Cops As Judge And Jury

Even though a charred body bearing the drivers license of Christopher Dorner was found in the burned out cabin, don't bet the case is over.

A little research into his pre-manifesto days indicates Mr. Dorner was a less than stable individual. Police records show he had troubles from the very beginning. Everyone was against him.  In other words he saw himself as a victim.  His problems extended into his private life with a failed marriage and a restraining order against an ex-girlfriend.

After having completed military service he had more trouble fitting in. His police department probation was extended to the point he had to patrol with a training officer. One wonders why he was even on the force with his penchant for filing apparently unfounded grievances.

Somewhere in his twisted mind he decided to kill those who caused him so much pain. He had to know he wasn't likely to survive.  The police community is extremely tight knit and doesn't take kindly to their own being targeted, what's more killed. Going after family members make it worse.

I understand that community being angry and scared.  The chief says he was highly trained but the evidence suggests otherwise.  He struggled with the basics.  Never-the-less he was armed and dangerous and the police were on edge making a volatile situation.

So finally they think they have him surrounded in a cabin.  They try to smoke him out with tear gas and make no headway.  They resort to incendiary tear gas which they knew would ignite the cabin into an inferno.  They had to know he'd not escape it.

The question I have is if this was the proper course.  Had he not been an ex-cop having killed a number of their own would they have used the same tactic or would they have called in a team to try and negotiate with him to surrender?  Did he not have the right to a trial by jury?  Did they want to exact revenge rather than seek justice?

He was obviously unbalanced.  No one questions that.  He killed.  No one questions that.  But did the authorities have the right to use a tactic that practically guaranteed his death without exhausting every other approach?

In some of your minds I'm sure you feel they had every right. To those who already have a fear and/or loathing of the police, however, I fear it will be seen as one more instance of overkill, pardon the pun, and do nothing to change those minds about the brutal excesses of authority.

I don't view it as a winning situation for either Mr. Dorner nor the police. Certainly not Mr. Dorner who  is presumed dead.  The only plus side is they didn't resort to using an armed drone.  But only, I suspect, because, as of yet, they don't have them.

What's Happening To Us?

Our country seems to be suffering mood swings. Tomorrow brings the State of the Union address which I expect to be contentious, insulting to the Republicans and to our collective intellect. The aftermath too will be contentious. Some of which is valid.

There is good reason to question the credentials of those chosen to fill cabinet vacancies.  There is good reason to still be angry over Benghazi.  There is good reason to be disgusted with Congress as a whole.

When I read about people who lift my spirits like Dr. Ben Carson yesterday and new Medal of Honor winner Clinton Romesha today, the brief moment of brightness swings to the dark side of our psyche.

How many gun crimes have we had since Sandy Hook?  Several, including yet another today.  The one getting the most attention however, is the former sailor and police officer who has definitely gone over to the dark side. Whether or not Chris Dorner was rightfully or wrongly accused of filing a false report about a fellow officer is an internal problem.  No matter how unjust he felt the outcome, he does not have the right to punish the entire police community by killing them.  That's an understatement if ever there was one. He has obviously lost it and certainly qualifies as one who should not have access to guns.  But he does.

Then I ask, why is there a Facebook page called We are all Chris Dorner full of support for him and against the police? He's being turned into some kind of sick cult hero by equally disenfranchised fans. What kind of people do this?  How many of us really have such deep seated resentment of authority and more importantly, why?  It's crazy!

In a another vein there is the disintegration of our culture and what is and is not acceptable.  Anything goes.  Everything is funny.  If it isn't racist of course.  Take the Justin Bieber skit on Saturday Night Live. He pulls out the waistband of his trousers, sticks his camera in and, wink, wink, takes a photo and tells Hillary to check her e-mail.



He's an eighteen year old kid of questionable talent and appeal.  I cannot believe the producers of Saturday Night Live thought this was appropriate under any circumstance and is certainly demeaning to Mrs. Clinton.  I may not care for her political views but I do respect what she has accomplished for herself. And so should 18 year old Canadians.

