It occurred to me that the awareness of police brutality on African Americans has only been widely known since the advent of smartphone video cameras. How many untrue police reports were submitted after numerous shootings over many years? Maybe almost all of them.
16
Lets go one day without police protection and see what happens. I bet everyone will be singing a different tune.
6
Without an intelligent and educated public, there will never be a reasonable response to events of the day. Think BEFORE you march!
5
The grieving need to examine the legitimacy of being able to own guns in America. What is that old maxim? -'you reap what you sow.'
11
It's too bad that the Dallas police were targeted and executed by a lone gunman who couldn't channel his frustrations and emotions properly. At the same time, the numerous and unjustified killings of mostly black men by trigger happy police is out of control. The victims of these outrageous and excessive shows of force also had families and children...just like the police in Dallas. In particular, nobody talks too much about the 4 year old in the back seat in MN when the police decided to execute the child's father in the front seat. Talk about callousness and complete lack of brain power on the part of these officers. And it appears to be that way with too many officers across this country. They don't know how to communicate and they surely don't bother to try and "de-escalate" the situation...they instead "escalate" encounters to justify their show of force. And the worst part about all of this is the fact that none of these officers are held accountable whether there is video evidence or not. It is time for the police unions to change the culture of their departments and remove bad police officers. if it doesn't, we will continue to go deeper into the abyss.
15
There's something very wrong with this picture. Even if one argues there's some kind of demented justification with the so-called "shoe being on the other foot", it still amounts to more senseless deaths.
These five police officers weren't harming anybody. Their daths were tragic.
As were the recent deaths of those other innocent citizens.
But as long as the law enforcement community doesn't take steps to address its own systemic shortcomings, and as long as a Republican Congress continues to hold this country hostage to the NRA by allowing unfettered access to assault weaponry, we will continue to see the death count rise.
There is something wrong in America.
These five police officers weren't harming anybody. Their daths were tragic.
As were the recent deaths of those other innocent citizens.
But as long as the law enforcement community doesn't take steps to address its own systemic shortcomings, and as long as a Republican Congress continues to hold this country hostage to the NRA by allowing unfettered access to assault weaponry, we will continue to see the death count rise.
There is something wrong in America.
15
I know how to fix this problem. Our politicians should ask us all to pray. That should do the trick.
9
From watching and reading about the Dallas events, it seems to me that the protest marchers and "organizers" are getting more attention and exposure than the murdered policemen and their families. What has gone wrong with us?????
8
The only way this could get worse would be if the Koch brothers bought out the entire gun manufacturing segment. That would close the circle with the Republican party and their loyal voters . Next, we'll be arming teenagers for a safer America.
2
Time to get serious about gun control, every person armed is not the solution. NRA making money by destroying our country. Time for common sense.
13
As a white male, the best I can do here is try, with inherent inadequacy, to wrap my brain around the reality of what's it's like to be black in America. And I also need to stop a cop and thank hm or her for the work they do.
It's also really sad, though, is that over the ten years that massive amounts of money available to state and local law enforcement (post 9/11; Homeland Security) most has gone to acquire hardware and not nearly enough to training.
It's also really sad, though, is that over the ten years that massive amounts of money available to state and local law enforcement (post 9/11; Homeland Security) most has gone to acquire hardware and not nearly enough to training.
11
Unfortunately, the NRA would have viewed the killer as a "good guy with a gun", until he used that gun.
I believe all the deaths we watched take place last week were criminal. If we do not prosecute police who murder innocent citizens, others might take the law into their own hands. Furthermore, we must make it clear to those tasked to protect us, that they are not above the law, that they will pay the price for murder.
Beat cops should not carry guns, but be armed with tasers only. SWAT should be armed and do their job, detectives could carry fire arms. But citizens, what excuse have they for carrying semi-automatic fire arms? In order to de-escalate murder in this country, changes must be made. The police cannot murder with abandon, but they shouldn't be so on edge every time they stop a driver, because they too are terrified of what they will find when that driver lowers his window.
Thank you NRA, you have sold your act, and brought us to the abyss. Thank you voters who elected those who protected your right to carry, look at what you have done.
I believe all the deaths we watched take place last week were criminal. If we do not prosecute police who murder innocent citizens, others might take the law into their own hands. Furthermore, we must make it clear to those tasked to protect us, that they are not above the law, that they will pay the price for murder.
Beat cops should not carry guns, but be armed with tasers only. SWAT should be armed and do their job, detectives could carry fire arms. But citizens, what excuse have they for carrying semi-automatic fire arms? In order to de-escalate murder in this country, changes must be made. The police cannot murder with abandon, but they shouldn't be so on edge every time they stop a driver, because they too are terrified of what they will find when that driver lowers his window.
Thank you NRA, you have sold your act, and brought us to the abyss. Thank you voters who elected those who protected your right to carry, look at what you have done.
12
The police are still very out of touch due to living in a blue bubble. They claim that rhetoric caused this. I'm sorry but it's the murder videos that seem to surface every week and the subsequent lack of justice for officers that kill people unjustifiably that has people angry. We all know police can murder with impunity and these judges and juries acquitting them are breeding vigilantism. Even when there is clear video evidence of criminal wrongdoing police are acquitted so it's inevitable that people will take the law into their own hands.
8
The problem is not a few bad actors. It is not a few black criminals and it is not a few bad cops. The problem is the system that the global 1% has talked us into implementing, that keeps us fighting each other while they steal half of everything, literally. Dallas was actually making progress, but most protests in this country are met by violence (as policy). While lobbyists are picked as super delegates, citizens that try to set public forums to discuss public policy are beaten and arrested-terrorized.
Our foreign policy is essentially organized crime. We support coups to depose democratically elected leaders, and use our intelligence services to back tyrants, and train their security services in assassination, terror, and torture. It is obvious, if you dare to see.
MLK was murdered for calling for peace. Robert Kennedy was murdered for asking for peace. His brother was murdered because he started listening to Robert too much. Malcolm X was not murdered until he renounced violence and asked for peace. Herbert Hoover hounded John Lennon for calling for peace, and attempted to have him thrown out of the country. A few months later a crazy person murdered him.
The FBI actively infiltrates peace movements, even the Quakers. Why are peace movements considered a threat? Because they threaten the profits of the arms industry.
The police are used by policy makers to terrorize the poor. It is not the fault of the individual officers. Read the justice department report on Ferguson.
Our foreign policy is essentially organized crime. We support coups to depose democratically elected leaders, and use our intelligence services to back tyrants, and train their security services in assassination, terror, and torture. It is obvious, if you dare to see.
MLK was murdered for calling for peace. Robert Kennedy was murdered for asking for peace. His brother was murdered because he started listening to Robert too much. Malcolm X was not murdered until he renounced violence and asked for peace. Herbert Hoover hounded John Lennon for calling for peace, and attempted to have him thrown out of the country. A few months later a crazy person murdered him.
The FBI actively infiltrates peace movements, even the Quakers. Why are peace movements considered a threat? Because they threaten the profits of the arms industry.
The police are used by policy makers to terrorize the poor. It is not the fault of the individual officers. Read the justice department report on Ferguson.
11
Seven wonderful men were killed in America this week. Two African-Americans by police officers. Five police officers by an African-American. Law enforcement, guns, racism, civil liberties, justice, respect. These are just the tip of iceberg that is cracking the foundation of our society. We must do something and do it now. Our leaders and government have so far failed. In failing to do anything about these problems and the host of others, our police forces all over our nation have been given by default the task of "handling": racism, poverty, gun violence, homelessness, mental illness, inequality, inadequate education, joblessness, drug addiction, rape, hate crimes, abuse, hunger. The list goes on and on. How can our police be expected to have "adequate training"? to keep in check our society's ills? And yet they do it every day. They try and try and try. And sometimes they - a few - get it horribly wrong. Is it no wonder that a blue wall tries to shield itself from prosecution? Is it no wonder that police officers do not feel valued for their service? The Dallas Police Department is an example for our nation of how to improve, how to become better, how to try and deal with the impossible task that has been thrust upon them. We as a nation must take away their overwhelming burden. Our government must begin to take responsibility for gun violence, systemic racism, civil liberties, poverty, hunger, etc. and not drop it in the police precincts across our country.
8
Just like the Catholic Church at one time became a magnet for people who began to understand that they absolutely could use the trust necessary in the existing structure to commit crimes against kids, and that they would never be prosecuted, our law enforcement and political class has a small but malignant number of really terrible people coming into its ranks because of the power over the public. It is clear from the videos from citizens that black folks are telling the truth about police in their communities shooting people for no reason. It is beyond maddening that our legislators just sit there.
There was a police detective on the evening news who said we have to get the small percentage of these people OUT of the ranks- they are endangering everyone.
Come On Congress- deal with this- you are literally allowing America to be killed. And the rest of us absolutely have to get rid of most of this Congress. Their inaction is a huge statement.
There was a police detective on the evening news who said we have to get the small percentage of these people OUT of the ranks- they are endangering everyone.
Come On Congress- deal with this- you are literally allowing America to be killed. And the rest of us absolutely have to get rid of most of this Congress. Their inaction is a huge statement.
11
The issue this week is primarily racial injustice, not guns. Not only do the NRA-beholden politicians not pass gun restrictions, but also citizens let off police officers who shoot black men. Police departments must adopt practices to deescalate violence and fire officers who are in violation. DAs and citizens must find guilty those officers who kill black men. The federal government must intervene in lower-level governments like Ferguson, MO, that demean and deprive blacks of their civil rights. Civilized societies dispense justice in the courtroom, not the streets. We will continue to have injustice protested in the streets–nonviolently and violently–until we dispense justice in the courtrooms and legislatures.
4
The horrible, deadly attack on police in Dallas is a sign that our democracy is disintegrating. It occurred because the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision created an American plutocracy, which is, de facto, a police state.
Our federal legislators are now beholden to rich contributors, and we will suffer increasing police brutality and its consequences until Citizens United is overturned.
Our federal legislators are now beholden to rich contributors, and we will suffer increasing police brutality and its consequences until Citizens United is overturned.
5
The Dallas killings and the killings in LA and MN are not morally equivalent.
The Dallas killings were the work of a racist who intended to murder as many cops as possible.
The LA killing of a civilian was a matter of 2 cops confronting a suspect who violently resisted arrest, not premeditated murder.
In Minnesota, a Hispanic cop stopped a Black motorist. We don't know much about the event at this point but have no reason to suppose the killing was racially motivated or intentional.
Much of the anti-cop rhetoric is based on the false narrative that cops are targeting and killing Blacks. No truth in that. While it is possible cops may be too quick to use lethal force, there is no evidence that cops specifically target Blacks. More Whites than Blacks are killed by cops (at about a 2 to 1 ratio). However, because Blacks are about 1/5 the population of non Hispanic Whites, that means per capita Blacks are killed at a higher rate.
BUT -- the violent crime rate for Blacks is much greater than whites (e.g. 7.5x the murder rate). Virtually all cop killings are of suspects they are attempting to arrest but who resist (Micah Johnson). Because of the high Black crime rate, Blacks are more likely to encounter cops and be arrested. And just like with Whites, if they resist arrest, they put themselves at risk.
So, why don't we all agree to drop the false narrative that cops are targeting Blacks? There is no evidence for it.
The Dallas killings were the work of a racist who intended to murder as many cops as possible.
The LA killing of a civilian was a matter of 2 cops confronting a suspect who violently resisted arrest, not premeditated murder.
In Minnesota, a Hispanic cop stopped a Black motorist. We don't know much about the event at this point but have no reason to suppose the killing was racially motivated or intentional.
Much of the anti-cop rhetoric is based on the false narrative that cops are targeting and killing Blacks. No truth in that. While it is possible cops may be too quick to use lethal force, there is no evidence that cops specifically target Blacks. More Whites than Blacks are killed by cops (at about a 2 to 1 ratio). However, because Blacks are about 1/5 the population of non Hispanic Whites, that means per capita Blacks are killed at a higher rate.
BUT -- the violent crime rate for Blacks is much greater than whites (e.g. 7.5x the murder rate). Virtually all cop killings are of suspects they are attempting to arrest but who resist (Micah Johnson). Because of the high Black crime rate, Blacks are more likely to encounter cops and be arrested. And just like with Whites, if they resist arrest, they put themselves at risk.
So, why don't we all agree to drop the false narrative that cops are targeting Blacks? There is no evidence for it.
13
Consider the Source.
You need to cite your source for such stats.
Go look at the tapes of the killings of Mr. Castile and Mr. Sterling. It doesnt matter where it occurs- the state cannot be executioner of citizens. That could be you, in other words.
You need to cite your source for such stats.
Go look at the tapes of the killings of Mr. Castile and Mr. Sterling. It doesnt matter where it occurs- the state cannot be executioner of citizens. That could be you, in other words.
15
Actually, Ralphie, you are wrong in your comment - far too many police are, in fact, targeting people of color and using any conjured pretext to do so, including having the temerity to be "living while black." You need to research the Ferguson report - the disproportionate arrests and jailing of minority residents was pervasive and wildly out of control there, and in too many other jurisdictions around the country. If we add to that toxic mix the fact that due to tax slashing fools on the right, nationwide, small municipalities with limited revenue streams have come to rely upon their police to gin up additional revenue for their strained coffers. There are far too many minorities and poor people in general who languish in the equivalent of debtors' prison because they cannot afford some of these fines, although it clearly hasn't occurred to the right wing's slavish ideologues that the cost of keeping people in prison far exceeds many of these fines. Do you truly believe that had Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and hundreds of others, were white, they would have been murdered? As Gov. Mark Dayton of Minnesota so bluntly stated, the answer is very likely not.
12
Amazing, there is practically no one here who ascribes personal responsibility to the young man who committed these hideous acts. Oh no, it's guns, the media, racism, police brutality, ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. He's not responsible, we're all responsible. This country has gone off it's rocker because we don't anyone accountable anymore. Especially if they're black.
15
Good grief. There isnt one publication out there not identifying this man as the killer.
9
Is America going to be crazy,Out of control? Now a days newspapers covered with deadliest mass shooting and gunfire? These fatal genocide come up every where in US whether it is school, club or public place. Here the question is how the ordinary man get gun legally? Why the ordinary person need the gun to protect himself or herself ,The government provide us law enforcement to protect our lives !The concerned is the man who killed people at Orlando club bought the weapons legally!Its time to restrain and regulate the Gun brutality. The question how the man who shot the 5 officers and injured dozens of officers at Dallas got the Snipers! . Law enforcement has privilege of immense authority and endowment towards the society and civilians to keep the peace and safeguard social order.There is a loophole in the systematization that it cannot jurisdiction and control the Gun ferocity.Is this really racial ,political or something else? Entire country as a society and law enforcement with each other lets get integrated and united towards peaceful and amicable nation.
1
Where is the immediate Congressional Committee? Why isnt Wayne La Pierre explaining to America "the good guy" theory again after this??
Mr Castile and Mr Sterling were both good guys shot by supposedly other good guys without provocation. The open carry guy at the rally was wrongly called a suspect and could have gotten killed. A veteran who legally stockpiled an arsenal including armor piercing military style weapons targets police.
Where's Wayne??
Will each congressman say how much Wayne gives them to write our laws and suppress medical reviews? Our Cory Gardner is in for 4 million.
Mr Castile and Mr Sterling were both good guys shot by supposedly other good guys without provocation. The open carry guy at the rally was wrongly called a suspect and could have gotten killed. A veteran who legally stockpiled an arsenal including armor piercing military style weapons targets police.
Where's Wayne??
Will each congressman say how much Wayne gives them to write our laws and suppress medical reviews? Our Cory Gardner is in for 4 million.
9
Some of us are hosting teenage Canadians in a few days who are coming to the US to learn about our country and government. We're told they worry about American guns and healthcare. I have the same concerns; what in the world am I supposed to say to them?
6
These Canadian teenagers have access to the same if not more types of media than you do, they already know perfectly well what is going on in America, no explanation required.
5
"But the police and protesters alike could only wonder what might truly account for such a level of atrocity." Really? I am wondering more why anyone should be surprised at the almost inevitable result of the years of injustice we've witnessed against black men, both in the streets, in the news, and in courts of law. The naivete of this statement reflects perhaps the general apathy of the media and the nation toward this burning issue.
6
"Drawing in grief" is exactly how I feel, as do my friends, but I fear we are more accurately becoming a nation afflicted by chronic post-traumatic stress - the psychic numbing that looks like inertia, but is in fact a defense against trauma, the jumpiness we all exhibit when news cycles are interrupted with yet another blaring headline, the feeling of living in two worlds -- the concrete, and the dream-like, where national events take on a surreal quality. Our recent national tragedies are both a bequest and a burden - the legacy of centuries of racial terrorizing and a burden we are inflicting on our young...and I fear that we have not yet seen the worst.
1
Well then stand up and live your life, your very real, one in the universe, life which is going to unfold in the manner in which you live it. Go ahead, be responsible to your life, whether you do or not, in the end, you will have been. Untangle that now, instead of drowning in the grief headline you garnered from this poor editorial.
So a young black man fired several bullets into a cop once he was already down on the ground. I wonder where he got the idea to do that? Tragic, just tragic.
6
Sorry, there will always be some measure of racism, anger, hatred, whatever, but there doesn't always have to be guns. Whatever the roiling emotions underlying each of these tragedies, the common factor is guns. Let's get rid of the guns and join the rest of the civilized world.
7
Is this demented shooting of peaceful police really all that different from the sadistic police executions of unarmed civilians, pathological shootings of peaceful school children, maniacal domestic murder-suicides, sociopathic shootings by radical Islamists and Christians, and the daily slaughter by rabid gang-bangers?
Perhaps, if we Americans would do less praying and more thinking, we will be able to identify two critical characteristics that all these killings have in common.
But that is wishful thinking in a society that loves guns and violence far more than human life.
Perhaps, if we Americans would do less praying and more thinking, we will be able to identify two critical characteristics that all these killings have in common.
But that is wishful thinking in a society that loves guns and violence far more than human life.
6
Yes, a lot of prayers and a lot of political punditry from those who think they have the answers, yet, none of this seems to be working.
3
Tears of frustration are flowing in America today. People's hearts are bleeding with the pain of senseless violence. However, we must NOT give up hope and courage. Collectively, and individually, we CAN move from today's culture of fear, anger, hate and violence and create a more civil, peaceful society. The song linked below always helps me heal and gives me renewed strength and courage. Please listen to it and pass the link on to everyone you know. WE can make a difference. Peace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPH4LRASWbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPH4LRASWbo
2
Advice to all of us legitimately hurting after the deaths of Philandro Castile, Alton Sterling and five Dallas police officers: if you frame the ongoing fight as a choice between justice and public order (which it is NOT) people will choose order every time, since there is no justice without law. But law without justice breeds disorder, as we see here. The politics of outrage (whether in the Black Lives Matter movement or those who pretends to support law enforcement) betrays a lack of faith in the political process, an unforgivable sin in a democracy. All of us should tone down the rhetoric, at the price of being labeled by Donald Trump as slaves to “political correctness."
1
Here is the difference between what happened in Dallas on Thursday and what happened in St. Paul on Wednesday :
In Dallas, a heinous crime was committed by a private citizen acting outside the law. Like Orlando,it Involved a weapon with war zone levels of firepower and carnage. There are clear controls on this kind of lawlessness.
On the other hand, in St Paul and Baton Rouge this week, heinous crimes appear to have been committed by officers OF the law, and it extends a trend in police actions towards blacks that seems to give license to police to use lethal force in a way that threatens all of us.
What happened in Dallas is tragic but individual; what happened in St Paul and Baton Rouge is a threat to the life of any Republic: a trend in the direction of state sanctioned violence against ordinary citizens.
In Dallas, a heinous crime was committed by a private citizen acting outside the law. Like Orlando,it Involved a weapon with war zone levels of firepower and carnage. There are clear controls on this kind of lawlessness.
On the other hand, in St Paul and Baton Rouge this week, heinous crimes appear to have been committed by officers OF the law, and it extends a trend in police actions towards blacks that seems to give license to police to use lethal force in a way that threatens all of us.
What happened in Dallas is tragic but individual; what happened in St Paul and Baton Rouge is a threat to the life of any Republic: a trend in the direction of state sanctioned violence against ordinary citizens.
8
Sad.... where is this country going to.
Police killing innocents.
People taking law into their own hands frustrated from not getting justice
...and the NRA wants to sell more guns to everyone.
For cooler heads and common sense to prevail, get the guns off the streets; educate the police and hold them responsible for these heinous acts; let justice be fair; reduce poverty and spread education to all.
We are already on a slippery slope....and heading towards disaster.
Police killing innocents.
People taking law into their own hands frustrated from not getting justice
...and the NRA wants to sell more guns to everyone.
For cooler heads and common sense to prevail, get the guns off the streets; educate the police and hold them responsible for these heinous acts; let justice be fair; reduce poverty and spread education to all.
We are already on a slippery slope....and heading towards disaster.
3
Guns are big business $$$$$. The polarization of the country, black vs white, right vs left, rich vs poor, rich vs middle class, etc. These divisions are widening, the demographics are changing, the media is becoming more splintered, everyone seems to gravitate towards there own center or base. The NRA puts forward a premise that everyone should have easy access to their weapons of choice and that this will eventually create the " an armed society is a polite society," utopia, the good guy with a gun theory. The Second Amendment needs to be rewritten as it is obvious to most Americans it is not what the forefathers envisioned back in the 1700's. Guns are big business $$$$. The daily carnage is too high.
1
Here's the thing also, the narrative that "police and fire departments 'must' look like the communities they serve" is a bit of nasty rhetoric that has been accepted hook line and sinker by the left. First, it perpetuates the myth that skin color trumps everything. As in, I am now less fit to serve blacks because I am white fireman. Or those cops over there are unable to be good police in a minority neighborhood by dint of their skin color. Both sides seem to buy into this balkanization. And the press just fans it further. The press is complicit in all of this because they don't challenge any of this type of race-baiting.
This kind of nonsense leads to an endgame, because no one can change their race. So if we are deeming people unfit to serve others based on their color as opposed to their character, society fails. Too much labelling people as 'others.' We need to start actively looking for common ground- not diversity, but unity.
This kind of nonsense leads to an endgame, because no one can change their race. So if we are deeming people unfit to serve others based on their color as opposed to their character, society fails. Too much labelling people as 'others.' We need to start actively looking for common ground- not diversity, but unity.
6
Your premise is off.
If you are from the neighborhood you are less likely to interpret other people in knee-jerk ways. Neighborhood policing rather than military occupancy used to be the model.
If you are from the neighborhood you are less likely to interpret other people in knee-jerk ways. Neighborhood policing rather than military occupancy used to be the model.
5
Wrong, Kay. Former NYC Mayor Giuliani said the black police officers were much harder on the black perpetrators. What do they know that others don't?
This isn't to say that community policing isn't an excellent idea, but injecting race into every aspect of policing is more a hindrance than a help.
This isn't to say that community policing isn't an excellent idea, but injecting race into every aspect of policing is more a hindrance than a help.
3
Politicians justifying black rage and backlash at white people because we allegedly do not understand their positions regarding police empowers hatred and insults the caucausian race as being ignorant. Historically, race relations have improved through unity, not through bullying. Political campaign promises by either party accusing the white population of not understanding the principles of justice makes many reconsider showing up at the polls in November.
Justice matters for everyone. Democratic Realism does not do well when extremes become the value-base we operate under. The pendulum can, and will, swing slowly and moderately to a temperate rhythm if it is set into motion by moderate thinking.
Justice matters for everyone. Democratic Realism does not do well when extremes become the value-base we operate under. The pendulum can, and will, swing slowly and moderately to a temperate rhythm if it is set into motion by moderate thinking.
2
So much for the commonly heard refrain "if only someone in the crowd had their own gun he could have been stopped" Well here we had the best trained people with their guns available and he still killed many and injured others. Its guns that are the problem. Too many out there, too easy to obtain and too lethal. How many people could he have killed with only a knife or a club? Our country needs to wake up and be responsible- we are quickly turning a once great nation into something that does not resemble a civilized society.
6
What was the horror in Dallas? And who is drowning in grief in the country for whom, where and why?
Of the 33,000 Americans who die from gun shots every year nearly 2/3rds are suicides. With 77% of white Americans dying this way and 14% of blacks killing themselves. About 84% of blacks die from homicide and 19% of whites are killed by gun shot. With 95% of both colored races being killed by their like colored peers. An estimated 79% of white suicides are male. About 18-25% of Americans suffer from mental illness.
With a population of 43-61 million adult Americans is the horror in Dallas untreated undiagnosed mental illness? Is the country drowning in grief for Dallas, Minnesota and Louisiana?
Of the 33,000 Americans who die from gun shots every year nearly 2/3rds are suicides. With 77% of white Americans dying this way and 14% of blacks killing themselves. About 84% of blacks die from homicide and 19% of whites are killed by gun shot. With 95% of both colored races being killed by their like colored peers. An estimated 79% of white suicides are male. About 18-25% of Americans suffer from mental illness.
With a population of 43-61 million adult Americans is the horror in Dallas untreated undiagnosed mental illness? Is the country drowning in grief for Dallas, Minnesota and Louisiana?
7
Maybe I read too much Marshall McLuhan in college, but the volatile new element in human behavior that distinguishes 21st century violence from that of the 20th century and the 1960's is the presence of social media.
We are only just beginning to grapple with the enormous impact of social media on human behavior. In their intense immediacy, the various forms of social media brutally short-circuit all of the elaborate filters that have been set up in in individual and social ethics that serve to channel our animal impulses into constructive behaviors.
Careful deliberation has given way to raw impulse. Even the more traditional news media, such as cable TV news, constantly barrage us in their "breaking news" frenzy with non-stop incendiary images, such as those repetitive visual loops that constantly display while someone is being interviewed.
No comprehensive plan to deal with the new forms of 21st century violence can be complete without analyzing the role of social media in altering human behavior.
We are only just beginning to grapple with the enormous impact of social media on human behavior. In their intense immediacy, the various forms of social media brutally short-circuit all of the elaborate filters that have been set up in in individual and social ethics that serve to channel our animal impulses into constructive behaviors.
Careful deliberation has given way to raw impulse. Even the more traditional news media, such as cable TV news, constantly barrage us in their "breaking news" frenzy with non-stop incendiary images, such as those repetitive visual loops that constantly display while someone is being interviewed.
No comprehensive plan to deal with the new forms of 21st century violence can be complete without analyzing the role of social media in altering human behavior.
3
Marshall McLuhan aside, you might want to also take a long look at the Republican increasing divide and conquer approach to governing in America. As we have seen, while they have constantly whined about government inclusion in peoples lives, they have gone out of their way to use government to try to exclude or place the blame on others for your problems creating further suspicions towards others that are different from you. Voter suppression and gerrymandering of voting districts are other examples of this. Donald Trump has just brought all this out in the open and laid it on the table for everyone to see and given the volume of his supporters, the current atmosphere in America is not really surprising. It was always there bubbling just below the surface.
Whether it is black people, immigrants, Muslims, the poor, and the beat goes on, it is others that are creating your problems, of course, deflecting the real reasons why these issues are getting worse, the politicians themselves whom, rather than try to bring people together, reinforce their power by creating a larger and larger divide.
Whether it is black people, immigrants, Muslims, the poor, and the beat goes on, it is others that are creating your problems, of course, deflecting the real reasons why these issues are getting worse, the politicians themselves whom, rather than try to bring people together, reinforce their power by creating a larger and larger divide.
1
We are drowning in grief, with lots of guns, and fear mixed in. So much sorrow and so bleak the prospect. Lots of people will never acknowledge white privilege. Lots of people won't give up their guns. Many of us are afraid, or ill, or poor or addicted. Cultural transformation doesn't happen easily. We need policies, proposals, ideas that will address our grave situation without expecting understanding or enlightenment to strike the benighted or the apathetic or the unjust. We can't depend on radical empathy, because I fear we'll never acheive that. And we just can't live together in constant sorrow.
3
Let's hope that this recent event in Dallas does not curtail our rights to peaceful protest in public spaces. Especially within a presidential election year.
As with 9/11 we saw the Patriot Act get instantly instituted. My hunch is that future protests are potentially going to be quelled and or abolished by police and others. Let's not allow one sniper's actions remove our civil liberties to gather and exhibit free speech in public. If this activity gets taken away from we, the people, the US is no longer.
As with 9/11 we saw the Patriot Act get instantly instituted. My hunch is that future protests are potentially going to be quelled and or abolished by police and others. Let's not allow one sniper's actions remove our civil liberties to gather and exhibit free speech in public. If this activity gets taken away from we, the people, the US is no longer.
5
Violence breeds violence. Hate breeds hate. Justice breeds justice.
(Yes, it really is that simple.)
(Yes, it really is that simple.)
5
I am so angry, so very angry. I could unleash a profanity filled rant of disgust at the NRA leadership who are nothing more than shills for the gun manufacturers. Their motto of "The only thing to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun" is nonsense. The more weapons available, the more likely gun violence will occur. This insanity has to stop! And it's more than the NRA although they are the tip of the spear, to coin a phrase. It's also money in politics (giving the small number of NRA power brokers so much influence). It's poverty. It's discrimination. It's income disparity. It's lack of opportunities, greed, corruption, and people just giving up the fight to take our country back. Another powerful force not doing its job is the media! Talk of dumb-ing down America! They all (primarily television) make money on the sensational, the lurid, the sorrow - if it bleeds, it leads, right? Newspapers? They cannot survive to do the job they've done so well (for the most part) due to the changing technology, the limited attention span of people, the limited amount of time people/parents have to "keep up." It's so much easier to turn on the television for the 30-minute summary of very complicated stories told in 1 to 2 minute segments. Where's the media in informing people, educating them on what's going on in their world. Media - you're a disgrace, as much, if not more so, than the NRA.
5
I've always thought of myself as a law-and-order guy: If you come at a cop with a gun, or a fake gun, or a knife, or a tire iron ... well, what do you think is going to happen?
But I have to admit to escalating remorse at not doing enough to question the shootings of African Americans by police. Just another self-congratulatory white liberal focused on the battleground states instead of the battles.
Are things getting worse for African Americans? Or are things, tragically, the same as they ever were, and the only difference now is that we who live without constant fear of a "broken tail light" are being shaken from our comfort by Periscope and Facebook Live?
It appears, sadly, that we have witnessed the executions of two African American citizens this week who were guilty of nothing but being black. Were these the only two executions this week, or in July, or in 2016, or were they the tip of a phenomenon called Rogue Police? I've got a bad feeling about it.
And then, Dallas and the sickening feeling that a modern-day Charles Whitman had just made it all so much worse, shattering a peaceful protest by killing five officers whose only crimes were signing up to protect and serve and being white or, as it happens, Hispanic.
I grieve their senseless murders.
Where does it end? I don't know. But for me, the difference between last week and this week is that I plan to be part of the solution. Not sure how yet, but I don't think praying for peace cuts it anymore.
But I have to admit to escalating remorse at not doing enough to question the shootings of African Americans by police. Just another self-congratulatory white liberal focused on the battleground states instead of the battles.
Are things getting worse for African Americans? Or are things, tragically, the same as they ever were, and the only difference now is that we who live without constant fear of a "broken tail light" are being shaken from our comfort by Periscope and Facebook Live?
It appears, sadly, that we have witnessed the executions of two African American citizens this week who were guilty of nothing but being black. Were these the only two executions this week, or in July, or in 2016, or were they the tip of a phenomenon called Rogue Police? I've got a bad feeling about it.
And then, Dallas and the sickening feeling that a modern-day Charles Whitman had just made it all so much worse, shattering a peaceful protest by killing five officers whose only crimes were signing up to protect and serve and being white or, as it happens, Hispanic.
I grieve their senseless murders.
Where does it end? I don't know. But for me, the difference between last week and this week is that I plan to be part of the solution. Not sure how yet, but I don't think praying for peace cuts it anymore.
9
So the question is, when is Congress going to grow a spine and other fortitudinal body parts to address the numbing insanity that is gripping the nation in its morbid claws. How many death, how many mass massacres, how many lives destroyed, how much maiming does it take to our partisan impotence to achieve something consequential.
How can we hope when 26 innocents in Newtown, 32 students and teachers in Blacksburg, 49 citizens in Orlando and countless others injured and scarred across the nation. What does it take our political leadership simply to stand up, take action and earn an honest day's pay?
www.endthemadnessnow.org
How can we hope when 26 innocents in Newtown, 32 students and teachers in Blacksburg, 49 citizens in Orlando and countless others injured and scarred across the nation. What does it take our political leadership simply to stand up, take action and earn an honest day's pay?
www.endthemadnessnow.org
2
Very disturbing to learn there are people reading this newspaper who believe there is a shred of moral equivalence between a sniper assasinating sworn police in the streets of a major American city and bad shootings by police in the course of their duty for which they will be held accountable. If you cannot understand the significance between the two, there is not enough space in the comments section to explain it to you.
8
They will understand it on November 9.
3
A narcissism has taken hold of the left on matters of race. Only they can define "racism". They are judge and jury. They alone define and mete out justice. If anyone disagrees, it's off to the racist gallows for him.
It's impossible to break through. If it weren't for the cops' killings, there wouldn't be this much introspection. They took just enough of a breather to swap narratives. Now it's guns.
It's impossible to break through. If it weren't for the cops' killings, there wouldn't be this much introspection. They took just enough of a breather to swap narratives. Now it's guns.
7
AAC: these narratives are tiresome. This is a problem that everyone wants and needs to solve. That you feel picked on when others try to figure things out is too bad. Join a more realistic assessment of the problem and therefore a more creative solution.
I'm surprised that this hasn't happened sooner.
There is only one way to make sure that this kind of thing stops happening-- make sure that police stop murdering unarmed black civilians.
Shock? Disbelief? Sadly, I don't feel either of those things.
There is only one way to make sure that this kind of thing stops happening-- make sure that police stop murdering unarmed black civilians.
Shock? Disbelief? Sadly, I don't feel either of those things.
4
America the beautiful is surfacing back from drowning in grief to facing the reality that without the law enforcement doing their job for most part it will be anarchy and disorderly chaos. While we mourn the deaths of the Dallas police officers brutally and senselessly shot down by a lone gunman and justice will be done for the killing on 2 African Americans, America remains mostly united and resolute to move on. I just dropped by the waffle house and it was wonderful and heart warming to see both African Americans and White Americans working together, eating together and sitting together in perfect harmony as they have done for decades and as though nothing happened or that America is robust and it moves on and is not and will not be defeated or terrorized by a mentally challenged sharp shooter.
2
What are you talking about--"justice will be done"? Wow talk about white obtuseness. Justice has never been done in response to police on black violence. They are always acquitted. If I was black I think I would lose my mind in frustration reading many of these "sympathetic" comments. And one more comment, the man that was killed in Minnesota had been stopped by police 61 times in the past for minor and clearly mostly concocted vehicle violations. I don't want this misunderstood but this "existential rape", this degradation--is to me as tragic as his death. This has got to be happening all over that community. This needs to be exposed, community by community and heads need to roll. Police engaged in these hate crimes/stalking/ civil rights violations should be prosecuted in the criminal system. What we don't need are civil lawsuits paid by the community. Much as victims want them. Everyone knows they have ZERO effect in changing behaviour and that should be societies gimlet eyed objective--changing police behaviour.
2
Police killing citizens has no parallel in what happened in Dallas. Police are arms of the state, and the power and authority they hold makes us (but more to the point, people who are politically and historically and culturally second-class citizens) vulnerable in a profoundly different way.
The horror of Dallas is that the violence will multiply, the fear and anger will grow, because the police and the rest of us are human. the grief I feel is simply for what has been happening for decades -- hundreds of years, and what will continue with no end.
And our so called leaders are as removed and unharmed as ever.
The horror of Dallas is that the violence will multiply, the fear and anger will grow, because the police and the rest of us are human. the grief I feel is simply for what has been happening for decades -- hundreds of years, and what will continue with no end.
And our so called leaders are as removed and unharmed as ever.
5
Here's to the guy in Dallas with an assault type rifle who promptly turned it over to police, even though bringing it to peaceful protest was idiotic. Maybe our gun owning friends ought to realize that they don't make most of us feel safer - in fact the opposite occurs.
The guy who killed and wounded so police officers was until the moment he started shooting was by NRA standards "a good guy with a gun."
Mentally ill? Maybe. A veteran of Afghanistan who,knew how to use a gun for whatever reason could acquire an arsenal legally. The NRA was defending this man's right to a gun until the moment he began to kill people.
Police officers. A lot of them shot.
Ammunition? No limits. And the NRA fights for the righ to,have ammunition that will penetrate body armor. Write something about a killer's weapon and you rouse the ire of thousands, if not millions who write comments that accuse you of slandering their precious.,
I own a hand gun, a relic from my grandfather, who was born in 1886. Eventually it has to go away. Granddad was also a block warden - in the event our industrial city was bombed by the Axis powers. Obviously it didn't happen, but I also remember the bomb shelters that a lot of people built (at the urging of government) in response to nuclear tensions.
Friends and neighbors on my street have guns. I remember troops returning home from WW2 and Korea - few kept guns. If they did, they were hunters.
Guns make it too easy to kill - over arguments, whatever.
The guy who killed and wounded so police officers was until the moment he started shooting was by NRA standards "a good guy with a gun."
Mentally ill? Maybe. A veteran of Afghanistan who,knew how to use a gun for whatever reason could acquire an arsenal legally. The NRA was defending this man's right to a gun until the moment he began to kill people.
Police officers. A lot of them shot.
Ammunition? No limits. And the NRA fights for the righ to,have ammunition that will penetrate body armor. Write something about a killer's weapon and you rouse the ire of thousands, if not millions who write comments that accuse you of slandering their precious.,
I own a hand gun, a relic from my grandfather, who was born in 1886. Eventually it has to go away. Granddad was also a block warden - in the event our industrial city was bombed by the Axis powers. Obviously it didn't happen, but I also remember the bomb shelters that a lot of people built (at the urging of government) in response to nuclear tensions.
Friends and neighbors on my street have guns. I remember troops returning home from WW2 and Korea - few kept guns. If they did, they were hunters.
Guns make it too easy to kill - over arguments, whatever.
7
The US is a country drowning in denial, more so than in grief. Other developed countries regulate firearms. It's time for the US to do the same.
6
Here's the link to the viral video by Officer Nakia Jones. Her response identifies two aspects of the problem: one is violent racist police officers, and the other is a problem in the black community with violence. But more than that, her voice and tone express the horror, frustration, anger, and grief we all feel. Even the baby starts to cry as she makes this video.
Years ago, programs were developed and used to retrain officers dealing with domestic violence. Because of those programs, more lives were saved and the issue itself began to be addressed. There is absolutely no reason police should not receive training to eliminate the racist attitudes and overreactions.
Likewise, years ago in my town, programs were developed where executives and other well-off people could "adopt" homeless people, covering for their food and shelter and other needs. There is absolutely no reason mentoring and other such programs couldn't be developed and implemented to address violence among black youth.
Of course, programs take money and our Republican dominated Congress won't vote to label food, let alone vote to fund programs to end the violence and racism in our country. They profit from it with their pact with the gun lobby. They've cornered the racist vote. They've become a "they" instead of representing us.
