Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
Honore de Balzac
Chart of the Day
 |
| Via Reason |
 |
| Via J Kane Searcy on FB |
The GOP swept all 3 Congressional seats, 2 House and 1 Senate, by nearly 2-1 margins (here and here). Estimates were made on incomplete totals and final totals may vary, but all 3 elections have been called. This gives the GOP 54 seats next session, and the GOP has matched its 1946 seat total in the House, with the McSally-Barber AZ recount in process. McSally, a Republican, leads going into the recount; if she wins it would be the best showing since 1928.
The Garner Homicide and Facebook
I don't do the blog for hits, but the hits since Monday have been down by up to half of recent traffic. I have been particularly vocal about the Garner homicide, but I also find myself increasingly impatient with corporation-bashing, public-pension apologists, anti-immigrants, libertarians bashing Rand Paul, politically correct trolls, etc. It's hard to say what will set me off at times to the point of profanity; it may be a dismissive tone or predictable talking point; at times, I feel like I'm repeating myself on the minimum wage for the umpteenth time.
My Facebook time has become a sinkhole of time, and I expect my work schedule and location to change in the near-future--and it will likely affect the nature of posts and schedule. I only reprint a few exchanges--I don't intend to repeat myself. But like I eventually exited some Yahoo diet groups a decade ago, I may have to leave or streamline my Facebook account. I may create my own Facebook group or an Aquinas-like Q&A format in the blog.
Why have I responded as I have in the Garner case? In part, it's because I and others have dealt with obesity. It's not just the social stigma of being fat, the physical problems, the wardrobe expense. Obese people often are out of breath doing things most people take for granted. I once went to a Deloitte interview in the DC suburbs; they had a power outage and I had to climb 5 floors. I was sweating profusely, out of breath, in a suit and tie; the receptionist thought I was having a heart attack and got me a bottle of water. (I didn't get the gig.) When a grown man assaults an obese man by jumping on him and/or obstructing his windpipe like the rogue NYPD cop, he is flirting with the man's health. If a man is 100 or more pounds overweight, it's like he's already carrying another man. When I hear some idiot say the rogue cop didn't kill Garner, it was his obesity and asthma, there's no doubt a weakened state of health put his survival in danger, but the rogue cop did not have to resort to these tactics. There are too many jerks willing to say if you weren't on the grand jury, you don't have a right to an opinion, and one fascist troll suggested I better shut up or I'll end up being a target of the police myself.
Facebook Corner
(LFC). "A couple of days ago the White House proposed cameras on cop vests as a solution to this type of violence. I assume that the solution they're proposing, if implemented, would look something like the Eric Garner case."
The coroner called it homicide, it was caught on video, the cop still won't face a jury like any non-cop would, though The Law applies equally. Videotaping exposes the state's crimes, but won't stop them
The coroner called it homicide, - look up homicide, it doesn't mean what you think it means.
it was caught on video, - which would rule out cameras on cops as a solution to a perceived problem.
the cop still won't face a jury - the prosecutor faced the jury, presented his best case for an indictment, the jury decided there were no grounds for indictment.
like any non-cop would, - this is exactly what a non-cop would ...
though The Law applies equally." - it did
The fascist OP implies that citizens and law enforcement are treated equally in the grand jury system, which is manifestly absurd; by any objective measure there is unusually strong connection between prosecutors and officers. Studies reported by Slate in 2010, federal prosecutors got indictments in all but 11 of 162,000 cases; over a period from 2005 and 2011, only 41 officers were charged with murder or manslaughter while at least 2718 were judged justifiable homicide; SCOTUS moreover has exonerated the use of lethal force when, say, a diabetic with low blood sugar acts strangely. Moreover, the cases against police officers are often presented in a passive-aggressive fashion where the prosecutor doesn't argue for an indictment but presents a mix of conflicting evidence or notes evidence in favor of the police officer.
(separate note)
I think a separate note on the fascist troll's characterization of the Garner case is in order. In fact, the officer's use of an illegal choke hold was judged by the examiner as a cause of death. What the lazy-ass troll is really copy-and-pasting from the Fascist Book of Excuses is that you can't necessarily prove that the officer intended to murder Garner by applying an illegal choke hold, but what is beyond question is that the actions of the officers led to Garner's death, and in fact, Garner's protests that he was having problems breathing went ignored by the officers on the scene. At minimum, there was deliberate negligence and what I regard as a clear-cut violation of due professional care by all the cops on the scene who did not stop the illegal choke hold even after the victim's undeniable protests, even after the victim was on the ground and did not pose a threat. I want to point out Garner had been arrested in the past for selling loose cigarettes without officers resorting to choke holds.
(Judge Andrew Napolitano). "I think it is clearly a case for criminally negligent homicide" i.e., Garner homicide
Judge Napolitano, you realize that the law-and-order fascists are going to spam this thread because they are fundamentally going to look the other way when a cop-murderer applies unauthorized lethal force. I am so sick and tired of retards trying to rationalize blatantly excessive force, in effect becoming judge, jury and executioner over a victimless crime. The fact of the matter was that Garner had been arrested before for selling loose cigarettes without being choked unconscious and killed by a rogue cop, with at least 3 other cops doing NOTHING to stop an illegal choke hold, even when Garner complained he was having problems breathing.
(Cato Institute). Only 21% of Americans realize that crime is falling. Consider the murder and rape rates: http://bit.ly/1tVLNjf
I talk to people all the time who say "crime keeps getting worse and worse". When I point out to them that violent crime in America is down 50% in the last 15 years no one believes me.
The problem is how the media present the facts. For example, it seemed like my local news routinely started off covering some tragedy. Airline crashes get heavy coverage although it is one of the safest modes of transportation.
(continuation from a National Review thread on the Garner death)
This was definetly a little extreme for selling loose cigarettes but why didn't the guy just comply? If you can talk, you can breathe. He was def not being choked.
Just because of a man is being accused of breaking a victimless law does not empower a cop to be the judge, jury, and executioner. It's difficult to consider a more open-and-shut case of excessive force. There is absolutely no justification for the use of deadly force. Garner was unarmed and did not attack the officers. Apparently, Garner had been arrested on prior occasions (including the sale of cigarettes), and somehow prior cops were able to arrest him without killing him with an illegal choke hold.
The last part of the comment is idiotic. There is indisputable visual evidence of a choke hold. The man complained that he was having trouble breathing. The medical examiner's report specifically identified the choke hold as a cause of death. Garner was taller and bigger than the cop-murderer; it may have had an impact as to the nature and quality of choke hold applied. Obviously his airway was not totally obstructed, but that doesn't mean his breathing was unobstructed.
Political Cartoon
 |
| Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall |
Silent Night