I certainly hope Mr. Bieber is not in our country on one of our questionably named genius visas!  Maybe he could share a plane with Piers Morgan and the can both exit the country via Toronto so Mr. Bieber can get off.

I don't know any more.  I get on one of my rants and realize it's an age thing.  My generation has different values and we're seeing them disappear and can do nothing.  I will never stop wondering what brought about the change, where we lost our direction.  Sometimes I think we took the wish to have a better life for our kids farther than we should have and threw caution to the wind in favor of indulgence.

It's beginning to remind me of Sodom and Gomorrah. I'm wondering if two men will appear to give us our due.  If any of us are lucky enough to escape the wrath remember to not look back. That pillar of salt would be bad for the diet. So say the PC police.  Politically correct.  Where are they when they could do some good?

Black And Not At All Scary

Not long ago a member of a local school board was at a public forum where guns were being discussed.   He quoted an incident where he described them as being black and scary and his wife had quipped that so was Obama.

You would not believe the charges of racism and insensitivity this generated. For the record, it is a comment I'd likely have made to Hub under similar circumstances.  Obama is black and his policies are scary.  That's the point that was missed.  His  policies.  Not the fact he is black.

Oh, my, the race card is alive and well.  What is needed to squelch the nonsense? Perhaps more blacks having the courage to speak out.  Enter Dr. Ben Carson and his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast.

Best known, I believe, for his work on separating co-joined twins,  this John Hopkins neurosurgeon will soon be known for a whole lot more. He's my new hero as a practitioner of truth and common sense.

There he stood at the podium, President Obama to his left as you faced them, saying this country does have a debt problem. That our educational system is sorely lacking. There are more simple answers to health care than those being imposed on us.  Admitting he was politically incorrect, he also made clear he was not apologizing for it.  He emphasized that we need truth in what we speak, not pandering.

Every time a person of color steps to the fore I am encouraged.  In the recent past we've had Alan West and Herman Cain and more recently Tim Scott. They are as good an example of "everyman" that I can think of.  They believe in the greatness of our country and worry about the path on which we're being taken.  They speak truth for all of us, not just people of color nor minorities and we need more of them. We need them shouting so the accusation of racism is drowned out.

We don't need more poll workers who brag about having voted twice for the President plus a few extra times for various family members who pass through her home on occasion.  We don't need voters who vote for the President because there was a free cell phone in it for them.  We don't need voters who vote because of color be it black or white, or any other, as the sole reason.  We don't need people of color being told they aren't black enough should they disagree with the President.  These are the people who are racist.

It would be note worthy if the President listened to what Dr. Carson had to say and actually found merit in it but I'm willing to bet he did not.  He isn't a listener. He has a single minded vision and strategy and no amount of talk is going to change it unless, maybe, it comes from someone he really respects.  So far, however, he hasn't shown any respect for people who disagree with him.

It's a start though, when a man such as Dr. Carson will stand before him, as one of his own, and tell him that in many respects he is wrong. The message wasn't delivered to people of color in particular, it was aimed at all of us.  It would be helpful, though, if those of color who did listen would see the merit of his critiques and step forward in agreement.

It wouldn't be racist.  It would be patriotic.

That's A Lot Of Bullets!

When I read that Janet Napolitano is considering a run for President I cringed. I've not been a fan of her policies but then there are few coming from this administration of which I am a fan.

That being said, I began to wonder about our current debate over gun control and what the actions of the department of Homeland Security would mean to us under a Napolitano presidency.

It seems they have a stockpile of 1.6 billion rounds on ammunition acquired over the past 10 months. They are now ready to acquire 21.6 million more! Do you know how many wars can be fought with that amount? Using numbers from the height of action in Iraq when U.S. soldiers used 5.5 million a month it comes out to be enough for about 30 years.

