Mad World???

Pandemic, economic crises and now violent rioting in the streets across our nation  ... We seem to have hit the trifecta for national unrest and disunity, and just in time for an impending election no less?  Coincidence?  Well, personally, I don't happen to believe in coincidence.  Usually, you follow the money which sad to say often goes hand-in-hand with political power and opportunism, often much to the detriment of the "We the People."

Motive and origin stories aside, the facts on hand are these:  A man, a Black life, is needlessly dead at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Another tragedy, one in the line of many over the past several years and one that should NOT have happened; for this tragedy could have prevented with strong leadership and a unwavering commitment to weeding out individuals who have been shown to exercise repeated poor judgment and egregious behavior in carrying out the duties of their office as "upholders of law and order" in our society.  Every single time these tragic deaths at the hands of rouge police officers happen, the majority of decent law-abiding citizens --from all walks of life and ethnicities-- are truly outraged, not to mention heart-broken at the senseless disregard for  human life.  Everytime such tragic events happen our leaders espouse the same sentiments across the airwaves and media platforms.  These leaders lament the tragic loss of life, while pointing out that the majority of police officers are decent people committed to their sworn oath to "protect and serve" their communities --which is true, but the loss of even ONE human life when preventable, is wholly unacceptable.  These leaders finish their public statements with necessary reaffirmations of their strong commitment to "weed out the bad officers, with a history of questionable judgment and bad actions."  But the fact that George Floyd and so many others keep needlessly dying at the hands of police officers exercising egregious behavior means that we, as a nation, have NOT taken the steps, in a widespread and ongoing concerted effort, needed to get at the root of this problem in our nation's police agencies.

This is why people have taken to the streets in protests, initially peaceful protests ... but since co-opted by those with ulterior, violent and destructive motives that really have little if anything to do with the needless loss of life of a Black man; for how can you protest the needless loos of life of one man by way violently assaulting, injuring and killing other human beings?  There is no "moral arc of the universe" justifying his type of violent and destructive behavior ... 

Now, I keep hearing that there are statistics showing that police agencies across the nation have taken serious steps to address bad behavior and rouge cops.  If that is true, then let us get these number out there for all to see, but unfortunately action speaks volumes louder that mere words or numbers, especially when the action winds up being the senseless loss of a human life at the hands of police officers sworn to serve and protect ALL lives.

What we need right now, is STRONG LEADERSHIP from the very top (i.e., the President of the United States) to say "The loss of life of George Floyd and others like him shouldn't still be happening in our nation.  Previous Presidents and community leaders have not done enough to date to root out these bad cops, as evidences by repeated tragic occurrences in the needless loss of lives. Any needless loss of life at the hands of our police officials is one life lost too many!  As such, my administration is committed to providing the leadership necessary to guide and implement immediate and lasting reforms throughout our nation's police and law enforcement agencies.  This leadership will be spear-headed by Attorney General Bill Barr, who will be heading up a commission to issue timely and effective guidelines for assessing individual officer conduct and behavior, as well as training programs to promote more equitable conflict resolution skills.  It is our sincerest hope that Police Unions across the country will work with us to formulate and implement these guidelines, because at the end of the day doing so will help to present our nation's dedicated men and women in law enforcement in a more favorable light.  Once established, these guidelines will be rigidly enforced, with regional assessments of progress reported back to the AG and his commission over the course of the next two years.  Moving forward, we will have zero-tolerance policy for egregious behavior on the part of rouge cops who do a disservice to our rule of law, to their fellow officers and to their sworn oath to protect and serve the citizens of their communities at large."  Now that would be a real game-changer, wouldn't it?

The time has finally come to respond to the very HEART of this matter, by temporarily relinquishing  the predictable myopic focus of only addressing the FIRE in the house (i.e., violent protesters and looters who have systematically co-opted a legitimate movement of protest).  You can put out the immediate fire, but if you do nothing to substantively address the underlying spark, then the fires will inevitably rise once again, on down the line.  Mr. President and leaders of cities being hardest hit by protests, you can actually walk and chew gum ... Be firm by cracking down on violence, vandalism and looting, while simultaneously addressing the underlying issue ... the spark behind the destructive fires now burning madly across our nation.  We must address the underlying problem behind these protests if we are to have any hope of restoring faith our law enforcement agencies or the over-arching rule-of-law moving forward.  The time has come to stop kicking the can down the road for the next President by taking the timely and immediate action as outlined above.  Timing is everything ....................

My heartfelt sympathy and best intentions are being sent out to the family of George Floyd in this time of loss and mourning.  May God Bless keep and guide you all during this difficult time!