If I hear Nakia Jones' heart in her voice, we're going to have to do this ourselves. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9hbO1wocfNM
Years ago, programs were developed and used to retrain officers dealing with domestic violence. Because of those programs, more lives were saved and the issue itself began to be addressed. There is absolutely no reason police should not receive training to eliminate the racist attitudes and overreactions.
Likewise, years ago in my town, programs were developed where executives and other well-off people could "adopt" homeless people, covering for their food and shelter and other needs. There is absolutely no reason mentoring and other such programs couldn't be developed and implemented to address violence among black youth.
Of course, programs take money and our Republican dominated Congress won't vote to label food, let alone vote to fund programs to end the violence and racism in our country. They profit from it with their pact with the gun lobby. They've cornered the racist vote. They've become a "they" instead of representing us.
If I hear Nakia Jones' heart in her voice, we're going to have to do this ourselves. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9hbO1wocfNM
3
It's hard to be clinical about this, but two years after Ferguson -- when everybody saw the problem and promised redress -- not much has changed.
The moral of this tragic story is, We can't promise change and do nothing.
The moral of this tragic story is, We can't promise change and do nothing.
5
Everyone saw a problem in Ferguson, just not the same one.
The reason why things don't change is because you "see" a narrative that doesn't reflect reality. People are not promising change nor are they going to demand change when they see with their own eyes that the cause and effect in a narrative is not accurate.
The "police indiscriminately killing black men" narrative is untrue. Get the narrative right, and you'll have plenty of support.
The reason why things don't change is because you "see" a narrative that doesn't reflect reality. People are not promising change nor are they going to demand change when they see with their own eyes that the cause and effect in a narrative is not accurate.
The "police indiscriminately killing black men" narrative is untrue. Get the narrative right, and you'll have plenty of support.
4
QED.
1
Give it a week, and there will be another killing of an unarmed black man by a cop; the cop will be acquitted of all charges. People will be angry. And so it goes.
4
When I heard "shots rang out in Dallas" I was brought back to November 22, 1963 when I was still in school. They first reported that shots had been fired at the motorcade of President Kennedy. Back in those days reporting was limited. Those in the know in Dallas knew that the president was already dead but that wasn't announced until an hour later allowing a shocked nation to absorb this tragedy incrementally. Though to this day people of a conspiratorial nature still refuse to believe the conclusion reached by numerous investigations: Three shots, a lone gunman was the culprit.
We have come a long way I see. Not in reducing the amount of guns in our culture. No, that has not improved one iota. What we have come a long way in is the ability now for one gunman acting alone to kill five armed policemen and wound seven more. The advancement has not been in bringing about a safer more secure nation. It has advanced in only one direction, the ability for a lone gunman to acquire far more sophisticated weaponry than Lee Harvey Oswald. It has allowed the NRA once an advocate of gun safety to become an ally and lobbyist for the world's gun manufacturers. The more the better. You have one gun? Get another, and another. Always something better to do the job. Of what? Defense? Hunting? Revolution against the government? Your local police force? When will this nonsense end? The only good deterrent to a bad buy with a gun is limiting who can own a gun.
DD
Manhattan
We have come a long way I see. Not in reducing the amount of guns in our culture. No, that has not improved one iota. What we have come a long way in is the ability now for one gunman acting alone to kill five armed policemen and wound seven more. The advancement has not been in bringing about a safer more secure nation. It has advanced in only one direction, the ability for a lone gunman to acquire far more sophisticated weaponry than Lee Harvey Oswald. It has allowed the NRA once an advocate of gun safety to become an ally and lobbyist for the world's gun manufacturers. The more the better. You have one gun? Get another, and another. Always something better to do the job. Of what? Defense? Hunting? Revolution against the government? Your local police force? When will this nonsense end? The only good deterrent to a bad buy with a gun is limiting who can own a gun.
DD
Manhattan
4
the frequency of the tragic events has put the boiler plate reaction of our leadership in perspective, it's repetition demonstrating its abstraction from the reality, the emergency, of the civil decay it signals, its lack of strategic or tactical initiative demonstrating a lack of imagination and appetite for action.
while there is no "one-size fits all" or "just add water" remedy we can take steps, actual steps...can we just get tough with reforms of policing (training and procedure adjustments could begin at the speed of light) on one end of the seesaw and social action on the other (if we can't change all the bad schools overnight we could create regional models that might contribute to the acceleration of change and apply those results as we would water to a fire, we could also have federal training and jobs programs (the old roosevelt stuff), and so on, (also in model form, if need be, to get the best talent organized and applied forthwith)...can't just one of the electeds or wannabes say something that begins with "starting tomorrow..."
while there is no "one-size fits all" or "just add water" remedy we can take steps, actual steps...can we just get tough with reforms of policing (training and procedure adjustments could begin at the speed of light) on one end of the seesaw and social action on the other (if we can't change all the bad schools overnight we could create regional models that might contribute to the acceleration of change and apply those results as we would water to a fire, we could also have federal training and jobs programs (the old roosevelt stuff), and so on, (also in model form, if need be, to get the best talent organized and applied forthwith)...can't just one of the electeds or wannabes say something that begins with "starting tomorrow..."
How horrible it all is.
I am sick of editorials of righteous indignation. I am sick of politicians with their statements of condolences and calls for unity, while they continue to enable the murders with their refusal to do something about guns and violence in this country. I am sick of the NRA and their "contributions" and threats to our politicians to do the bidding of the NRA leadership. Just sick to death of the stupidity and cowardness of our leaders to actually do something civilized to change the gun and violent culture we have evolved into. Just sick of it.
I am becoming a single issue voter. I will NOT vote for someone who does not, wholeheartedly, support gun control in this country. 80% of the country believes we need real gun control (not this garbage about terrorist watch lists). I will not support them even if they are members of the political party I support.
If our political class will not act when such a vast majority of the people want them to act, and while we lose over 30,000 lives annually to gun violence, then they should not be in a position to have power over our lives and our country.
In 2001, we went to war, that we are still fighting 15 years later, over 3,000 deaths, yet we do nothing over a figure 10 times as bad that happens year after year after year.
I am sick of it.
I am sick of editorials of righteous indignation. I am sick of politicians with their statements of condolences and calls for unity, while they continue to enable the murders with their refusal to do something about guns and violence in this country. I am sick of the NRA and their "contributions" and threats to our politicians to do the bidding of the NRA leadership. Just sick to death of the stupidity and cowardness of our leaders to actually do something civilized to change the gun and violent culture we have evolved into. Just sick of it.
I am becoming a single issue voter. I will NOT vote for someone who does not, wholeheartedly, support gun control in this country. 80% of the country believes we need real gun control (not this garbage about terrorist watch lists). I will not support them even if they are members of the political party I support.
If our political class will not act when such a vast majority of the people want them to act, and while we lose over 30,000 lives annually to gun violence, then they should not be in a position to have power over our lives and our country.
In 2001, we went to war, that we are still fighting 15 years later, over 3,000 deaths, yet we do nothing over a figure 10 times as bad that happens year after year after year.
I am sick of it.
7
The murders of innocent civilians were not "police shootings;" they were the acts of, in most cases, individuals who happened to be police officers. These deranged, incompetent, idiotic, poorly-trained killers do not represent the "police" in any way. Their actions should not be referred to by the press, politicians, or other community leaders as the actions of the "police." Editors, speechwriters, and others who craft public statements should not be careless in their references. It is that kind of carelessness that leads to even more violence. Over the past several days I've seen well-meaning politicians, and now this editorial, refer to the murderers as "police." It is at this time that references should be carefully stated.
According to your analysis, death because of medical errors should be attributed to individuals that happen to be physicians.
Contrary to white cops who not only arrest a much higher number of blacks for the same crimes or misdemeanours that whites commits, they kill blacks 20 plus times more than whites, and stop them for supposed traffic violation even more.
Physicians - at least to my knowledge - don't kill more people of a certain race due to medical error.
Had I, a lily white woman driven my husbands car, stopped for a broken tail light, and my equally lily white husband had told the arresting cop he had a carry permit, my husband would not have died in a barrage of bullets.
Contrary to white cops who not only arrest a much higher number of blacks for the same crimes or misdemeanours that whites commits, they kill blacks 20 plus times more than whites, and stop them for supposed traffic violation even more.
Physicians - at least to my knowledge - don't kill more people of a certain race due to medical error.
Had I, a lily white woman driven my husbands car, stopped for a broken tail light, and my equally lily white husband had told the arresting cop he had a carry permit, my husband would not have died in a barrage of bullets.
2
Why would anyone in 2016 care what the mediocre, slave-holding dolts who founded this lunatic asylum disguised as a country think? If their idiotic piece of paper is causing a bloodbath in this country, it is time to feed it into the shredder and begin living in the 21st not the 19th century.
2
Drowning in grief? Really?
The practice of 'peacefully demonstrating' was done in the 60's and no one was shooting. Until Kent State- we felt we go express our views. Today, with any 'lone wolf' with a cannon on their back, can mow down scores in anger. There needs to be more practice marching and freedom to express. But- the military look of our police scares me. There should be national solidarity over any life.
The ability of the girlfriend to 'broadcast live' while her boyfriend was dying shows how desensitized we are.... Notice how articulate witnesses are on cable news and seemingly free of emotions. We are a numb nation.
The ability of the girlfriend to 'broadcast live' while her boyfriend was dying shows how desensitized we are.... Notice how articulate witnesses are on cable news and seemingly free of emotions. We are a numb nation.
1
President Obama, you are in a unique position to take the bully pulpit to lead this country out of the racial fear and hatred that led to Baton Rouge, St. Paul and Dallas in just this week. You are the highest elected enforcer of the laws of this country, but you are also its first black president. You could bridge the different constituencies of racial groups and law enforcement, and at least try to unite them in an accord and understanding that will end the repetitive violence of the past week. You can lead in passing legislation that will reduce the risks of mass gun violence, such as sensible gun control laws, mental health treatment, and programs that can build respect between, and calm, the different groups that are at loggerheads with each other.
Given the tragedies of this week alone, there is no better time to step up and begin that process. There are no further elections to be won, you have favorable ratings, so you can throw caution to the winds. Mr. President, this could be your most important lasting legacy if you take the reins now and lead this country out of the racial mistrust, disrespect and propensity for violence into which it has fallen. Do that so that we, our children and grandchildren will no longer fear the violence that has overtaken our national life.
Given the tragedies of this week alone, there is no better time to step up and begin that process. There are no further elections to be won, you have favorable ratings, so you can throw caution to the winds. Mr. President, this could be your most important lasting legacy if you take the reins now and lead this country out of the racial mistrust, disrespect and propensity for violence into which it has fallen. Do that so that we, our children and grandchildren will no longer fear the violence that has overtaken our national life.
2
The time when Obama could invite people to the White House for a beer has passed. There are no neutrals to be impressed. He sees you as with him or against him.
I believe George W. Bush was the originator of that phrase, NOT Barack Obama.
2
Drowning in grief? A typical Liberal commentary! Drowning in anger ergo half mad and border line insane. The intensity of this anger/hate will grow and deepen as we move closer to an election of two deeply flawed candidates. who have the moral backbone of a snail. We're in for a very hot summer and it may well end up "Burn Baby Burn". And, why not? It is the American way.
Must Americans honor the 2nd Amendment written more than 200 years ago when the US newly gained its independence from England and wanted to send a message to England that all Americans would take up arms to defend their country's independence?
The US is not a new nation it once was in 1776. It is the most powerful country militarily in the world. Its federal and local law enforcements are the best armed in the world. Yet many law abiding and decent Americans still religiously cling to the 2nd Amendment. Elected officials, reasonable in many ways, have hijacked the 2nd Amendment to demagogue for political power and money from the gun lobby despite mass killing and murder happening almost every day in America.
It's time for Congress to have courage and invalidate the 2nd Amendment. Only then will America begin to heal and Americans united as a people. All the proposed solutions addressing poverty, joblessness, drugs, crimes, racism, and police training will not solve or eliminate killing among Americans as long as the 2nd Amendment is not killed.
The US is not a new nation it once was in 1776. It is the most powerful country militarily in the world. Its federal and local law enforcements are the best armed in the world. Yet many law abiding and decent Americans still religiously cling to the 2nd Amendment. Elected officials, reasonable in many ways, have hijacked the 2nd Amendment to demagogue for political power and money from the gun lobby despite mass killing and murder happening almost every day in America.
It's time for Congress to have courage and invalidate the 2nd Amendment. Only then will America begin to heal and Americans united as a people. All the proposed solutions addressing poverty, joblessness, drugs, crimes, racism, and police training will not solve or eliminate killing among Americans as long as the 2nd Amendment is not killed.
4
A US Congress will never "invalidate" the 2nd amendment. But we MUST begin to open a serious debate about what constitutes "arms." We need to define that word. Rather than "gun control," we need to control who defines what "arms" mean, which arms we as Americans are constitutionally protected to own. Can I own a nuclear device? That's an arm! We're letting the NRA tell us that "arms" include militarized weaponry. I can bet you that most American citizens, if allowed a referendum vote, will say that those are not the kind of "arms" our Founding Fathers were imagining. Don't get rid of the amendment, get rid of what the NRA and the weapons-building institutions are trying to say it means.
1
If we grant your point that only flintlocks are covered by the Second Amendment, then I guess only movable type hand presses are covered by freedom of the press and the Congress can regulate all forms of speech that do not involve standing on a soapbox?
The whole problem with 2nd Amendment is that it was written in 18th century English, a time when punctuation rules did not exist. Ergo, the most important opening clause, referring to "A well regulated militia" is later followed by a comma, one that even our oh-so-learned right wing judges on the Scotus used to give every Tom, Dick and Harry the right to arm themselves to the teeth.
The Founders were utterly opposed to establishing a standing Armed Forces, after having just defeated on of the mightiest with a true militia, e.g. people's army.
The Founders were utterly opposed to establishing a standing Armed Forces, after having just defeated on of the mightiest with a true militia, e.g. people's army.
2
Please spare me. If we are drowning in grief, it will only be for two or three days or so (to our everlasting shame). If we, as a nation, didn't drown in grief after Sandy Hook, we will never be able to put forth that much grief (and we should add shame). "Now is not the time," the NRA always states. Well, we have clearly decided that there will never be a time.
4
The one thing decent, law-abiding police could do if they were serious about restoring community relations is NOT line up to uniformly defend the bottom-of-the-barrel officers guilty of racist violence and casual murder. This would require a fundamental change in police culture, fostered at the highest levels. Bad cops must be seen as not only bad for the communities they police but bad for their fellow officers. Instead, the US vs THEM mentality is being stoked by police leadership as well as rank and file officers. We see this in the current case, with the police blaming the media for cultivating animosity toward police instead of owning up to the routine abuses they are carrying out and vowing to change their practices.
If the three civilians weren't armed they'd still be alive and so would the officers. Say what you will, but that's a cold hard fact.
3
Substitue "white" for "armed" and read it again.
Is this not why we have the 2nd amendment? To protect ourselves from the government and its agents who systematically work to exterminate us?
1
Can we also plead for the NY Times editorial board NOT to tell only half the story and feed to the fire?
You should have been outraged when the president of Smith College was forced to apologize for saying that ALL lives matter? But you were not.
Before you start preaching, do look in the mirror.
You should have been outraged when the president of Smith College was forced to apologize for saying that ALL lives matter? But you were not.
Before you start preaching, do look in the mirror.
6
Dear editorial staff:
Kindly do the right thing and take your fair share of the blame for deliberately, selectively covering incidents of police violence.
http://www.dailywire.com/news/7264/5-statistics-you-need-know-about-cops...
Political correctness kills.
Kindly do the right thing and take your fair share of the blame for deliberately, selectively covering incidents of police violence.
http://www.dailywire.com/news/7264/5-statistics-you-need-know-about-cops...
Political correctness kills.
7
I am waiting patiently for an N.R.A. spokesman to tell us what they always say after an event as this.
That this could have been prevented if only the victims had been armed.
Grief, yes. Disgust, overwhelmingly yes.
That this could have been prevented if only the victims had been armed.
Grief, yes. Disgust, overwhelmingly yes.
4
A different agenda is in order. Obama has done nothing for blacks. His purpose is to make white liberals feel good about themselves while they go about in their white world never knowing any blacks and totally oblivious to the actual experience of being black in America. Obama tells them what they want to hear. Gun control is the magic pill which he always comes up with, but he does not look at his own failure to do anything for his own people.
3
their is a an undeclared war going on and the editorial board is taking one side against the other. look at the adjectives that are being used as in 'slain so viciously' compare with "latest black victims". if their are any arrests made i hope that the arrestee will be treated not as a criminal but as a political prisoner. it is imperative that we as a society recognize that significant portion of our society are being used as gun fodder and the courts refuse to recognize this situation (whether through bias or fear who knows). all police killings should be investigated by the f b i. no buts or maybes. even then their is no guarantee that racial bias is not already deeply set in that organization too. racism is so pervasive in our society and the courts need to do their duty to eliminate. it is our only hope.
A vote for a Republican is pretty much equal to a vote for the NRA. Vote Democratic this fall even if the only issue you agree with Democrats on is gun control. Your life and your family's lives are at stake; as long as we are a country that worships guns, none of us is safe anywhere.
2
So the Dallas police deliberately did not wear body armor in response to complaints by prior Black Lives Matters protestors that they were too "militarized."
Looks like the joke was on them. Tragic.
Looks like the joke was on them. Tragic.
4
Your comment is quite disgusting. You must have a PhD in racism.
5
Most of the hatred in the United states is fueled by the far right news media.
3
Sure. It's not the democrats' "War on [fill-in-the-identity-group]" or the media's repeating the false narrative that cops are indiscriminately killing black men (they are not).
Democrats have sliced and diced us into identity groups and pit us against each other. They then ride to the group's rescue for the price of a vote. That's extortion in the crime world.
Democrats have sliced and diced us into identity groups and pit us against each other. They then ride to the group's rescue for the price of a vote. That's extortion in the crime world.
3
You identify Democrats as always the problem. That IS identity politics. The solutions will take everyone.
Actually, with voter suppression laws, the gerrymandering of voting districts and enacting laws in a few states especially, in the south excluding LGBT and transgender people, the MASTERS of pitting people against each other has been the Republican party.
1
"Drowning in grief". Perhaps. More like drowning in guns.
4
I don't know about the "Drowning in Grief" part. I think it is more like, "Choking on Rage".
4
I blame the media for this entire divisive racist mess and leaders of the African American community who have never addressed any of the root causes of increased policing (and therefore increased police related shootings) in these communities - higher rates of murder and violent crime in these communities. It is not racist to police communities more aggressively that have higher crime rates. Instead, all we hear about are "racist" cops. I think the shootings these past few days were deplorable and examples of excessive force, but there's no evidence to prove the police involved were "racist" - just bad cops, poorly trained and ill suited for the job. I'm sick to death of media provocation here and communities unwilling to accept any blame for their part in this mess.
4
Your front page news story states: "The shooting was the kind of retaliatory violence that people had feared through 2 years of protests around the country against deaths in police custody".
Not exactly.
On the whole, the police do an extraordinary job of keeping us safe, while putting themselves at risk - even in Dallas they were running TOWARD the fire. On 911 they sacrificed themselves for the people, all of us.
The police violence over the past two years was only anecdotal, with individual incidents blown way out of proportion by radicals - with the full participation of the news media and affirmation of the non-problem by the White House. This is Trumpism on the Left, which has contributed to an unjustified hostility to those who keep us safe, an increased danger for them, a making of their job much tougher and now the needless despicable killing of 5 and wounding of 7 police officers.
Until we come to our senses and tell the truth, that there is not an endemic problem with the police in this country - certainly there are some bad officers and some badly run departments as there are in every profession, which need to be addressed on a case by case basis - we are destructively undermining the very people who protect us and we are taking another step toward tearing down our great country, the linchpin of Western Civilization.
Not exactly.
On the whole, the police do an extraordinary job of keeping us safe, while putting themselves at risk - even in Dallas they were running TOWARD the fire. On 911 they sacrificed themselves for the people, all of us.
The police violence over the past two years was only anecdotal, with individual incidents blown way out of proportion by radicals - with the full participation of the news media and affirmation of the non-problem by the White House. This is Trumpism on the Left, which has contributed to an unjustified hostility to those who keep us safe, an increased danger for them, a making of their job much tougher and now the needless despicable killing of 5 and wounding of 7 police officers.
Until we come to our senses and tell the truth, that there is not an endemic problem with the police in this country - certainly there are some bad officers and some badly run departments as there are in every profession, which need to be addressed on a case by case basis - we are destructively undermining the very people who protect us and we are taking another step toward tearing down our great country, the linchpin of Western Civilization.
6
The wakeup call was Newtown. It went unheeded. If little white children in an affluent suburb can be slaughtered with no response other than tears then is there any hope? I am grieving deeply for the victims of these recent events, their families, and our nation. The exacerbating issues of racism and the prevalence of hate are very serious, but, I a sorry to say,, my personal grief for these events feels more like a confirmation of our collective moral bankruptcy than shock.
7
So much sorrow and anger, yet the nation continues with a federal tax structure that widens the socio-economic gap, especially along color lines. Wake up, America!
1
There will always be racism. There will always be sociopaths. Someone will always be filled with boiling rage. There will always be drunken spousal battles. But will there always be guns? Will the NRA always be able to intimidate? The same sort of defective people live elsewhere. But with fewer guns, this horrific carnage doesn't occur. Come on "public servants": serve us for a change! Create a gun buyback program. Require training, registration and licensing of all gun users. And tax guns heavily to pay for the tragedies they can cause with barely the flick of an index finger.
3
Another week, another mass slaughter, another outpouring of grief, another pile of words to analyze it. And it will happen all over again in a week or two.
1
We have to be against both despicable cop killers, as well as against despicable cop-killers. Checking your heart - or your head - at the door before you join the human race isn't needed, nor does it make the slightest sense. Too many people are just seeking confirmation of their worst stereotypes, fears and prejudices, instead of using their brains and empathy to reduce the suffering of others.
My prayers for the devastated police force of Dallas - as well as for young African-Americans terrified that when law enforcement looks at them, it increasingly sees only one thing. Come to think of it, prayers for the rest of us too.
My prayers for the devastated police force of Dallas - as well as for young African-Americans terrified that when law enforcement looks at them, it increasingly sees only one thing. Come to think of it, prayers for the rest of us too.
2
What led to the creation of the Black Panthers? How much of it was lynchings and random killings of blacks and a disregard for basic civil rights for blacks?
Now we have a black army veteran wanting to kill (and killing) white police. Is his anger similar to the anger that led to the creation of the Black Panthers? (arbitrary killings of black men and black boys, by the police; disregard of the rights of the poor and effectively disenfranchised).
This is not about justifying violence. But we cannot just keep on saying "something needs to be done about police killings of black males," while the slaughter continues. A black man undertook arbitrary killings of police, each of whom might be magnificent men. And white/Hispanic/Asian police have just as arbitrarily, killed plenty of innocent magnificent black men and boys.
So what to do? Stop the violence. But it is the police who have to step up to stop the violence. Yes they have incredibly dangerous jobs. Yes we need them to protect us. But we don't give them guns to shoot, kill and maim us just on the basis of the color of our skin. They are America's police (city, town and state). They are not the "white peoples'" police. Or the "Hispanics' police." Or the "Asians' police." They are the police for each man, woman and child in America. If they don't feel able to do that, but feel they can arbitrarily kill and shoot the Americans who they don't feel the police of, then this craziness is likely to continue.
Now we have a black army veteran wanting to kill (and killing) white police. Is his anger similar to the anger that led to the creation of the Black Panthers? (arbitrary killings of black men and black boys, by the police; disregard of the rights of the poor and effectively disenfranchised).
This is not about justifying violence. But we cannot just keep on saying "something needs to be done about police killings of black males," while the slaughter continues. A black man undertook arbitrary killings of police, each of whom might be magnificent men. And white/Hispanic/Asian police have just as arbitrarily, killed plenty of innocent magnificent black men and boys.
So what to do? Stop the violence. But it is the police who have to step up to stop the violence. Yes they have incredibly dangerous jobs. Yes we need them to protect us. But we don't give them guns to shoot, kill and maim us just on the basis of the color of our skin. They are America's police (city, town and state). They are not the "white peoples'" police. Or the "Hispanics' police." Or the "Asians' police." They are the police for each man, woman and child in America. If they don't feel able to do that, but feel they can arbitrarily kill and shoot the Americans who they don't feel the police of, then this craziness is likely to continue.
3
This is what happens when the BLM rabble-rousers whip up white cop hate, together with their allies in the media, such as the Times. Shame.
6
If he was a Trump supporter and other Trump supporters danced around laughing after the attack. What would you Editorial be? Would it be any different? If so, you and the liberal media are the problem.
Here are other black lives matter "protesters" have fun after the slaughter in Dallas.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3681412/Video-Dallas-police-slau...
Here are other black lives matter "protesters" have fun after the slaughter in Dallas.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3681412/Video-Dallas-police-slau...
4
The fault is the government which does not prosecute police officers when they commit murder. When every avenue for justice is blocked it is just a matter of time before people begin to retaliate - even at the cost of their own lives.
3
When the NY Times gives a much coverage to the shooting to death of
"Whites/Latinos/Asians" as it does to "Blacks" then I will try my best
not to find the media responsible for the shooting in Dallas.
Yesterday the Editorial Board damns racism in this country and the shooting
of "Blacks" when there appears to be no cause. Meanwhile the NY Times ignores the deaths of other races...and that is not racism ?
The blood is on the hands of the American Media that distorts
what sadly occurs each day in America.
"Whites/Latinos/Asians" as it does to "Blacks" then I will try my best
not to find the media responsible for the shooting in Dallas.
Yesterday the Editorial Board damns racism in this country and the shooting
of "Blacks" when there appears to be no cause. Meanwhile the NY Times ignores the deaths of other races...and that is not racism ?
The blood is on the hands of the American Media that distorts
what sadly occurs each day in America.
5
Black Lives Matter. All lives matter. You can't fight racism with racism without being racist.
2
With open carry in Texas, how are the police officer supposed to know who the "bad" & "good" guys are? Even in Minnesota, a trained cop couldn't do this and shot what appears to be an innocent man.
I feel anesthetized to the violence in our country. It's so senseless, so hopeless. I mourn for the victims, their families, and the children growing up in this country who accept this as part of their everyday life. If we, as adults, can't understand all these murders, how can our children?
This morning we all woke up again to more senseless killing, this time of police, yesterday of civilians, but I hope soon we can wake up without the news that someone else has been robbed of their life. We as a nation can change, but it will take many different elements of our government and our people to move this forward--it may be impossible, but until we try we'll never know.
This morning we all woke up again to more senseless killing, this time of police, yesterday of civilians, but I hope soon we can wake up without the news that someone else has been robbed of their life. We as a nation can change, but it will take many different elements of our government and our people to move this forward--it may be impossible, but until we try we'll never know.
“This must stop, this divisiveness between our police and our citizens.” The divide is a matter of perception. Regardless of what we wear on the outside, what role we choose, what challenges we volunteer to undertake, we are all members of the same greater community.
Empathy, sympathy, compassion, and respect: What is wrong with these concepts?
Empathy, sympathy, compassion, and respect: What is wrong with these concepts?
1
Meanwhile meanwhile the Times give an op-Ed column to a,professor who basically says all whites are racists and responsible for all violence.
3
Our country cannot heal or fix itself unless and until we make a concerted effort and promise that we'll not kowtow to the gun lobby.
Enough is enough.
Also now is the time to salute the veterans who're keeping us safe.
But when a veteran like Micah Johnson the Dallas shooter who mowed down 5 brave policemen and injured 7 more including 2 civilians, comes home, he or she finds out that the distant war is distant no more, it's right here in America.
Because, when a Black veteran finds out that another Black male like him could be shot dead multiple times right in front of his girlfriend and his own little daughter just for showing his I.D., he feels like it's deja-vu.
When he looks at the White policemen, he sees the same eyes as he saw in the eyes of Iraqi insurgents. He notices same mentality : They hate us.
The only difference is the so called insurgents here do not talk in a foreign language but in English as they're all whites.
And this veteran thinks the same thing as he thought about the Iraqis in Iraq : They hate us.
The only thing that crops up in his mind is : They hate us because we're Black and they're Whites.
So as we can play with the minds of different races, we can easily see the differences between the thought process of different races in America.
And as long as there is no fundamental changes to the economic structures of the country and unless our inner cities come out of the cycles of poverty, the atmosphere in America will be more combustible than now.
Enough is enough.
Also now is the time to salute the veterans who're keeping us safe.
But when a veteran like Micah Johnson the Dallas shooter who mowed down 5 brave policemen and injured 7 more including 2 civilians, comes home, he or she finds out that the distant war is distant no more, it's right here in America.
Because, when a Black veteran finds out that another Black male like him could be shot dead multiple times right in front of his girlfriend and his own little daughter just for showing his I.D., he feels like it's deja-vu.
When he looks at the White policemen, he sees the same eyes as he saw in the eyes of Iraqi insurgents. He notices same mentality : They hate us.
The only difference is the so called insurgents here do not talk in a foreign language but in English as they're all whites.
And this veteran thinks the same thing as he thought about the Iraqis in Iraq : They hate us.
The only thing that crops up in his mind is : They hate us because we're Black and they're Whites.
So as we can play with the minds of different races, we can easily see the differences between the thought process of different races in America.
And as long as there is no fundamental changes to the economic structures of the country and unless our inner cities come out of the cycles of poverty, the atmosphere in America will be more combustible than now.
Back to the 60's. Like it or not.
3
This isn't shocking at all. The media and US politicians have been stoking hatred, fear, anti-police or anti-ethnic vitriolic rhetoric for some time (at least their ratings are high). They ignite the insane and ignorant.
2
Endless gun violence.
Wish we could do what Australia was brave enough to do.
Wish we could do what Australia was brave enough to do.
2
The time for dialogue has passed. Everything that can be said for and against gun-control has been said a million times over. Now is the time to take bold action and repeal the Second Amendment.
1
Just when you start to lose all hope.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending-now/crowds-line-up-to-hug-police-offi...
This country is so much better than our leaders.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending-now/crowds-line-up-to-hug-police-offi...
This country is so much better than our leaders.
How much responsibility do the New York Times and similar media outlets bear for this tragedy? Thursday's paper is full of condemnations of the police. Today's paper is full of condemnations of the sniper who attacked those same police. You stir up news in part so that you have news to report. Tell yourselves whatever you want up there in New York. Part of the responsibility for this is yours.
4
Reap what you sow USA.
3
Guns, guns, guns!
The literal, foolish, and selfish understanding of the Second Amendment!
The literal, foolish, and selfish understanding of the Second Amendment!
1
Well, it's like this. I've read dozens of agonized posts, expressing no sympathy for the police but all upset because the racist murderer was offed by an explosive device. Meanwhile, I mourn five dead cops. There's no common ground here. See you on Election Day.
4
The racism on display in the denial of same in so many of these comments is despicable. And bizarre. And enervating. Infuriating. Nearly inexplicable.
We white people can get it if we try. Try. Even Newt Gingrich has gotten it. Try. Listen. Learn. Emerge enlightened. And chastened.
This country was built on racism and the economic advantages of slavery and its many post-Civil War permutations. White privilege still obtains. You can get it. Try.
We white people can get it if we try. Try. Even Newt Gingrich has gotten it. Try. Listen. Learn. Emerge enlightened. And chastened.
This country was built on racism and the economic advantages of slavery and its many post-Civil War permutations. White privilege still obtains. You can get it. Try.
1
Why, oh why, do we as a nation let an organization with a membership of less than 5 million control how we deal with gun violence. From kindergarteners to police officers, we witness innocent victims of unrelenting horror perpetrated by our country's easy access to guns. Our communities and the people we entrust to keep us safe are victims of the NRA. We are going the majority. We must take our country back from this organization that is causing so much pain and suffering.
2
Back in the late 1950s I, now a 91 year-old white male, was a victim of black rage. I have puzzled over why a young, hansom black man could be so filled with rage that he would do this. An this was in California. The only thing that I can arrive at as an explanation is that there is something in our society that makes large numbers of our society feel alienated from the rest of us and see no way for them to participate in the good life whitea take for granted. With this vast alienation existing for so long, it is only surprising that we don't have more of these lashing--outs.
2
Guns are not "racist"....
Nor do guns shout out racist hatred or fill young minds with propaganda like innuendos of blame...
Guns do no think, nor do they care. They just lie in wait until a living person picks them up with their hands and pulls the trigger with their human finger.
Guns are not kind, nor living with blood flowing through their body.
Guns do not sleep, nor love or eat, but are too often only the extension of a person filled with racist hatred, not to defend, but to act in revenge.
It is the rhetoric nurturing the ignorance that is more dangerous than the tool...
Nor do guns shout out racist hatred or fill young minds with propaganda like innuendos of blame...
Guns do no think, nor do they care. They just lie in wait until a living person picks them up with their hands and pulls the trigger with their human finger.
Guns are not kind, nor living with blood flowing through their body.
Guns do not sleep, nor love or eat, but are too often only the extension of a person filled with racist hatred, not to defend, but to act in revenge.
It is the rhetoric nurturing the ignorance that is more dangerous than the tool...
1
The killer was a law-abiding gun owner – right up to the instant he was not. Yet the NRA will distance themselves from him immediately, pretending that such a criminal could have never been among the ranks of ordinary gunowners and would have obtained his weapons despite any barrier.
Any yet again they will offer the tired fantasy of “if only more law-abiding citizens had guns, this would have been prevented/minimized.”
Any yet again they will offer the tired fantasy of “if only more law-abiding citizens had guns, this would have been prevented/minimized.”
2
I am embarrassed to repeat mt self. Those who know what I say will just need to listen once again. America has not changed at all. It has always been this way. Circa 1492.
Unfortunately, in what is frequently touted as "the greatest country on earth", murder has become a way of life.
1
Unfairness begets resentment. Resentment begets retribution. The easy availability of the almighty gun makes the revenge of the powerless somehow powerful. The ball is in the white man's court. The real or imagined perceptions must change.
America has voted to allow easy access to guns - even to the mentally ill and persons on the terrorist watch list. The effect is the creation of a society where No Lives Matter - be they black, white, police, or toddlers. We have voted to have guns and fear rule our lives and actions. Meanwhile my sweet five year old daughter dutifully performs her kindergarten active shooter drills to hopefully survive to vote herself one day.
3
Sadly, any statements from Loretta Lynch will be meaningless after basically circumventing justice for the Clintons...
1
In the absence of meaningful reform, revenge unfortunately passes for justice. The police of America collectively brought this tragedy on themselves through their reluctance to treat black people as full humans.
Yet another wacko with an assault rifle. This time we lose police officers serving their community. When will we wake up and smell the coffee?
2
Can anyone credibly claim to be surprised at any level of gun violence in this country? We arm ourselves to the teeth, thereby holding the nation hostage to the least stable persons in our midst. If you can imagine someone twisted enough to conceive of the murder of police officers in Dallas as an acceptable act of revenge for what certainly appears to have been the unjustified killing of a black person by a panicked, even stupid, police officer in Minnesota, then you had best accept the fact that such persons live in our midst and they are ready and willing to entertain such thoughts and to act on them. Thank you, NRA, for so zealously defending the so-called "right" of the homicidally deranged to buy and use automatic rifles. People of America, you can't arm yourself against this threat. You can only suffer in the long, cold shadow cast by your impotent Congress. The time for action is past - we have sowed; now we shall reap.
1
On the face of it, this looks like a racial battle - urban black people vs. white racist cops. If we continue to see this conflict as black vs. white we will travel to a very dark place of no return - guaranteed.
In actual fact, very similar to the problem American Muslims now face, this is a problem of a violent, mostly poor and uneducated but highly visible group of young black men creating a "negative label" for a broader group of people in that same racial group (or in the case of Muslims, religious group).
I am an educated upper middle class black man who lives in a multi-racial/multi-ethnic community outside of Chicago. When I see a young black man with his pants below his bottom with his underwear showing, baseball hat tilted to one side and speaking in a way where every other word is foul I, rightly or wrongly, instantly develop in my mind a conclusion that he is probably dangerous. He might be a brain surgeon educated at Harvard, but my brain says danger, watch yourself and get in a defensive posture.
I'm sure many white people would have the same reaction I have when confronted with such an individual. Does that make that white person racist? Does that make ME racist?
Instead of trying to make me see this person as not a threat how about we change the environment of that person by pouring money into inner city black neighborhoods to better educate the young and provide jobs (FDR style) to those who, because they have nothing to do, turn to guns and gangs?
In actual fact, very similar to the problem American Muslims now face, this is a problem of a violent, mostly poor and uneducated but highly visible group of young black men creating a "negative label" for a broader group of people in that same racial group (or in the case of Muslims, religious group).
I am an educated upper middle class black man who lives in a multi-racial/multi-ethnic community outside of Chicago. When I see a young black man with his pants below his bottom with his underwear showing, baseball hat tilted to one side and speaking in a way where every other word is foul I, rightly or wrongly, instantly develop in my mind a conclusion that he is probably dangerous. He might be a brain surgeon educated at Harvard, but my brain says danger, watch yourself and get in a defensive posture.
I'm sure many white people would have the same reaction I have when confronted with such an individual. Does that make that white person racist? Does that make ME racist?
Instead of trying to make me see this person as not a threat how about we change the environment of that person by pouring money into inner city black neighborhoods to better educate the young and provide jobs (FDR style) to those who, because they have nothing to do, turn to guns and gangs?
4
There is plenty of blame to go around to explain all this violence. Most of us know good and decent people,but it seems like the center is not holding because extremist and outrageous individuals and groups have taken over.
Stop the blame game and the self-pity, hate, and revenge narratives, and put the focus on RESPONSIBILITY, especially the responsibilities of politicians, the NRA, the police, the media, the corporations and employers, workers and unions, the older generation for the younger generation and vice versa, and each and every citizen. Grow up for heavens sake!
Stop the blame game and the self-pity, hate, and revenge narratives, and put the focus on RESPONSIBILITY, especially the responsibilities of politicians, the NRA, the police, the media, the corporations and employers, workers and unions, the older generation for the younger generation and vice versa, and each and every citizen. Grow up for heavens sake!
Where is the NRA? Where is the VA?
The sniper served in the Armed Forces.
Sorry, for a difficult question.
The sniper served in the Armed Forces.
Sorry, for a difficult question.
The difference between Micah Xavier Johnson, Jeronimo Yanez, Daniel Pantaleo, and Timothy Loehmann is that Micah was killed by a remote control bomb, and the other 3 are alive, and have no criminal record.
Yesterday Speaker Paul Ryan announced that he is considering how to punish Democrats for their last month's House floor sit-in.
I wonder what goes through his mind today?
I wonder what goes through his mind today?
2
Yes, easy access to the killing machines we call guns is one root cause of the horrors we continue to witness.
Yes, the 24/7 media treadmill (especially Faux News) where every slightest news event must be given the gravitas of armageddon is another.
But there is something else that has been brewing below the surface since the election of President Obama.
When South Carolina’s GOP Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie” during the State of the Union Address . . .
When GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell told the Heritage Foundation that the GOP’s single most important priority is to make President Obama a one-term president . . .
When the GOP-dominated Senate will not even consider voting on a variety of President Obama’s appointments . . .
When the GOP-controlled Congress deeply desires that the first African American President be a failure and works toward thwarting his every initiative . . .
