The United States Of Insanity

Repeat after me:

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

The more guns we have the safer we are.

Only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun.

Assault rifles are necessary for personal protection.

Everyone should be able to purchase all the guns and ammo they can afford.

Freedom isn't free.

The Second Amendment is the most important amendment.

You must be doing something suspicious for the police to pull you over.

There's something inherently suspicious about black people.

Better to shoot first and ask questions later.

Accidents happen.

All Lives Matter...but obviously some matter more than others.

A Few Bad Apples

Every time a cop shoots an unarmed person--often in the back--or roughs up a bystander, or misbehaves in such an obviously egregious way that even a blind Tea Party Republican can see that it's wrong, we hear the same thing:

"Sure there are a few bad apples, but most of the police are professional and besides they have such a tough job that blah blah blah..."

Some of that might even be true.

But here's the deal:

The police NEVER willingly get rid of any of their "few" bad apples.

On the contrary, they fight like hell to justify the actions of any cop who does anything, no matter how heinous, to anyone.

And so, there's an ever lengthening trail of busted heads and corpses left behind by the seemingly endless supply of "a few bad apples."

An Observation

Isn't it interesting how most, if not all, of the really big money guys turn out to be "boot on their faces" law and order types?

I mean, it's not like the masses ever rise up here in the "Bestest Country There Ever Was Or Ever Could Be."

They're too busy watching various Kardashians cavort for fame and fortune, or the mighty NFL (aka Noted Felons League).

But a little bit of social unrest or the slightest protest, e.g. Occupy Wall Street or Black Lives Matter, and the billionaires get all anxious that maybe the cops aren't being tough enough on the rabble.

Could it be because they know, deep down, that they are guilty of looting the nation's riches?

By rigging the tax codes, buying the Congress, fixing the exchanges, subverting the laws, and all those other "free market" tactics beloved by plutocrats everywhere.

And sooner or later, if the people ever wake up, there won't be enough cops to protect them...

A True "Axis Of Evil"

How about this:

You've got the completely amoral corporations. Whose only goal is to make as much profit as they can in whatever way they can.

Then you've got the amoral corporations' bought and paid for Congressmen and judges. Who do what they're told to do, however detrimental to the nation it may be.

And finally, a militarized police force keeping the rabble in line. A force made up in large part by racists and sociopaths. By the way, the "rabble" includes most of us.

There's your All-American Axis Of Evil.

Works for me.

That Good Ol' Cop Mentality...

I bet you've had a few times in your life when you had to deal with cops.

I know I have.

Sometimes the cops were cool. Sometimes the cops were partial, or complete, assholes.

I never got shot, though.

Because, well, you know...

White Privilege.

Today, thanks to the wonders of technology, a week does not pass without photographic proof that cops kill black people all of the time.

Male and female, young and old, belligerent or not.

Cops kill black people.

Shoot them. Choke them. Beat them.

To pretend that this is not the case, or that this is rare, or that the same thing happens to white people with the same frequency*, is just pure nonsense.

To pretend that this is not a serious problem, and that we don't need to completely reassess how we hire and train policeman, including in-depth psychological evaluations, is insane.

And any politician or pundit--or cop, for that matter--who tells you otherwise is a goddamn liar.

*I have noticed that recently the cops seem to be trying to catch up with their abuse of white folks; but they still have a long, long, long way to go.

When In Doubt, Shoot The Black Guy

There's your American justice system in a nutshell.

I just saved you the cost of several years of law school.

What the hell, here's another:

Rich people are always innocent.

And one more, just for luck:

A white person with a gun is a patriot, a black person--with or without a gun--is a threat.

The Death Penalty

So I guess the penalty for shoplifting now is death.

Selling individual cigarettes on a street? Death.

Running away from a cop? Death.

Running toward a cop? Death.

Resisting arrest? Death.

Being mentally ill in a city park? Death.

(And since the cops are overworked, what with having to learn how to drive tanks and all, thank God for the well armed citizens helping to patrol our streets.)

Wearing a hoodie while carrying some skittles and a soft drink? Death.

Playing your music too loud? Death.

Knocking on someone's door late at night? Death.

Texting in a movie theatre? Death.

Just being "threatening" in general? Death.

Well, it certainly does streamline the criminal code. And apparently we're all OK with that, right?

Right.

Anyway, the fact that a couple of those dead guys were white proves that we live in a post racial society, right?

Right.