Officer Involved

There have been a number of officer involved shootings in the news recently.  Mike Brown and Tamir Rice are two of the more high profile ones, while there are several lesser known officer involved shooting around the country.


We here in Rapid City are no different.  Last night (20 Dec), officers responding to a call wound up shooting and killing a man who allegedly charged them with a knife.


The story is just 12 hours old, and already the parallels between this incident and the ones I mentioned above are already being drawn.


"He didn't have to shoot"


"He could have used a taser"


"He could have shot to wound"


The problem with all the above scenarios is they miss some very salient points. 


1) When being charged by someone with a knife, the Tueller drill becomes very prescient.


2) It's winter time in South Dakota.  This means that heavy outer garments are the order of the day, whether it's a flannel shirt, heavy Carhart-type jackets, or even hoodies.  Prongs from tasers have a hard time penetrating these materials meaning there is absolutely no guarantee that deploying one would have been successful.


3)  Police officers and concealed carriers alike are trained to shoot to stop the threat, whether that takes one shot or 20.  Add to that the adrenaline rush of an unknown situation, the inherent instability of aiming a handgun in a stressful situation, it may take more than one shot to stop the threat.


4) This situation reportedly took place inside a residence.  Adding to the confusion of an unwanted individual in a home, you have all the nooks and crannies of a home that provide little hidey holes for someone to hide in.


Now, since this incident took place in a Native American housing area, the charges of racism on the part of the Rapid City Police are already being thrown about by commenters on Facebook and other outlets, even though the race, age, and other pertinent information about the suspect have not been released by the department.


This coming on the heels of an anti-police brutality march on Friday.


What these protesters and the ones throwing race into this don't tell you is that officer involved shootings are an equal opportunity affair.


In 2012, a man was shot by deputies after leading them on a chase.


Also 2012, a Wyoming man was shot after leading police on a chase.


Then, there's the one that rocked the city in 2011 and left two officers and the suspect dead.


in June of this year, a man ran from police on a four wheeler and pulled a gun.  The results are pretty typical.


2013:  Man with a butcher knife.


Seems to me the one thing all of these incidents have in common is someone was doing something they weren't supposed to and made some bad decisions with weaponry in the face of an armed person.

Talismans

In every conversation that revolves around firearms, particularly with the anti-gun left, the subject always comes around to "if  guns didn't exist, there'd be no more murder" or some close facsimile thereof.

In their minds, the gun is the cause of the crime.  Whether it's an armed robbery, a domestic dispute, or flat out murder; it's always the gun's fault.  The person behind the gun, with evil intent in their heart and on their brain, is completely blameless.

For such a supposedly enlightened bunch, they sure do fixate on the inanimate object first and completely forget about the intent of the person holding it.

Think of it this way.  Millennia ago, our ancestors thought certain objects were imbued with magical powers that could ward off, or attract, all kinds of mythical things.  Rocks, statues, trees,  hills, medallions, and even people were thought to be possessed of these 'powers'.  Though I must give them credit, they aren't the first to think a weapon could imbue power on it's wielder.  Excalibur comes to mind.

To the rest of us, these objects are just that.  Objects.  That possess no power whatsoever.  They may look pretty or may appear scary, but at the end of the day they are still just rocks, statues, trees, hills, medallions, swords, and even guns.

I saw this same mindset 20 yrs ago when I was ordered to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting as part of punishment for an incident I was involved in regarding a drunk SOB who thought my Stetson hat would look better on the floor than on my head.  I heard a bunch of supposedly intelligent people blaming all the ills in their lives on an inanimate bottle of liquor.  The 'Bottle' made me do it, they'd exclaim.  It made me get drunk and get into a fight, or sleep around on my wife, or beat my kids, or drive drunk, I heard around the room.  It was the bottle's fault they were in the mess they were in, not theirs.

Yet these are the same people who will scream about science, and against religion because there can't be any such thing as an all-knowing mythical Old Man in the sky.  Will absolutely rant and rave against religion and spirituality, yet see no hypocrisy in telling everyone that an inanimate object has the power to overtake the free will of the average human being and make them commit murder.

Am I the only one who sees this?

Tag...You're It!