When the GOP-dominated Senate will not consider President Obama’s appointment to the Supreme Court or even meet with the candidate . . .
When people who use culturally sensitive speech are derided as “PC” . . .
When the presumptive GOP nominee spews forth insults and culturally insensitive speech and calls it “telling it like it is” . . .
Then we have a perfect storm in which the GOP itself has derided the first African American President, has sought his failure, and has, by extension, derided and sought the failure of all People of Color.
Yes, the 24/7 media treadmill (especially Faux News) where every slightest news event must be given the gravitas of armageddon is another.
But there is something else that has been brewing below the surface since the election of President Obama.
When South Carolina’s GOP Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie” during the State of the Union Address . . .
When GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell told the Heritage Foundation that the GOP’s single most important priority is to make President Obama a one-term president . . .
When the GOP-dominated Senate will not even consider voting on a variety of President Obama’s appointments . . .
When the GOP-controlled Congress deeply desires that the first African American President be a failure and works toward thwarting his every initiative . . .
When the GOP-dominated Senate will not consider President Obama’s appointment to the Supreme Court or even meet with the candidate . . .
When people who use culturally sensitive speech are derided as “PC” . . .
When the presumptive GOP nominee spews forth insults and culturally insensitive speech and calls it “telling it like it is” . . .
Then we have a perfect storm in which the GOP itself has derided the first African American President, has sought his failure, and has, by extension, derided and sought the failure of all People of Color.
1
Are we "drowning in grief?" Really? Does it in any way minimize the horrible deaths of strangers for us to admit that we deplore this violence, but are no more drowning in grief than we are at the other deaths of those we don't know?
1
Guns are killing us. Yes, it requires someone to pull the trigger, but why should our reaction to insult, road rage or someone throwing popcorn in the face have to,be the gun.
Why blame the gun. Because its's there in the first place.
Like it or not, people who believe they must have a gun are establishing they have a need for violence, a fear of violence or that they are so dustrustful of their fellow man that they must epwear the badge of a would be killer.
Guns may be used in sporting ways. Practice shooting or whatever on the range on at the farm. But the gun is designed to kill and with a human with one can decide to,do that.
Carrying a gun while black can be cause be far more lethal than driving while black. Would police kill a white man in Minnesota stopped for a supposed traffic offense.
Violence as a first response to act is dangerous. Should shoot and kill anyone because they've stolen something? A fits fight escalates and one person stops the fight with a gun.
Guns are for killing. If you don't want o kill someone, don't get a gun. It's fair to say that if you don't have a gun, no one else should without a damned good reason.
Gun violence will stop when we take the tools of death away,
.
Why blame the gun. Because its's there in the first place.
Like it or not, people who believe they must have a gun are establishing they have a need for violence, a fear of violence or that they are so dustrustful of their fellow man that they must epwear the badge of a would be killer.
Guns may be used in sporting ways. Practice shooting or whatever on the range on at the farm. But the gun is designed to kill and with a human with one can decide to,do that.
Carrying a gun while black can be cause be far more lethal than driving while black. Would police kill a white man in Minnesota stopped for a supposed traffic offense.
Violence as a first response to act is dangerous. Should shoot and kill anyone because they've stolen something? A fits fight escalates and one person stops the fight with a gun.
Guns are for killing. If you don't want o kill someone, don't get a gun. It's fair to say that if you don't have a gun, no one else should without a damned good reason.
Gun violence will stop when we take the tools of death away,
.
1
Maybe we need to start one-on-one. What would happen if each white American with negative feeling about Black people would approach a Black American with similar negative feelings about whites. And what if they started the conversation by exchanging only positive comments about what their goals and aspirations were. Surprise--they likely would find similar desires, perhaps expressed in different words--the ability to raise a family, earn a good living, build a network of friends and family and so on. From there, move on that what needs to change so BOTH can equally pursue those dreams successfully. From that can come a bond of working together and perhaps even becoming friends. If each could then get another pair together, we'd soon build an army that was race-blind but committed to the same goals. And from that we might begin to build a solution to could effectively stand up to the hate and injustice--and prevent new injustice from being created.
Another gun horror? Another drowning? Another grief? Another out pouring of meaningless sentimrnt? Another event that will result in zero action?
The rhetoric is far too inflamed and I fear we are a nation on the brink. The GOP leadership lacks the guts to speak out against racial inequality, income disparity and a disillusioned generation. The Dems simply point an accusing finger at the GOP. How is this helpful? Where is the leadership?
Thank you for the editorial and comment on our collective grief as a nation.
Unfortunately, you missed to mention that at the root of this problem is the the proliferation of guns in this country and the recalcitrant (specially from the GOP side) of our leaders do do anything about them. Innocent police or innocent citizens, how many more have to die?
I hope Paul Ryan and the NRA can live with all this blood on their hands!
Congressman Elijah Cummings, its time for another sit-in!!!
Unfortunately, you missed to mention that at the root of this problem is the the proliferation of guns in this country and the recalcitrant (specially from the GOP side) of our leaders do do anything about them. Innocent police or innocent citizens, how many more have to die?
I hope Paul Ryan and the NRA can live with all this blood on their hands!
Congressman Elijah Cummings, its time for another sit-in!!!
1
All this violence - and my college age daughter is afraid to be in public . Instinctively, I dismissed her....but upon reflection, I realize her concerns are valid. If we do not bring change , our children WILL move elsewhere. Each of us needs to make every day a blessing .....Hateful rhetoric, revenge and violence only beget more.
and not a word about the training of this terrorist, courtesy the US military and its idiotic wars of aggression. We are "fighting terrorism" by creating terrorists at home and abroad. Brilliant.
3
The fact is that we are in a pandemic of murder and killing and how do we get out of it? How can we as normal people of the world help to get out of it? I see that it is impossible and that we are on a downward trajectory to the most violent times ever seen. Everyone laments it all over the world but it only gets worse. mass killings everyday everywhere. What is happening in the US in actual fact now is just a microcosm in the over all picture of what is going on in almost every country. Hatred, racism, rape, urban wars, pillaging, xenophobia, religious zealotry and fundamentalism, citizen to citizen country to country. I see only blackness and evil rising like a tidal wave to destroy us all because at the end of the day what can we do as the good people who are trying to make a difference. it seems we are powerless. God be with us.
The fear and sadness is oppressive. I am afraid to turn on the tv because I don't want my young children seeing the non-stop images of violence from Orlando, Minnesota, Dallas and on and on. I no longer have words to explain it to them. I always say that you have to be an optimist to have children - that you believe the world that you leave them will be better than that which you had or why else would you have a child? The seemingly non-stop, large scale violence in recent years has challenged my optimism and I am beginning to fear what our children will inherit.
And the cycle of gun violence continues... the shootings, the outrage, the mourning and then more gun violence. Civilians, police...are politicians next? Dallas was an ugly and heart-breaking introduction.
1
The only reason America seems more violent today is because we live in a world of hyper media. Every time someone dies it's national news.
Consider there are over 300 million people in America. Is it really that surprising that a couple thousand die senselessly every year?
Everyone needs to relax. A couple generations ago, blacks and whites went to separate schools. These issues take time to heal properly. You can't expect things to be picture perfect over night. No one wants racism to exist.
For the love of god, stop freaking out. Don't live in fear. Realize that the fast majority of Americans are good people that do not want anyone to get hurt.
Consider there are over 300 million people in America. Is it really that surprising that a couple thousand die senselessly every year?
Everyone needs to relax. A couple generations ago, blacks and whites went to separate schools. These issues take time to heal properly. You can't expect things to be picture perfect over night. No one wants racism to exist.
For the love of god, stop freaking out. Don't live in fear. Realize that the fast majority of Americans are good people that do not want anyone to get hurt.
2
This ugly episode, only the latest in a series of horrendous displays of distorted human values, should move America to undertake a grand examination of conscience. Such savagery! The march of civilization and technology ought to bring about a more humane society, a kinder and gentler one. Wake up, America! Why the neanderthal preoccupation with guns?
Would that all guns were banished, that men and women settle their scores without them. Go back to fisticuffs, if need be, and prove your worth without savagery!
Would that all guns were banished, that men and women settle their scores without them. Go back to fisticuffs, if need be, and prove your worth without savagery!
What arrogance from the Times Editorial Board! This paper's coverage has done an enormous amount to fuel the misconception that there is an epidemic of white on black violence and that blacks are pretty much the only group that suffers from police brutality. This had fueled two huge problems: black rage and white resentment over the anti-white bias and distortion of truth.
I have no doubt if the media accurately reported on race and violence as it actually happens this massacre would probably have not happened. Nor would the several incidents of anti-white violence over the Stanford FL incident. According to the DOJ 3 times as many whites as blacks are killed by the police, 70% of interracial violence has a black perp, and blacks kill twice as many whites as visa versa. Why does media coverage not acfurately depict this? Judging from coverage you would assume 99% of violence is white on black and 99% of police killings are of blacks. The media and activists fueled this mob frenzy based on distorted information. Shame on them all.
I have no doubt if the media accurately reported on race and violence as it actually happens this massacre would probably have not happened. Nor would the several incidents of anti-white violence over the Stanford FL incident. According to the DOJ 3 times as many whites as blacks are killed by the police, 70% of interracial violence has a black perp, and blacks kill twice as many whites as visa versa. Why does media coverage not acfurately depict this? Judging from coverage you would assume 99% of violence is white on black and 99% of police killings are of blacks. The media and activists fueled this mob frenzy based on distorted information. Shame on them all.
2
I just watched a local newscaster cheerily narrate a story about the longest lobster roll in the country. I can only imagine this being broadcast on the day of the Kennedy assassination or on 9/11.
Why are we not having a day of national mourning at this point? Why?
Haven't we had enough this week to start taking the violence seriously?
Why are we not having a day of national mourning at this point? Why?
Haven't we had enough this week to start taking the violence seriously?
It is difficult if not impossible to understand why it has yet to become obvious to those with any point of view in our society - politically, economically, racially, scientifically and religiously, that we are in this together; everyone.
There is a level of disparately and danger within our society that we seem to have reached where everyone suffers, directly and indiscriminately and where everyone loses.
There is a level of disparately and danger within our society that we seem to have reached where everyone suffers, directly and indiscriminately and where everyone loses.
1
Rather than look for the root causes for the ills of our society, many take the easy way out and reflexively suggest gun control is the answer. You could confiscate every gun and that wouldn't solve the problem. Liberals live in their little cocoons and just don't like it when they are forced to look at reality.
2
Yeah. Liberals live in their little cocoon. That is why they wrote every book worth reading, painted every painting worth looking at, OWN music, OWN philosophy, utterly and totally dominate the world of science and technology and are responsible for every single advance humankind has gained while their conservative counterparts are creative non-entities responsible only for greed, war and aggressive stupidity.
3
Someone please tell the stunningly stupid Donald Trump that "good guys with guns" do not and cannot always save the night.
There's no defense from a planned, determined sniper attack in which the shooter is almost always concealed or has multiple weapons and or accomplices. These brave men and women ran *towards* the gunfire, not from it. Their heroism in the teeth of mortal danger should give pause to anyone thinking that a foolish "Western draw" from a holster will rescue those in peril. Thinking so insults peace officers who suit up every day and night not knowing who's out there eager to make a point.
Weeping for Dallas. Prayers and blessings to bereaved survivors.
There's no defense from a planned, determined sniper attack in which the shooter is almost always concealed or has multiple weapons and or accomplices. These brave men and women ran *towards* the gunfire, not from it. Their heroism in the teeth of mortal danger should give pause to anyone thinking that a foolish "Western draw" from a holster will rescue those in peril. Thinking so insults peace officers who suit up every day and night not knowing who's out there eager to make a point.
Weeping for Dallas. Prayers and blessings to bereaved survivors.
2
There were a lot of "Good Guys with Guns" & yet 1 Bad Guy with a rapid fire rifle was able to kill & injure many police officers in a matter of mere minutes
With Texas open carry no one was in a position to stop the shooter before he inflicted the carnage
So once again the question arises as to why We permit rapid firs/semi automatic rifles with large magazines to be sold? Even more significantly, why do We permit persons without any valid reason to do so to wander public places carrying such weapons?
There is no rational argument that can be made that it will be used for self defense on the Streets of Dalls nor is there any hunting, other than of humans, within the City of Dalls
This one is on you NRA, all of it is on you. The shooter simply could not have inflicted the harm he did with a bolt action or lever action rifle & from that distance he could not have effectively used a handgun
As to the loons who are in Texas State Government, please explain again why you believe it is vital to have open carry of such weapons anywhere, but especially in cities in Texas
As to those who wish to proclaim 2d Amendment Rights, well even the late Justice Scalia, who was willing to go the farthest in the "invention" of those rights, never agreed that what the NRA claims is in fact guaranteed under our Constitution
With Texas open carry no one was in a position to stop the shooter before he inflicted the carnage
So once again the question arises as to why We permit rapid firs/semi automatic rifles with large magazines to be sold? Even more significantly, why do We permit persons without any valid reason to do so to wander public places carrying such weapons?
There is no rational argument that can be made that it will be used for self defense on the Streets of Dalls nor is there any hunting, other than of humans, within the City of Dalls
This one is on you NRA, all of it is on you. The shooter simply could not have inflicted the harm he did with a bolt action or lever action rifle & from that distance he could not have effectively used a handgun
As to the loons who are in Texas State Government, please explain again why you believe it is vital to have open carry of such weapons anywhere, but especially in cities in Texas
As to those who wish to proclaim 2d Amendment Rights, well even the late Justice Scalia, who was willing to go the farthest in the "invention" of those rights, never agreed that what the NRA claims is in fact guaranteed under our Constitution
2
As we continue to search for reasons for division the mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus are happily buzzing to our shores. They care nothing for our political battles, our religious wars, our laws, or our increasing ethnic tribalism. What they care about: All of our blood is red underneath our skin - and all of it is equally appealing.
4
Texas is a lovely state with wonderful people. I spent many fun times with my relatives in Dallas/Fort Worrh and was shown great hospitality.
The murders of these police officers was a tragedy but the great people of Texas will endure and only become stronger. These killings were committed by a very bitter and angry young man.
We must support our law enforcement officers who go to work every day not knowing if it will be their last. It is not an easy job and they must know they have our support and admiration. I would not want to do this line of work which can at times appear to be a thankless task. They deserve respect and we should not hesitate to thank them for work well done.
The murders of these police officers was a tragedy but the great people of Texas will endure and only become stronger. These killings were committed by a very bitter and angry young man.
We must support our law enforcement officers who go to work every day not knowing if it will be their last. It is not an easy job and they must know they have our support and admiration. I would not want to do this line of work which can at times appear to be a thankless task. They deserve respect and we should not hesitate to thank them for work well done.
2
BTW, the "police" officers in Minn were rent a cops. They were contracted by the city to replace a "city dept." This probably means they were cheaper and possibly not as well trained and may not have gotten top quality rookies. Contract fire depts, police depts. and ambulance services were just touched upon by an article last week in the NYT.
It's just an idea but... why don't we try contract local politicians. They can't be any worse than the ones we have and they should be cheaper. Want to live in a nice community, it costs money. Want to live in a nice state with good education, it costs money. Want to live in a nice country, yea you got it. It takes jobs that create taxpayers to support these nice places. It's a little late when they have to "find a clean stocked ambulance" before they can help you. By then, you are dead.
It's just an idea but... why don't we try contract local politicians. They can't be any worse than the ones we have and they should be cheaper. Want to live in a nice community, it costs money. Want to live in a nice state with good education, it costs money. Want to live in a nice country, yea you got it. It takes jobs that create taxpayers to support these nice places. It's a little late when they have to "find a clean stocked ambulance" before they can help you. By then, you are dead.
Thinking about what country have turned itself into, I truly believe that there will be peace only when people see what they consider "one of them" in the "white" house. There are too many people, even highly educated ones, who still cant come to terms with, and wonder how "the guy" got better of them. I suppose if you start hating somebody, all reason becomes obsolete. You start hating every action of that person and the motive is always evil. The country has a policy of not negotiating with terrorists. We are becoming incapable as people to sit across the table and negotiate -- so who exactly is the terrorist here?
I'm very afraid for my children, that they will grow up into a society where safety means more guns, prosperity means destruction of environment, learning means bartering your financial security, health means bankrupting yourself, religion means my faith is better than yours. God bless America !
I'm very afraid for my children, that they will grow up into a society where safety means more guns, prosperity means destruction of environment, learning means bartering your financial security, health means bankrupting yourself, religion means my faith is better than yours. God bless America !
“Disgust" does not begin to capture the mood of the country.
Frankly, I used to think readers of the New York Times were fairly sophisticated. Not anymore. Not after reading many of the comments on the article reporting the events of last night. I saw a disturbing level of discourse that I simply never expected to find on this website.
This country is in crisis, and this is just the beginning. As we enter an era that will present extraordinary challenges to us as a nation--challenges that will define who we are as a country by the way we respond to them, and challenges that can only be conquered with unity--we are more divided than ever, along every conceivable dimension, including race, economic status, and religion.
I'm afraid that we just crossed a very dangerous threshold, and I'm wondering, if readers of the Times have become so unhinged, what does it say about the rest of America? The ones who get their information from MSNBC or Fox.
And not to diminish the root causes in any way, but yes, the media, including the Times, does bear some responsibility for our current situation, and I sense the Editors know it, judging by the sober tone of this editorial.
These are dark days, indeed.
Frankly, I used to think readers of the New York Times were fairly sophisticated. Not anymore. Not after reading many of the comments on the article reporting the events of last night. I saw a disturbing level of discourse that I simply never expected to find on this website.
This country is in crisis, and this is just the beginning. As we enter an era that will present extraordinary challenges to us as a nation--challenges that will define who we are as a country by the way we respond to them, and challenges that can only be conquered with unity--we are more divided than ever, along every conceivable dimension, including race, economic status, and religion.
I'm afraid that we just crossed a very dangerous threshold, and I'm wondering, if readers of the Times have become so unhinged, what does it say about the rest of America? The ones who get their information from MSNBC or Fox.
And not to diminish the root causes in any way, but yes, the media, including the Times, does bear some responsibility for our current situation, and I sense the Editors know it, judging by the sober tone of this editorial.
These are dark days, indeed.
1
We live in the ultimate violent country -
Repeal the 2nd Amendment. It's original intention has been twisted and no longer represents the good intentions of the founding father's. When will our representatives stand up and protect us from ourselves. Do the right thing and stop the carnage!
This mass killing of good people with guns by one person with an assault rifle, disproves the claim by the NRA and others that more guns would keep a person safe.
1
Gentlemen:
Veterans need prompt treatment and appointments before 30 days when returning home. If VA. Is short of Doctors and Nurses, then Private care should be paid for instead. Hate needs to be not part of everyone's actions. We all need to live, work, and be part of the solution not the destruction. Sad for the USA. This Country was once looked to for the compassionate people, that helped around the World.
Veterans need prompt treatment and appointments before 30 days when returning home. If VA. Is short of Doctors and Nurses, then Private care should be paid for instead. Hate needs to be not part of everyone's actions. We all need to live, work, and be part of the solution not the destruction. Sad for the USA. This Country was once looked to for the compassionate people, that helped around the World.
I take issue with the title of this editorial. ]
The title of the essay includes the phrase "a country drowning in grief."
I do not think most people are consumed with grief. I think most people could not care less. On Memorial day, do people honor our men killed in battle. No. The Great Majority of people go the beach or go to Malls to hunt for sales. Why do people pause at the scene of a traffic accident? To get their cheap thrills, their Schadenfreude, from other peoples' suffering. That's why people go to horror movies; to get their jollies from people getting hacked to death. I think half of the people who went to see "Schindler's List" got some sort of voyeuristic pleasure from seeing the Jews die. At the height of the Tet Offensive, up to 500 American soldiers died each week, but most Americans were joyously bouncing along with the drivel of American Popular culture ("Laugh In" came on TV in February 1968, shortly after Tet's start on Jan 31, 1968)
The people who really care are politicos who seek to profit from the bloodshed
The title of the essay includes the phrase "a country drowning in grief."
I do not think most people are consumed with grief. I think most people could not care less. On Memorial day, do people honor our men killed in battle. No. The Great Majority of people go the beach or go to Malls to hunt for sales. Why do people pause at the scene of a traffic accident? To get their cheap thrills, their Schadenfreude, from other peoples' suffering. That's why people go to horror movies; to get their jollies from people getting hacked to death. I think half of the people who went to see "Schindler's List" got some sort of voyeuristic pleasure from seeing the Jews die. At the height of the Tet Offensive, up to 500 American soldiers died each week, but most Americans were joyously bouncing along with the drivel of American Popular culture ("Laugh In" came on TV in February 1968, shortly after Tet's start on Jan 31, 1968)
The people who really care are politicos who seek to profit from the bloodshed
1
"a Country Drowning in Grief"?
"Drowning"?
Some (rightful) hand-wringing, editorializing, and lamentation, but has anything really changed that indicates "drowning in grief"? Any sports spectaculars cancelled, any national day of observance or action against violence, or any expression of the sort of grief that "drowning" suggests?
My point? This sort of over-heated, hyperbolic rhetoric is pointless.
And worse, yet is suggests a level of grief and response that, sadly, simply doesn't exist in the US at large.
And even worse yet, it trivializes the horror of this event and suggests a level of response that our violence-anesthetized society seems totally incapable of providing. Perhaps that's the real "horror"?
"Drowning"?
Some (rightful) hand-wringing, editorializing, and lamentation, but has anything really changed that indicates "drowning in grief"? Any sports spectaculars cancelled, any national day of observance or action against violence, or any expression of the sort of grief that "drowning" suggests?
My point? This sort of over-heated, hyperbolic rhetoric is pointless.
And worse, yet is suggests a level of grief and response that, sadly, simply doesn't exist in the US at large.
And even worse yet, it trivializes the horror of this event and suggests a level of response that our violence-anesthetized society seems totally incapable of providing. Perhaps that's the real "horror"?
1
I disagree. I think the problem with the human race myself included: - Any real capacity for caring or grief is limited to inner circles. We're psychologically numb. 'Moments of silence' are mere token substitutes for genuine caring - genuine love - genuine self-sacrifice. Prosperity and power and social status - Those have become our real priorities; the rest is an irritating noise to be kept at arms length, or a succession of opportunities to cheer on our favorite factions.
The killing of 5 policemen is horrific, without question. HOwever, whaat is more alarming to me is the using of a robot to"kill" the "killer". this is the Law of Hammarabi, not the implementation of the Laws we say we live by.
I f anyone other than police, used a robot to"kill" someone who they suspected was the "killer", they would be prosecuted according to the law.
What we see now, more often than not, is simply "killing" and then askig questions later. In all my life(and I am over 70, and educated, a retired teacher) I have never witnessed such disregard for human life as is now quickly becoming the norm. We as a nation need to do some serious thinking about the actions that are de-valuing life, depending on the status of the person. There is no question in my mind that if the supposed"killer" had been white and from an affluent home, he /she would be alive today.
I f anyone other than police, used a robot to"kill" someone who they suspected was the "killer", they would be prosecuted according to the law.
What we see now, more often than not, is simply "killing" and then askig questions later. In all my life(and I am over 70, and educated, a retired teacher) I have never witnessed such disregard for human life as is now quickly becoming the norm. We as a nation need to do some serious thinking about the actions that are de-valuing life, depending on the status of the person. There is no question in my mind that if the supposed"killer" had been white and from an affluent home, he /she would be alive today.
3
To the anti-2nd amendment rights people: this guy used a rifle.
Think about that.
NOT an assault rifle. Not a handgun
If you really want YOUR solution to violence, the only solution is absolute
confiscation of ALL guns from everybody, except of course the government, under all conditions. Do you want to do that? Do you really want to try to
repeal the 2nd amendment entirely?
If you so ... why not go farther and repeal the amendment you hate as much, the 10th.
This will result is lots of people using the 2nd Amendment against you.
Then you will have to repeal that too.
At what point short of absolute dictatorship do you want to stop?
Think about that.
NOT an assault rifle. Not a handgun
If you really want YOUR solution to violence, the only solution is absolute
confiscation of ALL guns from everybody, except of course the government, under all conditions. Do you want to do that? Do you really want to try to
repeal the 2nd amendment entirely?
If you so ... why not go farther and repeal the amendment you hate as much, the 10th.
This will result is lots of people using the 2nd Amendment against you.
Then you will have to repeal that too.
At what point short of absolute dictatorship do you want to stop?
1
Don't worry. There won't be any gun control -- and there will be more massacres -- with guns.
1
It seems life is beginning to take on the appearance of some of the video games out there. And I'm not too sure grief is what many, not most I hope, are feeling right now. I truly believe we're starting to pay a price for being desensitized. Where is there outrage from the majority of our populace (because the majority are not gun owners) at the NRA or the Gun Lobby, or at Gun Manufacturers, Gun Dealers, or Gun owners for not even attempting to compromise when it comes to beating back the gun violence in our country? As you read this, there are head-cases planning the next attack.
2
We are not drowning - we are jolted, all 322 million of us. But most of us still went to work, to school, to our everyday lives. Most of us resist the call to destroy those we disagree with and even to those we fear. We would prefer a sensible calm, but there is no one in our vision who provides the guidance to get us there.
US Rep Pete Sessions (R-TX) of Dallas couldn’t even say the word “gay” regarding the Orlando massacre and yesterday refused to say the word “black officers” or #BlackLivesMatter on MSNBC.
Sessions spoke of a “protest that became violent” against our white, Latino, and Asian police officers.
1) The protest didn’t “turn violent.” It was one disaffected former veteran who bought an arsenal of assault weapons and bullets plus bomb making materials.
2) There ARE black police officers who put their lives on the line every day in Dallas and the USA or didn’t Sessions even notice that the Dallas Police Chief is black?
And MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell let him get away with it.
The US Congress. What a waste of oxygen.
Sessions spoke of a “protest that became violent” against our white, Latino, and Asian police officers.
1) The protest didn’t “turn violent.” It was one disaffected former veteran who bought an arsenal of assault weapons and bullets plus bomb making materials.
2) There ARE black police officers who put their lives on the line every day in Dallas and the USA or didn’t Sessions even notice that the Dallas Police Chief is black?
And MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell let him get away with it.
The US Congress. What a waste of oxygen.
2
This editorial is incomplete without a mention of the fact that Micah Johnson had clicked like on several Facebook pages whose administrators frequently call for the killing of police.
2
The gun culture runs so deep in America that it will take generations to change people's attitudes towards guns in the US. Obama, through repeatedly making this gun culture a problem in his speeches during his Presidency, has began making Americans more aware but there is still a long way to go.
Hate hurts less without guns!
Vote to get rid of the guns - because you can't vote to get rid of hate!
Vote to get rid of the guns - because you can't vote to get rid of hate!
3
Congress denying the CDC investigating gun violence : that tells enough about the seriousness of the political process in this country.
Corrupted.
Corrupted.
2
Our hearts are broken
Our hearts are sad
Our hearts are hurting
Our heart are crying
Our hearts are grieving
Our hearts are devastated
Our hearts need to be heard by each other.
Our hearts are sad
Our hearts are hurting
Our heart are crying
Our hearts are grieving
Our hearts are devastated
Our hearts need to be heard by each other.
1
I am as sorry that the cops got hurt and killed. God rest their souls and grant their families peace....
BUT am I the only one wondering about using an explosive device to stop the shooter that they had cornered?
BUT am I the only one wondering about using an explosive device to stop the shooter that they had cornered?
Poverty makes achieving decent health care, education, self-esteem and useful
growth unlikely. Drugs and firearms complete a vicious cycle. Cheyney and Rumsfield could approve weapons for 3rd world regime change; well-off defendants can "stand their ground" or buy out of drug possession charges and into rehab. So often the impoverished don't have a chance. Give peace
growth unlikely. Drugs and firearms complete a vicious cycle. Cheyney and Rumsfield could approve weapons for 3rd world regime change; well-off defendants can "stand their ground" or buy out of drug possession charges and into rehab. So often the impoverished don't have a chance. Give peace
1
What amazes me is how people see someone resisting arrest or not adhering to officers request /demands and then act amazed (& claim racism ) when that person gets shot ?!?! What ?!?!?! I would listen /adhere to anything & everything an officer request me to do . How about you ?
2
Well, in this case, the man did exactly what the officer told him to do. Also, the fact remains: cops are not executioners
2
Does the NYT bear any responsibility for the Dallas police killings? After demonizing the police in numerous editorials, are they surprised that someone - likely with mental issues - listened to them?
I personally don't believe the NYT bears any responsibility for this horrific incident. But I would hope that this serves as a lesson not to blame other killings, whether of a Congresswoman, at an abortion clinic, or otherwise, on "right wing rhetoric."
I personally don't believe the NYT bears any responsibility for this horrific incident. But I would hope that this serves as a lesson not to blame other killings, whether of a Congresswoman, at an abortion clinic, or otherwise, on "right wing rhetoric."
1
Do you actually suppose the killer reads the New York Times? People quickly find out when a police officer kills -- the video is there for all to see.
Not being a citizen of the US, I can only state my sadness at the events of the past week. And also my sadness at the NYT editorial for not bringing up the topic of the gun culture in the US, a culture so powerful that even the Congress of the most powerful nation on earth is powerless to act. The gun lobby effectively runs the US. And the omnipresence of guns taints everything, from the overly nervous reactions of policemen or security gards to the ease for everyone carrying a grudge, real or imaginary, to settle scores with a weapon. Put in the widening gap between haves and have not, and you could very well end up with an explosive situation. And that is a rather unsettling thought when you live next door.
3
"A country drowning in grief." Seriously? Look around you. How many of the people you see are drowning in grief? Perspective, rationality and maturity please.
4
This is yet one more of the tragic fruits of a gun culture that's out of control. Mass murder by gun is now within the everyday range of variation of civic events in this country. As someone else wrote in these pages we've passed a tipping point; mass slaughter is the new normal. Happens all the time. This is one the NRA can't spin as showing the need for more universal possession and carry of firearms; all parties to this horror, cops and sniper, were already armed. What's your proposed solution, Mr. LaPierre?
1
When I first heard the reports about the Pulse attack in Orlando, I was horrified at the facts I was hearing. As hours passed, I now (on reflection) realize, I took that attack personally because I'm both gay and half Puerto Rican. It suddenly hit me ... he was killing me!
I'm not a police officer, but this terrible event still hit me the same way. This time though, it's not what I am but what they represent ... the (if imperfect) effort to protect *all* of us from others who would do us harm. This attack against them, for whatever reason, was an attack on all of us.
I'm sad beyond words at that.
I'm not a police officer, but this terrible event still hit me the same way. This time though, it's not what I am but what they represent ... the (if imperfect) effort to protect *all* of us from others who would do us harm. This attack against them, for whatever reason, was an attack on all of us.
I'm sad beyond words at that.
1
I am waiting patiently for an N.R.A. spokesman to tell us what they always say after an event as this.
That this could have been prevented if only the victims had been armed.
Grief, yes. Disgust, overwhelmingly yes. Too many angry crazies, too many guns.
That this could have been prevented if only the victims had been armed.
Grief, yes. Disgust, overwhelmingly yes. Too many angry crazies, too many guns.
Despite the current tragedy in Dallas, and the many other recent acts of violence which preceded it, this nation is not "drowning in mourning". There is much work to be done to restore our place as the city upon the hill. The work is ours to do. Leave the sensational headlines to Fox News, Be thoughtful and concise and lead the way.
1
what has been an ongoing tragedy-- when did it turn into the seemingly incurable disease we are facing now?-- must end or this country will end. At the risk of sounding like a Pollyanna, I am convinced that there are enough good people in this country to make it right again. It will take Herculean efforts, but it is possible.
A loner wanting revenge. A loner lost in murderous rage. Military training. Long weapons meant only for the battlefield but available in every gun store, along with enormous magazines for maximum firepower. Now, name the killing field. Anywhere.
1
our country is not drowning in grief at all!
our country is drowning in civilians owning guns.
STOP the madness - could we ban the sale of bullets since we can't ban the sale of guns?
Yeah, a ridiculous statement. Not more ridiculous than continuing to advocate civilian gun ownership.
our country is drowning in civilians owning guns.
STOP the madness - could we ban the sale of bullets since we can't ban the sale of guns?
Yeah, a ridiculous statement. Not more ridiculous than continuing to advocate civilian gun ownership.
2
I am shocked, shocked and amazed at the Dallas shooting. I was wondering when someone would strike the match. If this country doesn't heal itself real soon and make serious attempts to end bigotry, income inequality and control gun ownership, we are are going to see a fire that we will not be able to stop. Respect for governmental insitutions is at all time low. Revolution is American as Apple Pie.
1
Guns are for killing people. Lots of people buy lots of guns. Some of those people use guns to kill people. Cops fear they are going to be killed so they weapon up and pull the trigger too fast and too often, especially against blacks who are stereotyped as bad guys. Some of those black people get mad and shoot cops. The NRA says the only solution is for more people to buy more guns. Politicians thinking about the next election talk about the second amendment as if the founding fathers were infallible gods, not normal men who writing for a civilization 228 years ago. People buy even more guns...
Yes America is exceptional...exceptionally stupid.
Yes America is exceptional...exceptionally stupid.
1
This is only the latest in a series of violent horrors played out over the last several years. We are a nation that has on average one mass shooting per day. Neighborhoods are being torn apart by gunfire fueled by an overabundance of guns and unlimited supplies of ammunition much it of designed to tear apart human flesh. We have neighborhoods in my hometown of Chicago that can identified as war zones just as easily as the neighborhoods we've seen in Iraq. And to cap it all off the shooter who used a military style assault rife to murder those good officers was killed by an antipersonnel explosive. Can anything say "we're at war" more than that? What kind of a country have we turned into? When did it become acceptable to use a gun to make a political point, fulfill a death wish, take revenge, etc.? It must be acceptable because every time there's a shooting, especially a mass shooting where lots of people are killed and wounded, most of our politicians act as if this is just the price of being a real American. How disgraceful that preventable mass death is considered acceptable, even desirable by those who have the power to do something about it, but won't.
34
When did it become acceptable to use a gun to make a political point? At the time of the American Revolution. However, the Dallas shooter may have suffering from PTSD and/or other stresses. Really desperate people will seize on any "excuse" to act out. Conventional gun control (as in other modern nations) is an obvious needed step. As is getting serious about improving the lives of marginalized communities via federally mandated and funded income support and dramatically improved public schools. You can't solve a centuries-old problem with prayers and hand-wringing,
As an old white, I do have a perspective on this: if the police can kill a black with impunity regardless of his reaching into his wallet to get his driver license then perhaps a black can kill a white policeman for no reason. Tit-for-tat. That may sound outlandish but it also called reciprocity.
We, as in America, must to do something besides blocking everything The President of USA, who is half black, and do some positive things for the country besides having endless quibbles over whether white/black arguments are significant.
We, as in America, must to do something besides blocking everything The President of USA, who is half black, and do some positive things for the country besides having endless quibbles over whether white/black arguments are significant.
2
You begin "Instantly, shockingly," why so shockingly when your editorial page has constantly castigated the police as the bad guys who should be robots dealing with disordely and even worse, dangerous, people. If there is shame to bear the Editorial Board had better do some penance ....the blood of those five officers is also on the board's hands whether they like it or not. Let this be a reality check for them to be fairer in the critiques. Lives are at stake here, board members. ....yes on both sides of the debates. Show that you care about both because before yesterday you failed.
EJB
NYC
EJB
NYC
3
The NRA has proposed that everyone should have firearms for their protection.
I'm thinking that down the road everyone will have firearms, and then no one will have protection.
( "If everyone's super, no one will be." )
I'm thinking that down the road everyone will have firearms, and then no one will have protection.
( "If everyone's super, no one will be." )
I agree with semyon aynbinder below and it should also be said that the facts of the last two police killings, while certainly raising serious questions, aren't all in. The process needs to take its course and if wrongdoing occurred it should be censured. But to conclude from there that there is a "cycle" of violence is completely unwarranted. Indeed it is irresponsible and shows IMO a moral and intellectual failure at the NYT, one sadly too in evidence here.
The killings in Dallas are the most gratuitous and homicidal one can imagine, you have no way of knowing if the suspect wouldn't have snapped in some other way had this last spate of police violence not occurred. The egregiousness of what he did suggests a serious problem that would have manifested sooner or later in senseless and tragic actions.
There is much to be done to improve and repair race relations but the tone of the editorial will not contribute a whit to it IMO.
The killings in Dallas are the most gratuitous and homicidal one can imagine, you have no way of knowing if the suspect wouldn't have snapped in some other way had this last spate of police violence not occurred. The egregiousness of what he did suggests a serious problem that would have manifested sooner or later in senseless and tragic actions.
There is much to be done to improve and repair race relations but the tone of the editorial will not contribute a whit to it IMO.
1
" 'Vicious, calculated, despicable attack on law enforcement' ( President Obama). ' As with the lives lost in Louisiana and Minnesota, the murdered officers in Dallas...' " (last paragraph of this editorial).
What do these statements have in common; they both negate the worth of the two Black men murdered by police officers. A President offers his disgust with the *vileness* of the Police Officer's murders but cannot bring himself to utter the same contempt about the two black lives murdered in much the same way. The NYT Editorial- as an almost afterthought, mentions the *lives lost* in Minnesota and Louisiana but tells us about the Police Officers,*murdered*; failing to tie the two events with the outcome in Dallas; America's refusal to connect the dots is like a chronic disease.
In America- black humanity is a nuisance; is a danger. Police officers are ingrained with that mindset: Our American policing system has been trained to FEAR and kill what you fear- this is the outcome.
"Trained Fear" comes from a child in a school chair- bathing suit; a man entering his home, motorist driving to her new job; a man riding the subway;walking in a rural street; a routine traffic stop...
Until we acknowledge our completely dysfunctional U.S. system of law enforcement- demanding a new model, NOTHING will change except the day and time of the next unarmed black citizen murdered by a police officer and another Dallas.
What do these statements have in common; they both negate the worth of the two Black men murdered by police officers. A President offers his disgust with the *vileness* of the Police Officer's murders but cannot bring himself to utter the same contempt about the two black lives murdered in much the same way. The NYT Editorial- as an almost afterthought, mentions the *lives lost* in Minnesota and Louisiana but tells us about the Police Officers,*murdered*; failing to tie the two events with the outcome in Dallas; America's refusal to connect the dots is like a chronic disease.
In America- black humanity is a nuisance; is a danger. Police officers are ingrained with that mindset: Our American policing system has been trained to FEAR and kill what you fear- this is the outcome.
"Trained Fear" comes from a child in a school chair- bathing suit; a man entering his home, motorist driving to her new job; a man riding the subway;walking in a rural street; a routine traffic stop...
Until we acknowledge our completely dysfunctional U.S. system of law enforcement- demanding a new model, NOTHING will change except the day and time of the next unarmed black citizen murdered by a police officer and another Dallas.
2
Thank you for this sensitive and touching piece - it focuses on some key aspects of dealing with this week from hell.
I would only add that we should not forget a major reason why we are in this situation is the gun issue. The ridiculously easy access to guns is the reason for the kind of violence that makes cops fear the public... and is at least one reason why they are prone to using deadly force; easy access to guns facilitated the murder of five officers. Until we see the interconnectedness of the issues and make a united effort to get rid of this scourge, all the good intent in the universe isn't going to fix anything. Guns kill people - it is that easy to understand... if we are willing to understand.
