So last week a white police officer arrested a black man in his home. The reasons are not important. The fact is last week a black man was arrested by a white officer. Meanwhile last week in South Carolina a black officer arrested a white man in his home. Once again the reasons are not important. In both cases the officer was doing what he deemed necessary at the time. That was to up hold the rule of law. It really does not make a difference what the outcome is or was the fact is the officer upheld the rule of law as he saw it at the time. If in a court of law the officer is found to have over stepped his boundaries then he will answer for that and in severe cases answer dearly. If on the other hand the suspect is found guilty of whatever the supposed offense then he will be found guilty in a court of law and also pay for the offense and in some cases dearly. In both cases we count on the police to spot and if required make corrections to ensure the rule of law is upheld. We expect the court to weed through the ?drama? of the event and rule based upon the established law.
It happens the black man arrested was in an "open and enlightened" society in Cambridge Massachusetts. The black man was a professor at Harvard and as such felt he was above and beyond the normal rule of law he was entitled to a faster rule of law. The officer was just a white guy working a shift weeding through the garbage of a day keeping us safe. So the black guy throws the race trump card and short circuits the entire process. There is no court looking for the right and wrong. There is the race card.
What if the white police officer was dead wrong? He will not pay the consequences because the black guy needed his immediate satisfaction. He is black, he was wronged, and he need no, was entitled to immediate satisfaction because of his status in society. Mean while we have a supposedly ?profiling? officer still on the loose to choose his black targets better, maybe not one so well connected in the immediate Harvard area.
My point is that blacks and whites wearing a badge are wearing it to serve the community they live in. They do a job, most well, some not so well. The court determines how well or bad that job is conducted. When people who believe they are special (professors, celebrities, politicians, etc) throw their ?special? card down because they are above the law then the system breaks down. The rest of us lose confidence in the process.
Enter President Obama
To make matters worse. The chief executive of the United States says the police officer acted stupidly. Does our chief executive have nothing more pressing to do than to comment on what is a routine event, unless you?re a (professors, celebrities, politicians, etc). Right here in my town a black man was arrested in his house by a white officer. Is our white officer acting stupidly?
The president claims to profess equality. Then without giving the rule of law a chance to work its course declares the enforcer of the law stupid. That is not the way to level the race playing field, in fact is adds enormous fuel to the fire. The president should encouraged all people, black and white, to let the process work. Instead he called our law enforcers stupid. If they are stupid then we the people have no option but to start taking law enforcement into our own hands. Society breaks down and the rule of law is non-existent. Mr. President you have a job that is to represent the people of this country, regardless of color. You cannot look at this country through colored lenses regardless of the color. You must be fair and equal to all. You must encourage the people to use the processes in place. You must accept that every now and then the process does not get it right. The moment you take a side you create a tear through the great melting pot and the damage left behind is terrible for all regardless of color.
We have police, firemen, service members of all colors and genders standing in the gap for the greater good of this society. They are not perfect, errors are made, and people suffer unnecessarily. They are not stupid; they are doing the best they can. They make mistakes. But they get it right much more often then they get it wrong. They are great people doing the job most Americans do not want to do. Support them don't call them stupid Mr. President.
Last thought. Mr. Harvard Professor. Do you not think you would have made more for the racial equality by letting the system work and if as you claim you were innocent let the court declare that. Congratulations for your big step backwards for equality. I hope that white guy in South Carolina chooses better.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
"Once you know you know, and until you know you don't know"
I ran across this quote today and it struck me. I know many folks who base their knowledge upon limited references and experiences. Most people have the mainstream media as their primary point of knowledge. The evening news, CNN, Fox, NBC they cant be wrong after all it is on TV. Or the morning paper after all it is our ?local? paper surely it can?t be wrong. Then there are those folks who get their view of the world from the books they read, after all if you?re published you must be the authority on whatever the topic is.
My issue here is that all the above represent second, third or fourth hand knowledge. Look at your local paper most of everything except the obituaries are provided by a news wire service. Look at the television they are showing you exactly what triggers their network ratings. The color of your neighbors flowers does not register and get no publishing. If your neighbor is breaking the law, that is something which starts the interest juices flowing and therefore gets media attention. Then there are the books, the more pages the more authoritative the book rarely is the sources sited and when they are it is incomplete or out of the intended context. Just look at the various Christian demonization who use parts of the bible at the base of their doctrine, but only parts.
Once you know you know:
Hammer your finger and you then KNOW it hurts.
Crash your car and then you KNOW it is not a good thing.
Play Russian roulette and loose and well you get the point.
What I am saying is they too many folks have stopped living life. They rely on second hand experience to ?know? what life is all about. They never dug a fence line but they read it is hard work. They never ran a 10K race but they watched it on TV, and it looked hard. They never had to duck incoming rounds but they watched it on the evening news and therefore they believe it is dangerous. They never had to build something and then watch it be destroyed, stolen, or abused.
I KNOW members of my family think I am an opinionated narrow minded bigot. I know they view my actual experiences as second to those experiences they have received by their media. I know they have had some very comfortable miles under them compared to miles on the road of hard knocks.
