April 19, 2013

  • Numb , but not speechless.

    Terrorists are not to be taken lightly. The two men considered to be responsible for the bombings in Boston are no exception. One of the suspects is now dead. The other one is being sought.

    In this effort, many citizens have been in peril from the myriad of “cowboys’ with heavy armaments out to prove they possess dicks that are slightly larger than a cocktail wiener. The membership of the NRA must be having paroxysms of pure ad unadulterated joy and self satisfaction. Of course, this is Hollywood and television come to life. America loves a showdown - the high speed death that leads to innocent victims being killed, and lives put in danger when perhaps a select few men in blue would be even more productive.

    In Wichita, last year, heavily armed police shot an angry woman who was brandishing a knife. That middle-aged old woman should have know better than to take a knife to a gun fight. The police were, of course, exonerated. Last year, yet another speed chase left the driver and passenger of an otherwise uninvolved couple dead when the police car struck their car. The police were, of course, exonerated.

    In the wee hours of the morning, twenty blocks of a Boston suburb were locked down while guns blazed and valiant men in blue were involved I a firefight. That left one suspect dead. We are now free to make up our own story as to this man’s original intent; to spin the story to our liking, as it were. No sense in winging the man, disarming him and taking him into custody. He had to die so we as a society could feel safe????

    Then came the spin. I heard the same “breaking news” 15 times between 3:30 and 7 in the morning. Rightfully, this should have be stated once as breaking news, and 14 times as a repeat of the earlier breaking news.

    News people on several channels stated: This is what we know. They knew noting, and the next words verified their ignorance.

    There was a clip of the Chief of Police saying, in effect, that he had ideas, but could confirm nothing. That, then, became “ what we know ….?”

    Later:

    What we know is, blah, blah, blah. We have a first hand account of a well dressed man who saw nothing. That makes our story better than the other channel where thy reported talking to an poorly dressed bag lady who saw nothing. Add to this, it could be two guys who were domestic terrorists, be Tom McVey had ten toes, and we now know that the dead suspect had ten toes.

    Later:

    It seems these are two brothers who may have been in our country for a year, or maybe two years, or a decade. They are believed to have come here from Chechnya where there father was a Chicken farmer, or a Chechen, or something. This is what we know so far.

    Later:

    Boston was on lockdown from these terrorists.

    Better stated: Bostonians were terrorized by an army of trigger Dirty Harry Macho types who were as potentially as dangerous at the 19- and 20-year old suspects they sought.

    Good police work DOES NOT demand this kind of operation. The suspects were/are dangerous. Another man was killed, and another man wounded, by these two men. The suspects were worthy of being captured and the public safety secured. That is unequivocal. But there were safer ways to achieve this end, but Americans prefer the blood and guts; unless they happen to be the innocent bystander who gets in the crosshairs of an anxious, adrenaline pumped police force.

    In the early hours of this morning, two people were shot in Wichita, miles apart. One is dead. Our police force was out in large numbers, armed to the teeth like our fighting men and women in Afghanistan. The chief of police says the two incidents may be linked. He doesn’t know, can’t say for sure, but anything is possible. We had a couple of shootings last week. One lady’s home was invaded. She had her own gun. The bad guys took the gun from her and shot her with her own gun. Kansans are getting gun permits by the thousands per month. The lunacy grows, the fear grows, the obsession grows.

    In a letter to the editor in today’s Wichita Eagle, a man says he has a gun for his own protection, and no one has the right to take it away from him, and that he will never use it irresponsibly. Last month, a 4-year old was killed by his brother because the old child got a hold of his father’s gun. A person may be responsible for handling their own weapon, even one kept under lock and key, but locks are made to b broken, and nothing is ever certain.

    My friend, Phil, has a hand gun and a shotgun. He feels safe, and may be if he gets robbed while he’s home, and if he is near his gun, and if the bad guys don’t shot him first.

    I hope he never gets robbed and has occasion to find out that in his naiveté his sense of security might only be an illusion.

    I wonder if America dare ask why other people would do such a thing? Why in a weak economy we have an increasing crime rate? Why people from other countries seem to dislike us so?