I would only add that we should not forget a major reason why we are in this situation is the gun issue. The ridiculously easy access to guns is the reason for the kind of violence that makes cops fear the public... and is at least one reason why they are prone to using deadly force; easy access to guns facilitated the murder of five officers. Until we see the interconnectedness of the issues and make a united effort to get rid of this scourge, all the good intent in the universe isn't going to fix anything. Guns kill people - it is that easy to understand... if we are willing to understand.
Advice to all of us legitimately hurting after the deaths of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and five Dallas police officers: if you frame the ongoing fight as a choice between justice and public order (which it is NOT) people will choose order every time, since there is no justice without law. But law without justice breeds disorder, as we see here. The politics of outrage (whether in the Black Lives Matter movement or those who pretend to support law enforcement) betrays a lack of faith in the political process, an unforgivable sin in a democracy. All of us should tone down the rhetoric, at the price of being labeled by Donald Trump as slaves to “political correctness."
10
The sniper, while angry about police conduct toward African Americans, (i.e, murdering them), succeeded in, mostly, getting the public sympathy for the police. Five policemen dead but the whole country, rightfully so, in sympathy for law enforcement. The exact opposite of what the protests were about.
Lastly, blowing the guy up to end the crises. They had him cornered, he was not a threat to anyone. The likely ending to these dramas is suicide, or they could have waited him out until he fell asleep or got hungry and wanted to give up. But the idea of using a bomb is indicative of the same overkill the police are universally condemned for. [The protesters were protesting a man killed for a seatbelt infraction]. It just seems to me, that the bombing, (killing the perpetrator), was retribution, without trial, for him killing the police.
A better outcome would have been, capture, trial, and (in Texas) a fairly swift execution. Justice served.
Lastly, blowing the guy up to end the crises. They had him cornered, he was not a threat to anyone. The likely ending to these dramas is suicide, or they could have waited him out until he fell asleep or got hungry and wanted to give up. But the idea of using a bomb is indicative of the same overkill the police are universally condemned for. [The protesters were protesting a man killed for a seatbelt infraction]. It just seems to me, that the bombing, (killing the perpetrator), was retribution, without trial, for him killing the police.
A better outcome would have been, capture, trial, and (in Texas) a fairly swift execution. Justice served.
2
How does a man with a questionable army experience accumulate an arsenal of weapons and ammunition in his home without anyone noticing?
1
Statistics show that guns in a home where there is domestic violence is a deadly mix. If you view the U.S. , as "our home", and add increased racial tensions, the political anger of the campaign season and for good measure- summer heat- you can say the same thing. Guns in "our home" is a deadly combination. #Enough #NotOneMore
CNN promoted this shooting by showing raw footage of police shootings before they could be sent to a grand jury, characterizing that action as racist, and promoting the idea that racism is pervasive among the police. Had they not done all those things, this shooting would not have occurred. It's big media business to create a race war. The Times and all media outlets should get back to reporting the facts, and focus on the relatively few police officers who are racist and/or poorly trained. Painting the police with a broad brush incites crazies and racist bigot murderers like the one in Dallas.
3
This is a nation with mantra of constantly looking forward without doing the homework of serious open and honest examination of the past. Over and over and over again this nation goes through tragic events, looks for band-aid solutions to those immediate events, and then slides back into the norm of an existence that glides along until the next tragic event takes place. Yes, we all want to move forward, however, we have some serious flaws in our society that need to be addressed and corrected. White citizens enslaved an entire race. White citizens stole the country from an entire race. White men held down and continue to discriminate against women, immigrants, and people of color. This has not changed. This is our legacy. We provide poor education to millions, poor health care to millions, and the very infrastructure of this nations highways, bridges, and buildings crumbles. Guns are beyond control in America. This is nothing new. This is how America is and has been for over 200 years. Until reparations are paid, until all schools are well funded for generations, until we stand up and really deal with the flawed history of America, America will continue to simmer and boil over. Pretty words don't do it. Apologies and pleas for calm don't do it. Assumptions that the Civil War ended in 1865 are far too convenient. We need to deal with it, and we have a government who really doesn't care one way or the other. If they did, they'd do something today. If we cared we would too.
1
In "Sympathy for the Devil", Mick Jagger sings:
"I shouted out, 'Who killed the Kennedys?'
Well after all, it was you and me."
Substitute "black people and the police" for "The Kennedys" and the song still rings true.
It's time for us to fix the anger plaguing so many people. We can't get rid of the guns. Anger is something we can replace with another, healthier emotion. Compassion would do.
"I shouted out, 'Who killed the Kennedys?'
Well after all, it was you and me."
Substitute "black people and the police" for "The Kennedys" and the song still rings true.
It's time for us to fix the anger plaguing so many people. We can't get rid of the guns. Anger is something we can replace with another, healthier emotion. Compassion would do.
10
Will history books 200 years from now puzzle over the demise of a great nation because we couldn't see past the color of our own citizen's skin? What an embarrassing legacy.
1
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
1
The Dallas police and BLM did everything correct.
After Baton Rouge and Minnesota there was going to be a demonstration.
It played out (something those in Bei Jing could learn) but who anticipated a lone gun man and the dirty twist the US army trained him.
After Baton Rouge and Minnesota there was going to be a demonstration.
It played out (something those in Bei Jing could learn) but who anticipated a lone gun man and the dirty twist the US army trained him.
Demonizing one another, whether racially, politically, or because we disagree with their views, or profession, is the point of this editorial. Many comments directly attacking the National Rifle Association, imply that gun rights advocates share the blame here, missing the editorial's point, as though neither the policeman who shot Castile without cause, nor Mr. Castile had a 2nd Amendment right to have guns. Yet Mr.. Castile's gun was legally owned; and he had a right to carry it. It was not involved in his untimely death as was the policeman's.
Don't let political agendas so blind us now as to the facts, as the policeman's false assumptions seem to have done to him when he shot Castile.
Don't let political agendas so blind us now as to the facts, as the policeman's false assumptions seem to have done to him when he shot Castile.
1
To fix this: 1) Money out of politics, 2) Get rid of citizens owning guns, 3) Institute compulsory national service between high school and college, on the model of the CCC, where young people from all backgrounds work together, learn skills and rebuild our infrastructure.
There are two things we need to change as a country:
We need to stop glorifying violence in our TV, music, videos, books, movies, and cartoons for god's sake. No wonder we are one of the most violent countries in the world. We should instead celebrate: Honesty, altruism, the common good, service to the nation, kindness, love, servant leadership, giving someone a hand up when needed. Until we change the story we tell ourselves about our selves, this kind of thing we be repeated.
It is time once and for all to ban guns. There are about 11,000 people per year killed by guns. More are killed each year than our last several wars and we do it year after year. We cannot yet, cure the ills of our society, BUT while we are working on that, we can make the mistakes less lethal. Say we cut the death rate by guns to 5,500 wouldn't that be worth the effort? What if it was your son or daughter who was saved?
What we are doing as a society is NOT working. Our leadership is corrupt and self-serving, our society is not functioning and we are killing each other. It is time to look in the mirror and say: "This is wrong! We need to change." Begin with yourself, get rid of your guns, don't buy / support violent movies, music, books, programming. Help those in need. "Be the change you want to see in society." We are running out of time.
We need to stop glorifying violence in our TV, music, videos, books, movies, and cartoons for god's sake. No wonder we are one of the most violent countries in the world. We should instead celebrate: Honesty, altruism, the common good, service to the nation, kindness, love, servant leadership, giving someone a hand up when needed. Until we change the story we tell ourselves about our selves, this kind of thing we be repeated.
It is time once and for all to ban guns. There are about 11,000 people per year killed by guns. More are killed each year than our last several wars and we do it year after year. We cannot yet, cure the ills of our society, BUT while we are working on that, we can make the mistakes less lethal. Say we cut the death rate by guns to 5,500 wouldn't that be worth the effort? What if it was your son or daughter who was saved?
What we are doing as a society is NOT working. Our leadership is corrupt and self-serving, our society is not functioning and we are killing each other. It is time to look in the mirror and say: "This is wrong! We need to change." Begin with yourself, get rid of your guns, don't buy / support violent movies, music, books, programming. Help those in need. "Be the change you want to see in society." We are running out of time.
1
A policeman with a gun and a citizen with a gun;
both afraid/untrusting of the other=it's about the guns.
both afraid/untrusting of the other=it's about the guns.
6
My question is: "Do Black men in open-carry states and states that allow concealed gun permits still have the right to exercise their Second Amendment Rights"?
Will police officers allow them to do so? Will police officers honor these rights when they stop or come in contact a black man with a gun and a permit? It seems White America and particularly White law enforcement has not thought this through [that] the Second Amendment also applies to Black Americans.
Will police officers allow them to do so? Will police officers honor these rights when they stop or come in contact a black man with a gun and a permit? It seems White America and particularly White law enforcement has not thought this through [that] the Second Amendment also applies to Black Americans.
3
What led to the creation of the Black Panthers? How much of it was lynchings & random killings of blacks & a disregard for basic civil rights for blacks?
Now we have a black army veteran wanting to kill (& killing) white police. Is his anger similar to the anger that resulted in the Black Panthers? (arbitrary killings of black men &black boys, by the police; disregard of the rights of the poor and effectively disenfranchised).
This is not about justifying violence. But we cannot just keep on saying "something needs to be done about police killings of black males," while the slaughter continues. A black man undertook arbitrary killings of police, each of whom might be a magnificent man. And white/Hispanic/Asian police have just as arbitrarily, killed plenty of innocent, just as likely magnificent black men & boys.
So what to do? Stop the violence. But it is the police who have to step up to stop the violence. Yes they have incredibly dangerous jobs. Yes we need them to protect us. But we don't give them guns to shoot, kill and maim us just on the basis of the color of our skin. They are America's police (city, town & state). They are not the "white peoples'" police. Or the "Hispanics' police." Or the "Asians' police." They are the police for each man, woman and child in America. If some of them don't feel able to do that, but feel they can arbitrarily kill & shoot the Americans who they don't feel the police of, then this craziness is likely to continue.
Now we have a black army veteran wanting to kill (& killing) white police. Is his anger similar to the anger that resulted in the Black Panthers? (arbitrary killings of black men &black boys, by the police; disregard of the rights of the poor and effectively disenfranchised).
This is not about justifying violence. But we cannot just keep on saying "something needs to be done about police killings of black males," while the slaughter continues. A black man undertook arbitrary killings of police, each of whom might be a magnificent man. And white/Hispanic/Asian police have just as arbitrarily, killed plenty of innocent, just as likely magnificent black men & boys.
So what to do? Stop the violence. But it is the police who have to step up to stop the violence. Yes they have incredibly dangerous jobs. Yes we need them to protect us. But we don't give them guns to shoot, kill and maim us just on the basis of the color of our skin. They are America's police (city, town & state). They are not the "white peoples'" police. Or the "Hispanics' police." Or the "Asians' police." They are the police for each man, woman and child in America. If some of them don't feel able to do that, but feel they can arbitrarily kill & shoot the Americans who they don't feel the police of, then this craziness is likely to continue.
2
Only an ignorant fool would believe that more guns can solve this problem. As a matter of fact, quite the contrary. Imagine a law that outlawed guns altogether. Would there be, could there be as much violence committed by guns? No. And that's the problem; accessibility. So the NRA and it's supporters enable and support the gun culture; hence the increasing violence committed with guns; plain and simple. Sure it's deranged people and not guns that kill. But take away the guns and what are they going to use--slingshots?
5
What's missing? Why does the present fail in comparison with the past?
It fails for the reason that in the past protesters sought after the truth.
Today protesters seek after dominance - much to their disappointment.
Take for example the nonsense and stupidity (I most often use the word "silliness" but tonight there must be no euphemisms) of people marching in protest even though - EVEN THOUGH:
the governor of Louisiana called for a Federal investigation on day number one so that justice would be provided to the dead by those in unbiased power.
and
the governor of Minnesota followed suit.
and
it was far too soon for the respective investigations to be productive.
Nevertheless the deaths were used by protesters to march with the result that five good men - GOOD MEN - who stood between the bad guys and you and me - are dead at the hand of a crazed person who happens to be black.
I cannot in good conscience support such movements as Black Lives Matter. Why? because it is being used in an attempt to gain advantage at the expense of lives of other color.
and this little ole Quaker will have none of it - NONE OF IT.
It fails for the reason that in the past protesters sought after the truth.
Today protesters seek after dominance - much to their disappointment.
Take for example the nonsense and stupidity (I most often use the word "silliness" but tonight there must be no euphemisms) of people marching in protest even though - EVEN THOUGH:
the governor of Louisiana called for a Federal investigation on day number one so that justice would be provided to the dead by those in unbiased power.
and
the governor of Minnesota followed suit.
and
it was far too soon for the respective investigations to be productive.
Nevertheless the deaths were used by protesters to march with the result that five good men - GOOD MEN - who stood between the bad guys and you and me - are dead at the hand of a crazed person who happens to be black.
I cannot in good conscience support such movements as Black Lives Matter. Why? because it is being used in an attempt to gain advantage at the expense of lives of other color.
and this little ole Quaker will have none of it - NONE OF IT.
Dozens of "good guys with guns" were no match for just one bad guy with an assault weapon. Weeks earlier, an off duty cop couldn't even slow the lone killer of forty-nine in Orlando. NRA theories surrounding the benefits of unrestricted gun ownership, have now been shown to be every bit as ludicrous as they have always sounded. Our streets have been serving as a giant laboratory in this expanded gun rights experiment. Thanks to the efforts of America's gun lobby, those streets are now drowning in blood.
5
What are we going to DO about this? DO! DO! DO! I opened a political website to read about this latest horror and was met with a request to sign a petition in favor of transgender bathrooms. I started to wonder....what if we really did take action against assault weapons the way we did in favor of transgender bathrooms? What if performers, organizations, corporations, individual citizens began to boycott dealings states that had no ban on assault weapons? Refused to do concerts there? Held no conventions there? Started general strikes there? Did anything that might obstruct revenue streams a little? Might that start to get lawmakers attention? Yes. I know that only seven states and D.C. ban assault weapons but isn't it time to start doing something? Making some bold moves? Sacrificing? Just asking "why not"?
1
Well I have a question. A lot of the rise of the NRA's influence over gun policy has been attributed to its local political efforts, and especially its reports cards on local and federal candidates. It has proven overwhelmingly effective.
Is there a report card system on candidates that is being run by gun control advocates as well? It seems the electorate should have the chance to be informed and vote according to their feelings on this issue.
Is there a report card system on candidates that is being run by gun control advocates as well? It seems the electorate should have the chance to be informed and vote according to their feelings on this issue.
NRA Stamp of Approval pending -- another mass murder, another successful push to free up mass murderers to create mass mass murder. Everything here follows the demands of the NRA and the State of Texas on behalf of the Second Amendment: an abstract principle is more important than the lives of cannon fodder, even when the cannon fodder = Blue Lives.
1
The root problem here is less racism than guns. The trigger for police shootings in both Minnesota and Louisiana was the possession of a gun by the victim. We can debate until the cows come home whether they would have been shot if they were white, but from what has been reported, neither would have had they not had a gun.
And the Dallas shooter is yet one more example of a deranged person acquiring an arsenal no law abiding citizen needs. And in Dallas, open carry country, who was made safer by being armed? In the end, even the well-armed police failed to take the shooter out with guns and resorted to a bomb.
Guns in the hands of civilians make all of us less safe. Anyone who thinks otherwise is simply not thinking rationally.
And the Dallas shooter is yet one more example of a deranged person acquiring an arsenal no law abiding citizen needs. And in Dallas, open carry country, who was made safer by being armed? In the end, even the well-armed police failed to take the shooter out with guns and resorted to a bomb.
Guns in the hands of civilians make all of us less safe. Anyone who thinks otherwise is simply not thinking rationally.
34
It seems to me that if President Obama dropped everything in his schedule every time there was a mass shooting in the US he would get absolutely nothing done as US president. I assume Obama will do what he always does - quietly call and later visit families and express his condolences. Congress will do what it always does: block any attempt by Obama to improve our gun situation. Many US citizens will do what they always do in every situation: blame Obama.
6
The 2 videos of the recent police shooting civilians makes me wonder why they don't use tazers rather then guns? It did not appear to me that neither of these men did anything worthy of being held down on the ground and clearly not murdered on the street.....I thought tazers were the tool police used so why were these so quick to resort guns? I wonder if police are required to take a psych test before they enlist to weed out those who may have less then honorable motivations. Why did the vicious Dallas shooter have military grade weapons? Aren't they govt property paid for by the taxpayers?
2
BLM protesters in NYC chanted "What do we want, dead cops! When do we want it, Now!" They had to wait a few months, but they got their wish. Also, invites to Obama's White House, meetings with and full throated support from Hillary, resulting in them now being a prominent part of the Democratic Party coalition. So we know on which side of the thin blue line Democrats stand, and it isn't on the side of ordinary Americans who suffer under the scourge of violent crimes disproportionally committed by blacks. Free Mumia!...Right.
2
Vicious cycle destructive violence in US and in most parts of the world, has a direct corollary to the domination of greed and competition, pollution, poverty, starvation, exploitation, ecological destruction, war and violence. The standard of living of the people has risen with multiple amenities for a comfortable living. But despite extraordinary technological progress, we face a sick human society. As a result of the degradation of society many serious problems have arisen. If democracy is to survive and if science has to be utilized for maintaining the stability of society, if peace and security of the people is to be ensured we have to work hard and steady to imbibe moral and ethical values.
Dr. Sampooran Singh (retired as Director from the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India ) said somewhere that “we are often caught in an acquisitive culture which consists of ambition, comparing, competing and acquiring. This is called psychological aggressiveness. This is actually a subtle violence which has led to making the whole human race in to a civilized violent community. Violence benumbs the sensitivity and this makes our understanding of life poorer".
No wonder, man has emerged as a violent species. Mahatma Gandhi foresaw this situation and one of his major intentions while he wrote 'Hind Swaraj' was to teach the Indians that 'modern western civilization' with the above said consequences posed a greater threat to them and to humanity than did colonialism.
Dr. Sampooran Singh (retired as Director from the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India ) said somewhere that “we are often caught in an acquisitive culture which consists of ambition, comparing, competing and acquiring. This is called psychological aggressiveness. This is actually a subtle violence which has led to making the whole human race in to a civilized violent community. Violence benumbs the sensitivity and this makes our understanding of life poorer".
No wonder, man has emerged as a violent species. Mahatma Gandhi foresaw this situation and one of his major intentions while he wrote 'Hind Swaraj' was to teach the Indians that 'modern western civilization' with the above said consequences posed a greater threat to them and to humanity than did colonialism.
This nation will continue to bleed until we citizens demand the banning of weapons. How many more must die, if not NOW, when?
I hate to say this given the shock and dismay of our nation, but there's a Biblical admonishment which goes something like this: that what you reap is what you sow. The last time I saw this kind of widespread violence in our country was when I returned from Vietnam having done a tour of duty as a medical corpsman. I remember so vividly that hot and violent summer of 1968 when it seemed that center could not hold. The demons that we let loose by that war came back to haunt us during that summer. And so it has finally come to pass with the long war on terror. We are the victims of our own friendly fire, that Orwellian oxymoron which became part of the language, to describe grunts wounded by our own side. Make no mistake about it. What happened in downtown Dallas was a firefight. We are staring into the abyss, on the edge looking down at armed insurrection. And the summer has just begun, we still have to get through two political conventions. And I've read gun supporters have vowed to bring their sidearms to the convention in Cleveland to assert their right to protect themselves against protesters. Now if that defense of their second amendment rights isn't the definition of clinical insanity, I don't know what is. The late historian Chalmers Johnson wrote a prophetic book one year before the 9/11 attacks entitled "Blowback," a term originally coined by the CIA, to describe the unintended consequences of American policies overseas when we engineered the coup d'eat in Iran.
3
This cannot become the new normal. I cry for all those killed. Important as fathers, husbands, sons, brothers- their families have to learn to live without them now.
I hate it, at a time like this, but I'm going to place blame right where I think it goes. We have 300,000,000+ guns in this country. And an organization that members of Congress are scared of. Their answer to a crisis like this is- More guns, if everybody had a gun all the time, we would be safer.
As long as Congress is owned by that lobby, we will have days like today.
I hate it, at a time like this, but I'm going to place blame right where I think it goes. We have 300,000,000+ guns in this country. And an organization that members of Congress are scared of. Their answer to a crisis like this is- More guns, if everybody had a gun all the time, we would be safer.
As long as Congress is owned by that lobby, we will have days like today.
5
Where are the protests against the real culprits of our problems? Politicians. They have fomented division and hate and access to guns and all the other ills this country has . They must be held responsible for our pain and suffering. Simply voting them out only to be replaced by another clown does not help. Get money out of politics and we may have a chance to get leaders who actually care about the citizens of this country.
4
The solution isn't a divisive message "Black Lives Matter".... but a unifying "All Humankind are created equal"... "All Lives Matter"
There is only one race - the human race. We must think in those terms, not as hyphenated black, white, and brown Americans.
There is only one race - the human race. We must think in those terms, not as hyphenated black, white, and brown Americans.
2
The saddest and most frustrating aspect of the ongoing and seemingly unrelenting march of gun violence is the continue refusal by the protectors of the second Amendment to allow any reform of gun laws. In the end, gun violence will continue to decimate our country until the only thing left alive and well is the accursed second Amendment.
1
The country is "drowning" in grief over the death of white police officers, but not the unjust deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers? What's the matter with you? As a society you reap what you sow.
2
Judging from the number of Tea Partiers, including a handful of once-and-present elected REPUBLICAN officials, who have come out in full support of the shooters in Dallas, I think this new massacre is nothing more than a bunch of 'Patriots' attempting to 'Make America Great' again. To blame it all on President Obama (even to the extent of threatening him with assassination) clearly illustrates the level of hyperbole to which this argument has gone.
3
Say, wasn't it the former host of a late night tv show, John Stewart, who put a picture George W. Bush in a snipers target and said "Snipers Wanted?" Yes, I believe it was. Wow, wasn't that funny?
1
And yet today I saw plenty of posts on social media showing pandas riding rocking horses. We're not drowning in grief. We've become completely desensitized. We take a deep breath each time there is horrific violence, look around for some leadership, some constructive dialogue and seeing none, seeing nothing we go back to cats being scared by cucumbers. We're self soothing. And angry.
23
San Bernardino, Orlando, Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, MN; Dallas... and everyday over and over in Chicago... blacks killings blacks, Afghans killings gay Hispanics, Whites and Blacks killing each other. As a country, we are slipping into social insanity. Meanwhile our Congress holds hearings about e-mails and pauses for a moment of silence. We are living and witnessing what happens to a once great country when those elected to govern abdicate their responsibilities. Can we survive or shall we simply sink into a perpetual state of low level civil war?
4
The police chief and the mayor in Dallas were class acts. They are trying to solve the problems, save lives, work with Reality.
The crazy Lt. Governor of Texas Dan Patrick continues to act like someone with no sense- after Orlando he posted a Bible verse about reaping what you sow in response to murdered young folks in a dance club. Now he jumps in again and blames the folks engaged in a peaceful demonstration for the lives of the murdered police. He actually blamed them for running away from the bullets. This guy needs lose his job. Terrible.
The crazy Lt. Governor of Texas Dan Patrick continues to act like someone with no sense- after Orlando he posted a Bible verse about reaping what you sow in response to murdered young folks in a dance club. Now he jumps in again and blames the folks engaged in a peaceful demonstration for the lives of the murdered police. He actually blamed them for running away from the bullets. This guy needs lose his job. Terrible.
5
He is a reflection of Texas which should be encouraged to secede.
1
President Obama has ordered to lowered the American Flag half mast for the 67th times for the total of 160 some days but yet the NRA and other partisans are waving their distorted 2nd Amendment flag. You have to ask yourself, which is the real American flag and which is the imposter.
After the Dallas shooting, some commenters on the NYT site have blamed Mr Obama for jumping the gun (pun intended) about the latest Minnesota shooting as if Mr Obama enjoyed lowering the American Flag for so many times.
If you wanted to blame a president, it would be President George W Bush. Not only he has left America in tatter after eight years and 2 wars on a credit card. He has allowed the right wing extremists to thrive and consequently invited the left wing extremists to push back. The rich become richer and the middle class nowhere to be found. And the NRA and the Starve The Beast gang emboldened. While people are dying on the street, the Republicans are playing charade on the Hill talking about email server with a career Republican.
Additionally, the veterans coming back from the Afghanistan and Iraq are scarred. Some could have been troublesome to begin with, like this shooter in Dallas.
All these events are interconnected. The election of a black president might have brought all sort of resentments and entitlements to the surface; but deep down, all the gerrymandering and redlinings are coming home to roost
After the Dallas shooting, some commenters on the NYT site have blamed Mr Obama for jumping the gun (pun intended) about the latest Minnesota shooting as if Mr Obama enjoyed lowering the American Flag for so many times.
If you wanted to blame a president, it would be President George W Bush. Not only he has left America in tatter after eight years and 2 wars on a credit card. He has allowed the right wing extremists to thrive and consequently invited the left wing extremists to push back. The rich become richer and the middle class nowhere to be found. And the NRA and the Starve The Beast gang emboldened. While people are dying on the street, the Republicans are playing charade on the Hill talking about email server with a career Republican.
Additionally, the veterans coming back from the Afghanistan and Iraq are scarred. Some could have been troublesome to begin with, like this shooter in Dallas.
All these events are interconnected. The election of a black president might have brought all sort of resentments and entitlements to the surface; but deep down, all the gerrymandering and redlinings are coming home to roost
5
Another excuse for the paranoid masses to go out and buy more guns. What will be the tipping point? What will it take remove the current GOP cabal in congress?
2
It will take voters to remove these deranged people from office and by that I mean those with Ds and Rs after their names. We need a completely new government, including the state government, no incumbents. We need to ban all political donations and these Super PACs. When real people participate and run our government things will get better. We also need to acknowledge that "our" legislators are part of the problem and must go too.
3
Bob: we may have passed the tipping point. In cancer care, we know that a cancer can develop quietly for years with no obvious signs or symptoms--until it explodes.
2
Please stop with the violence and killing. I don't understand this country anymore. I don't know where we go from here.
2
For at least the five days that our flags fly at half-mast, I wish we would simply grieve for those lost and injured and have respect not to disrespect grief by callously using these deaths to push agendas. Loretta Lynch has it right. It's time to take care of each other, especially those we might not have reached out to before this terrible week.
3
At least it wasn't ISIS.
They don't need to shoot us. We do that on our own.
1
Not to sound cold-blooded, but is it really any great surprise that it has come to this? -- It had to happen sooner or later, as is often the case when one feels 'under seige'.
Time to get rid of semi-automatic assault weapons...NOW.
Time to get rid of semi-automatic assault weapons...NOW.
3
I have I haven't seen anyone point out that this latest gun violence incident comprehensively disproves the "good guys with guns stops gun violence" argument. There were a lot of good guys with guns in Dallas. Sadly and tragically 5 of them are dead. The NRA's argument is reduced to "good guys with guns might reduce the amount of pointless death from guns (but it won't stop it)".
Get rid of your guns, America. Grow up and become a civilised nation.
Get rid of your guns, America. Grow up and become a civilised nation.
6
Drowning in GUNS!
1
I do not see how we can eliminate this violence in America without serious gun laws? Do you see this carnage in any other "advanced" nation on Earth? The enemy is within us and it goes by the initials; NRA and GOP (Guns over People)!
3
Well, a few points. One, the country is NOT drowning in grief. I'm sure people here and there are sad at the events in Dallas and in Minnesota and in Baton Rouge, but if you go outside, people are getting on with their lives like before. This is NOT 9/11, sad as it is. However, also: "“This must stop, this divisiveness between our police and our citizens,” said Dallas’s police chief, David Brown, who is black." Sure, the divisiveness. Well, let's start with the police stopping their rampant theft. They stole all the cameras they could in Minnesota and in Baton Rouge. This is not a two-off thing. No warrant, nothing. Just steal the cameras so they can get control of the story. So, here's my suggestion to David Brown (and the other police chiefs): stop your people from stealing from us; stop trying to control the story because you can't and trying just makes it another (and worse) story. The cops stole the cameras from Minnesota and Baton Rouge. If it were my camera, they would not have gotten it. Check this story out:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160708/08263534920/two-days-two-shoo...
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160708/08263534920/two-days-two-shoo...
2
is anyone surprised?
We have been heading toward Dallas, Baton Rouge and Minneapolis for years, with the help of the NRA.
This will only stop when there is some legislation to halt people from walking into a shop and purchasing a weapon and ammunition..
Jacques Brel said "if we only have love, we will melt all the guns, and give the new world to our daughters and sons.
We have been heading toward Dallas, Baton Rouge and Minneapolis for years, with the help of the NRA.
This will only stop when there is some legislation to halt people from walking into a shop and purchasing a weapon and ammunition..
Jacques Brel said "if we only have love, we will melt all the guns, and give the new world to our daughters and sons.
3
What is it going to take for our politicians to show any signs of courage with the number of needless deaths in this country from gun violence? What is it going to take to have a reasonable dialogue between both parties to make our government represent all the people?
I am sad, I am exhausted and I am angry. Our political leadership instead of trying to encourage working together does the opposite. My state's lieutenant governor refers to the protestors in Dallas as "hypocrites" once again looking for some "dog whistle" politics instead of trying to promote unity.
We have a Presidential candidate with no qualifications who has criticized and mocked almost every group except for "pressing buttons" with angry white men. After 9/11, when we should have been a country united, instead, politicians were making comments like "You are either for us or against us".
What is to happen to our country when there is no leadership (we can't even decide on a Supreme Court justice), there is racism (whether people want to accept it or not), there is way too easy access to guns like semi-automatic weapons and there is no working together? I am really, really scared.
I am sad, I am exhausted and I am angry. Our political leadership instead of trying to encourage working together does the opposite. My state's lieutenant governor refers to the protestors in Dallas as "hypocrites" once again looking for some "dog whistle" politics instead of trying to promote unity.
We have a Presidential candidate with no qualifications who has criticized and mocked almost every group except for "pressing buttons" with angry white men. After 9/11, when we should have been a country united, instead, politicians were making comments like "You are either for us or against us".
What is to happen to our country when there is no leadership (we can't even decide on a Supreme Court justice), there is racism (whether people want to accept it or not), there is way too easy access to guns like semi-automatic weapons and there is no working together? I am really, really scared.
46
One incomplete, but productive, answer is to campaign, canvass, write to and vote only for candidates who will work for positive solutions and not simply to obstruct reasonable, constitutional gun control measures, who advocate for changes that will reduce economic and racial barriers to progress and equality, and who reject the violent, "dog whistle" rhetoric that has become too commonplace. We can no longer afford to sit back and simply vote or voice opinions - energetic engagement as citizens is absolutely critical. I don't want to take my country back - I want to take it forward.
@J
This will not be stopped by gun control. The most violent countries in the world already ban all guns. Yet, somehow "bad guys" get them. We fool ourselves and ignore the real reasons people are getting shot and killed if we just say ban guns. It is going to take fundamental change of society's attitudes to make a dent in gun violence. Rules of behavior will have to be put back in place, equality for all will have to be enacted, the justice system needs wholesale reform to ensure equality for all regardless of the skin color, bank account or social standing.
This will not be stopped by gun control. The most violent countries in the world already ban all guns. Yet, somehow "bad guys" get them. We fool ourselves and ignore the real reasons people are getting shot and killed if we just say ban guns. It is going to take fundamental change of society's attitudes to make a dent in gun violence. Rules of behavior will have to be put back in place, equality for all will have to be enacted, the justice system needs wholesale reform to ensure equality for all regardless of the skin color, bank account or social standing.
The assassinations of cops in Dallas may been triggered by the assassinations by cops of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota -- events which may have pushed the Dallas shooter onerous the edge.
As you reap...
As you reap...
1
When this happened, police wasted precious time looking at, arresting, confronting, the many people who had long guns strapped across their shoulders - legally - and were running from the scene.
Officers exposed themselves to the real shooter, tracking down the legal "open carry" citizens of Texas who complicated a terrifying and fatal scene with their very presence. They did not help.
Imagine what went though the mind of every police officer with every person he saw with a rifle on their back? It is a miracle that not one innocent citizen was killed by mistake. BECAUSE they had guns.
What if any of them had actually opened fire? Firing at what they thought was the shooter? Can you imagine the death toll? Them firing at each other? The police firing at them?
Were their 2nd Amendment guns less than useless in a real crisis?
Guns in the hands of citizens do not make society safer.
Officers exposed themselves to the real shooter, tracking down the legal "open carry" citizens of Texas who complicated a terrifying and fatal scene with their very presence. They did not help.
Imagine what went though the mind of every police officer with every person he saw with a rifle on their back? It is a miracle that not one innocent citizen was killed by mistake. BECAUSE they had guns.
What if any of them had actually opened fire? Firing at what they thought was the shooter? Can you imagine the death toll? Them firing at each other? The police firing at them?
Were their 2nd Amendment guns less than useless in a real crisis?
Guns in the hands of citizens do not make society safer.
84
If you want to get to the bottom of the division and discord in this county that has created the explosive anger and anxiety we are experiencing, you only have to look at Congress and the Republicans who have been sewing this seed for political gains and infecting the public with it.
No one is more responsible for this than Mitch McDonnell as the leading Republican in the Senate who has institutionalized it in order to deny the Democrats and Mr. Obama a helping hand in moving the country forward.
This is not lost on the public who feel betrayed and left out and are now reacting to it.
What a better world we would have if both parties of Congress got along with each other like mature adults.
No one is more responsible for this than Mitch McDonnell as the leading Republican in the Senate who has institutionalized it in order to deny the Democrats and Mr. Obama a helping hand in moving the country forward.
This is not lost on the public who feel betrayed and left out and are now reacting to it.
What a better world we would have if both parties of Congress got along with each other like mature adults.
4
Dear Editorial Board:
I am not drowning in grief for the BLM, who along with Loretta Lynch and Barak Obama have fomented this dangerous movement. The vast majority of black people have the utmost respect for the law, a tiny minority do not - the activist and criminal element.
Yes, there are a small cadre of cops who have an axe to grind along with a god-complex, but they to are a tiny minority. Don't hand me your 'can't we all get along' when you deny there is a anarchist element stoking the flames. Note to editors: a shooting war has started based on yours and the homegrown terrorist elements rhetoric in this country. Stop it now, right now.
The law enforcement officers in this country must have our respect. All citizens must have respect for the law, black, Hispanic, Asian and white. Too many people have guns in this country for BLM or anybody else to start a civil war. Obey the law, don't commit a traffic infraction, don't carry a gun and sit in a public park, don't reach when an officer tells you to put your hands where he can see them (especially if you tell him you have a gun), don't shoplift and get high and walk down the middle of a street high and then disobey a lawfull order from a cop and nothing will happen to you.
I am not drowning in grief for the BLM, who along with Loretta Lynch and Barak Obama have fomented this dangerous movement. The vast majority of black people have the utmost respect for the law, a tiny minority do not - the activist and criminal element.
Yes, there are a small cadre of cops who have an axe to grind along with a god-complex, but they to are a tiny minority. Don't hand me your 'can't we all get along' when you deny there is a anarchist element stoking the flames. Note to editors: a shooting war has started based on yours and the homegrown terrorist elements rhetoric in this country. Stop it now, right now.
The law enforcement officers in this country must have our respect. All citizens must have respect for the law, black, Hispanic, Asian and white. Too many people have guns in this country for BLM or anybody else to start a civil war. Obey the law, don't commit a traffic infraction, don't carry a gun and sit in a public park, don't reach when an officer tells you to put your hands where he can see them (especially if you tell him you have a gun), don't shoplift and get high and walk down the middle of a street high and then disobey a lawfull order from a cop and nothing will happen to you.
1
There are many great police officers in this country. My best friend is a Dallas police officer and many other friends are police officers, they will tell you that there are more than a tiny few "bad cops". Just what would you tell that little girl in MN that saw the police shooting Mr. Castillo for doing what the officer ordered him to do? Then the girl saw her mom held at gun point and some witness say the girl even had a police held gun pointed at her.
My family and I grew up knowing the police were likely to shoot us. We were stopped for having too nice a car, for living in the wrong neighborhood, a broken taillight so the cop could search the car for whatever then seize whatever they found on us, usually our legally owned jewelry and money. The most outrageous was when my VP banker brother was arrested for "attempted bank robbery" at a branch he was there to inspect. A white person was sure a black man in a three piece business suit was there to rob the bank. The police never asked for his ID, never verified his employment even though branch employees were crying out to the cops that my brother worked for the bank. When my kid heard about his uncle's treatment he realized that racism does exist and is held in place by people saying 'we must not break laws, must do exactly as the police tell us.' The US Constitution applies to all US citizens regardless of skin color.
My family and I grew up knowing the police were likely to shoot us. We were stopped for having too nice a car, for living in the wrong neighborhood, a broken taillight so the cop could search the car for whatever then seize whatever they found on us, usually our legally owned jewelry and money. The most outrageous was when my VP banker brother was arrested for "attempted bank robbery" at a branch he was there to inspect. A white person was sure a black man in a three piece business suit was there to rob the bank. The police never asked for his ID, never verified his employment even though branch employees were crying out to the cops that my brother worked for the bank. When my kid heard about his uncle's treatment he realized that racism does exist and is held in place by people saying 'we must not break laws, must do exactly as the police tell us.' The US Constitution applies to all US citizens regardless of skin color.
Could it be that this week’s events will prove turning point for our country? Currently the American character is in a sorry state; its citizens are full of petty grievances and childish apprehensions about each other. It’s time we grew up again.
How do we do that? Put the “united” back In the United States. “Unity” and not “diversity” is what makes a country strong. Embracing “diversity” just seems to get us killed.
We are not a nation of various races, ethnicities, creeds or factions. We are US citizens, a people blessed with all the ingredients for success in our in all our lives. Put this public faith above all others and our plights can become our strengths.
Then, and only then, with this faith firmly practiced, can we then approach addressing our differences in a more constructive and civilized manner.
Maybe then we can stop shooting each other. And maybe then we can become a nation where, say, conservatives can appreciate how important it is for gay people to express their love in the embrace of holy wedlock; and liberals can appreciate how religious fealty is more virtue than failing, and desist in doing fascist things like suing cake bakers for choosing not to serve a wedding of gay people.
I do proclaim that if we begin to embrace “unity’, and not “diversity”, then we can all appreciate gay marriage and, at the same time, stop the fascism of suing cake bakers. And magically, the shooting will stop too. It should be easier than winning World War II.
How do we do that? Put the “united” back In the United States. “Unity” and not “diversity” is what makes a country strong. Embracing “diversity” just seems to get us killed.
We are not a nation of various races, ethnicities, creeds or factions. We are US citizens, a people blessed with all the ingredients for success in our in all our lives. Put this public faith above all others and our plights can become our strengths.
Then, and only then, with this faith firmly practiced, can we then approach addressing our differences in a more constructive and civilized manner.