And until you know you don?t know:
I am not advocating that people should run in front of bullets to ?prove? it is painful. I am however advocating that people should live. They should try those things that they have only heard about from second and third hand sources. Dig a whole plant a tree. Build something with your hands. Try something harder than you can actually do today. Prove the media right or wrong just prove something. Get up and live life.
I know that those members of my family who think I am an ?opinionated narrow minded bigot? have never walked a day in my shoes. I know that it hurts they have formed negative opinions based upon a limited experience base.
?Once you know you know, and until you know you don?t know.?
I know war is no fun. I know family will hurt you first. I know people all over the world have it harder than I do. I know my children have it better than I did. I know that the media only tells me what they want me to hear. I know God can change a life. I do not know what happens after life, I have my faith, my belief, and my ideas and they are strong. But until I experience that day I only have my faith. Oh by the way when I KNOW what happens after life, you wont be able to watch it on television, or read about it in a book. You will just have to experience it for yourself, and then you will know.
My issue here is that all the above represent second, third or fourth hand knowledge. Look at your local paper most of everything except the obituaries are provided by a news wire service. Look at the television they are showing you exactly what triggers their network ratings. The color of your neighbors flowers does not register and get no publishing. If your neighbor is breaking the law, that is something which starts the interest juices flowing and therefore gets media attention. Then there are the books, the more pages the more authoritative the book rarely is the sources sited and when they are it is incomplete or out of the intended context. Just look at the various Christian demonization who use parts of the bible at the base of their doctrine, but only parts.
Once you know you know:
Hammer your finger and you then KNOW it hurts.
Crash your car and then you KNOW it is not a good thing.
Play Russian roulette and loose and well you get the point.
What I am saying is they too many folks have stopped living life. They rely on second hand experience to ?know? what life is all about. They never dug a fence line but they read it is hard work. They never ran a 10K race but they watched it on TV, and it looked hard. They never had to duck incoming rounds but they watched it on the evening news and therefore they believe it is dangerous. They never had to build something and then watch it be destroyed, stolen, or abused.
I KNOW members of my family think I am an opinionated narrow minded bigot. I know they view my actual experiences as second to those experiences they have received by their media. I know they have had some very comfortable miles under them compared to miles on the road of hard knocks.
And until you know you don?t know:
I am not advocating that people should run in front of bullets to ?prove? it is painful. I am however advocating that people should live. They should try those things that they have only heard about from second and third hand sources. Dig a whole plant a tree. Build something with your hands. Try something harder than you can actually do today. Prove the media right or wrong just prove something. Get up and live life.
I know that those members of my family who think I am an ?opinionated narrow minded bigot? have never walked a day in my shoes. I know that it hurts they have formed negative opinions based upon a limited experience base.
?Once you know you know, and until you know you don?t know.?
I know war is no fun. I know family will hurt you first. I know people all over the world have it harder than I do. I know my children have it better than I did. I know that the media only tells me what they want me to hear. I know God can change a life. I do not know what happens after life, I have my faith, my belief, and my ideas and they are strong. But until I experience that day I only have my faith. Oh by the way when I KNOW what happens after life, you wont be able to watch it on television, or read about it in a book. You will just have to experience it for yourself, and then you will know.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Truth, lies and the stuff in between
So I had a person I know ask me for some assistance. The assistance was in the form of cash and I did as I always do when folks ask for help in the form of cash. I asked how much was needed. I asked nosey questions. I asked if alternatives were available. When this was all done I agreed to help out in a certain amount. A short time later I was contacted again and I was told that the agreed assistance just would not do. So I repeated the process. After checking our finances I dug down deep into our reserves and provided 40% more than initially requested. I gave it as a gift as I do not loan money.
Now comes the rub. The gift was to provide a short term solution to a problem and allow the person to get back on solid ground. The person used the gift to dig a hole of debt. The agreed upon approach was not the one taken. The person failed to tell me that my ?gift? was to be a down payment on something they could not afford to pay cash for.
Questions:
Was I lied to? I certainly was not given the whole picture.
Was not telling me the true motive a deceitful method to get cash.
As it was a gift do I have a right to be upset?
Answers:
It feels like a lie as I was not given the whole picture.
Not telling the true intentions was deceitful.
I do not have the right to be upset. It was a gift. I am trying and will eventually get over this
I will also add that person to my list of folk whom I can no longer trust. That person will not be given an open gift again. I may meet a specific need but it will be on my terms as the individual lost something more valuable than the cash amount. They lost their credibility, once lost hard regained.
Now comes the rub. The gift was to provide a short term solution to a problem and allow the person to get back on solid ground. The person used the gift to dig a hole of debt. The agreed upon approach was not the one taken. The person failed to tell me that my ?gift? was to be a down payment on something they could not afford to pay cash for.
Questions:
Was I lied to? I certainly was not given the whole picture.
Was not telling me the true motive a deceitful method to get cash.
As it was a gift do I have a right to be upset?
Answers:
It feels like a lie as I was not given the whole picture.
Not telling the true intentions was deceitful.
I do not have the right to be upset. It was a gift. I am trying and will eventually get over this
I will also add that person to my list of folk whom I can no longer trust. That person will not be given an open gift again. I may meet a specific need but it will be on my terms as the individual lost something more valuable than the cash amount. They lost their credibility, once lost hard regained.
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