Regular readers know that Dredd Blog, in order to try to determine what is ahead, tends to look out the windshield to focus on what is coming, rather than looking in the rear view mirror to focus on what has passed by.The notion that "the past will tell the future because history always repeats itself" can be a false way of thinking ahead, because logically only what is coming is the future, and only what has already gone by is the past.
We were looking ahead in the post Pop a Cap For Jesus and Justice when we discussed a case where the police shot a man in open court who was protesting a speed trap. How will that affect the teens there in that traffic court who were thinking of becoming peace officers?
That man who was protesting the speed trap who was gunned down in court was the Fire Chief. How will that affect the teens there in that traffic court who were thinking of becoming firemen?
In the post Terrorism and Hate Crimes Merging? we quoted some political figures who implied that if they didn't win at the ballot box they would use the bullet box. How will that affect the teens there at the political rally who were thinking of becoming elected officials?
Yesterday in Constitutional Ignorace Kills The Judge we faulted national leaders for glorifying massive displays of violence.
In The Greatest Source of Power Toxins? we quoted an American Sage or two who pointed out that wars will damage a nation for as long as those wars last, and destroy a nation if they last long enough. How will endless wars affect the teens there watching the TV who are thinking of getting some glory?
These cases all point out that even though trickle down economics does not work, trickle down violence does "work".
That is, the young are inevitably pulled into the growing realm of violence if those they look up to glorify violence, because violence trickles down, yes, it runs downhill as fast as the current gravity will allow.
Leaders do not convince the young by glorifying war, where hundreds of thousands of innocent people are massacred, by later condemning a tiny-by-comparison massacre.
The young are not stupid, but they are pliable. They know the difference between a pile of crap and a hamburger.
So MOMCOM, even though it is not possible for you to feel shame, it is possible for you to eventually feel the fruits of the seeds you plant around this world every day.
I guess we should focus on the reality that violence tends to incite violence, but peace does what?
ReplyDeleteThe US has fired 250,000 bullets for every "insurgent" killed in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteThat ammo count is higher if one does not include those who really were not "insurgents" but nevertheless were determined to be by those who shot those "insurgents".
Story Here
A bit about Loughner's parents leads in the Columbine direction.
ReplyDeleteThe US has fired 250,000 bullets for every "insurgent" killed in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeletePretty funny that our manufacturing base is now so depleted that we can't even make bullets fast enough to keep our imperialist army supplied. The legacy we're building in Afghanistan will haunt us for decades. Might well turn out to be the epitaph for our once great American empire, just as it was for the Soviets before us.
The focus among the talking heads has already turned to the idea that the dems are "shamelessly" using the shooting for political advantage. As predicted, didn't take the right any time at all to go on the offensive. They're predictable that way.
James Howard Kunstler had a good observation today over at Cluster Fuck Nation, about the fact that "ol' weepy" John Boehner was dry as could be when addressing the press after the shooting. I thought that was pretty curious myself. Evidently his weeping is reserved for getting all sentimental about himself and his many accomplishments for the "American people," aka his corporate sponsors and golfing junket buddies. He's as despicably two-faced as they come these days, and that's high praise indeed in a country that produces so many just like him.
Matt Taibbi reports that Ohio Tea-Baggers are completely irate with the guy for selling out their interests, so they definitely can't be all bad. If they do nothing but upset the balance of power in the GOP for a while they will have served at least a small useful purpose. If the dems - or another splinter party - were to grow a pair and actually take advantage of such a split, they will have possibly brought us back from the brink of imperialist suicide. I'm not confident in any of those scenarios.
Mirror, Mirror on the wall, which bank is the most evil of all.
ReplyDelete(True source of violence)
Louchner's physical father:
ReplyDelete...his father, Woods says, is “very aggressive, very angry all the time about petty things—like if the trash is out because the trash guys didn’t pick it up, he yells at us for it.”
Newsweek
What puzzles me is how fast the media get some information and make it known. But when cops shoot the Fire Chief in open court over a traffic ticket, that is not a biggie.
Something smells of an authority complex, a la "the king can do no wrong" gone over the top to morph into "the little people can do nothing right" a la Edward L. Bernays, nicknamed "the Father of Spin".
How can those guys be the best fighting force if it takes 250,000 shots to hit anything?
ReplyDelete