Maybe then we can stop shooting each other. And maybe then we can become a nation where, say, conservatives can appreciate how important it is for gay people to express their love in the embrace of holy wedlock; and liberals can appreciate how religious fealty is more virtue than failing, and desist in doing fascist things like suing cake bakers for choosing not to serve a wedding of gay people.
I do proclaim that if we begin to embrace “unity’, and not “diversity”, then we can all appreciate gay marriage and, at the same time, stop the fascism of suing cake bakers. And magically, the shooting will stop too. It should be easier than winning World War II.
2
It's not just about the guns, but also the rhetoric of violence that goes along with it. The gun lobby and its supporters do not use a language of peace and harmony. They have long been creating a negative social norm, which creates a rise in associated behaviors.
44
What do you say except that this will continue, and continue to get worse? There are 100 million guns on the streets of America today. Nothing will happen as a result of this mass shooting to implement gun control, just as nothing happened after Columbine, Sandy Hook, or Orlando. Today, as after those incidents, guns stores will actually be out of stock of AR-15s due to the demand.
We know where this ends ... it does end with gun control. The terrifying thought is how much worse things get to reach that point.
We know where this ends ... it does end with gun control. The terrifying thought is how much worse things get to reach that point.
3
What better place to start the repairs than the Congress of the United States? Oh, that's right, they're owned by the NRA and by people who obviously don't place importance on bettering our society. My bad.
3
Maybe there are other comments on this, but it's worth repeating. What about the mental illness issue? The cops who shoot in these tragedies are operating out of fear and yes, in too many cases, racism. But the perpetrators of these mass shootings are all acting out of mental illness. Evidentally, the shooter in Dallas was witnessed performing military drills (with weapons) in his backyard. How could that be considered within the realm of normal suburban backyard behavior? Wasn't that a red flag? If, sadly, we're not going to do anything about guns, can't we, shouldn't we, be more vigilant about catching these deranged shooters' warning signs?
If you see something, say something.
If you see something, say something.
18
You are making excuses for the gun lobby. There were plenty of people on the street with long guns, ordinary Second Amendment Citizens, who’s duty it is to stop the crazy person who they allow to purchase a long gun and body armor in the name of the Second Amendment. Those ordinary citizens with guns did nothing. 38,000 people a year are killed or injured in gun violence each year. It is merely the cost of doing business for the NRA and yet folks like you are trying to make this a mental health issue.
These are dangerous times, but not the way many people are saying. One danger comes from the fact that political operatives know that feeding fear and resentment is a way to win votes. They will focus-test the best ways to make people afraid enough to vote for their candidate of choice. It's up to the candidates to reign in their campaigns to avoid inflammation.
The other danger is from the news media and their tendency to build "narratives." This happens both when black men are killed by police and when police are killed by black men. The specifics don't have to be analyzed, or even investigated; it's enough to just report something that will grab eyeballs. The faulty reporting inspires copycats and inflames passions. I'm not suggesting that the news media avoid reporting, but that they invest time and effort into trying to provide high quality information that promotes understanding rather than emotion. I'd also like to see headline writers disciplined by editors to make headlines less dramatic and more reflective of the complexities involved.
Is there any hope that we will be entering a new era in political campaigns or the press? Unfortunately, I doubt it.
The other danger is from the news media and their tendency to build "narratives." This happens both when black men are killed by police and when police are killed by black men. The specifics don't have to be analyzed, or even investigated; it's enough to just report something that will grab eyeballs. The faulty reporting inspires copycats and inflames passions. I'm not suggesting that the news media avoid reporting, but that they invest time and effort into trying to provide high quality information that promotes understanding rather than emotion. I'd also like to see headline writers disciplined by editors to make headlines less dramatic and more reflective of the complexities involved.
Is there any hope that we will be entering a new era in political campaigns or the press? Unfortunately, I doubt it.
2
I'm shocked at the reactions of the Black community about the murders of the Dallas police officers.Read the Dallas Morning News,the Philadelphia Daily News,Wash Post,etc.The common reaction from black protestors is too bad the police were killed,but this is "war" and you get killed.Seriously?If that reflects the black attitude,then I'm done trying to work for a solution with people who are completely unreasonable.
1
Right wing media pundits, GOP politicians and the NRA own this ongoing mess. They have done everything in the world to disparage the first black president. This vile hostility was not lost on black Americans, other racial minorities, low-income folks or millions of other sensible Americans who have seen the president openly undermined by McConnell and other party leaders, not because of his policies, or even his party affiliation, but because of his color.
4
One thing that needs to change is the blue wall of silence. I recall years ago filling out a complaint form at the NYS police barracks. After I filled it out I realized I wanted to add something. I went back to the same desk officer and told him what I wanted. He reached down and handed me the form I filled out . It was balled up. Apparently filed in the garbage. If police want us to respect them they need to change their attitude of us against them.
2
I think it’s fair to say that the Framers of the Constitution never intended lunatics to have access to firearms. If we ever get around to rewriting the Second Amendment, it might be a good idea to add the words, “nothing in this section shall apply to crazy people.”
3
A. Stanton: first ensure that no crazies get to be cops.
1
This horrific incident will inspire no change. The gun industry will do a happy dance tomorrow as it will be revealed that yet again gun sales have skyrocketed. Legislators that are owned and operated by the NRA will fecklessly sponsor bills knee jerk style, aimed at making sure we can bring guns in to preschools and liquor bars while they ignore their constituents more practical concerns. People will wring their hands in support of a corrupted and racist police force and innocent Black people will be continued to be murdered by the police during things like routine traffic stops. America is a ridiculous gun nut. We should be so ashamed.
2
NYT readers should take great comfort in being informed that law enforcement personnel in California have no restrictions on magazine capacity for their personal firearms. This while the governor signed legislation limiting the capacity of rifles and virtually eliminating magazine removal for its law abiding, taxpaying citizens. It puts officers is a very uncomfortable position and alienates them from their base. Just what the governor and the legislature want.
Three cheers for the robot Dallas police used to
end this insanity. I personally would like to see it given a name (The Terminator?) and nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
end this insanity. I personally would like to see it given a name (The Terminator?) and nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
1
We will now spend countless- wasted time trying to figure out the "mindset" of the Dallas killer. Why? His mindset of anger, hatred and the training to murder is no different from the mindset of anger, hatred and the training to murder this nation sees and reads about every day with Louisiana and Minnesota the latest: By the time this news cycle ends another will begin with another murder in another city of an unarmed individual- by a police officer.
1
Please don't put police shootings occurring during police work and investigations on one side of a scale and the calculated murder of police officers by a gunman—and he would have killed a hundred if he could have—on the other.
The killing of Police officers has overshadowed
the racial killing of black minority by the
law enforcement agencies.
We have been regularly reading reports of such killings,
which have been occuring quite consistently
in the Worlds "most mature Democracy".
Humanity will always be divided over Race,country,Ehthinicity,
Religion , rich , poor , communism , capitalism etc.
The USA has to do some deep introspection ,
before it preaches less mature democracies and
sets rules for the rest of the worl.
Should the Indian Government deny a Visa to Obama ,
for it his Law enforcement agencies which have failed the State
and increased the racial violence.
Or should we ban Trump who is openly advocating his hatred
for other ethnic minorities.
the racial killing of black minority by the
law enforcement agencies.
We have been regularly reading reports of such killings,
which have been occuring quite consistently
in the Worlds "most mature Democracy".
Humanity will always be divided over Race,country,Ehthinicity,
Religion , rich , poor , communism , capitalism etc.
The USA has to do some deep introspection ,
before it preaches less mature democracies and
sets rules for the rest of the worl.
Should the Indian Government deny a Visa to Obama ,
for it his Law enforcement agencies which have failed the State
and increased the racial violence.
Or should we ban Trump who is openly advocating his hatred
for other ethnic minorities.
It would be wise if everyone toned down the rhetoric and placed their faith in the judicial process, including candidates for office, so-called racial advocates and the media. As we have seen, whipping up racial tensions can have tragic results.
1
This country will drown again and again in grief because it is drowning in weapons.
4
Now that we Americans have shot down all of the folks that we virulently fear; young black men, gay men in a night club and white cops, how do we all feel the following day? Do you feel good about your side of this never ending argument about which Americans deserve our sympathy for being victims of violence, after all of this self-inflected bloodshed?
Personally, I feel duped.
Personally, I feel duped.
20
The country is not drowning in grief, .... yes, grief and sadness for the families of all those murdered - lives lost but the spirit of this country is not drowning.
I wholeheartedly agree with the comments suggesting that WE ALL need to come up with solutions to remedy the violence, but I fear not all of those comments are genuine given that once an analysis of the police's problems is stated, that's the end of the discussion for many.
It's widely agreed that the police need better training, need to be wearing body cameras and bad cops need to be weeded out. Fine, but if WE ALL need to find a solution, shouldn't that involve other groups besides the police? Perhaps the most avoided topic in remedying tragic incidents involving the police concerns the unnecessary ratcheting up of tension by many African-Americans when interacting with cops. Is this "blaming the victim," no, but if WE ALL need to find a solution in ending unnecessary deaths, we must also confront uncomfortable truths.
It's widely agreed that the police need better training, need to be wearing body cameras and bad cops need to be weeded out. Fine, but if WE ALL need to find a solution, shouldn't that involve other groups besides the police? Perhaps the most avoided topic in remedying tragic incidents involving the police concerns the unnecessary ratcheting up of tension by many African-Americans when interacting with cops. Is this "blaming the victim," no, but if WE ALL need to find a solution in ending unnecessary deaths, we must also confront uncomfortable truths.
At what point does the escalation end?
In our grief we are all seeking to blame some one or some thing as the cause of the violence that is upending our country. Somehow, we believe it is okay to hate, to respond to unpleasant interactions with rude behavior, ugly words or physical violence, and worse. Since the middle of the 20th century, our politicians have waged their political campaigns on race, using dog-whistle language to pit one group against another, ensuring that racism stays alive at the highest levels of our government and trickles down to defund local programs for education, family support, child care, healthcare, and job training. Instead of helping the disadvantaged of any race or group, we beat them down time and again with joblessness because there are no jobs training programs, homelessness because there is a NIMBY reaction to the thought of putting a shelter or affordable housing someplace, lack of mobility by making sure only car owners can go from A to B, fees, fines and penalties because they can't afford to pay the bills they have, bad education because they live in a zip code that has low income, criminal records because it's a lot easier to stop someone for a traffic violation than it is to increase taxes to get needed revenues, and more. Is it any reason there are angry people out there?
We are awash in grief and machine guns
2
Why did this former US serviceman possess such an arsenal at home? And why is it possible to acquire large capacity gun magazines enabling such terrorists to potentially wipe out scores of innocent victims which occurred at The Pulse?
President Obama's last act as president should be to stand up to the NRA, call for an moratorium on the acquisition of military weaponry, AND then impose a door to door thorough examination of every American household of any illegal arms which may have escaped scrutiny. Utopian? Well, all expressions of outrage and subsequent lukewarm proposals after every AMERICAN massacre have done nothing to put a stop to the bloodshed which is of a purely DOMESTIC variety!
President Obama's last act as president should be to stand up to the NRA, call for an moratorium on the acquisition of military weaponry, AND then impose a door to door thorough examination of every American household of any illegal arms which may have escaped scrutiny. Utopian? Well, all expressions of outrage and subsequent lukewarm proposals after every AMERICAN massacre have done nothing to put a stop to the bloodshed which is of a purely DOMESTIC variety!
1
Liberal media is to blame in part for Mr.Johnson's killing spree in Dallas which resulted in deaths of 5 brave police officers and a dozen wounded.BLM's "raison d'etre"is hatred of the police, especially white officers,and cumulative effect of its hateful rhetoric--"Pigs in a blanket. Fry 'em like bacon,"--has been to drive deranged individuals to desperate acts, such as Mr. Johnson's fusillade.None of ur op ed writers, or the Ed. Board, has seen fit to condemn BLM and its hateful rhetoric.On the contrary TIMES appears to support the group and its odious slogans.Result has been demoralization of forces of order, and a reluctance to become involved in defending the citizenry for fear of legal consequences. 8 years after our c-in-c was elected, nation is more racially divided than ever.Yet Obama's election, based on hope and change, was supposed to have the opposite effect. "Comme d'habitude," President is seldom there when u need him. He is in Poland and says that,despite tragic events in Dallas, he will not cut his trip short to return state side. O is always above the fray, which explains why he has never visited the Hood, projects where African Americans,living under the tyranny of drug gangs,reside, and for whom a presidential visit would be welcomed. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama is on a junket in Morocco promoting literacy. Why Morocco? Why not Sandtown where the presence of the First Lady would have been appreciated.GB has its monarchy, but we have our own royalty.
1
President Obama was in Poland gathering European leaders around him by virtue of the overwhelming military power that legally mandated US leadership of NATO provides.
The US is the backstop for the Free World. Has been for more than seven decades.
But who protects the American people? Who keeps the American people free?
Only the American people.
Was anything that happened in Dallas, Minnesota, or Baton Rouge justified?
No.
Would every traffic stop involve a police officer pointing a gun at every driver they pulled over if only our militarized police had the right to keep and bear arms?
Probably.
And the right to free speech, the right to broadcast the fact of the matter, would also likely be gone.
And that would be the final step towards a police state so many on the far left, and far right, dream about. Though they won't admit that when they attack their own, separate, but equally most hated, parts of the Bill of Rights and the other Amendments to the US Constitution.
The US is the backstop for the Free World. Has been for more than seven decades.
But who protects the American people? Who keeps the American people free?
Only the American people.
Was anything that happened in Dallas, Minnesota, or Baton Rouge justified?
No.
Would every traffic stop involve a police officer pointing a gun at every driver they pulled over if only our militarized police had the right to keep and bear arms?
Probably.
And the right to free speech, the right to broadcast the fact of the matter, would also likely be gone.
And that would be the final step towards a police state so many on the far left, and far right, dream about. Though they won't admit that when they attack their own, separate, but equally most hated, parts of the Bill of Rights and the other Amendments to the US Constitution.
It was as much about guns in 1968 as it is about guns today. People will always have grievances and their will always be racism in this country to some degree. Its about guns, people. America's sick fascination and glorification of guns is the country's real pathology, its real illness.
1
I want to say something, I'm just not sure what...
You can't legislate someone with a grudge and a gun?
The more guns we have, the higher the odds that a good guy with a gun will step up and stop the bad guy with a gun?
People need to look to their hearts and communities to examine what is happening with racial disparity? I think it might be more than that, the hatred in this country is not limited to race. Man's inhumanity to man?
Most of all, I think it is way past time to get a grip on the gun culture in this country, not the deer hunters, but the insane idea that anyone who wants a gun should have one, it is their right to have it, and, apparently, use it. Let's take a long hard look at the consequences, there are plenty of examples. Too many.
You can't legislate someone with a grudge and a gun?
The more guns we have, the higher the odds that a good guy with a gun will step up and stop the bad guy with a gun?
People need to look to their hearts and communities to examine what is happening with racial disparity? I think it might be more than that, the hatred in this country is not limited to race. Man's inhumanity to man?
Most of all, I think it is way past time to get a grip on the gun culture in this country, not the deer hunters, but the insane idea that anyone who wants a gun should have one, it is their right to have it, and, apparently, use it. Let's take a long hard look at the consequences, there are plenty of examples. Too many.
1
If a person takes a lethal overdose of pills he may die. We as a society have taken an overdose of guns. The resultant death of our country takes decades. But it is late and we are being wheeled to the IVU. Condition crital. Ipicac refused. Prognosis poor.
5
GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE? EXCUSE ME!
We are reminded with each new horror of the America’s true tolerance for firearms and the tragedy and bloodshed they encourage.
Leading the charge against any solution are the legislators, public figures and the industries that support them. Our gun-supporting legislators – and those who elected them – should be reviled and replaced for their obscene pandering to the gun industry and its shadowy, but oh so powerful political supporters.
With each new tragedy, we wring our hands and form yet another committee. But nothing substantial happens, and the mistrust and hatred grows.
Is this what we can expect from our current crop of legislators, goaded in particular by a presidential candidate who revels in each abomination.
The only answer lies at the polls, where the buck really stops. Until the nation rises up and demands gun control – and I don't mean just the 58% of eligible voters who care enough to even cast a ballot – we will live, and many more of us will die, while the gun interests continue to profit from our loss.
There’s nobody left to blame except ourselves for the carnage. This is not a problem that will go away. In fact, it gets closer to each of our doors every day.
We are reminded with each new horror of the America’s true tolerance for firearms and the tragedy and bloodshed they encourage.
Leading the charge against any solution are the legislators, public figures and the industries that support them. Our gun-supporting legislators – and those who elected them – should be reviled and replaced for their obscene pandering to the gun industry and its shadowy, but oh so powerful political supporters.
With each new tragedy, we wring our hands and form yet another committee. But nothing substantial happens, and the mistrust and hatred grows.
Is this what we can expect from our current crop of legislators, goaded in particular by a presidential candidate who revels in each abomination.
The only answer lies at the polls, where the buck really stops. Until the nation rises up and demands gun control – and I don't mean just the 58% of eligible voters who care enough to even cast a ballot – we will live, and many more of us will die, while the gun interests continue to profit from our loss.
There’s nobody left to blame except ourselves for the carnage. This is not a problem that will go away. In fact, it gets closer to each of our doors every day.
2
GUN SAFETY Is the sine qua non of decreasing gun violence. We have been engaged since the 1968 assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy in a slaughter that has killed more than twice the people killed in all wars since the founding of the nation. While Lincoln said that a House Divided cannot stand, we see the bloody truth that a nation murdering and mauling itself in numbers that far exceed the deaths during the Civil War--indeed of all US wars since 1776, we see a nation that is racing toward death and destruction. The NRA was founded to promote gun safety. 75% of its members support gun safety, as they are true to the original intent of the founders of the NRA. But 25% or about 1.25 million, are holding the rest of the 320 million people in the nation hostage due to their profound denial of the slaughter in the streets. We are all entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, which cannot happen for people who are slaughtered or injured by gun deaths, a number approaching 100,000 per year combined. Where it will all end will be when politicians reject all donations from the NRA and gun manufacturers until they join with the majoirty of the NRA and of the nation in seeking to improve gun safety dramatically. They've done it in Australia. We can do in the US too. The Australians demanded change after only 20 deaths. How many more thousands of gun slaughters will it take to tip the balance here in the US. CELEBRATE LIFE! END GUN VIOLENCE!
1
A larger question is are white people justified in being afraid of blacks?
Answer that and we are on our way.
Answer that and we are on our way.
2
I can't help but ponder how the election of the nation's first black president unleashed a cascade of reactions that have culminated in this violent, brutal, gun-defined confrontation between whites and blacks. It would take a brilliant sociologist to trace the exact trajectory that led from the unleashed racism that came with Obama's election to the spate of unwarranted killings by (mostly) white police against individual black citizens, and of a vengeful black man now killing and injuring white police, But the connections are there.
Thinking Americans are feeling sorrow and wretched anguish. But what we really need to feel is to feel shame; We have two curable cancers in America that are raging at once: Racism and guns.
Thinking Americans are feeling sorrow and wretched anguish. But what we really need to feel is to feel shame; We have two curable cancers in America that are raging at once: Racism and guns.
5
The PBA Union can't possibly like the NRA's position on guns. And yet it is conspicuously silent on the issue of a conversation about gun laws and safety. If find this appalling.
Instead of saying Hillary Clinton wants to take our guns away, the PBA should be trying to limit the amount of guns on the street so their members( honest hard working cops who put their lives on the line for the public) can do their jobs without having to worry if every other citizen has s gun.
The NRA doesn't listen to many. But it will listen to the PBA. It's time for the PBA Union to step up to the plate.
Instead of saying Hillary Clinton wants to take our guns away, the PBA should be trying to limit the amount of guns on the street so their members( honest hard working cops who put their lives on the line for the public) can do their jobs without having to worry if every other citizen has s gun.
The NRA doesn't listen to many. But it will listen to the PBA. It's time for the PBA Union to step up to the plate.
2
• But the police and protesters alike could only wonder what might truly account for such a level of atrocity.
"There is nothing more American than brutal violence. The country was built on it, revels in it and shows every evidence of clinging to it with the crazed, destructive strength of an obsessive lover. The outrage will fade. The murders will continue. "Americans kill each other at roughly the rate of 16,000 a year! From racial violence to family violence to gang warfare to street crime to mass murder - the blood never stops flowing."
~ BOB HERBERT
Former NYTimes columnist
Jan. 10, 2011
"There is nothing more American than brutal violence. The country was built on it, revels in it and shows every evidence of clinging to it with the crazed, destructive strength of an obsessive lover. The outrage will fade. The murders will continue. "Americans kill each other at roughly the rate of 16,000 a year! From racial violence to family violence to gang warfare to street crime to mass murder - the blood never stops flowing."
~ BOB HERBERT
Former NYTimes columnist
Jan. 10, 2011
3
Last night, there was a protest in Baton Rouge. Peaceful so far. I watched Sean Hannity relay instructions/questions to his man on the street directed at the protesters. To this observer, Hannity was doing no less that inciting a riot by remote control. At a time when right thinking people were calling for calm, unity and peace, this Fox "journalist" was looking to jack up violence for ratings. Nothing short of reprehensible. He should not be allowed access to a microphone.
4
Apparently it is was not "gun" that was the problem this time. See how MSM can change conversation so easily! They know that situation is more volatile with this one.
1
President Obama called the murders “a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement.”
---------------------------------------
Obama wants to have his cake and eat it too. Only the previous day, he lectured the police departments from Warsaw on the dire need to root our racism and bias among the ranks and pandered to his liberal constituency. The next day, he called the murders 'vicious and calculated'.
If only our leaders minded their words and used them carefully in order to not stoke the flames of passion and anger ---
I will not be surprised if, when he visits Dallas next week, the officers stood with their backs to him just as they did to DeBlasio.
If you are friend of the ratpack, you are no friend of the cheese.
---------------------------------------
Obama wants to have his cake and eat it too. Only the previous day, he lectured the police departments from Warsaw on the dire need to root our racism and bias among the ranks and pandered to his liberal constituency. The next day, he called the murders 'vicious and calculated'.
If only our leaders minded their words and used them carefully in order to not stoke the flames of passion and anger ---
I will not be surprised if, when he visits Dallas next week, the officers stood with their backs to him just as they did to DeBlasio.
If you are friend of the ratpack, you are no friend of the cheese.
3
Handguns and military-style rifles are people-killing tools. A need to own such things isn't sane in a society operating by rule of law. If you weren't insane when you bought the gun, obsessing about all the potential deadly threats around you as you pat your pocket to reassure yourself that you're prepared will quickly make you crazy.
4
Edit:
A sad time, a complex problem: Homo sapiens is hardwired by eons of evolutionary advantage to prejudge.
Is the person who said the following a racist?
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
Jesse Jackson said it. With pain. In a moment of truth.
Dallas should come as no surprise. It is the logical endpoint of eight years of an Alinskyite community organizer plying his wares—anarchy, division and hate—aided and abetted by the Democrats and their media accomplices.
If we are to solve this problem, we must expose not only the racism per se, but the hypocrisy, and the exploitation by demagogues who seek political advantage.
A sad time, a complex problem: Homo sapiens is hardwired by eons of evolutionary advantage to prejudge.
Is the person who said the following a racist?
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
Jesse Jackson said it. With pain. In a moment of truth.
Dallas should come as no surprise. It is the logical endpoint of eight years of an Alinskyite community organizer plying his wares—anarchy, division and hate—aided and abetted by the Democrats and their media accomplices.
If we are to solve this problem, we must expose not only the racism per se, but the hypocrisy, and the exploitation by demagogues who seek political advantage.
2
In a violent country, where violence all too often begets violence, the media hs to accept some of the responsibility in egging things on. Even this editorial has those subtle innuendoes that can instigate reaction.
The first paragraph captures last week and describes the death of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile as "the latest black victims" while police officers were "slain so viciously". Does the Editorial Board think shooting a man who is down on the ground with no weapon drawn NOT VICIOUS or shooting a man sitting in his car with his 4 year old child in the back seat - NOT VICIOUS.
The Editorial Board should know that each and every life is precious regardless of skin color or the presence of a uniform. The slaying of a police officer is no more vicious than the slaying of a man of color, laying restrained in the street.
A bit more introspection and sensitivity in word selection and descriptions would be a welcome contribution
The first paragraph captures last week and describes the death of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile as "the latest black victims" while police officers were "slain so viciously". Does the Editorial Board think shooting a man who is down on the ground with no weapon drawn NOT VICIOUS or shooting a man sitting in his car with his 4 year old child in the back seat - NOT VICIOUS.
The Editorial Board should know that each and every life is precious regardless of skin color or the presence of a uniform. The slaying of a police officer is no more vicious than the slaying of a man of color, laying restrained in the street.
A bit more introspection and sensitivity in word selection and descriptions would be a welcome contribution
Yet once again the "good good guy with a gun" idea gets shot down.
1
It's the guns, stupid!
When are we going to remove and ban assault weapons from our civilian population?
When are we going to remove and ban assault weapons from our civilian population?
6
I'm surprised that Trump has not yet said that if all of the protesters had guns, then Johnson would have been shot down before he could kill five officers. His solution is always to arm everyone.
The solution to our problem of police brutality is amazingly simple. The President has only given us half of the solution: Take Away The Guns. Every police officer should be forced to surrender his weapons immediately The other half of the solution is to issue two lightweight folding lawn chairs to each officer. Upon arriving at the crime scene, the officer should unfold his chair, sit down and offer the other chair to the alleged perpetrator. Back up units may be summoned to provide tea and crumpets. The alleged perpetrator will only get the tea and crumpets by surrendering his weapons. The officer may then offer the perpetrator a job as Donald Trump suggests. He can also receive expert help preparing a falsified resume from Hillary's advocates. The perpetrator will then be presented with a voucher for a free college education courtesy of Bernie Sanders. To receive these benefits, the perpetrator must cross his heart and hope to die; swearing to never, ever be do naughty things again. This process must be written in stone and fastidiously adhered to so that the media may report on any incident without having to investigate the facts; as has been their practice to date. This concept is so simple we should be able get it in place by this weekend. Why didn't we think of this sooner?
2
Relations between law enforcement and citizens can be, will be, improved to stop the cycle of violence in America. If the Second Amendment to the Constitution can be emended or rescinded, America's addiction and love of guns - firearms, weapons, assault rifles and pistols - would be removed from gunsellers, procurers of death by guns. The NRA is ripe for payback as long as guns remain easily available and proudly vaunted by their dishonest, venal and mercenary association. If the National Rifle Association's right to defend shootings, slaughters of innocents, mass murders, is legally curbed (because guns DO kill people, and constantly) - firearms pried from their dead and ice-cold fingers and hearts - our violent culture would not be on the way to the killing grounds today. Racial disparity, animus and violence are hallmarks of our culture from the start, when we were British colonists in a new land. When African slaves built our country on their backs to the greatest the world has ever seen. Now it is every American's duty to search our souls for ways to love our fellow human-beings of all colours and creeds. Police Officers and innocents falling from the police's and shooters' bullets, recorded too often on today's social media video shows we are not a civilized people today (if we ever were), and the road to reconciliation, peace, understanding and love will be a long, long one. David Brown, Police Chief in Dallas, is a great-hearted leader who will effect change.
1
AG Lynch warns of "a new normal" in the convergence of race, guns and cops. She is decades behind the curve. For centuries whites in this country have violently and massively acted against blacks in every conceivable way. What's new is the effect of this country's "gun rights" culture on what used to be routine police work. In most of this country, cops have reason to believe that whomever they stop is likely to be carrying a weapon and is likely to be willing to at least brandish that weapon in defense of their "sovereign rights" to own and carry as many guns as they possibly can. This is the "normal" that stains and strains police/individual relations today. Cops are now trained and disposed to drawing their weapons before contact with anyone they are stopping or seeking to speak with. Too ready, too disposed to shoot. Not trigger happy, but based on real fears of real people whose deep belief in guns is the true religion of the sovereign self. The lovers of guns don't need the cops. They can protect themselves and their property all by themselves--and if the cops get in their way, they can show their credentials.
43
read your own "newspaper" and you NYT might get a feeling of why this horror is happening.
3
Frankly it's starting to feel like the USA is a failed state
7
It is s failed state. The government had failed it's people.
2
So there you have it. A lone lunatic opens fire on courageous peaceful police officers who were doing their jobs protecting the public. We should be outraged. And the police should be outraged about the plight of black males when encountering the police.
People say in each case the black men were being non compliant and if they would just calm down and not resist they would be alive. I can't argue with that.
But what about white men like Clive Bundy. They didn't comply. They pointed their guns at law enforcement and brazenly resisted arrest, daring the officers to shoot, while bracing for a shootout.
There is a double standard.
People say in each case the black men were being non compliant and if they would just calm down and not resist they would be alive. I can't argue with that.
But what about white men like Clive Bundy. They didn't comply. They pointed their guns at law enforcement and brazenly resisted arrest, daring the officers to shoot, while bracing for a shootout.
There is a double standard.
4
I was an Economics Professor on the European Headquarters of the US Army in Wiesbaden, Germany. Lets separate this murderer from the fact that he was military. Many of my students saw the atrocities of war up close, but none, that I know of, wanted to come home to kill the very people he/she was sworn to protect. This is a sad incident. One more incident of many per week in America. I use to be idealistic. I am quickly becoming convinced that we are heading down a slippery slope that cannot be fixed.
2
The chickens have come home to roost, again. As Joan Didion wrote about Los Angeles in the 1968-69 years, "everything was unmentionable but nothing was unimaginable." We keep having the same terrifying experiences and miss the meaning.
Those of us who were committed to the social justice principals of Dr. King have watched in horror as the hate filled rhetoric and gun violence have increased to levels that are only seen in our beloved country.
We all know in our hearts what the cause is....I pray that we can finally say enough is enough and start to love one another.
Those of us who were committed to the social justice principals of Dr. King have watched in horror as the hate filled rhetoric and gun violence have increased to levels that are only seen in our beloved country.
We all know in our hearts what the cause is....I pray that we can finally say enough is enough and start to love one another.
23
Argue to hell freezes over but the bottom line is this: an armed America is a very dangerous America. The NRA is an insanely irrational organization. The Supreme Court either can't read or it's been completely bought off. If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns? What utter nonsense. There are so many guns in America outlawing them (or controlling them) is an impossible task. Nonsense again. We did it with slavery (sort of) women's suffrage, with smoking, with seatbelts. Takes time? Yes.
Just a suggestion: establish privately owned armories where guns of every kind are kept under lock and key and checked out/checked back in for the purposes of hunting, target shooting, sports competitions.
Just a suggestion: establish privately owned armories where guns of every kind are kept under lock and key and checked out/checked back in for the purposes of hunting, target shooting, sports competitions.
We do nothing to deal with racism - first and foremost by making sure it's both illegal and intolerable. The new voter suppression laws enacted by the Republicans shows half the country - or at least the Republican Party - is just fine with racism and in fact enables and supports it.
The media is irresponsible, always dealing with race in a biased & insensitive manner - when they're aware of it at all.
That a racist like Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee with the endorsement of many powerful Republicans tells us almost everything we need to know about how backward and racist half this country is.
And almost no one can discuss race calmly. The air is always thick with hate, defensiveness, provocation, misunderstanding & a massive failure of empathy. Many people can still defend or accept intolerant hateful policies and attitudes they would never want applied to their own precious children.
Listening to Alton Sterling's 15 year old son sobbing "I want my daddy" pierced millions of hearts. You have to wonder about the humanity of those who remain oblivious to his heartbreak.
The media is irresponsible, always dealing with race in a biased & insensitive manner - when they're aware of it at all.
That a racist like Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee with the endorsement of many powerful Republicans tells us almost everything we need to know about how backward and racist half this country is.
And almost no one can discuss race calmly. The air is always thick with hate, defensiveness, provocation, misunderstanding & a massive failure of empathy. Many people can still defend or accept intolerant hateful policies and attitudes they would never want applied to their own precious children.
Listening to Alton Sterling's 15 year old son sobbing "I want my daddy" pierced millions of hearts. You have to wonder about the humanity of those who remain oblivious to his heartbreak.
1
Your reporting should probe deeper in to how, after the first black
prersident was elected, racial tensions resurfaced.
It is directly tracable to opposing politicians who blatantly threw
every obstacle they could, even before Barack Obama was sworn in,
at the presidency of one of the brightest leaders in years, who to
their dismay was black.
Congressional leaders like McConnell and Boehner along with the
Limbaugh's, Fox's Ailes and their ilk bear their share of responsibility
for today's troubled racial climate. Meanwhile, they also fought gun
control and it all adds up to a shameful legacy.
prersident was elected, racial tensions resurfaced.
It is directly tracable to opposing politicians who blatantly threw
every obstacle they could, even before Barack Obama was sworn in,
at the presidency of one of the brightest leaders in years, who to
their dismay was black.
Congressional leaders like McConnell and Boehner along with the
Limbaugh's, Fox's Ailes and their ilk bear their share of responsibility
for today's troubled racial climate. Meanwhile, they also fought gun
control and it all adds up to a shameful legacy.
2
Murders of little children at Sandy Hook did not budge the nation to act on guns. Murders at a night club in Florida barely moved us. The murders of five cops in Dallas? No. Guns and the NRA win again. Cowardly politicians slink back under their rocks and wait for the hysteria to blow over. I am one citizen who accepts that my nation is a violent place. We are a violent people. Am I happy about it? No. Disarmament will never happen. Our people will keep buying guns and ammo, the manufacturers will keep making guns and ammo, the politicians who are owned by the manufacturers will continue to do nothing, and tomorrow it will be business as usual as the killing continues. Is that being cynical? No, realistic.
Unless something changes in this country violence will only get worse I fear. People have been politicizing the race issue. I looked at some statistics and it surprised me. Over the last decade, black males made up 40 percent of all cop killers, even though they're six percent of the population so a police officer is 18-and-a-half times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is likely to be killed by a police officer. 12 percent of all whites and Hispanics who die of homicide are killed by police officers. Four percent of all blacks, homicide victims, are killed by police officers. So the numbers don't show that police officers are deliberately targeting blacks. There are some tragic killings of blacks by police officers just as there are tragic killings of whites and Hispanics. Police killings are up 44% over the last year. The media and politicians should take care not to keep pushing the narrative that police are deliberately targeting blacks. It doesn't make things better. It is also not true. We don't want more tragedies happening.
2
Throughout all of the violence we have seen...University of Texas, San Ysidro, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, Orlando, Dallas...there is a common theme: civilian ownership of guns including assault rifles. Gun rights advocates mindlessly blather, "Guns don't kill people"....well, imagine if Adam Lanza had walked up to the doors of Sandy Hook elementary, stood there and yelled "Bang".....how many students and teachers would have died? It is time for gun rights advocates to acknowledge that they are not just part of the problem, they ARE the problem and blood is on their hands. The insecurity problem of gun owners has become my security problem and I don't like it.
The NRA forty years ago was an organization promoting gun safety and responsible sportsmanship. It was taken over by gun manufacturers and twisted into their marketing department. They use political donations to see they product promoted. Gun manufacturers are protected from product liability suits. We now have laws that defy common sense in order to protect those who would use a gun as a first resort.
We must have common sense gun regulation. In order to accomplish this, we must vote to stop the NRA's take over of our political institutions.
We must have common sense gun regulation. In order to accomplish this, we must vote to stop the NRA's take over of our political institutions.
The problem seems to be that for so much heart felt passion for understanding and dealing with such an atrocity, the bad thing always sucks the oxygen or air time out of Medias coverage. One persons mental illness or inability to process deep resentment and rage, stops the healing message of thousands and reignites the flames of discrimination. One suffering young man and a gun stops one narrative and starts another and on it goes. Perhaps another Civil Rights movement is in the offing hopefully using the best practices of the first.
10
Absent lawful sanction, what else than violence does the Editorial Board expect when divisiveness is the top-shelf offer from the "presumptive" Republican candidate for the nation's highest office who has gathered frightfully-widespread support from America's voters?
Now we know that the only thing that stops a bad guy with gun is a robot with a bomb. This was really about another disturbed young man who had access to military grade guns and ammunition. The last time we got meaningful gun control was when the Black Panthers started marching around with guns. Now that a militant black man has taken up arms against white men, perhaps Republicans will see a need for gun control.
70
Its not exactly a "cycle of violence", its very lopsided. Police killed 509 citizens so far this year, how many police have citizens killed?
1
Waiting patiently for events to propel David Brown to the level he belongs at.
It's dangerous to be a police officer. It's dangerous to be a young black man in the suburbs. But with all the killing nothing much has changed. And it probably won't as long as it remains safe to be white and comfortable in the suburbs.
The common denominator in all these tragedies is guns. The Second Amendment is forever interpreted in a stupid manner. It was intended to provide for an armed militia back when that was the form of national defense. Now we have standing armies for that purpose and the amendment is a dangerous anachronism.
1
Memo to readers who simply MUST comment on every last article: if as has been said you have nothing to add, then for all our sakes, restrain your obsession! Your love of your own words has become tiresome.
Well, NY Times, I find your re conciliatory editorial one of the most hypocritical shows of journalism. For years, you have been the mouthpiece for Obama and Holder'--and now, Lynch-- and their posse of leeches who live off racial wars and who are constantly visiting the White House. And now that you have divided our country like never before since the sixties, and now that people feel fine about insulting, abusing and murdering the police, you are crying for calm and reconciliation. So, after you scream, "There is fire! Run!!" and people trample all over each other, you tell us, "Well, it was just a spark. Please do not run. Please be calm." Shame on you. Even before you had time to update your main webpage, the news of the shooting in Dallas was next to an editorial and two contribution pieces highly negative of the police! I hope that others who feel as much pain as I do for the death of these officers --true heroes who were shot while running to help the protesters!-- and for your part in creating the atmosphere that promote hate and violence against our police officers, will take economic revenge on you and cancel their subscription. "NY Times Black Ink Doesn't Matter". Dare to publish this.
2
this is the most interesting and insightful statement I had read so far, thank you and some credit to the NYT to publish it. Yesterday, I think it was already prepared, was one of the most disrespectful days with the police and that's something to say with the NYT. if you look 501 it is mine and to my surprised was also published!!!!
1
The culture of violence in the USA does not come, exclusively, from defending the second amendment and the right to bear arms. The infamous, "the best defense against a bad man with a gun , is a good man with a gun", is the strict and very destructive interpretation of the second amendment, and we are all seeing the results. The most violent society within the developed countries of the world.
Unfortunately, this status quo seems to be here to stay. Where will these all end?
Unfortunately, this status quo seems to be here to stay. Where will these all end?
Rationality challenged individuals seem to direct their anger on the wrong target.The officers victimized by the gunman who went on rampage r not the once responsible to the tragic blunder in Minnesota.It is when the very cop who used excessive force get penalized by a proportional punishment that will serve to other Cops as a notice to appropriately way their response.Army Vets seem to b inclined to collecting Guns.But family and acquaintances when they notice someone close is into fringe belief or behavior and know that he or she is piling powerful ammunition they have 2 notify authorities and their licensees get revoked + force them to swap their weaponry to benign objects or sell them.Normally there is something unhealthy and weird about individuals who live in a Law and Order stable country amassing Guns other than those that can b fired only 1 at a time, 911 calls r at finger tip and Law Enfo folks can b accessed in short notice, US towns r not Kabul,Bahgdad,Moghadishu, etc.Individuals with solidly built moral, professionalism and disciplined, say like a Seal or a seasoned FBI,etc know on whom and when to train their Gun.Individuals who r not able to think a step further and weigh where their actions will lead shouldn't b able 2 access, especially automatic, weapons.However, not every thing was bleak this past week: The composure the lady whose BF was shot showed in that tense sit was 1 that should make the US proud 4 producing such a soul.Condolences 2 all victims.TMD
How do you get toothpaste back in the tube? There are 300 million guns in USA, no? How round them up? Search and seize every home? Impossible.
