August 8, 2016
1) Open Season: that period of time that certain game can be hunted without penalty.
2) \”Tipping point\”: that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a thresh- hold and spreads like wildfire.
I heard an African American gentleman on a recent news interview who suggested that American police have pushed the tipping point (with regards to the violent killings of unarmed black men), and, have now made themselves targets — fair game for hunters who believe them to be so.
I know that those deceased at the hands of the police invariably don\’t follow commands barked at them by the men and women in blue (consider Chris Rock\’s admonitions) — but I also know that there are non-lethal methods of subduing people (while still causing considerable pain). I guess, for some, the shootings by police — which, when captured on video, tend to contradict the police reports — have transformed their psyches. On the one hand, we have people becoming more fearful of the police (like myself), and on the other, a new vigilante has been created: One who is not afraid to hunt the police…as evidenced in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Kansas City and elsewhere.
So now, a new level of anxiety has been placed on the police officer who already knows that s/he puts his life-on-the-line each time they put their badge on. Every police officer knows that each day can be their last — but now, there is a growing awareness that there are people actively hunting them, and, willing to set \”traps\” to achieve the kill.
I don\’t know that there is anything that can be done to change this frightening dynamic. I don\’t know if we can change a culture that has tipped so severely — where we can no longer tell the good guys from the bad. And just because we call them \”police\” many US citizens have stopped looking at them as good guys. I have seen the police caught in too many violent lies (beginning with Rodney King) to get me to look at them as \”the good guys\”…if only their reports would jive with what actually happened…it\’s difficult to convince anyone that you were in fear for your life when the suspect/victim is clearly running-for-their-life from you!
Perhaps all police should all be mandated to earn a Bachelor\’s degree in criminal justice before being allowed to carry, and fire, a gun in public.
Ron Paul forecasts martial law (which Yours Truly predicted a-number-of-years-ago). It feels like it\’s just around the corner, particularly if the police become far more hesitant of putting themselves in harm\’s way, and, the wild fire generated by the tipping point continues to burn through the American consciousness.
I for one would like to see the entire American populous disarmed and only the military allowed to maintain guns. Hunters and gun aficionados could rent their guns for their open season hunts and/or target practice — they could rent their favorite models for these past-times.
Hell! Now that I\’ve started leasing my car — I realize that I don\’t need to own one to drive. Similarly, I don\’t have to own a gun to have fun shooting one. The wife says that between her son and me — we could open the first gun rental store, but I don\’t think I want to deal with the potential liabilities. Government-run rental stores could work…
I would gladly give up my firearms, knowing that only our military was in possession of them, and, knowing that someone \”breaking-in\” would have to go up against me with a baseball bat (I did play baseball!).
Yes, yes — I hear the NRA saying that \”criminals\” will always find a way to get their guns…but I doubt this would be a persistent dynamic if the punishment for a crime with a gun is death within 24 hours. And with US experiencing 30,000 gun deaths a year — I\’m sure 1000 executions in the first few weeks of the gun ban would deter \”shooters\” from wanting to use guns.
And lest the police feel left out — if a crime is being committed with a gun that the military can\’t handle — the police can unlock their private stash of locked, registered guns (like more civilized countries do) and then fill those Bad Guys full-of-holes!