In the wake of the Zimmerman Trial, one word has been thrown out so much it almost doesn't matter anymore.  What you see below started out as a comment to a piece by Thomas Sowell that appeared on last week's editorial page in the Rapid City Journal.  For some reason, the filter on the comments wouldn't allow it, something about it being profane.  So instead, I'll post it hear.

The use of the term 'racist' has been cheapened in the last 5 yrs to the point it's almost pathetic.  I can remember a time in the not-so-distant-past where to be called a racist was a death knell for one's professional career and livelihood and was the proverbial 'scarlet letter' that haunted you for the rest of your days.  Even in the wake of the Paula Dean 'scandal', I wasn't really sure what to make of it.  Everyone screams 'Racist' now.  How do you know if what you're dealing with is actual, you know, Racism? 

David Duke was a racist.  Bull Connor was a racist.  George Wallace was a racist.  Grandma down the street who wants to keep her health care and wants to keep out those who have not come to this country through legal means is now suddenly a racist.  If you believe in the founding principles of this country that the government is supposed to be seen and not heard, you're now a racist.

Not any more.  Any disagreement with a protected minority leads to charges of racism, whether there is any proof of said injustice or not.  Disagree with Dear Leader?  Because Racist!  Disagree with Sharpton/Jackson/et al?  Why, you're a no-good Racist!  Want to discuss actual border security, and not the theater act currently playing the part?  RACIST!  RACIST!  RACIST! 

My personal favorites are if you have a friend of color, you do so because you're a closet racist.  And we can't forget the secret code words that liberals love to ascribe to conservatives like...socialist, or communist, or Chicago, or any other word that gets anointed as such by the slobbering boogereaters over on BSNBC.

Wolf.  That's exactly what the word has become.  Same thing has happened to words like 'nazi' and 'fascist', and is quickly happening to 'communist' and 'socialist'.  People hear them now, they simply shrug their shoulders and move on.

It's become almost a version of Godwin's Law, just replace the word 'nazi' with 'racist'.

QOTD - Me

So I've been following the George Zimmerman thing rather loosely.  I admit, I didn't sit glued to the TV watching every waking second of the trial, but then again, I didn't have to.  This case has been so much a part of the last 18 months, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't heard of it some way, shape, or form.

Now, thanks to Kevin Baker over at The Smallest Minority, I've started reading Thomas Sowell's columns as they appear in my local catbox liner. 

This last week's column was about the Zimmerman case, and Mr. Sowell opined about it.

Evidently, one commentor  to the column didn't much care for his commentary, so he opined:

Yes Mr. Sowell, "this is still America", where like decades and centuries before it still legal to racially profile, stalk, confront, and murder a young black man barely into his 17th year.

Yes Mr. Sowell, "this is still America" where we honor our First Amendment Right and the Freedom of Speech, this freedom also extends to the President, even if he is black

While many people were shocked by the not guilty verdict, I wasn't. There are those that say this case should never have come to trial and I agree with them to a certain degree. This case should never have seen a courtroom because the state of Florida did not want to win it as proven by their shoddy prosecution. Given the facts as we know them, Zimmerman should have been convicted of 2nd degree murder.

All that this trial has proven is that racist murderers enjoy more rights and freedoms than young black teenagers. Conservatives often lament that criminals have to many rights, Zimmerman and his attorneys have proven it to be true.

"Stand Your Ground" should be changed to "Get Out of Jail Free"!

So, I had to pipe in:

You do realize Thomas Sowell is black, right? And that he's 83 yrs old?

He's probably seen more real racism in his life than anyone on these forums, who mostly call racism like Dug hollers 'Squirrel' in the movie 'Up'. 

I think I'll listen to him in these matters over others.

 

The Tally?

Six amendments offered in Reid's bill, S 649 and thus far all have failed.  Some more spectacularly than others.

*Coughfeinsteinbancough*

The last one up is Laughtenburg's perennial magazine capacity ban.  Vote total is 54 against, 46 for.  He can't win for losing with his bill.  You'd think he'd learn, but you and I both know that's just not gonna happen, now is it?

Assault Weapons Ban, v2.0

Debate starting on AWB v.2.0 beginning.  The Sea Hag is speaking now, we've had enough blah blah blah...

Complaining about needing 60 votes to pass..Cry whimper piss and moan.

Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaking against right now.  Passion, I like it!