American people are good people I worked with them when they were in Iraq, but officials are on the administration's foreign policy are stupid and do not have the wisdom and reason to protect the American people from external and internal terrorism
These attacks will continue as long as there are fools running policy
We must move quickly to uncover who was behind these terrorist movements and punished without hesitation or will be the fate of the American people like the Iraqi people
These attacks will continue as long as there are fools running policy
We must move quickly to uncover who was behind these terrorist movements and punished without hesitation or will be the fate of the American people like the Iraqi people
Ignored is "the nonstop cycle of violence" occurring daily in too many communities which result in over 600 homicides in Chicago alone and 340 in Baltimore alone in 2015.
Over 60 shootings in Chicago alone on 4th of July weekend is also ignored while focusing on 2 police incidents in the country.
Black Lives Matter protests direct their anger at the police because it is safe rather than the criminals responsible for the epidemic of violence because those criminals are too dangerous.
Over 60 shootings in Chicago alone on 4th of July weekend is also ignored while focusing on 2 police incidents in the country.
Black Lives Matter protests direct their anger at the police because it is safe rather than the criminals responsible for the epidemic of violence because those criminals are too dangerous.
2
It only takes more "guys with guns" to prevent such tragedies. Just ask the NRA. We watch now as our military trained soldiers turned police officers are gunned down by our military trained civilians.
Certainly, many people demonstrating or watching the demonstrations were armed. Yet if the NRA's ugly mantra that an armed citizenry makes things safer is true, why didn't it work here? Because it's a fraud.
When will our congressmen and Senators stop eating out of the NRA's dish and start representing the majority of people who want gun control, perhaps things will get better? So far we have seen few signs they care.
When will our congressmen and Senators stop eating out of the NRA's dish and start representing the majority of people who want gun control, perhaps things will get better? So far we have seen few signs they care.
1
the horror and outrage felt by the wider nation at the assassination of five police officers is the daily bread of Afro-Americans
2
I think of Lincoln's second inaugural address and his words describing how the nation paid in blood for the removal of slavery from its midst. One hundred and fifty years later the nation is still paying in blood for what the white man did to the black man although it is no longer enshrined legally but in our minds and attitudes. I am not sure if these feelings will ever be expunged or how they could be destroyed but it becomes incumbent upon us all to try.
"...the murder of five police officers on duty at a peaceful protest in Dallas has compounded the nation’s continuing agony. "
Sounds good for a first paragraph.
And it is shameful nonsense.
The real "agony" is in the black inner city where a "normal" weekend in Chicago resembles a night in Fallujah. There are no white gangsters on the South Side killing young black men. Only other black men for whom there is no Stop & frisk, because liberals wish to defend their Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches, at the expense of their lives.
The murder of police officers is not a symptom of a "nation in agony," but the result of a moronic legacy of people so sensitive to "hostile looks" that they require "safe rooms," intolerance on American college campuses for ideas which might discomfit thereby causing "microagressions," and the leftist dogma which results in the firings of qualified professors for spouting ideas not in lockstep with the liberal cultural agenda.
Murder of cops is not connected in any way with "racial injustice," or any other label you wish to invent. It is simple murder of cops because they represent the last line against anarchy, and they protect us all, black and white. The Dallas shooter killed because he wished to kill; "race" was merely a talking point.
But thanks for reminding me that the liberal media can lump together all of its themes in one article, without shame that they really do not connect.
Sounds good for a first paragraph.
And it is shameful nonsense.
The real "agony" is in the black inner city where a "normal" weekend in Chicago resembles a night in Fallujah. There are no white gangsters on the South Side killing young black men. Only other black men for whom there is no Stop & frisk, because liberals wish to defend their Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches, at the expense of their lives.
The murder of police officers is not a symptom of a "nation in agony," but the result of a moronic legacy of people so sensitive to "hostile looks" that they require "safe rooms," intolerance on American college campuses for ideas which might discomfit thereby causing "microagressions," and the leftist dogma which results in the firings of qualified professors for spouting ideas not in lockstep with the liberal cultural agenda.
Murder of cops is not connected in any way with "racial injustice," or any other label you wish to invent. It is simple murder of cops because they represent the last line against anarchy, and they protect us all, black and white. The Dallas shooter killed because he wished to kill; "race" was merely a talking point.
But thanks for reminding me that the liberal media can lump together all of its themes in one article, without shame that they really do not connect.
3
Blaming the lack of stop and frisk as part of the problem in Chicago, you and many others think this hampers the police and therefore they can't do their job. I retired after a long career as an officer and there were many ways to find reasonable cause to stop someone and frisk them. Any officer in the country can do it. Blaming liberals for everything and recognize what you see in front of you on your computer screen, men getting shot by police that overreact and fail to properly handle the situation is what has been fueling the criticism and demonstrations. Start thinking for yourself and stop getting all your talking points from someone besides Rush Limbaugh.
One writer here asserts that this is the NRA's "dream come true." Libeling the NRA is the easy way out for people who don't have any suggestions for real answers to the issues this shooting should force us to face.
Look at how many readers here lash out at the NRA, or "gun nuts," without offering ideas for change. We should be asking, how do we address the level of hatred that fuels this violence? We are not a small, homogeneous country, but a large, multicultural one with a complex history. Change will not happen overnight, but it is possible. While we celebrate our diversity, have we not lost something by downplaying our unity? Cannot public education again place an emphasis on civics? America has been at its greatest when its citizens, or a majority of its citizens, have been devoted to the common good. Attitudes of hatred are rooted in our divisions of ourselves as "us" and "them."
We began, imperfectly of course, as "We the people." It is time for us to try harder to make that real. We don't have to be one race, one religion, one ethnicity to be one people. If we don't believe that, these divisions will only deepen and become more violent.
Look at how many readers here lash out at the NRA, or "gun nuts," without offering ideas for change. We should be asking, how do we address the level of hatred that fuels this violence? We are not a small, homogeneous country, but a large, multicultural one with a complex history. Change will not happen overnight, but it is possible. While we celebrate our diversity, have we not lost something by downplaying our unity? Cannot public education again place an emphasis on civics? America has been at its greatest when its citizens, or a majority of its citizens, have been devoted to the common good. Attitudes of hatred are rooted in our divisions of ourselves as "us" and "them."
We began, imperfectly of course, as "We the people." It is time for us to try harder to make that real. We don't have to be one race, one religion, one ethnicity to be one people. If we don't believe that, these divisions will only deepen and become more violent.
Anyone who thinks there are simple explanations for the violence of recent years is wrong. The problem has many facets, including the proliferation of guns, the way in which we deal (or don't deal) with mental illness, the perennial cancer of racism, the decline of civility in ourselves and our elected officials, the economic devastation of the lower and lower-middle classes, a lack of inspirational leadership, and the prevalence of social media that enables our worst instincts, treats all opinions as equal, and highlights problems without providing solutions. Anyone who sees any of this in terms of simple black and white is making things worse.
We aren't going to end racism, but we have to "do better." After the shock of yet another gun massacre, we must confront two realities in America. First, racism is still with us as our national disease and we must eradicate it from our criminal justice system using proven psychological techniques for training all police officers and restoring "equal justice under law" by ending racial profiling, appointing independent prosecutors to end the bias we've seen in Ferguson, MO (in the Michael Brown case) and in Queens, NY (with the Eric Garner case), and overly harsh mandatory sentencing that has put a disproportionate number of young men of color in prison. Second, we have to reverse the gun culture that has loopholes allowing even suspected terrorists from buying assault-type weapons by enacting universal background checks, banning all assault-type weapons, and eliminating all "open carry" laws that contributed to the death of Philando Castile. We are facing a national emergency and President Obama and his Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, need to act and to act forcefully to "serve and protect" us from the toxic mix of racism and and guns that are slaughtering innocent citizens everyday in every part of America. Words are no longer enough!
Perhaps because of the seriousness of the problem and the lack of any quick fixes, this editorial is anodyne but not very helpful.
The problem has several causes: the long history of racism in this country, the prevalence of guns in the wrong hands, including some police as well as citizens, our political intolerance, our cultural segregation, the lack of services provided to veterans returning from foreign wars, the coarsening of our popular culture.
We cannot tackle all of the these problems at once, and we'll have to be patient. But if we can elect a new president who can work with a new congress, we can begin to strengthen the gun laws and provide better medical and psychiatric services to veterans. Those actions alone should begin to repair the badly frayed ties that unite us.
The problem has several causes: the long history of racism in this country, the prevalence of guns in the wrong hands, including some police as well as citizens, our political intolerance, our cultural segregation, the lack of services provided to veterans returning from foreign wars, the coarsening of our popular culture.
We cannot tackle all of the these problems at once, and we'll have to be patient. But if we can elect a new president who can work with a new congress, we can begin to strengthen the gun laws and provide better medical and psychiatric services to veterans. Those actions alone should begin to repair the badly frayed ties that unite us.
It must be institutionalized sexism that explains why only 50% of the population is male, but 90% of those imprisoned for violent crimes are male. Nothing but rank, vicious sexism can explain why police treat males with more caution, suspicion, and distrust than they do females. If males commit more violent crimes, it must be because we have been told by society that we are more violent, and we are lashing out in frustration over systematic disrespect.
A police officer is 18x more likely to get shot by a black man than the other way around.
A police officer is 18x more likely to get shot by a black man than the other way around.
1
It's all so shocking. Sadly, that's not true. In truth, what's taken all this murder so long to arrive on a grand and public scale? Our wars have come home. Our conception of free speech allows major news out lets to demonize those with whom they disagree. The presumptive head of one of our two major political parties belches racial hatred at us on a daily basis. Is it any wonder one or another of us snap? Underfunded, under trained police are asked to patrol stereo types they've been taught to fear. The media has morphed into a pack of vampires, lurching from one blood soaked crime scene to the next with near zero analysis but more often plenty of simplistic blame. Even the majority party in our US Congress blatantly reviles a sitting president for the color of his skin.
It's well earned, this, our national shame, our horror.
It's well earned, this, our national shame, our horror.
It would not appear unseemly to conclude, after perusing this august publication for the past several years, that:
It wasn't the nearly two terms long divisive tone of the President and his surrogates.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the palpable perception of a legal double standard after the legally disbarred husband of FBI target met confidentially with the US Attorney General days before the target was legally interrogated under oath.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the continuing unveiling of, to put it mildly, extrajudicial police killings of blacks, and only because of increasingly cheaper cameras and wireless technology. Think of how many past extrajudicial police killings of minorities were swept under the rug because no third party had recorded anything.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the continuing economic slide of the lower middle class into poverty.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the untreated mental health of a returning Afghanistan veteran.
It was Trump, and guns.
If only it we could get rid of Trump, and guns everything would be alright. Or at least as alright as it can be under a corrupt capitalist system.
Now, if only Hillary didn't love money so much.
It wasn't the nearly two terms long divisive tone of the President and his surrogates.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the palpable perception of a legal double standard after the legally disbarred husband of FBI target met confidentially with the US Attorney General days before the target was legally interrogated under oath.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the continuing unveiling of, to put it mildly, extrajudicial police killings of blacks, and only because of increasingly cheaper cameras and wireless technology. Think of how many past extrajudicial police killings of minorities were swept under the rug because no third party had recorded anything.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the continuing economic slide of the lower middle class into poverty.
It was Trump, and guns.
It wasn't the untreated mental health of a returning Afghanistan veteran.
It was Trump, and guns.
If only it we could get rid of Trump, and guns everything would be alright. Or at least as alright as it can be under a corrupt capitalist system.
Now, if only Hillary didn't love money so much.
The law works best when people observe it willingly and with little effort, for their own interest, not when the police is required to enforce it militantly. And among the problems the USA faces is that of celebrating nonconformism, contrarianism, opposition to the law, expressions of independence by operating outside normal society. Also you have a bunch of people with different whims and values - some think abortion is ok, others think it is the work of the devil, some think smoking a joint is perfectly reasonable, others think it is the path to damnation, and most think driving 10 mph above the limit is ok even when this is technically breaking the law - trying to coexist. On top of this the law is expected to be applied uniformly.
The USA has in fact managed incredibly well under the circumstances. The main reason is probably that as a union of states local law can vary significantly. The problem is one of writing laws that accommodate context including variation in the interests of different communities, allowing for instance geographical boundaries on the validity of specific laws and discretion in their application. And maybe 200 years later you should consider a constitutional amendment and get rid of the militia bit.
The USA has in fact managed incredibly well under the circumstances. The main reason is probably that as a union of states local law can vary significantly. The problem is one of writing laws that accommodate context including variation in the interests of different communities, allowing for instance geographical boundaries on the validity of specific laws and discretion in their application. And maybe 200 years later you should consider a constitutional amendment and get rid of the militia bit.
An item that has been completely lost in the midst of 3 tragedies: is the civilian use of a Military weapon; the Bomb-Robot used to blow up the body of the shooter. Some may say, "Good riddance", but think again. Why is any civilian police department- a public entity funded by tax dollars using a military weapon, this time one so lethal that no piece of a human is left after its detonation?
How did the Dallas Police Department come in possession of this weapon? Who funded this weapon; how many does it have and how many other police departments around the U.S. have a similar weapon; how many are itching to take possession of one?
Every American should have the right to know exactly what types of weapons their respective police agencies own; this is our right to know since citizens are ultimately funding our police departments.
Is it any wonder we have a civilian police force nationwide with a complete emotional and intellectual disconnect between itself and the citizens it now routinely views as enemies. How easy it is to kill with little to no provocation and the back lash of [another] military man beyond his breaking point that decided to attempt to "even the score":
Let there be no doubt, we will see the use of Bomb-Robots [and tactical drones] as routine in the civilian policing arsenal on the * war* against crime, protest, civil disobedience, belligerence, a bad attitude, failure of obeisance. We have created our own apocalypse.
How did the Dallas Police Department come in possession of this weapon? Who funded this weapon; how many does it have and how many other police departments around the U.S. have a similar weapon; how many are itching to take possession of one?
Every American should have the right to know exactly what types of weapons their respective police agencies own; this is our right to know since citizens are ultimately funding our police departments.
Is it any wonder we have a civilian police force nationwide with a complete emotional and intellectual disconnect between itself and the citizens it now routinely views as enemies. How easy it is to kill with little to no provocation and the back lash of [another] military man beyond his breaking point that decided to attempt to "even the score":
Let there be no doubt, we will see the use of Bomb-Robots [and tactical drones] as routine in the civilian policing arsenal on the * war* against crime, protest, civil disobedience, belligerence, a bad attitude, failure of obeisance. We have created our own apocalypse.
5
My business is just a few blocks from where the shootings occurred. My daughter and her friends, of both races, gay and straight were going to attend the protest but at the last minute didn't.
Today, I drove by the downtown police station on the way to my bank. Outside the station was a police car parked on the grass, covered in flowers with people gathered around it and more arriving.
As I passed by, I fought the emotions that welled up and the overwhelming sadness.
Sadness for the five families whose lives were changed forever from this day on. For all the families represented by the man reaching for his ID and shot four times with a four year old child in the back seat.
Sad for the city and the people, like me, who are old enough to remember what it felt like when JFK was shot in an eerily similar fashion only a couple of blocks away. A sadness for the shame felt then, that still haunts this city to this day.
Sad for the stain of slavery that impacts both black and white Americans. For the shame that the man who wrote, "all men are created equal" participated in the enslavement of another race as did many of the founders. At how they struggled with the issue of slavery since the very inception of our country.
That the sadness we are all feeling makes taking the energy, emotion and resilience required to reach out to someone different with a modicum of respect, inclusiveness and kindness seem exhausting.
But, I told myself tomorrow will be a new day. I hope it is.
Today, I drove by the downtown police station on the way to my bank. Outside the station was a police car parked on the grass, covered in flowers with people gathered around it and more arriving.
As I passed by, I fought the emotions that welled up and the overwhelming sadness.
Sadness for the five families whose lives were changed forever from this day on. For all the families represented by the man reaching for his ID and shot four times with a four year old child in the back seat.
Sad for the city and the people, like me, who are old enough to remember what it felt like when JFK was shot in an eerily similar fashion only a couple of blocks away. A sadness for the shame felt then, that still haunts this city to this day.
Sad for the stain of slavery that impacts both black and white Americans. For the shame that the man who wrote, "all men are created equal" participated in the enslavement of another race as did many of the founders. At how they struggled with the issue of slavery since the very inception of our country.
That the sadness we are all feeling makes taking the energy, emotion and resilience required to reach out to someone different with a modicum of respect, inclusiveness and kindness seem exhausting.
But, I told myself tomorrow will be a new day. I hope it is.
1
I am now reading a book entitled "The Internal Enemy" where our "founding fathers" such as Jefferson and Washington were owners of sizable numbers of slaves. I knew this of course but the stark contrast between the rhetoric of the founders as to liberty, independence, and freedom in our sacred documents and the actual practice of owning other humans as property is unsettling. The Virginia slave owners seemed to be eternally vigilant of a feared "slave revolt and uprising."
The slaves themselves tried to get to British naval vessels as the British would welcome them into the military but they would be free. This all occurred in the decade or so prior to the war of 1812, hence the name for these slaves, the "internal enemy."
The slaves themselves tried to get to British naval vessels as the British would welcome them into the military but they would be free. This all occurred in the decade or so prior to the war of 1812, hence the name for these slaves, the "internal enemy."
Gun culture in this society needs to change; there should not be a place for guns and automatic weapons and ever deadlier ammunition in civil society, self-defence arguments notwithstanding. But this week's tumultuous events have little to do with the pervasive and pernicious gun culture. It has to do with deep insecurities, suspicions and fears that communities have towards each other; it has to do with the powerful vs the powerless; endemic inequalities; apathy towards 'them'. The need of the hour is to search for and find our common humanity without the veneer of race, privilege, station, pedigree. And to hold on to it, despite manipulation by those that benefit from divisiveness. And to find oneself in all, so one gets a sense of what others feel; and to strive for the common welfare of all.
The real question that needs to be asked is whether integration has a future. If, more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act, this is where America still is, maybe the solution is not integration, but separation. Afro-Americans make up approximately 12% of the population. Perhaps it's time consider taking 20% of the USA(the extra 8% being compensation for slavery, oppression and subjugation) and turning it into an independent Afro-American state, which could choose to either become the 51st state, or become fully independent. Something clearly isn't working, actually never has, so some out of the box, even iconoclastic thinking is long overdue. Whites currently living in what would be the new state/country would be relocated to wherever they want, at the government's expense. Same goes for Afro-Americans seeking to relocate to the new state/country. In this state/country almost every official would be Afro-American, as would be the police force, and if it chooses not to be the 51st state, its military as well.
Since race is, has always has been the prime facilitator and catalyst of polarization and partisanship in this country (going right back to the writing of the constitution, and the Civil War), maybe we'll all be better off this way.
Since race is, has always has been the prime facilitator and catalyst of polarization and partisanship in this country (going right back to the writing of the constitution, and the Civil War), maybe we'll all be better off this way.
1
I am a 5th generation Californian who moved to Dallas 25 years ago.
My sorrow is deep and of the gut.
People from many walks of life came to Dallas to march and and commune peacefully over the tragedies and injustices of recents days and days past.
In an instant all changed, as the sounds of terror echoed off buildings in hateful bursts of gunfire.
The police response was swift. Officers protected and directed those in the choke of chaos. We would soon learn officers were the target of the attack.
There is the poignant picture of Dallas police standing outside Parkland Hospital, saluting their fallen brethren.
In moments of unimaginable horror, Americans come together.
How many reached out to friends, neighbors, colleagues and strangers, seeking comfort and strength in unity, community, democracy and the freedoms we hold dear.
In our pause, we have an opportunity (yet another) to act, to quiet demagogues and elevate the thoughtful, to set up vehicles through which these highly complex and complicated issues can move -- move forward, in good faith and , dialogue, toward understanding and unity, away from division (the easier way).
My grandfather was chief of detectives in San Francisco, a source of great pride in our family.
He was the first to cross the Golden Gate bridge --in his squad car.
Bridges are the way to go.
My sorrow is deep and of the gut.
People from many walks of life came to Dallas to march and and commune peacefully over the tragedies and injustices of recents days and days past.
In an instant all changed, as the sounds of terror echoed off buildings in hateful bursts of gunfire.
The police response was swift. Officers protected and directed those in the choke of chaos. We would soon learn officers were the target of the attack.
There is the poignant picture of Dallas police standing outside Parkland Hospital, saluting their fallen brethren.
In moments of unimaginable horror, Americans come together.
How many reached out to friends, neighbors, colleagues and strangers, seeking comfort and strength in unity, community, democracy and the freedoms we hold dear.
In our pause, we have an opportunity (yet another) to act, to quiet demagogues and elevate the thoughtful, to set up vehicles through which these highly complex and complicated issues can move -- move forward, in good faith and , dialogue, toward understanding and unity, away from division (the easier way).
My grandfather was chief of detectives in San Francisco, a source of great pride in our family.
He was the first to cross the Golden Gate bridge --in his squad car.
Bridges are the way to go.
2
Both of the men killed by police in Louisiana and Minnesota were armed, one apparently lawfully, one apparently not. It does not appear that either was trying to reach for his weapon or use when he was killed and it is likely (though hard to prove) that racial bias played a role in the officers' reactions, and it is therefore hard to accept that either shooting was justified and that racism was a causative factor in both. However, it is equally hard to avoid the conclusion that had neither man been armed, neither would have died. It should be axiomatic that the addition of a firearm to any encounter between two human beings increases the probability that someone will get killed.
In Dallas it seems that an angry, hateful young man in possession of a semi-automatic rifle assassinated five police officers. It seems unlikely that he had been planning such an atrocity for long. Likely he hatched his plan only after the deaths in Baton Rouge and St Paul and after the Black Lives Matter protest was announced in his hometown. What would have happened had he not had ready-to-hand in his own home the tools to commit mass murder? Isn't it possible that his fatal, vengeful impulse would have passed?
The problem with guns is that they abolish deliberation. The more guns there are in our communities, the more people will die by police shooting, both justified and not and the more people die as the result of impulsive, murderous rage.
Why not just get rid of them?
In Dallas it seems that an angry, hateful young man in possession of a semi-automatic rifle assassinated five police officers. It seems unlikely that he had been planning such an atrocity for long. Likely he hatched his plan only after the deaths in Baton Rouge and St Paul and after the Black Lives Matter protest was announced in his hometown. What would have happened had he not had ready-to-hand in his own home the tools to commit mass murder? Isn't it possible that his fatal, vengeful impulse would have passed?
The problem with guns is that they abolish deliberation. The more guns there are in our communities, the more people will die by police shooting, both justified and not and the more people die as the result of impulsive, murderous rage.
Why not just get rid of them?
1
We are asking too much of our police officers and not accepting any responsibility ourselves as a society. The US is drowning in guns. Any police officer interacting with the public has to be wondering when the next automatic weapon will be drawn on him. Then there's the terrible poverty. The poor and working class in the US are destitute, lacking adequate or even basic healthcare, housing, education, and nutrition. Add to that dysfunctional political, religious, and other societal institutions, and a legacy of slavery, which still casts a long shadow over American society.
I'm not excusing the behavior of the police, but we need to consider the context, and American society as a whole is culpable.
I'm not excusing the behavior of the police, but we need to consider the context, and American society as a whole is culpable.
This latest week is truly unimaginable in a country that is so proud of its history, present, and future. I work with people of every color, religion (or not), gender, and sexual orientation. We never have issues like those I am seeing in America - mutual respect, a common vision (we are a venture capital advisor and investor), integrity, and purpose keep us focused.
I am prepared for the political parties and presidential candidates to aggressively spin this as a lack of order, racial divisiveness, access to guns, etc., to meet their political aims. The press will likely take to their tribal camps as well. The reality, in both political spectrums, is that gun advocates don't see the carnage their weapons engender, and the press will double down on their selective reporting of facts to fit a narrative (on both sides). The New York Times, as estimable as it is, will do the same.
What I want to see is two presidential candidates that are uniters - we do not have that today, as both are challenged by their character and grasp of the truth. I want to see the press report the news honestly and without bias. I want to see our country unite, and it won't without those two things happening.
I am prepared for the political parties and presidential candidates to aggressively spin this as a lack of order, racial divisiveness, access to guns, etc., to meet their political aims. The press will likely take to their tribal camps as well. The reality, in both political spectrums, is that gun advocates don't see the carnage their weapons engender, and the press will double down on their selective reporting of facts to fit a narrative (on both sides). The New York Times, as estimable as it is, will do the same.
What I want to see is two presidential candidates that are uniters - we do not have that today, as both are challenged by their character and grasp of the truth. I want to see the press report the news honestly and without bias. I want to see our country unite, and it won't without those two things happening.
This is a depressing and horrifying development. I'm afraid it's going to result in exactly the wrong measures. We have already tried imprisoning a shockingly high percentage of black men, sometimes for minor drug possession, sometimes for nothing. In NYC they wait for years before even being tried in horrible degrading conditions. This country's use of solitary confinement would be considered torture in other countries.
Then there are the black men killed by police, over 100 so far this year.
The balance is already skewed on the side of white racism, of persecution of black men, only some of whom are guilty of anything, and of letting the police off no matter what they do. Even people guilty of a crime deserve a trial instead of street execution, a speedy trial, and jail conditions that are not torturous and violence-inducing.
More violence is not the answer on either side. It is immoral, degrading, and it doesn't work. We're headed towards an apartheid-like society where one group has effectively no rights.
It's past time to really address the killing of black men by police and gun violence in general. Where are our religious leaders on this issue? We know what Jesus would do, but most of our coopted Christians are opting for the hate and violence of Donald Trump.
Then there are the black men killed by police, over 100 so far this year.
The balance is already skewed on the side of white racism, of persecution of black men, only some of whom are guilty of anything, and of letting the police off no matter what they do. Even people guilty of a crime deserve a trial instead of street execution, a speedy trial, and jail conditions that are not torturous and violence-inducing.
More violence is not the answer on either side. It is immoral, degrading, and it doesn't work. We're headed towards an apartheid-like society where one group has effectively no rights.
It's past time to really address the killing of black men by police and gun violence in general. Where are our religious leaders on this issue? We know what Jesus would do, but most of our coopted Christians are opting for the hate and violence of Donald Trump.
When will the killing stop?? In another editorial today, the editors recommended actions to make it happen: "intensive training, stricter use-of-force standards and prosecutions of officers who kill innocent people". I agree, and I would add:
-- modification of state laws to set stricter standards of legal police conduct and to establish clear penalties for police misconduct
-- modification of the laws to define roles among police so that only some are permitted to carry guns. To complement this, laws that regulate the kinds of guns police are allowed to carry.
-- establishment of independent and non-partisan authorities to investigate potential police crimes, relieving local prosecutors, grand juries, and police departments of the responsibility
-- strict regulation of guns for citizens, starting with universal background checks and prohibition of concealed carry and open carry nationwide
When you look at our combined recommendations, you come to realize that the only the lawmakers can make them a reality.
You come to realize that despite the emotional outbursts nationwide over incidents of racially-motivated police brutality, racial injustice, and spontaneous, mortal gun mayhem, voters ultimately support the status quo by appointing the status quo lawmakers. The killing will stop only when voters appoint lawmakers who will make it stop.
Now. When will that happen?
-- modification of state laws to set stricter standards of legal police conduct and to establish clear penalties for police misconduct
-- modification of the laws to define roles among police so that only some are permitted to carry guns. To complement this, laws that regulate the kinds of guns police are allowed to carry.
-- establishment of independent and non-partisan authorities to investigate potential police crimes, relieving local prosecutors, grand juries, and police departments of the responsibility
-- strict regulation of guns for citizens, starting with universal background checks and prohibition of concealed carry and open carry nationwide
When you look at our combined recommendations, you come to realize that the only the lawmakers can make them a reality.
You come to realize that despite the emotional outbursts nationwide over incidents of racially-motivated police brutality, racial injustice, and spontaneous, mortal gun mayhem, voters ultimately support the status quo by appointing the status quo lawmakers. The killing will stop only when voters appoint lawmakers who will make it stop.
Now. When will that happen?
I'm horrified by the actions that transpired in my beloved city. The shooting seems even more deranged considering the tremendous progress made by DPD in the last five years to reintroduce good community policing standards. Even in the midst of a media deluge that speaks to the contrary, I believe it's important to remember actions like the ones that transpired in Dallas, Louisiana and Minnesota (etc.) are far from normal or frequent. More frequent than we'd like, of course, but rare in this wonderfully unique and diverse nation of ~320 million. In perhaps some small way, the civil unrest in our nation can be partly attributed to an incessant media and social media drumbeat bringing white-hot attention to each and every incident so as to seem to magnify their frequency. Just a sad day in Dallas as we all try to figure it out...
The mass killings in Dallas should give us all pause. Sadly, I rarely, if ever, hear law enforcement officers speak out against the number of police killings of Black men or the need for gun control or the need to remove machine guns from the streets or market. It is as if they are victims of their own profession or circumstances. I refuse to believe it is cowardice since most cops I know are not cowards but strong, positive individuals that serve responsibly with honor and integrity. But clearly we have a culture in America that is converging which is defined by gun proliferation, increase hate speech, increase inequality, increased racism, and tribalism. This merger will only de-stablize our Republic if we do not acknowledge that we are on the wrong path. Injustice for a few will result in injustice for all. I just hope we have the will and capacity to reverse the direction.
Sadly, Gandhi’s quote, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” applies here.
Unfortunately, in a country where second amendment seems to trump everything else, it is not a surprise that the sort of horror that Dallas Police Department suffered yesterday happened but that it hasn’t, thankfully, happened often.
It is incumbent on the police departments in the country to better train their officers so that they don’t resort to deadly force first, especially towards minorities, and make them feel that they are constantly under siege. Equally important is for the police to wonder what exactly is to be gained by confronting motorists over trivial infractions such as a broken taillight instead of mailing the motorist a ticket or politely alerting them of the infraction and telling them to fix it. Every stop doesn’t necessarily have to lead to confrontation and a “license and registration” request unless the motorist was being reckless in some manner.
It is also time for the entire country to rethink the ridiculous laws that allow anyone and everyone to carry all sort of weapons. It is abundantly clear that such laws haven’t helped create a safe country. In fact, quite the contrary.
Unfortunately, in a country where second amendment seems to trump everything else, it is not a surprise that the sort of horror that Dallas Police Department suffered yesterday happened but that it hasn’t, thankfully, happened often.
It is incumbent on the police departments in the country to better train their officers so that they don’t resort to deadly force first, especially towards minorities, and make them feel that they are constantly under siege. Equally important is for the police to wonder what exactly is to be gained by confronting motorists over trivial infractions such as a broken taillight instead of mailing the motorist a ticket or politely alerting them of the infraction and telling them to fix it. Every stop doesn’t necessarily have to lead to confrontation and a “license and registration” request unless the motorist was being reckless in some manner.
It is also time for the entire country to rethink the ridiculous laws that allow anyone and everyone to carry all sort of weapons. It is abundantly clear that such laws haven’t helped create a safe country. In fact, quite the contrary.
1
I am very sad to read the events in Dallas.
My sadness is compounded by a number of factors. I grew up in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. But I don't like Texas. I can't stand the place. Why? A number of reasons:
1) Texas, I feel, is a bastion for the type of mentality that is destroying our nation. Look at Ted Cruz as one shining example. His willingness to spearhead a shutdown of the federal government over Obamacare was an appalling and disgusting partisan tactic so typical of the GOP in recent years.
2) I read an article recently that Texas is home to about half the hate groups in the nation! Very sad - but not surprising. Teaching people to hate is destructive to, well, everything!
3) I developed PTSD as a kid after my father was nearly murdered - by my own stepmother. What made it still worse? She was never prosecuted due to corruption in the local police department.
So I can empathize with all those impacted by law enforcement corruption. I can understand the mistrust and hatred of police because I have had my own trust issues. I'm not saying serving in law enforcement is easy; it rarely is. But with great trust comes great responsibility.
We need more accountability, more compassion and greater willingness to appreciate the challenges others, both those like and unlike us, face.
My sadness is compounded by a number of factors. I grew up in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. But I don't like Texas. I can't stand the place. Why? A number of reasons:
1) Texas, I feel, is a bastion for the type of mentality that is destroying our nation. Look at Ted Cruz as one shining example. His willingness to spearhead a shutdown of the federal government over Obamacare was an appalling and disgusting partisan tactic so typical of the GOP in recent years.
2) I read an article recently that Texas is home to about half the hate groups in the nation! Very sad - but not surprising. Teaching people to hate is destructive to, well, everything!
3) I developed PTSD as a kid after my father was nearly murdered - by my own stepmother. What made it still worse? She was never prosecuted due to corruption in the local police department.
So I can empathize with all those impacted by law enforcement corruption. I can understand the mistrust and hatred of police because I have had my own trust issues. I'm not saying serving in law enforcement is easy; it rarely is. But with great trust comes great responsibility.
We need more accountability, more compassion and greater willingness to appreciate the challenges others, both those like and unlike us, face.
1
Police officers are economic agents like soldiers, janitors, school teachers, doctors, lawyers, grave diggers, nurses, construction workers, child care workers and so on; thus, they must be subjected to the same standard as other professions. They MUST do their job according to the advertized rules under which they were hired. To do otherwise is to betray the true principles of the much misunderstood capitalism which has produced the most goods and services for most people. When you assign morality to legal economic agents, you are disturbing the equilibrium that ensures that the capitalist system functions properly.
I cringe when I hear people say that police officer’s job is very stressful, and as such, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. I say Hell No, we will not give them the benefit of the doubt. If you cannot tolerate stressful working environment, you need to seek another less stressful profession. You don’t belong in the police force. Police force is not a job’s program. When fewer people are joining the profession, the fundamental principle of demand and supply will kick in. Wages for police officers will rise. Consequently, better qualified people with high tolerance for stressful working environment will be attracted to the profession. That is capitalism.
I cringe when I hear people say that police officer’s job is very stressful, and as such, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. I say Hell No, we will not give them the benefit of the doubt. If you cannot tolerate stressful working environment, you need to seek another less stressful profession. You don’t belong in the police force. Police force is not a job’s program. When fewer people are joining the profession, the fundamental principle of demand and supply will kick in. Wages for police officers will rise. Consequently, better qualified people with high tolerance for stressful working environment will be attracted to the profession. That is capitalism.
The atmosphere in the country today reminds me of the 1960s when Watts, Newark, Cleveland and other cities exploded with racial violence. As tragic as those events were with the loss of life and property damage, they generated societal progress.
From all quarters of our country black and white Americans began talking to each other. Doors formerly closed to African Americans were opened and they suddenly began to appear, in significant numbers, as reporters in media, students at highly selective colleges, appointees in local, state and national government and in commercials, etc.
How sad that it took massive upheaval and loss of human life to open ears and mouths to that healing conversation. Have we come again to such a time?
Unfortunately, the racial tension of the mid-to-late 1960s helped to elect a dangerously flawed man, Richard Nixon, as president of the United States without the appropriate scrutiny of his personality.
Let’s hope that we learned from our mistakes a half century ago and don’t repeat ourselves.
From all quarters of our country black and white Americans began talking to each other. Doors formerly closed to African Americans were opened and they suddenly began to appear, in significant numbers, as reporters in media, students at highly selective colleges, appointees in local, state and national government and in commercials, etc.
How sad that it took massive upheaval and loss of human life to open ears and mouths to that healing conversation. Have we come again to such a time?
Unfortunately, the racial tension of the mid-to-late 1960s helped to elect a dangerously flawed man, Richard Nixon, as president of the United States without the appropriate scrutiny of his personality.
Let’s hope that we learned from our mistakes a half century ago and don’t repeat ourselves.
36
Granted, whites and blacks need to do more to ease racial strife. But let us not blur the issues involved by transferring to the race question the evil of the “false equivalency” argument so prevalent in our political discourse and nurtured by the media. It’s most notable in the discussion of human-caused global warming. No matter that something like 97 percent of the world’s climate scientists support the concept, the media assert; the opposing viewpoint of a tiny minority of climate change deniers must be given equal weight. Gridlock in Washington? Democrats and Republicans equally responsible—no matter that Republican leaders in 2010 officially committed their party to obstruction for obstruction’s sake. Trump and Hillary deserve the same treatment—no matter that there is no history of a political leader’s use of private e-mail servers leading to mass murder, pogroms, and the Holocaust, but that is the record of those who scapegoated the Jews the way Trump now scapegoats Muslims and Mexican immigrants.
And now, some commentators flirt with false equivalency between police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota and those in Dallas. Common sense, please? There is no equivalency between a supposedly trained policeman shooting someone who is not directly threatening the officer’s life, and a wacked-out psychopath planning and executing a murderous rampage. The idea that restraining police murders fuels murders of police is absurd on its face.
And now, some commentators flirt with false equivalency between police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota and those in Dallas. Common sense, please? There is no equivalency between a supposedly trained policeman shooting someone who is not directly threatening the officer’s life, and a wacked-out psychopath planning and executing a murderous rampage. The idea that restraining police murders fuels murders of police is absurd on its face.
1
As much as we might wish, racial tension won't go away soon. But this is not unique to the United States; it exists here in Canada and every other ethnically mixed country. The difference in the US is the guns and the fear they breed. They are the ingredient that can turn tense situations into deadly ones and that fuel this senseless cycle of violence. This reality is painfully obvious to most distant observers of the incessant gun violence in the US, but so also is the disbelief and sorrow that seemingly nothing will ever be done about it. Suggestions that gun violence can be reduced by means other than reining in guns, such as instead focusing on mental health care, are simply red herrings—mental disorders and deficiencies in treating them are also not unique to the US. Less guns, in particular fewer semi-automatic rifles, equals less guns deaths (intentional, accidental, suicides), plain and simple. After a sombre week like this, I cannot help but feel the situation is spiralling out of control. I hope I am wrong, but until I am proven to be, I will choose to raise my children in a country where guns are sensibly regulated and fear and distrust are not pervasive.
3
These kinds of events are appalling but they are nearly impossible to anticipate because they are the result of the isolated, nightmare, inner lives of people who rarely let others know what they think and feel. It would be a very bad mistake to blame the well publicized conflicts over gun control, the opinions about the motives of police or of protesters of police violence, or of the mass media's role in amplifying controversies, or even the different perspectives on the causes for the inequities suffered correlated to race as significant factors inevitably leading to this event. There are no simple and obvious responses that will lessen the likelihood of this kind of mass murder because these kinds of events not the result of gaps in public policy nor of our system of government and it's justice system, nor of our national culture, nor anything else that we do as a society. This is the result of one messed up human being acting out his rage over his experience of life.
