. So to me, she is the lesser of 3 evils!
-LBOAYM
Well, do your black friends hate cops? Do your cop friends hate black people? If not, then you should not feel you are in the middle. If yes, then you need new friends! I think reasonable people will conclude that most black people are law abiding and don't deserve to be targeted by the police. Reasonable people will conclude that cops have a tough job and most are good cops who should not be vilified. There were some good moments on tv today where a black woman was extremely thankful for the policemen who helped her and her sons survived after they were separated and she was shot by the killer. Two opposing protest groups got together in the middle of the street, stopped their protesting and hugged each other. So there is hope that more people will come to understand each other.
ReplyDeleteThe military has given the police nationwide a lot of left over military equipment, including this robot that was used in Dallas. These equipment maybe of great use in terrorist attacks and you can argue that this is just like a terrorist attack. But in Ferguson they also used a military vehicle, similar to a tank, during the protests. Using these type of equipment against civilians will alienate the population. Even if this use in Dallas is justified, would it lead to a quicker trigger next time?
I don't think Clinton should go to jail. As the FBI said, no reasonable prosecutor would take this case. And even if she is charged, there was no chance she would go to jail unless there was something way more sinister. General Petreus handed over classified information to his mistress and still only got fined and probation. Clinton's action did not come close to that. Colin Powell and a former CIA director, whose name I don't remember, also had been accused of sloppiness with classified information but did not get charged. So, not Clinton should not go to jail. I agree that she is the less of 3 evils.
Well, let me say this: My black friends have a distrust of cops, so I don't know if they hate them. My cop friends have what I consider a bias towards black people. It might be because they work in Detroit or Pontiac where they have to deal with black people all the time. I am sure they don't hate them, but I think they are cautious when they are on the job. I am assuming this is true for anyone they come in contact with while at work.
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think Clinton should be sent to jail, though I think there should be some kind of reprimand. We need to hold our politicians to a higher standard. I guess with all this publicity, it will hurt her in some way. I doesn't help. The meeting that Bill had with Lynch just looks bad. There was no reason, unless it was for national security, that they both should have met in the open. Heck, it would have been risky meeting in private. There are eyes everywhere these days and these type of errors can hurt a campaign.
Who knows, maybe Hillary has as much teflon as Bill. We will see.
So, I hear that Newt Gingrich is campaigning to be the VP nomination. This guy has a ton of baggage and I thought he made a bunch of enemies within the party. It'll be interesting to see if they welcome him back with open arms.
-LBOAYM