And the voting begins at 5:23 PM EDT...

And ends at 5:40 PM EDT, it goes down in flames.  60 voting against, 40 voting for.  That's got to sting.

Does His Brain Hear What His Mouth Is Saying?

Watching the votes on the gun bill, and Schumer just got up to rail against Constitutional Carry, saying that felons would be able to go to states like Florida and get a carry permit and be able to legally carry a gun.

What an abject moron.

There isn't a state that allows concealed carry that allows felons to get permits.  Just. Does.  Not.  Happen.  Period.

Waiting on the San Fran Sea Hag's bill to come up for a vote.  Though of the 8 amendments, hers will probably be last.

Been an interesting afternoon so far.  Watched Dingy Harry Reid vote against the Toomey-Manchin 'compromise', and Leahy's bill damn near made the cut, but lost out by two votes.

Anyone Else See These?

So some new-fangled gun control group with a catchy name has a new ad campaign out comparing what's banned at school and trying to gin up hysteria over certain things not being banned at school.

First, they trot out a bunch of little kids.  Probably no more than 6 or 8 years old, looking at the photos.

See, in the interest of pushing an agenda, it's OK to exploit children.  That they would first demagogue gun owners who post pictures of their children holding guns and threaten them with DSS and child endangerment charges and then turn around do something far worse is really no surprise.

Some of the commentors quoted in the article hit it right on.  Two questions that were brought up, first about why is it that only the Caucasian children the ones holding the guns, and that whoever took these photos and chaperoned this event didn't know doodleysquat about basic firearms safety.  In every single photo in the linked piece, the chirrens with the guns all have their fingers ensconced firmly on the bang switch.  Evidently, being a 'gun safety' organization concerned with gun control means never having to actually practice real gun safety.

But the larger question is this.  If a book is banned at one school district in one state but no other, and a common ball game is banned at one school in one state, and one toy is banned in school, we must make guns in schools illegaller than it already is.  Even though all firearms have been banned in and around schools since 1996 unless you have been imbued with the magical powers of the Law Enforcement Badge of Power.

Note to Moms Demand Action:  The NRA doesn't need to 'instill fear' of guns being banned or confiscated.  You're pet politicians are taking care of that all on their own.

Absolutely Disgusting

So some schmuck set off a bomb in Boston yesterday afternoon, killing 3 and wounding over 130.

The reaction of the political left?

Dance in the blood of the victims.

It doesn't surprise me, really.  They were too quick on the trigger in Tuscon, Aurora, and a host of other mass murder events around the country for the last 10 or so years.

We've seen Hissyfit Matthews blame 'Right Wingers' for this.  The head of the Park Service thinks the Tea Party is involved somehow.  Bawney Fwank thinks this is the fault of the sequester.  Like budget cuts are somehow responsible for a whackjob blowing up the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

We will find out soon enough who is responsible.  But can we at least give the politics a rest?  I mean really folks, the ambulances were still running code and you're already playing politics with this. 

Absolutely disgusting.  Each and every hack who's pointed a finger in vain should be handed a pink slip and shown the door for their rank insensitivity and lack of tact.

A Compromise Bill My Ass

So 16 Republican senators voted on a bill today that NOBODY has seen.  Nobody.  We've seen a synapsis, but nothing of substance on the actual bill itself.  Sen Mike Lee (R-VA) annouced at 1700L (1900 EDT) that the updated bill from March was supposed to be posted on line within the hour.  Of course, he'd been hearing that exact same thing for the last 48 hrs.

So I have a question for those who just sold out their Countrymen (I already know the answer, I just want to get the question itself off my chest). 

Were you born this stupid, did you have to take classes, or did it take practice?

I mean really? You voted on a bill YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN YET!

I've heard of some dumb shit in my life, hell, I've even done some of it. 

But voting away your rights without even reading what it is you're even voting on?  That's even wayyyyy beyond felony stupid.  That's a class of stupid light years ahead of anything you've ever done before, and that's a hell of a long list.

Additionally, this is being touted as a 'compromise' bill.  Bullshit.  A compromise bill would be that the gun owning community gets something in return, like say the repeal of the Hughes Amendment. No, this is a compromise bill in the fact that every single politician that voted for it, voted to compromise the rights of their fellow citizens.

A pox on every one of them.