The shooter was a psychopath who was psychologically predisposed to mass murder and he was looking for a target and an opportunity for a very, very long time. These kinds of murderers dream up, analyze, plan, and carry out their deeds over months and years. They find ways to get what they want through considerable research and patience, and because nobody expects what they might be doing, they can take as long as it requires to accomplish what they want.
The shooter was a psychopath who was psychologically predisposed to mass murder and he was looking for a target and an opportunity for a very, very long time. These kinds of murderers dream up, analyze, plan, and carry out their deeds over months and years. They find ways to get what they want through considerable research and patience, and because nobody expects what they might be doing, they can take as long as it requires to accomplish what they want.
Those who engage in violence are ultimately responsible, but for some people who are without hope and marginal, an environment can be cultivated that could push some of these people to violence.
Public officials declaring that the state is targeting black men to murder them, must be considered as fertilizer for the environment conducive for perpetrating violence against the police.
Sure it is true that there was a time in the nation's history when Blacks suffered enormous injustice, but to suggest that today in any way resembles the past is itself an injustice that trivializes the past.
Each day there are thousands of interactions between the police and civilians, and it is inevitable that in some of those cases, an officer will, for whatever reason, make the wrong call. But it appears that in these cases, too many are too eager to invoke racism, even before an investigation has begun. If this remains the default position, (informed by history), then the prevailing situation will continue for a long, long time.
Public officials declaring that the state is targeting black men to murder them, must be considered as fertilizer for the environment conducive for perpetrating violence against the police.
Sure it is true that there was a time in the nation's history when Blacks suffered enormous injustice, but to suggest that today in any way resembles the past is itself an injustice that trivializes the past.
Each day there are thousands of interactions between the police and civilians, and it is inevitable that in some of those cases, an officer will, for whatever reason, make the wrong call. But it appears that in these cases, too many are too eager to invoke racism, even before an investigation has begun. If this remains the default position, (informed by history), then the prevailing situation will continue for a long, long time.
1
This massacre is terrorism - a politically motivated act of violence, whose goal is to make an ideological statement. We are used to thinking of terrorists as only radical Muslims but in fact, anybody who is motivated by an ideology to kill innocent bystanders is as much a terrorist as the perpetrator of the Orlando mass murder. Just as the atrocities of ISIS cannot be justified by the invasion of Iraq, the murder of policemen cannot be justified by police brutality. A response to terrorism should be two-pronged: practical and ideological. On the practical front, gun control is a good beginning. How crazy is a country in which a disgruntled nobody can amass enough ammunition to start a private war against the law enforcement? On the ideological front, blanket accusations of racism and over-the-top rhetoric of "white supremacy", prominently featured on the Opinion pages of many newspapers, including this one, are neither factual nor helpful. Racism and injustice are real; fighting them with terrorism is like burning down your house to stop a pest infestation.
One common thread in all this? Facebook to post hate speech, Google to look it up, Facebook again for the gleeful mad act complete with triumphant goodbye. Not to mention, the obligatory Twitter blog, complete with live stream Abdullah horror videos. All of which prelude to the next bad act.
Never mind guns, let's ban hate speech. I say sue FB, Google and Twitter, for their roles in amplifying the madness. Add NYT to the list, if they publish another hate op-ed like they did earlier today.
Never mind guns, let's ban hate speech. I say sue FB, Google and Twitter, for their roles in amplifying the madness. Add NYT to the list, if they publish another hate op-ed like they did earlier today.
1
What really disgusted me was Speaker Ryan's statements in the aftermath of this tragedy saying how awful this gun violence was days after shelfing any legislation on gun control. What a hypocrite!
6
Social media has provided the world with an opportunity to post any grievance real or imagined. While we have placed a rating system on movies, the country does not seem to be willing to go much beyond that. Lawmakers have yet to take up the cause of cleaning up what is available on social media or to place any real restrictions on who can buy guns. The founding fathers of this country would never have wanted open warfare in the streets of America.
1
It's American men and gun owners who do this. And it is mostly Congress's fault. They refuse to act on laws that could stop this massacre. Don't they take an oath to protect the public. Have they forgotten. How about a class action suit against congress for refusing to protect the public. They have violated their oath and should be punished. We certainly have plenty of prison space for them.
4
"Possible motives will be ticked off for the killer" of the Dallas policemen? What "might truly account for such a level of atrocity"? The killer, Micah Johnson, has explained it all - he did it because he wanted to kill white people and avenge blacks who died in police encounters. Why make believe that there is any mystery? Is it because the killings are a horrific instance of racism, albeit by someone who is black? Speaking of which, why do you identify the race of the Dallas police chief (black) but conveniently leave out the race of Johnson (also black)? You must be under the influence of PCB (Political Correctness Blindness)
The killing will stop, or more accurately fall to a normal level, only when America stops being a deeply racist society and becomes a far more just one. Don't hold your breath on that one. Sane guns laws will be required as well, of course, as will the de-militarization of police officers. Genuine leadership is necessary but one of the two major parties is responsible for fanning the flames by their openly racist treatment of the president of the United States as well as their purchased fealty to the NRA. The slaughter in Dallas is heartbreaking and horribly wrong but one wonders why it took so long for this kind of blowback to occur. The onus is totally on white Americans to put an end to the hatred and discrimination but i don't sense that nearly enough people are ready for it yet, or frankly even close.
5
If Micah Johnson, as has been reported, was shooting from a high sniper's position, how could he also be filmed standing over an officer, "shooting him in the back?" at ground level?
2
elevator
When I step back and reflect on this past week, it seems that a lack of "trust" in the justice system prevails. On one hand, black citizens are killed by officers who represent the justice system but who independently give a death sentence without due process. We have been debating the legality of death sentences and the methodology of cruel and unusual punishment and these citizens never get to court alive. At the same time, police officers fear for their own lives, especially when they encounter a person who they "perceive" as not respecting their authority and some officers inflict their own punishment on these individuals. When police are charged, the courts very often decide in favor of the police. Thus, we have a vigilante "wild, wild west" judicial system where both citizens and police take justice into their own hands. This is not an excuse, just an observation.
1
The most vital action we can take while we work to solve any problem--and especially an action for the media with its vast reach--is to remember and stress proportion. The majority of people on the Dallas streets last night (police and civilians) reflects a majority in this country: nonviolent, caring, concerned citizens. More coverage of the average person-on-the-street is in order.
1
If Obama uses this incident to reiterate his call for (euphemism alert!) "reasonable gun-safety legislation," impeach him! Violence, not gun violence is the problem. Guns are benign, of no significance to the violence problem. Some folks believe they need guns for protection. As Gandhi put it, "He who cannot protect himself and his loved ones by nonviolently facing death ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor. He who can do neither is a burden. He has no business to be head of a family. He must either hide himself, or rest content to live forever in helplessness prepared to crawl like a worm at the bidding of a bully."
The protestations of the gun-control freaks and their political lackeys has served to increase the number of guns in America exponentially. With each control campaign thousands run to the nearest dealer to buy a gun before they can be prevented by law. The obvious beneficiaries of the campaigns of the control freaks have been the manufacturers and distributors of guns.
Your rulers prefer you crawl on your belly like a worm rather than defend yourself with a gun.
There's a way to end violence, and one way only. It's great because you don't have to beg politicians to fix the problem. You can do it yourself. Here's how: STOP USING VIOLENCE! if you do that, others will follow and in due course violence will cease. It's simple, but not easy, because we are violent people. Through our government agents we use violence to obtain our daily bread.
The protestations of the gun-control freaks and their political lackeys has served to increase the number of guns in America exponentially. With each control campaign thousands run to the nearest dealer to buy a gun before they can be prevented by law. The obvious beneficiaries of the campaigns of the control freaks have been the manufacturers and distributors of guns.
Your rulers prefer you crawl on your belly like a worm rather than defend yourself with a gun.
There's a way to end violence, and one way only. It's great because you don't have to beg politicians to fix the problem. You can do it yourself. Here's how: STOP USING VIOLENCE! if you do that, others will follow and in due course violence will cease. It's simple, but not easy, because we are violent people. Through our government agents we use violence to obtain our daily bread.
3
Is it grief or is it rage? This country is afflicted with a chronic disease called racism. It will be our undoing. Anyone who has a remedy better speak up soon.
Where do we start from? Of any functioning democracy we have the highest homicides rate; highest incarceration rate; highest ownership of firearms rate; highest shootouts rate; highest rate of single out ethnic group killed at the hands of police; highest rate of sorrow and apologies stemming from tragedies.
The high US homicide rate is due to the appalling levels of violence in the inner city. There can be no meaningful discussion of violence in America, nor of the police response to black suspects, until this reality is reported and confronted honestly.
Racism and violence are lethal.
In 1968, there were riots throughout US inner cities and there were machine gun nests on the steps of the US Capitol building...
How far have we come in the last 48 years?
It seems, not far. So much the pity.
How far have we come in the last 48 years?
It seems, not far. So much the pity.
Time after time we know what the answer is, and we know it's not going to happen. There simply will NEVER be effective gun control measures taken in our country. If there's another answer, I don't know what it is...
4
The governor of Texas and the state legislature should be very proud of this latest incident in Dallas. After all, Texas welcomes gun ownership in all walks of life and in most public places. Texas has the biggest bunch of Bubba's in the business of trying to run the state government. Can we ever hope to get a government that will perform the will of the people, not the gun industry? Does this just become a day in the life of America, much like how people in Iraq live? Do we become so fearful that we are afraid to leave the house or gather in groups in fear of being a target? Do we continue to allow our pitiful excuses for politicians to continue to ignore what is happening in this country?
2
Oh God Oh God Oh God.
We are so easily manipulated by rage and hatred. The problem is worldwide.
Will we chose to drown in a sea of rage or a sea of grief?
We are so easily manipulated by rage and hatred. The problem is worldwide.
Will we chose to drown in a sea of rage or a sea of grief?
This has been an awful week and I offer my condolences to the families of those killed in Texas, Louisiana, and Minnesota. We all need to take a breath and think about how we can stop this -- without further violence. I think speaking kindly would help a lot.
Guns among the populace threaten the very basis and existence of our democracy. No more "thoughts and prayers" from Speaker Ryan. It's time for finally having meaningful gun control legislation come out of the House.
1
Obviously, the answer is more guns! The NRA is always right.
When are the majority of Americans going to wake up and realize that the high crime rate is due to:
1. Widespread racism leading to impoverished neighborhoods where masses of black kids do not get a fair crack at life and enter adulthood with no skills, no hope and almost zero chance of becoming productive citizens. Crime becomes main source of opportunity and a way of life.
2. Insane gun culture that glorifies gun ownership, especially assault weapons.
3. Corrupt political system whereby politicians are controlled by lobbyists ..NRA, AIPAC and many others. System has morphed from democracy, one man one vote, to moneyocracy, one dollar one vote . Common sense laws are almost impossible to pass.
4. Ludicrous 2nd amendment for this day and age , taken totally out of context by gun lobby and gun crazy populace.
Only way to diminish gun violence is to rescind 2nd amendment and recall most guns, a la Australia. Gun control without these two measures is simply a bandaid.
When are the majority of Americans going to wake up and realize that the high crime rate is due to:
1. Widespread racism leading to impoverished neighborhoods where masses of black kids do not get a fair crack at life and enter adulthood with no skills, no hope and almost zero chance of becoming productive citizens. Crime becomes main source of opportunity and a way of life.
2. Insane gun culture that glorifies gun ownership, especially assault weapons.
3. Corrupt political system whereby politicians are controlled by lobbyists ..NRA, AIPAC and many others. System has morphed from democracy, one man one vote, to moneyocracy, one dollar one vote . Common sense laws are almost impossible to pass.
4. Ludicrous 2nd amendment for this day and age , taken totally out of context by gun lobby and gun crazy populace.
Only way to diminish gun violence is to rescind 2nd amendment and recall most guns, a la Australia. Gun control without these two measures is simply a bandaid.
2
Not appropriate time to discuss gun control, a CNN host told 'expert' guests trying to make sense of the mayhem unfolding in Dallas last night. They viewed a video clip of a man in the crowd carrying an assault rifle. (We learned later he had nothing to do with the shootings). 'Open carry' is legal in Texas, a guest commented, and then the host switched to another topic.. Whoa! How can police tell a good citizen from a bad one if they are all allowed to openly carry assault weapons? The takeaway from this tragic episode is that the Second Amendment must be revisited now.
3
Men, the problem. Women, the solution.
1
Let me guess the reaction of your gun-toting N.R.A. supporters, may I?
If only all the peaceful protestors had been carrying weapons (in which case we might call them an armed mob) this wouldn't have happened. While the highly trained police took several hours to kill the sniper and had to resort to a bomb-carrying robot to do so, the armed citizenry (with no tactical training but capable of putting hundreds of rounds into paper targets that can't fire back) would have been able to "take out the perp" with their "true Texan grit" and "itchy trigger-fingers". What an object lesson the N.R.A. will (of course) not learn, namely, more guns in the hands of more inexperienced, amateur, 'Rambo' wannabes would only have resulted in more ill-aimed bullets whizzing through the air killing innocent bystanders and leaving the sniper a bemused observer while he quietly, and professionally, went about his chosen calling of killing innocent policemen.
If only all the peaceful protestors had been carrying weapons (in which case we might call them an armed mob) this wouldn't have happened. While the highly trained police took several hours to kill the sniper and had to resort to a bomb-carrying robot to do so, the armed citizenry (with no tactical training but capable of putting hundreds of rounds into paper targets that can't fire back) would have been able to "take out the perp" with their "true Texan grit" and "itchy trigger-fingers". What an object lesson the N.R.A. will (of course) not learn, namely, more guns in the hands of more inexperienced, amateur, 'Rambo' wannabes would only have resulted in more ill-aimed bullets whizzing through the air killing innocent bystanders and leaving the sniper a bemused observer while he quietly, and professionally, went about his chosen calling of killing innocent policemen.
3
While we grieve for the loss of life, we might pause and consider the cause of this specific gun violence. Does it have anything to do with the fact that black folks are much more vulnerable to cops shooting them than whites? And the easy access to guns that everyone has?
We've had months of Benghazi and Hillary's emails. Time now to address police accountability and gun violence in Congress.
We've had months of Benghazi and Hillary's emails. Time now to address police accountability and gun violence in Congress.
2
All these killings are very sad and I feel very bad for all involved and our country. I think the GOP needs to stop trying to divide the country and Congress needs to do something about guns.
3
We are indeed "a country drowning in grief".
We are a country drowning in easy access to assault rifles and the carnage they create across our land.
We are a country drowning in NRA propaganda that everyone has a "right" to
bear arms--even those only designed for mass killings.
We are betrayed by the Republican led Congress, in the pocket of the NRA, that refuses to do ANYTHING to stop the slaughter.
Cry the Beloved Country!
We are a country drowning in easy access to assault rifles and the carnage they create across our land.
We are a country drowning in NRA propaganda that everyone has a "right" to
bear arms--even those only designed for mass killings.
We are betrayed by the Republican led Congress, in the pocket of the NRA, that refuses to do ANYTHING to stop the slaughter.
Cry the Beloved Country!
4
Bring Congress back into session and resume the sit-in indefinitely. Let the presence of our representatives testify to our grief, our outrage, our refusal to live amidst this madness.
2
Listening to former SF mayor Willie Brown on KGO today, he told a story from his boyhood, where his mother and grandmother warned him about how to behave and comply with the police, in order not to be shot.
Willie Brown is 82 years old.
What is happening in police behavior today is no different than what has always been for black people. The only difference? Smart phones.
Willie Brown is 82 years old.
What is happening in police behavior today is no different than what has always been for black people. The only difference? Smart phones.
1
Over here in the UK, we are astonished at the level of gun violence in the USA. Whether perpetrated by the police, or criminals or by children wreaking horror in their school, the ready availability of guns is a root problem.
Are the American police racist? Undoubtedly some are, as some will be in the UK and in every police force in every country. However, it is the easy reach of the gun in the USA that results in the horrible consequences of racism reaching a heightened level of violence, injury and murder time and again.
I love the USA; the people I have met on my many visits have, on the whole, been polite, warm, generous, funny and very likeable. I just wish that the issue of gun control could be sorted out so that fewer people, police and civilians, would have less access to guns for those times when temper gets the better of them; when they are not feeling so polite or want to be so likeable.
Are the American police racist? Undoubtedly some are, as some will be in the UK and in every police force in every country. However, it is the easy reach of the gun in the USA that results in the horrible consequences of racism reaching a heightened level of violence, injury and murder time and again.
I love the USA; the people I have met on my many visits have, on the whole, been polite, warm, generous, funny and very likeable. I just wish that the issue of gun control could be sorted out so that fewer people, police and civilians, would have less access to guns for those times when temper gets the better of them; when they are not feeling so polite or want to be so likeable.
88
I wish I had constructive thoughts that might be different than those thousands of readers have already shared following all of the disastrous shootings by and of law enforcement officers, homegrown terrorists, homophobes, self styled white supremacists, and now, a sniper trained by the military. Truthfully, pessimistically, I think it's too late to put the violent tiger that crouches in the consciousness of so many angry Americans and their assault-style weapons back in the can.( If you really want a gun, you will be able to buy it now, even if all guns are outlawed. ) I now avoid crowds and demonstrations. I avoid airplanes. I avoid violent movies and the theaters they are in. If I were black, if possible I'd avoid driving a car at night, or even being outside in my neighborhood at night. This is what it's come to. You say we shouldn't let them do this to us, but THEM is US. The explanations don't really add up, but I think the filmmaker Michael Moore might say that the citizens are replicating the example of the government, which wages stupid wars--Vietnam, Iraq--and develops assault style weapons, largely for economic power plays in regions with cultural politics it doesn't understand, setting an example of using violence for reasons other than those it states. Same with the psyches of warped individuals who follow suit. What can we do? Even ancient Rome didn't last forever.
44
The recently enacted violent action-reaction sequence in Minnesota, Louisiana, and now Dallas does clearly reveal as to how fatal the racist mindset whether covered with uniform and on the side of law, or in civilian garb on the opposite side of law could really be with disastrous consequences for the society as a whole.
13
What are we supposed to believe, the NRA or our own eyes?
Anyway, imagine if guns were outlawed, but not bows and arrows, including cross bows and arrows which can function like a gun with an aiming device and a trigger.
Everything most people do with a gun that is reasonable (hunting, I assume), can be done with a bow and arrow.
Anything people do with guns they can do with a bow and arrow or a cross bow. Crossbows function like a gun: you aim it and pull a trigger.
Imagine if Sandy Hook killer had been limited to use of a crossbow & arrow.
I would go so far as to suggest a campaign that we will heavily restrict guns, but in so doing, we buy your gun AND give you a free crossbow in exchange. Here's your crossbow, now go forth and shoot it as you would a gun.
Imagine how much money the gun industry will make by manufacturing crossbows.
By the way, we should ban any automatically loaded crossbows.
Guns are basically a push button technology for killing. You want to kill, you do it with your own hands. Draw the bow, aim it and let go. If you miss, the person who you fired upon will be rushing you while you reload. Perhaps its altogether better if you don't opt to kill in the first place, no?
As a short term solution, I opt for Chris Rock's idea, charge $5,000 a bullet. Kind of like buying a printer, the device cost less than buying the ink necessary to use it.
Anyway, imagine if guns were outlawed, but not bows and arrows, including cross bows and arrows which can function like a gun with an aiming device and a trigger.
Everything most people do with a gun that is reasonable (hunting, I assume), can be done with a bow and arrow.
Anything people do with guns they can do with a bow and arrow or a cross bow. Crossbows function like a gun: you aim it and pull a trigger.
Imagine if Sandy Hook killer had been limited to use of a crossbow & arrow.
I would go so far as to suggest a campaign that we will heavily restrict guns, but in so doing, we buy your gun AND give you a free crossbow in exchange. Here's your crossbow, now go forth and shoot it as you would a gun.
Imagine how much money the gun industry will make by manufacturing crossbows.
By the way, we should ban any automatically loaded crossbows.
Guns are basically a push button technology for killing. You want to kill, you do it with your own hands. Draw the bow, aim it and let go. If you miss, the person who you fired upon will be rushing you while you reload. Perhaps its altogether better if you don't opt to kill in the first place, no?
As a short term solution, I opt for Chris Rock's idea, charge $5,000 a bullet. Kind of like buying a printer, the device cost less than buying the ink necessary to use it.
29
Love this comment
1
$5,000 dollars a bullet? Cool idea.
Except . . .
For that price a sociopath could buy a 3-D printer and print his/her own bullets, plus a gun not detectable by airport screening devices.
I know, that does require some advanced expertise. But, sociopaths are not known for their stupidity but for their fearless and remorseless criminal behavior.
See http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alcoa-aa-inaugurates-3d-printing-223410393... Alcoa (AA) Inaugurates 3D Printing Metal Powder Facility
The threat to us at the hands of sociopaths and Islamic terror fundamentalists is way beyond a bow and arrow. The job of our security agencies is to protect us from them and us to protect ourselves the best way we can.
All lives matter.
Except . . .
For that price a sociopath could buy a 3-D printer and print his/her own bullets, plus a gun not detectable by airport screening devices.
I know, that does require some advanced expertise. But, sociopaths are not known for their stupidity but for their fearless and remorseless criminal behavior.
See http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alcoa-aa-inaugurates-3d-printing-223410393... Alcoa (AA) Inaugurates 3D Printing Metal Powder Facility
The threat to us at the hands of sociopaths and Islamic terror fundamentalists is way beyond a bow and arrow. The job of our security agencies is to protect us from them and us to protect ourselves the best way we can.
All lives matter.
Imagine settling for less or losing much more.
Today, listening to the news in my car, I just started to cry as I drove down the road. I had to pull over. I don't think I've done that since 9/11. The past three days have brought such a weight of grief. And, hanging over it all is the threat of a Donald Trump presidency, which would only make our divisions wider and our anger more intractable. Please, everyone, instead of pumping up our outrage and anger at other people (or even "the system"), can we let our grief and sympathy guide us toward peaceful, constructive, tenacious problem-solving? Respectful consciousness-raising about racial injustices, better police screening and training and oversight, gun control, economic and policy measures to broaden opportunity and to reduce inequities, all of these things can make a difference and can heal our rifts.
33
@ throughhiker Philadelphia - I wrote (URL below) that I do not believe the country is drowning in grief but individuals are. More important is the second half of your comment, which should have made it a Times Pick.
"...can we let our grief and sympathy guide us toward peaceful, constructive, tenacious problem solving?"
We see none of that in columns that instead see monolithic white and black Americas (Dyson column but one of many such). We see nothing at all about how we might work together. You at least provide the outline of a program. Who will create that program? I see no candidates.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/opinion/the-horror-in-dallas-a-country...
"...can we let our grief and sympathy guide us toward peaceful, constructive, tenacious problem solving?"
We see none of that in columns that instead see monolithic white and black Americas (Dyson column but one of many such). We see nothing at all about how we might work together. You at least provide the outline of a program. Who will create that program? I see no candidates.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/opinion/the-horror-in-dallas-a-country...
You were doing great until you tossed in your statement about Trump. I don't even like Trump but you just couldn't resist to get that in there. Look, we have a process called an election. If he gets elected, that means more people disagree with your view than agree with it.
MK: It's really not that I "couldn't resist to get that in there." It's that the idea of a Trump presidency weighs on my mind constantly these days. It is the background worry that makes each other tragic occurrence have even greater weight and import. I believe it explains why I started to cry unexpectedly. Will these events drive us further apart? Drive half of us even deeper into the camp of fear-mongering and hate? Make it completely impossible to work together for solutions? I understand about elections. I accept that Trump could win. I understand what it would mean. It still breaks my heart.
I am so sorry these shootings happened in Dallas. I grew up there.
But I also want us to remember that two innocent black men were shot unnecessarily by white cops this week, and those cops should be punished.
The system needs to change for everyone.
But I also want us to remember that two innocent black men were shot unnecessarily by white cops this week, and those cops should be punished.
The system needs to change for everyone.
27
Those cops haven't been convicted of anything and you don't have any idea that they are guilty.
The guy shot in Louisiana was a convicted sex offender, drug dealer, ex con with an illegal firearm selling illegal CDs and brandished his illegal firearm at a homeless person who asked him for change. He also clearly was resisting arrest. Did he need to be shot? I don't think so. But to paint this guy as some angle is a joke.
The Minnesota case is certainly more of an outright tragedy and likely a horrible mistake and accident. We don't have the video showing what compelled the officer to shoot. From the officers voice and extreme stress, I certainly took it that he also wasn't prepared (nor conspiring) to shoot anyone. He will have his day in court and be processed by the justice system. But I also have some thought that they tried to provoke him, catch it on camera, and it just went terribly wrong.
Stop with the hyperbole. The only outright cold blooded and planned mass murder was commuted by a black racist (this time). Clearly, there are moon beam crazy people on both sides of this argument.
The guy shot in Louisiana was a convicted sex offender, drug dealer, ex con with an illegal firearm selling illegal CDs and brandished his illegal firearm at a homeless person who asked him for change. He also clearly was resisting arrest. Did he need to be shot? I don't think so. But to paint this guy as some angle is a joke.
The Minnesota case is certainly more of an outright tragedy and likely a horrible mistake and accident. We don't have the video showing what compelled the officer to shoot. From the officers voice and extreme stress, I certainly took it that he also wasn't prepared (nor conspiring) to shoot anyone. He will have his day in court and be processed by the justice system. But I also have some thought that they tried to provoke him, catch it on camera, and it just went terribly wrong.
Stop with the hyperbole. The only outright cold blooded and planned mass murder was commuted by a black racist (this time). Clearly, there are moon beam crazy people on both sides of this argument.
With the open carry law, it seems to me that a killer like that in Dallas can't be legally stopped until he actually starts shooting.
44
This actually happened in Colorado- a guy striding down the street with a long gun is reported to the police and the dispatcher waved it off because of open carry. 15 minutes and 3 dead people later, one an Iraq vet shot on his bicycle, and they send police to collect the dead. But the mayor couldn't see "revisiting" open carry. If you are carrying a rifle in broad daylight down the middle of the street you are already Insane.
could be stopped if suspect, they can check the permit papers.
years ago i was in arizona, when its open carry law had just started
going into a convenience store i saw a man w a large pistole on his hip
he paid for his purchase and left
i then asked th clerk how he knew if someone was just exercising his 2nd amendment right or going to blow his head off
he said he couldnt
must be a stressful job
going into a convenience store i saw a man w a large pistole on his hip
he paid for his purchase and left
i then asked th clerk how he knew if someone was just exercising his 2nd amendment right or going to blow his head off
he said he couldnt
must be a stressful job
The Dallas police, by all accounts, seem to have done everything right. They cooperated with and assisted the demonstrators. They did not threaten or intimidate. I am greatly impressed and hope they will be taken as an example for the many police departments that don't have that approach to policing.
All of which makes it much sadder that it was Dallas police, doing their jobs right, who were shot down. Just as Philando Castile was doing the right thing when he was shot and killed by a policeman in a too different police force.
All of which makes it much sadder that it was Dallas police, doing their jobs right, who were shot down. Just as Philando Castile was doing the right thing when he was shot and killed by a policeman in a too different police force.
20
guns laws are obviously too strict....if those Dallas cops had had more guns, they wouldn't have gotten hurt.
Grief is certainly appropriate for all vctims of gun violence, regardless of race or station. But what we really need most desperately is to sharply curtail, if not completely, eliminate the huge number of gun murders in our country. The U.S. Congress is in the grip of the NRA and has done nothing for many years. State governments, prodded by citizens, must thherefore act decisively to do two things: 1) sharply curtail the availability of high-powered weaponss to the citiizenry and 2) provide much better training and benefits to law enforcement officers. Further delay in enacting sensible gun reforms and enlightened law enforement policies is inexcusable. If present conditions continue, no sensible person will choose to live, work or raise a family in America. Tourists will also wisely decide to tske their vacations in a more peaceful country. The events of yesterday and the mass shootings of the past ten years -- at elementary schools, colleges, churches, naval and army bases, in shopping malls, movie theatres and on city streets in dozens of states -- must finally wake up our law abiding citizens, and they must insist on an end to the carnage. Time is running out on America.
14
Tourists will also wisely decide to tske their vacations in a more peaceful country. -
I already have. At least here, normal people don't carry guns.
I already have. At least here, normal people don't carry guns.
And nothing of substance will be done because we have spineless cowards as leaders of this country.
17
And WE VOTED them into office.
1
Actually, it is not that there are no leaders, they are just outnumbered by cowards, the craven and opportunists. President Obama has repeatedly requested action from Congress about this and all Congress does is have another moment of silence. I guarantee that, were he to do something unilaterally about this ongoing tragedy, the Republicans would start wailing about how he is a tyrant and a dictator. Strange how 30,000 Americans can die from gunshots per year and they do nothing yet they were hysterical about how the administration wasn't doing enough to protect the country from Ebola from which ONE American died. The Supreme Court, even when it was expanding the second amendment way beyond it's original meaning (I am assuming those strict constructionists must be thinking "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State" is just useless filler), didn't say that nothing could be done to control gun violence.
1
Phil M - What about the spineless who elect them as 'leaders'? It is far past the time to blame the actions of the elected on anyone other than the electors.
Change starts with the voters.
Change starts with the voters.
Let us mourn together for the dead. No pointing fingers, No accusations. Let us all write down thoughtful and positive ways to end this mayhem. To end the panic police have when seeing black men. To end violence for violence revenge.
Tweet, Facebook, instagram, write to your police chief, to any organization or person who will help create change. we must all speak out..to congressmen, senators...write your ideas and thoughts.
my first idea: all police officers should have a small card with their name and phone number. Hand it to drivers who have small issues like a broken tail light and say "Sir or Madam. Please repair your light within 30 days and call me to confirm that. and just take a picture of their license or their phone number. follow up. There is no reason for someone to have to take out a license and registration for small offenses. Civil actions. be polite to all, considerate to all, respect all.
Tweet, Facebook, instagram, write to your police chief, to any organization or person who will help create change. we must all speak out..to congressmen, senators...write your ideas and thoughts.
my first idea: all police officers should have a small card with their name and phone number. Hand it to drivers who have small issues like a broken tail light and say "Sir or Madam. Please repair your light within 30 days and call me to confirm that. and just take a picture of their license or their phone number. follow up. There is no reason for someone to have to take out a license and registration for small offenses. Civil actions. be polite to all, considerate to all, respect all.
19
You know, you were going fine until you started getting into an agenda. Most people stopped for a taillight are not ticketed. The taillight must operate because people expect to see brake lights, and it is a fault not obvious to the driver.
If this country was truly "drowning in grief" we'd stop this. Collectively. We would definitively, actively, and collectively say no more guns. Guns exist for one thing, and one thing only. To kill. And the finality of that action does not discriminate.
43
Most astute.
Maybe the New York Times and itrs liberal friends can do their part by reconsidering the contents of their unbelievably insulting, condescending, and infuriating lectures to the white inferiors who don't live in their upper-class bubble.
I won't exactly be holding my breath.
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism
I won't exactly be holding my breath.
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism
25
CWP, what in this NYT editorial unleashed your hatred of liberals?
“As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.”
-- George Washington
“As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.”
-- George Washington
Perhaps this Veteran consciously "martyred" himself to bring this greater degree of grief and outrage instead of a "business as usual" response to and until the next Black man is profiled, shot and killed and perceived as "other".
A tangled web here, NO gun control and institutionalized Racism.
A tangled web here, NO gun control and institutionalized Racism.
10
If only we had a strong leader in the White House at moments like these.
13
If only we had broader distribution of wealth and none of this would be happening.
The one thing every one should learn from attending law school is that America has one governing principle: free contract.
In such a society bargaining power is everything. Everything that goes on around us is all about groups or individuals trying to enhance their bargaining power, be it: personal grooming, advertising on TV, or lobbying & partisan politics in Washington.
The GOP has one prime directive: the ever greater concentration of wealth & power on behalf of the wealthy & powerful.
Over the years they've been immensely effective at this by attacking the agencies of bargaining power for other groups: afforadable quality education for aspiring middle class, Unions for working class, they even attacked & destroyed ACORN an agency created to help the poorest in our society leverage what limited bargaining power our system affords them.
Meanwhile they strengthen the agency of the wealthy's bargaining power: the limited liability corporation: not just with limited liability, a huge concession but also unlimited ability to buy the political process.
The ever concentration of wealth & power has squeezed everyone else, no group more so than African Americans (w/ exceptions noted).
Broaden the distribution of bargaining power and almost all other problems in society & the world today will abate.
The one thing every one should learn from attending law school is that America has one governing principle: free contract.
In such a society bargaining power is everything. Everything that goes on around us is all about groups or individuals trying to enhance their bargaining power, be it: personal grooming, advertising on TV, or lobbying & partisan politics in Washington.
The GOP has one prime directive: the ever greater concentration of wealth & power on behalf of the wealthy & powerful.
Over the years they've been immensely effective at this by attacking the agencies of bargaining power for other groups: afforadable quality education for aspiring middle class, Unions for working class, they even attacked & destroyed ACORN an agency created to help the poorest in our society leverage what limited bargaining power our system affords them.
Meanwhile they strengthen the agency of the wealthy's bargaining power: the limited liability corporation: not just with limited liability, a huge concession but also unlimited ability to buy the political process.
The ever concentration of wealth & power has squeezed everyone else, no group more so than African Americans (w/ exceptions noted).
Broaden the distribution of bargaining power and almost all other problems in society & the world today will abate.
25
We do have a strong leader in the White House. President Obama has
carried out the duties and responsibilities of his office with great dignity.
Regardless of what one may think of his policies he has acted in a manner that makes me proud to say that I voted for him. It seems that since he was
first elected there has been a systematic campaign to discredit him in every
way possible. I have lived through many administrations and have never
seen such outright anger and hatred directed towards a sitting POTUS.
You know when there such a systematic campaign to delegitimize an
election and a president that it will have an effect on the general tone
of civility across the nation. The problems facing both the black and white
communities have not been addressed by Congress. Far too
often ego is placed before doing what would be the best for our
country . The tragedy in Dallas and the recent death of two black
men point to a much larger problem. Since the 1980's there has
been an attitude in politics of us against them. The military
industrial complex has spun out of control. It goes to prove that
casting your bread upon the water it will come back to you.
A strong leader in Washington? Certainly not Trump who was
one of the key architects of the, "birther movement". Donald
Trump is the end result of when a political party sells its
very soul to the devil in order to gain power.
carried out the duties and responsibilities of his office with great dignity.
Regardless of what one may think of his policies he has acted in a manner that makes me proud to say that I voted for him. It seems that since he was
first elected there has been a systematic campaign to discredit him in every
way possible. I have lived through many administrations and have never
seen such outright anger and hatred directed towards a sitting POTUS.
You know when there such a systematic campaign to delegitimize an
election and a president that it will have an effect on the general tone
of civility across the nation. The problems facing both the black and white
communities have not been addressed by Congress. Far too
often ego is placed before doing what would be the best for our
country . The tragedy in Dallas and the recent death of two black
men point to a much larger problem. Since the 1980's there has
been an attitude in politics of us against them. The military
industrial complex has spun out of control. It goes to prove that
casting your bread upon the water it will come back to you.
A strong leader in Washington? Certainly not Trump who was
one of the key architects of the, "birther movement". Donald
Trump is the end result of when a political party sells its
very soul to the devil in order to gain power.
1
We do have a very strong leader in the White House. Unfortunately we have a Republican senate and House of Representatives and are cowards. Too cowardly to stand up and have hearings on the lunacy of gun violence I this country. Too cowardly to vote into law any sensible gun law. Too cowardly to actually take up the work of the American people. Instead they waste millions of dollars trying to repeal Obama care, find Hillary at fault for Benghazi, vote down funding to combat the Zinka virus. I guess we have different definitions on strong leadership.
1
Will NYT now invite readers to write personal stories about how a peaceful protest march, protected by police, became a murderous assault upon those protecting them?
All lives matter.
All lives matter.
13
This is a big change from the earlier post from the NYT Editorial Board. It has not been "up-dated" it has been changed completely.
Here's a thought: Get rid of the GUNS.
Countries without such lax gun laws have so much less gun violence. In England, even most police officers don't carry guns. If the cops feel safe enough to do their jobs without needing guns, its because the civilian population doesn't feel the need to pack heat every time they go to pick up a box of laundry detergent. And guess what? If the police aren't carrying guns, there is a lot less chance of killing people in routine traffic stops. (This, of course, does not negate the fact that racial profiling exists, that racial profiling is despicable and that it also needs to be eradicated but at least it removes one of the elements that fuels these ongoing tragic murders of black people during police encounters)
But I've lived long enough to know that if the murders of >20 innocent 5-6 year olds won't wake us up to the absolute dysfunction our country surrenders itself to in service to the gun lobby, nothing will.
Countries without such lax gun laws have so much less gun violence. In England, even most police officers don't carry guns. If the cops feel safe enough to do their jobs without needing guns, its because the civilian population doesn't feel the need to pack heat every time they go to pick up a box of laundry detergent. And guess what? If the police aren't carrying guns, there is a lot less chance of killing people in routine traffic stops. (This, of course, does not negate the fact that racial profiling exists, that racial profiling is despicable and that it also needs to be eradicated but at least it removes one of the elements that fuels these ongoing tragic murders of black people during police encounters)
But I've lived long enough to know that if the murders of >20 innocent 5-6 year olds won't wake us up to the absolute dysfunction our country surrenders itself to in service to the gun lobby, nothing will.
41
What would you do with the 350 million guns currently in circulation? The left tells us we can't possibly deport 11 million illegals but your seriously think you can account for 350 million guns?
Does England have heavily armed gangs working with / for drug cartels in every major city, urban area throughout their country?
I think not, but keep on these types of comparisons, and perhaps one day you may figure out why the results are nearly always the same...
I think not, but keep on these types of comparisons, and perhaps one day you may figure out why the results are nearly always the same...
Or simply honor the meaning of the 2nd amendment, which was to form a well-armed militia. We have a well-armed army(militia). Citizens do not need guns.
Too sad for words. Too sad, for years, decades, centuries. We must create the 'more perfect union'. To do this we have to be more committed to one another and less committed to ourselves (i.e. wealth). We are one and come together for roads, schools, water systems, parks, libraries, police and fire protection, the military and beyond. We do these things together; we must not let our economic system become the kingdom of the few and mighty. This we have done; and now we must 'unmake' it.
Yes, freedom, but never forget equality. Never forget our common humanity depends on a standard-of-living, a quality-of-life that is positive and healthy. We cannot doom millions to poverty and see others take millions and billions for their own pleasure (done so with the help of their lawyers, politicians, judges, media stations, etc.).
Equality is where we've erred the greatest; so this is where we need to be most active on. Bring up the bottom, tax the rich (at least at more historical rates). How can you be a loving Christian and wave the 'no taxes' flag? I believe the one time Jesus spoke of taxes he said pay them (as well as turning over money-changers' tables).
Yes, care for one another will unite this nation and planet. Greed will destroy both.
Yes, freedom, but never forget equality. Never forget our common humanity depends on a standard-of-living, a quality-of-life that is positive and healthy. We cannot doom millions to poverty and see others take millions and billions for their own pleasure (done so with the help of their lawyers, politicians, judges, media stations, etc.).