6/23/2020  It kind of surprises me that Congress is taking up writing legislation in an attempt to help prevent future loss of Black Lives.  Not that I think this is necessarily a bad thing, just that I thought Police agencies fell under the jurisdiction of States Rights. As such anything Congress passes with respect to police agencies would not be legally binding, right?  Such legislation would wind up being kind of like optional, highly advisable best-practice guidelines?  That's why I was thinking that guidance and over-arching follow-up would be best coming from the Department of Justice.  I guess, however, at the end of the day Congress does control the "$purse strings$" and they can say, "Hey, States, you either follow our federal guidelines, while demonstrating an on-going compliance, or you're not going to get any federal funding for X, Y and Z."

Thoughts and prayers are with Rayshard Brook's family and friends, who "send him home today" with a home-going celebration.  May God especially Bless, watch over and guide Rayshard's four precious little children that he leaves behind.

Shifting Sands in the Fiercest Desert Storm ....

What have we become? A society that finds its way to rationalizing the discarding innocent life simply because it is inconvenient. With the New York State's progressive “Reproductive Healthcare Act"--and other states are lined up to follow suit-- where previously we have argued over the definition of ‘life’, now there can be no ambiguity. Even a full term baby can be eliminated if a mother’s doctors deem it beneficial to the mother’s health and well being, ‘mental health’ concerns alone being sufficient to end the life of the child, yet to be born in the third trimester, in the stages of being born or even fully delivered. A child being born with birth defects or dire health concerns can also be ‘terminated’. If such a law is to stand unchallenged, put quite simply by this definition we as a nation are condoning infanticide. To those with any notion of soul, surely this is pure madness, but to those who have become warped and twisted by the ways of our materialistic, egocentric world to wield power in taking the life of another is perhaps the greatest power of all? Be forewarned, however, for once you cross this divide it's all down hill from here on out. The weak, the burdensome, ill or elderly will all soon have a moral obligation to die for the greater good [this is ultimately where government control of healthcare will lead.; I have witnessed it firsthand in other countries]? Perhaps we lost this argument long ago when we deceived ourselves by thinking that our moral obligation centered solely around determining the ‘definition of life.’ Perhaps this new 'law' is all a devious political machination designed to further the ever-widening chasms of our nation’s divide?

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I wonder what God, our Creator would have to say about such a horrific act of violence being visited upon his most innocent creation? Probably something like “I send you these most precious gifts as a reminder of who you are and from whence you came, to restore balance and Hope in your ever darkening world, and you mindlessly slaughter my most treasured creations a link from me to you, sealing your fate in this life and into the next.  Know this, any nation that condones such abhorrent and senseless violence will not stand for long, but will instead perish like shifting sands in the fiercest desert storm.”

Man is a stubbornly foolish creature of habit ... To endlessly win the battle, but forever to lose the war.  That is the eternal curse of mankind, I think. 

Trying to Wrap Your Mind Around the Unfathomable?

It is unfathomable that chemical weapons were once again used on the Syrian people? When will this madness end?  To hear of the deaths of the innocent, among them children, and to then bear witness to the ensuing suffering of the survivors by way of graphic news and social media full-color images is almost overwhelming. One wonders if we, fellow citizens on this rapidly spinning Blue Planet, will all become callous to such atrocities in order to maintain the frivolity of our seemingly important 'everyday lives'? To say my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the Syrian Chemical attack, followed by victims of separate terror attacks in London and Russia over the past week, no longer seems to BE enough? I am left wondering, how many of us have become complacent in a world gone mad ......

One is left wondering:  In today's crazy world, does the ability to separate what "we think" from what "we feel" become crucial to our ability to continue to function 'normally' in the face of the unthinkable???? And if so, are we then okay with this new normal?

4/7/2017 Been thinking some more on this terrible atrocity executed against Syrian people, and it occurred to me that the Russian government gave assurances it had worked with Syria government to dismantle and then to subsequently remove the Syrian government's chemical weapons stock-pile.  This recent chemical attack is clear evidence that the Russian government, by way of Vladimir Putin, failed to live up to the commitment it made in front of the United Nations.  As such, this failure would seem to constitute grounds for Russia losing their seat on the United Nations Security Council, either a temporary suspension or even a longer term removal.

4/21/2017 Yet another attack in France, Paris, near the Champs D'Elysees.  The destruction and death continue in a battle where no one truly ever wins. 

Wondering ....

If the world went mad would we be too busy with trivialities or complacency to even notice??  Would we notice the early warning signs?