http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/17/us/bat...-shooting/
I don't even know what to make of this. Is there an inordinate number of minorities who find themselves on the wrong end of the barrel in the United States? Yes. Is inviting Obama to declare martial law and an "emergency suspension" of Second Amendment rights going to solve it? No. I mean, not unless you're Obama or any of the Democratic lawmakers who want to see gun rights reserved for the elite to defend themselves against the common rabble.
What's really sad is seeing just how divided this country is over this. Murdering anyone, regardless of who's pulling the trigger and who's taking the bullet, should be universally condemned, but it's not. A quick glance at my Facebook feed shows people--people who had been reasonable about this whole thing--talking about how police deserve to be shot, or how BLM are a bunch of...yeah, not using that word...out to "ruin things for the rest of us". You can probably guess the skin color and economic status of the person who wrote that, and you're right.
This country is more divided than I've ever seen it. Granted, I wasn't around for the 1960's Civil Rights movement or the Red Scare, let alone Vietnam, but it's a pretty scary time all things considered. I'd bet that if you put a few BLM leaders and a few law enforcement officials in a room together for a few hours, they'd come out with some kind of understanding, but that's not going to happen. It's far too convenient for demagogues like Trump and Clinton to keep their core voters angry enough at someone, anyone, to ensure that they show up in November, and in the meantime, Obama's fishing for an excuse to carve himself a lasting legacy as the guy who killed the Second Amendment.
The images I keep seeing are peaceful protests--yes, peaceful--in Baton Rouge met with a phalanx of cops in riot gear who push into the crowd and effectively take away their right to peaceably assemble. With tensions there what they are, I suppose it's not wholly unexpected that someone would take to targeting cops, but that doesn't excuse it at all. Shooting each other won't solve this. It's just playing right into the hands of those who want to see the bloodshed continue, and it's polarizing, even radicalizing people that I'd previously thought were better than calling for more attacks on police or dropping n-bombs to generalize an entire group of people as murderers in training. They really do have us right where they want us, and some elements of society on both sides of the badge are only too happy to eat right out of their hands.
There's a Civil War / Race War brewing in this country, and it's been coming for a long time.
Humanity is close to hitting an all time low.
This kind of act accomplishes nothing, absolutley nothing.
I would love to see how communities would react to law enforcement packing up shop and leaving town. They'd be calling for them to come back within a week or less.
Quote:This kind of act accomplishes nothing, absolutley nothing.
I would love to see how communities would react to law enforcement packing up shop and leaving town. They'd be calling for them to come back within a week or less.
We both know that law enforcement would put "martial" in front of their title end send out armed patrols (I suppose they send out armed patrols anyway) to enforce curfews and suspended rights first.
Ditch militarized policing and go to community policing instead. Put transparency into internal affairs with citizen presence on the committees that decide how to proceed. Take the shotguns and assault rifles out of police cars, and remind police departments in the US that they exist to protect those around them, not to serve as an arm of revenue enhancement. On the flip side of the coin, root out those within the BLM movement that advocate harming other human beings and charge them as accessories to assault, murder, whatever the case may be. Will it stick? In most cases, no, but it buys us time to get both sides to sit down and realize that, at the end of the day, people don't really want to wake up in the morning and kill other people. There are strong agendas on both sides that want to make sure that images of white riot police running over crowds of black people--sometimes not even protesting--are there to ensure that the racial tensions remain nice and stoked.
That's not to say we're without hope. I was at the Capitol in Tallahassee yesterday afternoon, and out front they have pictures of those who died in Orlando, with a Florida state flag flying over every one. Not terribly remarkable by itself, right? What is remarkable is that down at ground level, there are smaller rainbow flags in place as well, one for every victim right next to their picture. Not a single one of them has been pulled up, defaced or damaged. There is decency left among us. Quite a bit, actually, and little things like that prove it. It's on us to find it in others and see that it's not that we hate each other for hate's sake. We hate each other because we've been conditioned to almost since the dawn of humanity, and we've lived under leaders for centuries who've known that it's to their benefit to keep that train rolling.
Quote:There's a Civil War / Race War brewing in this country, and it's been coming for a long time.
Nah more like a French revolution. There's no movement of liberty in this country, hell the right is practically lining up behind a borderline fascist.
This all ends with the have nots taking out their frustration on the haves and burning everything in their path for a few years.