Even with selling guns to follow the Mexican drug cartels, I should hope we're not selling them the ammunition too!  Nor are we doing much to secure the border thus not needing huge numbers of rounds there.  So what's the deal?

Are they expecting the citizenry to rise up in rebellion?  Is homegrown terrorism vast enough to warrant supplying armies?  Sure there have at times been a shortage of bullets, but that usually comes about when the government makes noises about relieving us of our weapons.

Other than that the reason for such largess escapes me.  Do they fear an invasion?  If so from whom and wouldn't the military be handling it anyway?  Do they think the rag tag militias are suddenly going to band together and take on the government from within?  I know they think they can, but that's where it mostly ends.  Wishful thinking.

It could be for training purposes, but not that many and certainly they don't need hollow points for target practice.

So why? Are they that afraid of us?  Talk about paranoia.  It's usually we the people who are thus accused, not the government.  Just think.  In this time of budgetary constraints, think of the money that could be saved by not stockpiling!

Better yet, think about what a Napolitano presidency would mean.  It's bad enough to relinquish your rights when you have to fly. But to know the weaponry that those who are supposedly there to protect us but are really enforcers of unpopular policy have available to them?

With news like this making the rounds, don't expect attempts at limiting our access to automatic weapons and fistfuls of bullets to get any easier!

Iran To The U.S. ~ Up Yours!

As the world watches, they see the U.S. becoming weaker and weaker.  They know now, after  Secretary of Defense Panetta's testimony, that Obama wasn't glued to his seat as the Benghazi debacle unfolded as he had been with bin Laden.  After all, in this case it was our people under attack.

They also have it confirmed that Hillary was no where to be found.  They also know that she had next to no power, it being held close to the vest in the White House. Being a much traveled super star was no more than that.

For what ever reason, we've decided to make delivery of tanks and fighters plus millions in military aid to Egypt even though their only use for them is against Israel. Turkey at least has a few anti-missile batteries to protect it's already over run borders from Syria.  Which, by the way, continues to disintegrate.  Don't forget about our support of Algeria and Mali in their struggle against terrorists if you can find any.

We have a potential head of the CIA in favor of using drones to attack American citizens on singular discretion without consequence and a potential Secretary of Defense who favors dialog over action when it comes to Iran's nuclear program.

North Korea is threatening us again.  They'd like us to believe their people are dreaming of nuclear attacks against our cities.  The problem with their propaganda video is that the people no doubt do dream of it because they've been so ordered plus no way to know that thinking of the U.S. as their enemy can and should be challenged.

We constantly suffer verbal abuse and contempt from Afghanistan's President Karzai.

Finally, in an attempt to lay some ground work for our new Secretary of State, John Kerry, Vice President Biden has suggested more talks with Iran.  It was one thing when Ahmadinejad refused us, but now the man behind the throne, but now the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei  has sent us packing.  He had this to say, "You take up arms against the nation of Iran and say negotiate or we fire."

We have tried sanctions with no success.  We don't seem to understand governments like Iran's could care less if their people suffer.  Look at North Korea.  Look at Syria.  They all have the same mind set and they all have as their allies pro active partners in Russia and China.

The West worries about Iran's enrichment program but Iran has the right to do just that.  The West also wants Iran to take the first steps of scaling back in return for the easing of sanctions, but without guarantee.

They aren't unlike us holding our ground about the taking away of our rights as in the gun control debate especially since the government seems unwilling to address the whole issue before taking what many see is unjust punitive steps for no concrete gain and unconstitutional at that.

The West is also looking for the U.S. to lead in finding an acceptable solution.  One of these days they will realize it isn't likely to happen.  When you have your enemy against the ropes there is no need to compromise.  Iran knows they have us in just that spot.  Pretending it isn't true and continuing with the same tactic will do nothing more than delay the inevitable ~ Iran will get their weapon.

Then the whole dance will begin again over containment.  Do we have a policy for that? At his hearing for Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel didn't seem to know.  If containment is our policy you might want to hope a greater power is on our side.