To: The Mainstream Media, and the cops and prosecutors who are your sources
From: Mitch Berg, obstreporous peasant
Re: World’s Smallest Violin
Dear Cops, Prosecutors and their Media mouthpieces,
Last week, a shooter at a WalMart in the Denver area killed three people.
Colorado being a shall-issue state, and WalMart being an almost-stereotypical hangout for Real Americans [1], a number of people reacted admirably, courageously and appropriately, by drawing their legal firearms and getting ready to engage.
And that just annoys all of you, doesn’t it?
But those who drew weapons during the shootings ultimately delayed the investigation as authorities pored over surveillance videotape trying to identify the assailant who killed three people, police said Thursday.
Let me put this as delicately as it deserves to be put; f**k you, and your whining about being forced to do your jobs because people had the unmitigated gall to defend themselves. And the media for carrying this whining as if it’s news.
If someone hears shooting in the room they’re in, and their first thought is “I hope my actions don’t impede the police investigating why I am dead”, rather than defending your life, your family and your community (whether by fight or flight, and I’ll never judge either one), then they are mentally ill; if you think that should be the normal response, then you’re a lot worse.
I used to wonder why the news media and officialdom wondered why people these days trust them less than used car dealers. Now, I curse their gall for wasting my time asking why they wonder.
[1] Defined, in this case, as “people who take all ten amendments of the Bill of Rights seriously, jointly and severally.
Good journalists would realize htat for entirely selfish reasons, law enforcement agents want to be the only people allowed to carry guns.
Have you ever heard of a cop who retired at 65 or older, like all of us 2nd-class citizens are supposed to do?
I haven’t.
Ahem MP, I am sure you would agree stargazing is a little less stressful than putting your life on the line every time you clock in. Now, I definitely agree with you that there should be absolutely no difference between desk jockeys and stargazers, but we are light years apart when it comes to first responders.
The subtext of the police commentary: “If only a few more of you had gotten killed, it would have been a whole lot easier to figure out who the killer was and what he was doing.” Of course, one might also simply look at the time and figure out who’s the guy with multiple guns pointed at him.
I’m reminded of the case in New London, Connecticut where an applicant to join their police force was rejected because he was too smart. The Supreme Court upheld the decision for a very simple reason; they did indeed present evidence that police work was boring smart people to tears. It is as if waiting along the roadside for someone to speed is mind-numbing or something.
Roofers and coal miners put their lives on the line every time they clock in. Truck drivers are twice as likely to die from a job-related injury as is a cop.
You wake up and have a better chance of getting hurt than a cop suffering a job-related injury. Is that a valid argument? I do not think so. Neither coal, nor roof, nor oncoming traffic (with a few exceptions) try to kill deliberately. I believe you are slipping into a false equivalency trap.
Dieing from a job related injury, not getting a job related injury.
Have you ever heard of a cop who retired at 65 or older, like all of us 2nd-class citizens are supposed to do?
I haven’t.
I haven’t either. Those that don’t die on duty usually retire in their 50s thanks to union contracts, and most go on to double or even triple dip with easier government jobs. I know of a guy who retired after 25-30 years on a suburban police force (he made it to sergeant and decided he liked that spot, stayed there for most of his career). He retired with the usual “good job, mate!” fanfare, and then while receiving his pension, spent another decade as an Anoka county courthouse guard. Great guy, rock solid conservative, 2A supporter, gearhead (owned and still owns fast cars, bikes and boats), but a life-long government employee.
Crap, botched the italics tag quoting MP.
and most go on to double or even triple dip
If you are able to draw your pension after you retire at 50 and also collect salary, now THAT is 100% wrong. You should only be able to collect pension on same terms as 2nd-class citizens. Disclaimer, I do not know how first responder pensions work.
jpa,
You are spot on! The trade unions will shut a retiree’s pension payments off if they do any work in a union trade. I once had a retired union plumber and a retired electrician so some work for me. They told me up front that I would have to pay them in cash, for those reasons.
I mean, really! Even former union goons aren’t allowed to make money without the unions getting their cut.
In my mind, the issue with pensions is not that people can double dip. Military veterans have been doing this for decades, and hey, you put your rear end on the line for my freedoms, that’s a tax I’m willing to pay. Nor is it a matter of risk–hey, it’s a contract, so unless we’re going bankrupt, we suck it up and pay that.
In my mind, the biggest issue with police pensions is that it rewards people for remaining decades in jobs they hate, and that they’re not very good at. Golden shackles leading to on the job retirement, leading to higher crime rates. That’s the big deal in my view. Let’s go to defined contribution plans and allow cops who hate the job to move on, and use the turnover to figure out why, and how we can do things better.
This is so much bullshit. You pour over the videos until you spot someone shooting people in Walmart. That’s your man.
Walmart doesn’t mess around with loss prevention, they’re covered with cameras. They had clips of that guy shooting people from 4 angles.
I am glad to see more Real Americans waking up to how worthless most coppers are. All my hard work; years of dedication, paying off….gotta go…it’s dusty in here.