Violence, riots, possibly martial law yes. A glorious revolution or some civil war to stand against tyranny, no America's to complacent for that.
Hold on guys. Initial reports from witnesses are saying that there were two men shooting at each other with assault weapons before the police even arrived, so this may not have been a pre-planned ambush.
So let's just wait until all the facts are in before we declare a race war or something.
Note how everyone says don't rush to judgement, let's wait until all the facts are known.
Note also that we rarely get the facts. And those of us who do withhold judgement and wish to know facts are criticized for it.
I pray for those in Baton Rouge, and for all of us.
Some people on this board are probably celebrating that three "pigs" lost their life today.
I saw this just as I got home from buying yet another weapon and ammunition. My only concern at this point is the fact that I can't carry to my workplace (military base). Anywhere else that I go you can bet that I'm prepared.
Quote:Some people on this board are probably celebrating that three "pigs" lost their life today.
I saw this just as I got home from buying yet another weapon and ammunition. My only concern at this point is the fact that I can't carry to my workplace (military base). Anywhere else that I go you can bet that I'm prepared.
Doubt that is the case at all unless you are going out of your way to look for people celebrating this sick act.
This is where living in non-metro area pays off
Quote:This is where living in non-metro area pays off
problem is non metro areas are becoming more and more scarce because there are more and more people. 2016 has not been a good year for anyone.
One shooter is Gavin Long who traveled from Missouri and was apparently walking down the median at 8:30 AM open carrying a rifle and wearing black clothes and a mask. There was a 911 call and responding police were possibly targeted by Long and/or others. Long was ex-military.
2 others allegedly taken into custody.
Quote:problem is non metro areas are becoming more and more scarce because there are more and more people. 2016 has not been a good year for anyone.
nah. i can drive 5 minutes west and there is nothing but trees and nice little houses with plenty land
Quote:problem is non metro areas are becoming more and more scarce because there are more and more people. 2016 has not been a good year for anyone.
South of green cove is rural land for nearly 150 miles
Quote:South of green cove is rural land for nearly 150 miles
2 murders in Green Cove in last couple months...
Quote:We both know that law enforcement would put "martial" in front of their title end send out armed patrols (I suppose they send out armed patrols anyway) to enforce curfews and suspended rights first.
Ditch militarized policing and go to community policing instead. Put transparency into internal affairs with citizen presence on the committees that decide how to proceed. Take the shotguns and assault rifles out of police cars, and remind police departments in the US that they exist to protect those around them, not to serve as an arm of revenue enhancement. On the flip side of the coin, root out those within the BLM movement that advocate harming other human beings and charge them as accessories to assault, murder, whatever the case may be. Will it stick? In most cases, no, but it buys us time to get both sides to sit down and realize that, at the end of the day, people don't really want to wake up in the morning and kill other people. There are strong agendas on both sides that want to make sure that images of white riot police running over crowds of black people--sometimes not even protesting--are there to ensure that the racial tensions remain nice and stoked.
That's not to say we're without hope. I was at the Capitol in Tallahassee yesterday afternoon, and out front they have pictures of those who died in Orlando, with a Florida state flag flying over every one. Not terribly remarkable by itself, right? What is remarkable is that down at ground level, there are smaller rainbow flags in place as well, one for every victim right next to their picture. Not a single one of them has been pulled up, defaced or damaged. There is decency left among us. Quite a bit, actually, and little things like that prove it. It's on us to find it in others and see that it's not that we hate each other for hate's sake. We hate each other because we've been conditioned to almost since the dawn of humanity, and we've lived under leaders for centuries who've known that it's to their benefit to keep that train rolling.
I agree with some of what you posted. The media keeps the race side of it going more then anything else. Last week there was another young, white male, shot and killed in California after what appears to him complying to police commands. You don't hear a peep from the mainstream media.
Quote:There's a Civil War / Race War brewing in this country, and it's been coming for a long time.
Black guy shoots white cops? Or you just speckilatin? Or was it a white guy shooting black cops?
Or if you mean race war by that they were running after him?
Inquiring minds wanna know.
Quote:Some people on this board are probably celebrating that three "pigs" lost their life today.
I saw this just as I got home from buying yet another weapon and ammunition. My only concern at this point is the fact that I can't carry to my workplace (military base). Anywhere else that I go you can bet that I'm prepared.
I have seen plenty of that all over social media. It's disturbing.