FEAR & LOATHING IN JUSTICE

In 1985 I and a friend were in an underground mall in Pusan, South Korea. It was a fascinating moment for me, as I hadn’t been in a foreign country since leaving (then) West Germany in 1963 as a three-year-old Army brat. As we walked down the corridor, darting in and out of the shops to sample the wares, our attention was diverted to a disruption ahead of us.

The packed Korean humanity parted like Cecil B. De Mille’s Red Sea as people quickly moved against the walls and glass fronts of the shops, or quickly ducked inside suddenly filled stores, as three Korean National Police Officers, walking abreast, strode down the middle of the corridor. Some people pulled others out of the way, ensuring that those unaware did not impede the progress of the KNP officers.

Why such a spectacle? The people feared and respected these approaching officers. Truly.

Could you imagine anything of the sort today in America? I can’t. American police are almost universally portrayed in police dramas as something short of incompetent, frustrated Neanderthals barely able to think without the canny prosecutor, DA, or CSI expert there to guide them through.

Additionally, constant efforts by the media and the courts to emasculate American police forces ensures that on almost every occasion, a cop has to completely outsmart, outrun, or out-drive a suspect. Why is this? I get so frustrated when I watch police videos that show an officer having to holster his weapon and take chase of a suspect. Incredible! Why is this person running?

Seriously, if the suspect is innocent, why would he run? Invariably, the suspect/runner will say "I was scared," or something in that vein. But of what?
The cop has a weapon, but he can't use it. He knows it, the runner knows it, and everyone in society knows it.

But, the police officer should be able to use it. Period.

I can already hear the cries of indignation! Police brutality! Sanctioned murder! Give me a break. It occurred to me some time back that if a police officer in pursuit of a murder/rape/assault suspect would just pull his service weapon and shoot that suspect, I’d bet that a whole lot of others who normally take flight would stop, put up their hands, and peacefully lie down on the ground the next time. Hey, suspects run because they think they might be able to outrun the police. They're only fear is that they WON'T be able to outrun that cop.

And if they can outrun the police, that means that they get more opportunities for murder, rape, and assault. I can assure that a South Korean citizen would stop, put up their hands and peacefully get on the ground. If not, the NKP would shoot. And Koreans KNOW this, beyond a doubt.

I’ve seen dashboard cameras of cops getting run off the road by people who will do anything to get away. These people will run over others, ram other cars, hurt other people, and if that cop making the arrest hits the driver or strikes him, the COP will be investigated for assault!

Really, does it make any sense to arm a cop if he can’t use the weapon? We need to get serious about STOPPING bad people immediately, instead of giving them more opportunity to do bad things. And as for hitting someone because he’s an idiot and a criminal, they really probably deserve it.

Really.

A White Cloud AND A Silver Lining?

I sit here two days after the second most historic Presidential election in United States’ history – the first being George Washington’s, of course – and wonder what other silver linings could there be.

I watched as throngs of Americans – black, white, yellow, brown, and all colors in between – celebrate a truly historic occasion. I listened to a story on National Public Radio of a 109-year-old daughter of a slave who saw a son of a black man win the highest office in the land. And I saw a nation change right before my eyes. It was an amazing thing to witness.

I also watched as infamous race-baiter (and fellow South Carolinian) Jesse Jackson crying his eyes out in Chicago. And I was struck by the question that popped into my mind: “Was Jesse crying tears of joy? Or was he crying because he saw his meal ticket flying away in the Chicago wind?”

“Huh? What could you possibly mean, Rupe?” you are surely saying. Jesse watched as Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., bled out in Memphis after being shot down by an assassin’s bullet. Jesse fought hard for that very moment when Senator John McCain conceded defeat in Arizona and Barack Obama became the President-Elect of this multi-racial nation. Jesse even ran for president on a few occasions, being soundly thumped when his rhetoric fell upon too many deaf ears even in the Democratic Party. So, what could I possibly be writing about?

Simply this: Jackson’s and Reverend Al Sharpton’s raison d’etre’ can no longer stand up to any public scrutiny. America can no longer be called a racist nation.

With a majority of whites, Hispanics, and nearly every black person in the United States voting to vault Obama to the presidency, any notion that race is still a factor in America goes right out the window.

Liberal “African America” can no longer stand on the platform that every social ill suffered by it is caused by racism. The Bradley Effect is dead. America has just proved what many in America have said for years – racism as an institution is dead.

So, for conservatives, there just may be a silver lining after all.