Equality is where we've erred the greatest; so this is where we need to be most active on. Bring up the bottom, tax the rich (at least at more historical rates). How can you be a loving Christian and wave the 'no taxes' flag? I believe the one time Jesus spoke of taxes he said pay them (as well as turning over money-changers' tables).
Yes, care for one another will unite this nation and planet. Greed will destroy both.
7
I don't know whether we are all "drowning in grief", but we certainly are drowning in guns. And not just revolvers, but military style weapons which shoot hundreds of bullets in only the time it takes to pop in another clip, which the killer in this latest massacre could do VERY well because he was taught while a soldier in Afghanistan.
The Republicans who consistently block even the mildest gun control measures can't be moved to act by Mr Obama or any number of Democrats, for they believe they're locked in some kind of holy war against our , president, who is held by some of them as not even a citizen. There is only one group which could make them change their minds - brothers and sisters in blue of those brave officers who were killed or wounded in this latest massacres.
Police departments all over our country must rise up and tell Paul Ryan that it's time to enact gun control measures that will, at least, make it impossible for citizens to buy weapons of war which can kill and maim so many in so little time. This was a tragedy which happened only because the Republicans care more about the money they get from the NRA than about the safety of Americans, including police officers.
The Republicans who consistently block even the mildest gun control measures can't be moved to act by Mr Obama or any number of Democrats, for they believe they're locked in some kind of holy war against our , president, who is held by some of them as not even a citizen. There is only one group which could make them change their minds - brothers and sisters in blue of those brave officers who were killed or wounded in this latest massacres.
Police departments all over our country must rise up and tell Paul Ryan that it's time to enact gun control measures that will, at least, make it impossible for citizens to buy weapons of war which can kill and maim so many in so little time. This was a tragedy which happened only because the Republicans care more about the money they get from the NRA than about the safety of Americans, including police officers.
29
This make at least three soldiers involved in mass shootings/acts of domestic terrorism (Timothy McVeigh, the Ft. Hood massacre, this one, and countless others that don't make the news feed cut). Can we please stop lionizing the supposed valor and selflessness of our troops, giving anyone who puts on an armed services uniform the presumption of inherent goodness? (This from a six-year Army veteran).
We could end the guilt-ridden deification of service members if we would simply turn away from thinking of violence as the first resort--if we could somehow get over our violent, bloodthirsty national psychosis that leads us to foment wars (domestically, the War on Drugs; internationally, pretty much everything since the first Gulf War) just for the sake of fighting.
Teach them to kill and they just might use their training in undesirable ways. Like this one.
We could end the guilt-ridden deification of service members if we would simply turn away from thinking of violence as the first resort--if we could somehow get over our violent, bloodthirsty national psychosis that leads us to foment wars (domestically, the War on Drugs; internationally, pretty much everything since the first Gulf War) just for the sake of fighting.
Teach them to kill and they just might use their training in undesirable ways. Like this one.
10
Why is anyone surprised that Black Men are starting to fight back? I'm not.
11
All I see is black men who can't change a tail light or produce a permit before the officer makes contact.
Then you shouldn't be surprised when cops fight back even more. That's your logic.
This is not fighting back, this is insanity. The Dallas shooter had acquired an arsenal and was engaged in racism well before the events in Minnesota and Louisiana.
The mere suggestion that this clearly deranged person was in any way "fighting back" greatly dishonors the victims in Minnesota and Louisiana and indeed the entire Black Lives Matter movement.
The mere suggestion that this clearly deranged person was in any way "fighting back" greatly dishonors the victims in Minnesota and Louisiana and indeed the entire Black Lives Matter movement.
I'm sure I'll be torn from limb to limb, but I'm sure at least half of the black community are celebrating this senseless tragedy as 'victory' for the cause. I haven't been informed of any black leaders denouncing this horrific mass murder. I doubt I will.
13
Maybe you should try reading the article.
The ongoing horror in the United States mirrors the history of racism in America, an image that reflects back the horrors of enslavement, racial segregation, lynchings, and police shootings of innocent African American men, women and children.
How many deaths by police of unarmed African American men, women and children, and how many social media postings of the harassment of unarmed African American men, women and children by police and other White Americans in positions of authority have occurred leading up to the deaths of five police officers and the wounding of seven other police officers, and two civilians in Dallas?
We will only be able to end our ongoing self-carnage when we acknowledge our own antisocial history, and begin to make amends toward the tens of millions of non-White American citizens who are remain terrorized today by American authority.
How many deaths by police of unarmed African American men, women and children, and how many social media postings of the harassment of unarmed African American men, women and children by police and other White Americans in positions of authority have occurred leading up to the deaths of five police officers and the wounding of seven other police officers, and two civilians in Dallas?
We will only be able to end our ongoing self-carnage when we acknowledge our own antisocial history, and begin to make amends toward the tens of millions of non-White American citizens who are remain terrorized today by American authority.
11
The U.S. Government should make amends by paying each non-white $1 million every year. Additionally, every white person should receive some form of punishment or torture even though more than 99.99% of their ancestors had nothing to do with slavery in America. That will teach them.
It's a joyous time in America!
The legitimacy of our system tested under stress of real fire. Either we come together, of the false promise of our system is found bankrupt. Either way, we find the truth.
And truth will win in the end. Starkly revealed one way or the other, the reckoning is upon us. The virtue of the United States is in the balance.
Crisis will bring resolution or failure. False promise or true salvation of the human experience.
Peace be with us all, or "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war".
The critical moment is upon us. Are we rational or tribal. Finally, the truth will be revealed!
May a great question of our time, the viability of a diverse society be resolved once and for all.
The legitimacy of our system tested under stress of real fire. Either we come together, of the false promise of our system is found bankrupt. Either way, we find the truth.
And truth will win in the end. Starkly revealed one way or the other, the reckoning is upon us. The virtue of the United States is in the balance.
Crisis will bring resolution or failure. False promise or true salvation of the human experience.
Peace be with us all, or "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war".
The critical moment is upon us. Are we rational or tribal. Finally, the truth will be revealed!
May a great question of our time, the viability of a diverse society be resolved once and for all.
6
According to The Guardian, 560 people have been killed by police officers this year. If the same number of people had been killed by a defective consumer product or vehicle, the outrage would be prodigious. CEO's would be fired and lawsuits launched. But when police officers kill black men, even with video evidence, justice is deferred or denied. Injustice breeds violence. Until the criminal justice system administers justice equally for all, more people will die needlessly.
The Old Soldier!!
The Old Soldier!!
19
The line with "liberty and justice for all " should be removed from the Pledge of Allegience for it is not true. Also remove indivisible. We are so divided.This marriage must be annulled. Red and blue incompatible.
1
That's probably true. What it doesn't tell you is how many were killed committing violent crimes, threatening lives, or resulted from actions they themselves could have prevented.
The commonalities in this week's events are racial tension and guns. Racial tension sets them up, guns make them happen. Take either away and we probably have a non-event. Take both away and we likely have what we all seek: peace.
Racial tension exists on both sides in these situations. So do guns. Both exist even when they are not literally present because the evidence from past events tells those involved that they very well might be there. Fear leads to over reaction, guns make it easy for that to lead to death.
It's obvious that we need to work to reduce the presence of both racial tension and guns in our communities. Instead we have one political party that thrives on the propagation of both. Given that circumstance progress will be impossible.
Racial tension exists on both sides in these situations. So do guns. Both exist even when they are not literally present because the evidence from past events tells those involved that they very well might be there. Fear leads to over reaction, guns make it easy for that to lead to death.
It's obvious that we need to work to reduce the presence of both racial tension and guns in our communities. Instead we have one political party that thrives on the propagation of both. Given that circumstance progress will be impossible.
8
The NYT was quick to let us know the Dallas police chief is black, but couldn't bring itself to write that the shooter was black?! And the police that were killed were white?!
31
@ Dennis - Dennis you state directly what I presented indirectly by asking the Editors why they seem to have different rules for using the word "Terror" and for naming or not naming the shooter and referring to religion and ethnicity. Had the shooter been Muslim and/or from the Middle East the headline would have told us.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/opinion/the-horror-in-dallas-a-country...
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/opinion/the-horror-in-dallas-a-country...
Reread the article. It clearly states the shooter was a black Afghanistan veteran
ya'all beginning to catch on. NYTs we are on to you.
Where is the moment of silence and call for prayer?
6
the silence and reflection are with us.
yet we must not delay discussion and dialogue for one moment. time is running out.
yet we must not delay discussion and dialogue for one moment. time is running out.
Indeed. This was basically a black Dylann Roof. The murders by Roof led to a big media-led howl to undo a previous final bipartisan deal on the Confederate flag. I await the howl to do to BLM what was done to that flag, after all, Mr. Johnson was an adherent of BLM and other nationalist groups such as the African-American Defense League.
The NRA has been strangely silent lately....
20
They have popped up with their ad hating on Hillary Clinton.
We need to crush the NRA. If you really care about stopping this gun violence then donate money to Brady or Anti-NRA. If you have time to read this comment then you have time to donate $5, $25 or whatever you can afford.
50
Yes, this is primarily a tragedy about gun control. The racism can't be dealt with until the lethal violence in controlled.
1
And you have time - vote, lobby, write letters, flood phone lines or even run for office. If you really want change, be the change.
This is about gun violence and military weapons and how we treat ou fellow citizens and how we treat our ex military. All of this matters.
12
So black leaders only acknowledge that police are important when someone assassinates white cops because they want to kill white people.
I hope those same leaders and media figures admit that they helped make these divisions worse by their rhetoric and actions.
Say what you want, but these assassinations were caused because black leaders refuse to acknowledge, let alone stop, the radical violent elements of their group.
Until they do, there will never be a healing of racial divisions.
I hope those same leaders and media figures admit that they helped make these divisions worse by their rhetoric and actions.
Say what you want, but these assassinations were caused because black leaders refuse to acknowledge, let alone stop, the radical violent elements of their group.
Until they do, there will never be a healing of racial divisions.
11
Continued...
My god is better than your god. My god is stronger than your god. Your god is the devil. My god blessed America, land that I love, stands beside her, and guides her, through the night with a light from above. I was taught and brought up there, The laws to abide, And that land that I live in, Has God on its side. God Bless America. My god, not your god. Thou Shalt Not Take My Name In Vain.
Indivisible? Rich, other ninety-nine percent, city, suburb, country, east, west, north, south, rust belt, farm belt, sun belt, silicon valley, San Fernando valley, Rio Grande valley. Millionaires, billionaires, middle class, working poor, unemployed, underemployed, three jobs to pay the rent, homeless, mansions, vacation homes, tax deductible vacation homes, homeowners, tenants. Prisoners, thieves, avengers, cops, robbers, cop killers, killer cops. Abortion seekers, abortion haters, abortion doctors, dead abortion doctors. Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Others, whites, blacks, Asians, Native Americans, immigrants, illegal immigrants, refugees, undocumented farm workers, addicts, addicts in recovery, fat, thin, gaunt, dying. United we stand, divided we fall.
Continued
My god is better than your god. My god is stronger than your god. Your god is the devil. My god blessed America, land that I love, stands beside her, and guides her, through the night with a light from above. I was taught and brought up there, The laws to abide, And that land that I live in, Has God on its side. God Bless America. My god, not your god. Thou Shalt Not Take My Name In Vain.
Indivisible? Rich, other ninety-nine percent, city, suburb, country, east, west, north, south, rust belt, farm belt, sun belt, silicon valley, San Fernando valley, Rio Grande valley. Millionaires, billionaires, middle class, working poor, unemployed, underemployed, three jobs to pay the rent, homeless, mansions, vacation homes, tax deductible vacation homes, homeowners, tenants. Prisoners, thieves, avengers, cops, robbers, cop killers, killer cops. Abortion seekers, abortion haters, abortion doctors, dead abortion doctors. Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Others, whites, blacks, Asians, Native Americans, immigrants, illegal immigrants, refugees, undocumented farm workers, addicts, addicts in recovery, fat, thin, gaunt, dying. United we stand, divided we fall.
Continued
Black leaders??? Where are they and who are they? That's the big issue. The black community has extraordinarily poor leadership and what it does have is radicalized or undereducated.
Of course, that's a tough reality to digest for most.
Of course, that's a tough reality to digest for most.
The President must return from Europe. We need leadership. True leadership. Someone to bring us together, grieve, repair and force meaningful reform both on gun control as well accountability within police departments across the country. He is perfectly poised to do this now and the only one with the authority to speak to the country as a whole. Someone get him home.
This racist country reviles him. He would do well in Britain. I could see him as prime minister.
1
IT STARTS WITH LIES part 1
Every day your children go to school, put their hands over their hearts and lie.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Allegiance to the flag? The Stars and Stripes, or the Confederate battle flag? The allegiance of a huge segment of Americans is to the Confederate flag, and to the republic for which it stands, the republic of plantations worked by black slaves, the republic of whipping and lynching and white only water fountains. The allegiance of Americans is split and oozes hatred. And blood.
One nation? Red states, blue states, white congressional districts, black congressional districts, Hispanic congressional districts, jerrymander, illegal immigrants. Abraham Lincoln thought he had reunited a split nation, Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army, surrendered, and four days later Lincoln was murdered by an aggrieved Southerner. Lincoln failed. The reunion failed. We are not one nation. By a longshot.
Under God? Your god is a false god. No matter your faith, there are others who defame you and your god, convinced that you are a blasphemer going to hell. Freedom of religion is now the freedom to impose one version of god’s vision on all others. My god is better than your god. (continued )
Every day your children go to school, put their hands over their hearts and lie.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Allegiance to the flag? The Stars and Stripes, or the Confederate battle flag? The allegiance of a huge segment of Americans is to the Confederate flag, and to the republic for which it stands, the republic of plantations worked by black slaves, the republic of whipping and lynching and white only water fountains. The allegiance of Americans is split and oozes hatred. And blood.
One nation? Red states, blue states, white congressional districts, black congressional districts, Hispanic congressional districts, jerrymander, illegal immigrants. Abraham Lincoln thought he had reunited a split nation, Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army, surrendered, and four days later Lincoln was murdered by an aggrieved Southerner. Lincoln failed. The reunion failed. We are not one nation. By a longshot.
Under God? Your god is a false god. No matter your faith, there are others who defame you and your god, convinced that you are a blasphemer going to hell. Freedom of religion is now the freedom to impose one version of god’s vision on all others. My god is better than your god. (continued )
11
The most sensible thing I have heard all day about this tragic event is what the Mayor of Dallas said this morning on Morning Joe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnjBFT1tg_o). I'm paraphrasing, but essentially he said that we all need to watch our words and not fight among ourselves and focus our attention on those who would wish to do us harm instead of fighting among ourselves. He specifically mentioned the need for religious and political leaders to preach peace and harmony and not division.
2
cops kill more people than cancer, but that's alright they get away with it time after time, but when one of theirs did its a national tragedy. These cops didn't deserve to die! I can't say that about the ones that do, and have killed.
2
Race relations are awful, and killings are a daily occurrence.
Obama wanted to fundamentally transform America.
Mission Accomplished.
Obama wanted to fundamentally transform America.
Mission Accomplished.
5
Solomon, you say this because Obama is black?
And it's his fault? Right ....
Obviously, if the American police had the right to bear arms, like in any other civilized country, nothing like this could have happened
A country downing in grief?
More like a country drowning in stupidity...
More like a country drowning in stupidity...
40
... or a country "drowning in" hate
Respect for the rule of law begins with our elected officials in Congress respectfully considering the testimony of our premier national law enforcement official, FBI Director James Comey.
Yesterday, during the hearing before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, Republican members disrespected and condescended him during his testimony on the Clinton email controversy because they didn't get the results they wanted.
Their behavior was a shocking example of Republican disrespect for the rule of law.
Yesterday, during the hearing before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, Republican members disrespected and condescended him during his testimony on the Clinton email controversy because they didn't get the results they wanted.
Their behavior was a shocking example of Republican disrespect for the rule of law.
15
I feel really exasperated with NYT editorials that deal with police violence and racism last few years. When are going to stop equating actions of few cops who ended up using deadly force under most trying curcumstances with the actions of anarchist and nihilistic youths that parading with suggestions how to do a job that they know nothing about?
11
It is not just a few bad apples. There are statistics and a recent study done showing this is systemic across the country. This isn't to say that what happened in Dallas is also not horrific either. But let's not turn around and dismiss what happened in Minnesota and Louisiana either.
The police have shot 587 people to death so far this year.
Until we have national gun control these tragic events and mass shootings will continue. This country is "gun crazy". Congress refuses to pass even the most basis common sense measures restricting access to guns even thought the majority of the electorate supports it. We need to act NOW. This violence is senseless. How many innocent people have to die? I am frightened for my children and what kind of world we have put them in. It defies logic that this nation cannot take steps and pass laws to protect its citizens from what has become a public health hazard. All in the name of the 2nd amendment and the influence of the NRA? Madness!
26
As a reader of the Times, US gun violence seems kind of ... routine. However, the latest spate brings back the feeling of shock. The rapidity of trying to mourn victims of police violence and then the police themselves - too much.
It always seems fairly simple from North of the border: when almost everybody has a loaded gun (or must be assumed to have a loaded gun), the police must walk around with a hair trigger at all times. Similarly, when everybody is armed, that 1 or 2% of people who easily resort to violence - they also have a gun on hand. The result is daily gun violence.
It doesn't eliminate the racial aspects of these cases, but in altercations with police up here the chances of a gun being involved are essentially zero.
My $0.02
It always seems fairly simple from North of the border: when almost everybody has a loaded gun (or must be assumed to have a loaded gun), the police must walk around with a hair trigger at all times. Similarly, when everybody is armed, that 1 or 2% of people who easily resort to violence - they also have a gun on hand. The result is daily gun violence.
It doesn't eliminate the racial aspects of these cases, but in altercations with police up here the chances of a gun being involved are essentially zero.
My $0.02
9
The headline states that the country is drowning in grief. Individuals close to those killed are grieving, of that I am sure. But the country? I question that assertion. A country drowning in weapons, yes, grief no. Are NRA members grieving?
If the country were truly grieving these losses then a movement to take guns away would folllow. It never does.
And Editors, a couple of questions for you as Editors.. Why does the word Terror or Terrorist appear nowhere in the Times reporting? Why for the first time was there not the slightest hint of the religon or ethnicity of what we were told were 4 or 5 rooftop gunmen?
I ask those questions because I believe that this is how it should always be even if the "media" and tweeters are pouring out such information. And why always the statements about motive, the determination of which will take months of work?
I close by answering my own questions about "Terror" and "ethnicity". Since no one had even a single reason to believe Muslims were involved the word "terror" did not appear. As long as non-Muslim Americans are doing the killing we are not experiencing terror, just gunfire a little less dispersed than that occurring in cities throughout the country every week.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
If the country were truly grieving these losses then a movement to take guns away would folllow. It never does.
And Editors, a couple of questions for you as Editors.. Why does the word Terror or Terrorist appear nowhere in the Times reporting? Why for the first time was there not the slightest hint of the religon or ethnicity of what we were told were 4 or 5 rooftop gunmen?
I ask those questions because I believe that this is how it should always be even if the "media" and tweeters are pouring out such information. And why always the statements about motive, the determination of which will take months of work?
I close by answering my own questions about "Terror" and "ethnicity". Since no one had even a single reason to believe Muslims were involved the word "terror" did not appear. As long as non-Muslim Americans are doing the killing we are not experiencing terror, just gunfire a little less dispersed than that occurring in cities throughout the country every week.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
4
Partly because we do not recognize that the NRA enables this sort of thing. They are the premier domestic terrorist organization. They are also a cult, controlling the minds of otherwise good people.
So that's why we don't use the term terrorism where the NRA is involved.
So that's why we don't use the term terrorism where the NRA is involved.
2
White Supremacy and Black Pride are just two different brands of the same kind of racism...
19
Without White Supremacy there would be no Black Pride movement.
@taopraxis:
In 1916, one of those was the mainstream position of the Democratic Party, led by the president.
In 2016, one of those is the mainstream position of the Democratic Party, led by the president.
In 1916, one of those was the mainstream position of the Democratic Party, led by the president.
In 2016, one of those is the mainstream position of the Democratic Party, led by the president.
No, they aren't. How many black people have been killed by cops; how many cops killed by blacks. How many black people lynched by whites; how many whites lynched by blacks.
I think the everything bad going on around our country is the result of concentrated wealth: that includes the negative developments in regard to racial issues.
Economic equality appears to have peaked in the late 1960s & early 1970s. That was also the era we made some of our biggest strides towards racial equality & social justice.
Conversely when wealth concentrates, artificial scarcity emerges for more and more and more people. The reaction to this artificial scarcity is identity (meaning tribal/ethnci/racial/nationalist) politics (see Trump).
I can think of no group worse effected by "artificial" scarcity than African-Americans. They have youth unemployment > 50%. It seems to me they are really being squeezed. Given all of that, the sequence of last weeks events is hardly surprising - I would say its an inevitability and I would say, in a country with lots of guns and ever scarcer opportunity, there is more to come, especially as other groups start reacting the same way.
Democracy is supposed to relieve this situation: as more people are impoverished, they vote their interests and we get laws that encourage broader distribution of wealth. That's exactly what happened in the 1930s. Unfortunately the GOP has gerrymandered the House, the most democratic branch, so that they can enforce austerity into extreme wealth concentration.
The political solution was & is offered by Bernie Sanders. We need him now more than ever.
Bernie Sanders - every nation ought to have one.
Economic equality appears to have peaked in the late 1960s & early 1970s. That was also the era we made some of our biggest strides towards racial equality & social justice.
Conversely when wealth concentrates, artificial scarcity emerges for more and more and more people. The reaction to this artificial scarcity is identity (meaning tribal/ethnci/racial/nationalist) politics (see Trump).
I can think of no group worse effected by "artificial" scarcity than African-Americans. They have youth unemployment > 50%. It seems to me they are really being squeezed. Given all of that, the sequence of last weeks events is hardly surprising - I would say its an inevitability and I would say, in a country with lots of guns and ever scarcer opportunity, there is more to come, especially as other groups start reacting the same way.
Democracy is supposed to relieve this situation: as more people are impoverished, they vote their interests and we get laws that encourage broader distribution of wealth. That's exactly what happened in the 1930s. Unfortunately the GOP has gerrymandered the House, the most democratic branch, so that they can enforce austerity into extreme wealth concentration.
The political solution was & is offered by Bernie Sanders. We need him now more than ever.
Bernie Sanders - every nation ought to have one.
10
Then, there is displacement and metaphor, which Freud discovered in the unconscious mental processes as we form representations of the world around us. So that Black bodies and white bodies acquire different meanings in the social process of production of wealth. The wise man of Trier told us that along surplus value goes the alienation of humanity in their own production. At a time when the system of production is in crisis as manifested 2008, Brexit, the massive migration of the displaced by wars, and other signs of economic malaise, we continue to misread and misrecognize the symptoms. That's blaming of the other is always the most facile response.
What happened is that Mr. Johnson chose to give his life for the BLM movement, of which he was an adherent. That's fine. But he chose to give several other lives, too.
I don’t understand what you are saying here?
Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “The Case for Reparations” in the February, 2014 Atlantic Monthly outlining how we whites have systematically kept our black sisters and brothers from EVER achieving equality.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparat...
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed with affirmative action at the U of Texas and the NYT white commenters were screaming “Unfair!!”
Coates went on to write the best book of 2015 with “Between the World and Me” an essay to his fifteen year old black son that his body didn’t belong to him. It belonged to any white police officer who decided to take it away.
@Tim, I have NO idea who you are talking to. Folks such as I believe that YES there IS a Case for Reparations. But Trump supporters and 90% of NYT commenters don’t think there is a problem. That blacks are somehow inferior and I see it in their comments EVERY DAY calling Obama “weak” or “undeserving” of being POTUS.
American exceptionalism--what a laugh!
Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “The Case for Reparations” in the February, 2014 Atlantic Monthly outlining how we whites have systematically kept our black sisters and brothers from EVER achieving equality.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparat...
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed with affirmative action at the U of Texas and the NYT white commenters were screaming “Unfair!!”
Coates went on to write the best book of 2015 with “Between the World and Me” an essay to his fifteen year old black son that his body didn’t belong to him. It belonged to any white police officer who decided to take it away.
@Tim, I have NO idea who you are talking to. Folks such as I believe that YES there IS a Case for Reparations. But Trump supporters and 90% of NYT commenters don’t think there is a problem. That blacks are somehow inferior and I see it in their comments EVERY DAY calling Obama “weak” or “undeserving” of being POTUS.
American exceptionalism--what a laugh!
Promote radical chic culture. Decry the consequences of radical chic culture. Repeat.
17
It is not "radical chic" to peacefully march, seeking some change in a pattern of violence -- that is just people logically trying to take some step toward s solution. Don't blame peaceful protesters!
Ann, I do not forgive you for suggesting that I am objecting to peaceful protest.
I would say a Country Drowning in Fear - Fear of people carrying guns, of angry people who snap to conclusions and blame, of people who are choosing the rule of guns over the rule of law. When will the next one to be silenced be me?
17
"Disgust" does not begin to capture the mood of the country.
Frankly, I used to think readers of the New York Times were fairly sophisticated. Not any more. Not after reading many of the comments on the article reporting the events of last night. I saw levels of ignorance that I simply did not expect to find on this website.
This country is in crisis, and this is just the beginning. As we enter an era that will present extraordinary challenges to us as a nation--challenges that will define who we are as a country and challenges that can only be conquered with unity--we are more divided than ever, along every conceivable dimension, including race, economic status, and religion.
I'm afraid that we just crossed a very dangerous threshold, and I'm wondering, if readers of the Times have become so unhinged, what does it say about the rest of America?
And not to diminish the root causes in any way, but yes, the media, including the Times, does bear some responsibility for our current situation, and I sense the Editors know it, judging by the sober tone of this editorial.
These are dark days, indeed.
Frankly, I used to think readers of the New York Times were fairly sophisticated. Not any more. Not after reading many of the comments on the article reporting the events of last night. I saw levels of ignorance that I simply did not expect to find on this website.
This country is in crisis, and this is just the beginning. As we enter an era that will present extraordinary challenges to us as a nation--challenges that will define who we are as a country and challenges that can only be conquered with unity--we are more divided than ever, along every conceivable dimension, including race, economic status, and religion.
I'm afraid that we just crossed a very dangerous threshold, and I'm wondering, if readers of the Times have become so unhinged, what does it say about the rest of America?
And not to diminish the root causes in any way, but yes, the media, including the Times, does bear some responsibility for our current situation, and I sense the Editors know it, judging by the sober tone of this editorial.
These are dark days, indeed.
28
To the eyes of most informed foreigners, much of the United States is fly-over country, a bit like Russia. Take away the US coastal metropolises in the former and Moscow & St Petersburg in the latter : immense wastelands of disenfranchised workers and peasants unschooled and prone to all sorts of reactionary and racist rhetoric.
@TB
I too used to think that the NYT commenters were savvy, intelligent. HA!
A woman Syrian refugee tries to relate the horrific journey of trying to cross borders into safety. 95% of comments and recommendations were AGAINST her! I was gobsmacked!
We are nearing the end of Obama’s presidency and yet commenters are UNABLE to praise Obama. “I may not agree with most of what he says...” or “He does seem to be a good father. BUT...”
I am a fool to think that there is ANY intelligence in America!
I have never read so many hateful, ridiculous comments by people writing anonymously.
Let’s get rid of comments and go back to “letters to the editors” ONLY!
I too used to think that the NYT commenters were savvy, intelligent. HA!
A woman Syrian refugee tries to relate the horrific journey of trying to cross borders into safety. 95% of comments and recommendations were AGAINST her! I was gobsmacked!
We are nearing the end of Obama’s presidency and yet commenters are UNABLE to praise Obama. “I may not agree with most of what he says...” or “He does seem to be a good father. BUT...”
I am a fool to think that there is ANY intelligence in America!
I have never read so many hateful, ridiculous comments by people writing anonymously.
Let’s get rid of comments and go back to “letters to the editors” ONLY!
1
The reason the editorial is so "somber" is also because people like the editorial writers are beginning to realize that alot of the blood that is being shed is because not only of their inability to critique the other (left) side of society but because they are concerned of what the public is beginning to think....namely (as many others have written) that they were throwing gasoline on an already flammible situation...........that might cause an exodus of readers who are fed up with their and their reporters biases and will stop subscribing as I did several years ago...ultimately it;'s the bottom line even for the august NY Time corp on the NYSE.
Ed Burchianti
NYC
Ed Burchianti
NYC
Frankly I'm disgusted by some of the blame-the-police mentality that liberals seem to have embraced in the aftermath of this disgusting, violent, and racially-motivated terrorist attack. The officers in Dallas were doing nothing except protecting people who were marching against them while calling them pigs and racists. The Times and many liberals rightfully blamed white supremacist rhetoric for the Charleston shootings, but I hear only deafening silence here. Don't believe that BLM's racial rhetoric helped inspire this? Read some of their ideas, their statements about white people and police, and look at some of their tactics. Whatever the noble intentions the movement started with, it has turned into something much uglier.
The thing to understand about cops is that they are people. Human beings, just like you and me, subject to fear of death and injury, bad judgements, and human bias in snap situations. They are charged with going into violent neighborhoods and assisting or apprehending stressed people every day, in a nation armed to the teeth. In addition to much better training in appropriate use of force and non-lethal alternatives, we need to ensure that police are trained in civics, law, and psychology. We also desperately need gun control so that terrorists like Micah Johnson or Dylann Roof cannot execute their murderous plans with such ease. A comprehensive, national conversation is called for, with President Obama in the lead.
The thing to understand about cops is that they are people. Human beings, just like you and me, subject to fear of death and injury, bad judgements, and human bias in snap situations. They are charged with going into violent neighborhoods and assisting or apprehending stressed people every day, in a nation armed to the teeth. In addition to much better training in appropriate use of force and non-lethal alternatives, we need to ensure that police are trained in civics, law, and psychology. We also desperately need gun control so that terrorists like Micah Johnson or Dylann Roof cannot execute their murderous plans with such ease. A comprehensive, national conversation is called for, with President Obama in the lead.
25
Why did police even need to be at the march?
Nice try. Obama is gone in 194 days. America is on hold until then.
If Dallas was a "terrorist attack," then so was Charleston. But note that our government very carefully avoided attaching that label to Charleston.
You go to bed upset, and you wake up and you are assaulted with and horrified by the morning news. Tears fall. Hands are wrung. Tissues used up.
What horror awaits? How many more bullets? Does one of them have my name on it? Or yours?
The gun thing: that horse has left the barn. They are everywhere. I agree with Chris Rock: stop selling bullets .....seems like a good start.
And: PLEASE! If you know someone who is about to go over the edge, notify somebody who can help.
What horror awaits? How many more bullets? Does one of them have my name on it? Or yours?
The gun thing: that horse has left the barn. They are everywhere. I agree with Chris Rock: stop selling bullets .....seems like a good start.
And: PLEASE! If you know someone who is about to go over the edge, notify somebody who can help.
29
Drowning in grief? Drowning in guns is more like it. This country is awash in guns.
55
One for every woman, child and man.
http://www.npr.org/2016/01/05/462017461/guns-in-america-by-the-numbers
http://www.npr.org/2016/01/05/462017461/guns-in-america-by-the-numbers
You should check out the article "Inconvenient Gun Facts for Liberals."
Did you know gun sales have increased over the last 10 years but gun-related death tolls have remained stagnant.
As someone taking on a liberal attitude, wouldn't you agree that data should guide a plan to stop gun-violence, not emotion?
Did you know gun sales have increased over the last 10 years but gun-related death tolls have remained stagnant.
As someone taking on a liberal attitude, wouldn't you agree that data should guide a plan to stop gun-violence, not emotion?
Fine then, come together. But "come together" always happens at the expense of the aggrieved.
Unless there is a SIGNIFICANT show of de-escalation and divestment of power by the police. A genuine attempt to heal the original rifts we've built our nation on, we're simply the bullies crying "uncle" the first time our nose is bloodied.
You want healing? Cull fire-arms possession, restrict police tactics that disproportionately impact people of color, make our police men and women a civil police force not this post LA 90's paramilitary enforcer of white fears and conceptions of order. Bring other voices in lest we repeat this cycle with the burgeoning Latino community.
One should forgive a good portion of the readership here who fail to feel much sympathy after lifetimes of indiscriminate abuses at the hands of those who just a few generations prior would have openly lynched them, but in these times choose to stop and frisk, jail for incidental pot possession, shoot to incapacitate.
You want to heal the rift between the police force and its citizens, Chief Brown? Let's start by building a police force FROM the neighborhoods they serve, removing the assault weapons and armor from BOTH sides, treating all loss of life as a horrible tragedy that is NEVER excusable.
Unless there is a SIGNIFICANT show of de-escalation and divestment of power by the police. A genuine attempt to heal the original rifts we've built our nation on, we're simply the bullies crying "uncle" the first time our nose is bloodied.
You want healing? Cull fire-arms possession, restrict police tactics that disproportionately impact people of color, make our police men and women a civil police force not this post LA 90's paramilitary enforcer of white fears and conceptions of order. Bring other voices in lest we repeat this cycle with the burgeoning Latino community.
One should forgive a good portion of the readership here who fail to feel much sympathy after lifetimes of indiscriminate abuses at the hands of those who just a few generations prior would have openly lynched them, but in these times choose to stop and frisk, jail for incidental pot possession, shoot to incapacitate.
You want to heal the rift between the police force and its citizens, Chief Brown? Let's start by building a police force FROM the neighborhoods they serve, removing the assault weapons and armor from BOTH sides, treating all loss of life as a horrible tragedy that is NEVER excusable.
14
@ sb
The Dallas PD already looks like the neighborhoods it serves. For the protest, the majority were wearing summer uniforms--not combat gear. They were there to protect the protesters from nutcases.
This made a horrible week worse.
The Dallas PD already looks like the neighborhoods it serves. For the protest, the majority were wearing summer uniforms--not combat gear. They were there to protect the protesters from nutcases.
This made a horrible week worse.
What seems most likely is that the man who shot all those people was someone who has been eager and devoted himself to killing a bunch of people for a very long time, took a lot of time and effort preparing to do so, and used the protests as a good way to have a lot of targets available where he might shoot them as he wanted. It just so happened that the issue of police shootings of black males just happened to be the hook upon which he chose to hang his obsessions. These kinds of characters never reveal their true intentions before they act because they keep them to themselves.
The mass media has been reporting deaths of black males at the hands of police for a couple of years as high profile cases of systematic injustices before enough facts are established to actually know which cases are in fact cases of systematic injustices. It's probably because such stories attract big audiences. In the end, after facts have been separated from mistaken opinions, the disparities between what was initially reported and what most likely happened have most times be very significant. It would be nice if the mass media would take some care in making clear whether what they report is very reliable and what is just speculation.
The mass media has been reporting deaths of black males at the hands of police for a couple of years as high profile cases of systematic injustices before enough facts are established to actually know which cases are in fact cases of systematic injustices. It's probably because such stories attract big audiences. In the end, after facts have been separated from mistaken opinions, the disparities between what was initially reported and what most likely happened have most times be very significant. It would be nice if the mass media would take some care in making clear whether what they report is very reliable and what is just speculation.
43
As seen in the riots of the 60's, the looting during the 1977 NYC blackout, the 1992 LA riots, the O.J. Simpson verdict, and now Dallas, urban decay & state sponsored persecution creates a dangerous powder keg with unpredictable consequences. The fact that these events are morally repellent is irrelevant. It's basic sociology. Pointing the finger at urban rabble rousers changes nothing.
We need comprehensive systematic change immediately.
We need comprehensive systematic change immediately.
8
Sometimes I am filled with deep pessimism regarding the endgame politicians are playing with the perennial problem of entrenched racism in American society. They seem to be gearing up for a grim game of brinksmanship to 'justify' more oppression and possibly genocidal massacres of 'noisome' minorities who the élite feel are nothing but a long-term liability. Disgusting hypocrisy.
To hurt is easy
To prevent you need courage (like the cops who ran towards gunfire)
To heal is difficult
because
to forgive isn't easy
you don't heal until you forgive
To prevent you need courage (like the cops who ran towards gunfire)
To heal is difficult
because
to forgive isn't easy
you don't heal until you forgive
8
You don't forgive racism, sexism, colonialism, etc. Only an idiot does that. You fight it non violently, or use a modus operandi that works to stop the prejudice, bias and bigotry. When law enforcement is killing certain people of color for petty traffic violations you don't resort to some biblical forgiveness. That is foolish. You have to fight for justice so this kind of craziness, evil and/or sickness does not continue. You also have to fight for justice and change .
For example, some would argue you should never forgive your colonial butchers. You do not have to go kill their progeny, or anything like that. But you make sure you are never colonized again, and you get your compensation. Same is true for racism. This is why some countries never get out of poverty, insurgency, colonialism, occupation...They just keep forgiving the evil dudes...and the evil dudes keep doing more evil stuff.
Gandhi suggested a non violent rebellion, Bose had a different strategy. They may both work depending on your perspective, or depending on who you are, where you are and how you are.
Your lack of forgiveness for serious crimes does not have to lead to vengeance, vengefulness or retribution. Forgiving after much thought, time and adequate social justice, compensation, etc. is fine. But the other side must ask for forgiveness, and you must make them see their horrible ways. Forgiveness has to be earned.
And sometimes unfortunately Evil does not respect forgiveness. Know your enemy.
For example, some would argue you should never forgive your colonial butchers. You do not have to go kill their progeny, or anything like that. But you make sure you are never colonized again, and you get your compensation. Same is true for racism. This is why some countries never get out of poverty, insurgency, colonialism, occupation...They just keep forgiving the evil dudes...and the evil dudes keep doing more evil stuff.
Gandhi suggested a non violent rebellion, Bose had a different strategy. They may both work depending on your perspective, or depending on who you are, where you are and how you are.
Your lack of forgiveness for serious crimes does not have to lead to vengeance, vengefulness or retribution. Forgiving after much thought, time and adequate social justice, compensation, etc. is fine. But the other side must ask for forgiveness, and you must make them see their horrible ways. Forgiveness has to be earned.
And sometimes unfortunately Evil does not respect forgiveness. Know your enemy.
The nation ought to stand united in their grief for the police officers who died in Dallas and for the black citizens who died at the hands of police in Minnesota and Louisiana. We should be as one in expressing our condolences to the family and friends of the victims in all three locations.
We will not be united, however, because two different groups of Americans have very different ideas about the proliferation of guns in America. The annual death toll from guns sets our nation apart from the civilized nations on our planet. The division isn’t black versus white or Hispanic versus white. It is responsible gun control versus no gun control.
The death of the Dallas police officers shows some tragic irony. Dallas is known as a hotbed of conservative thought about protecting the right to carry weapons. Yet, Dallas probably has the best relationship between its law enforcement personnel and its citizens of all major American cities. The chief of police, who is black, and the mayor, who is white, work together in mutual respect and do great jobs.
Stereotypes have no place in the national discussion, but outrage at a national culture of violence and distrust belongs at the very center of our thoughts as we mourn
We will not be united, however, because two different groups of Americans have very different ideas about the proliferation of guns in America. The annual death toll from guns sets our nation apart from the civilized nations on our planet. The division isn’t black versus white or Hispanic versus white. It is responsible gun control versus no gun control.
The death of the Dallas police officers shows some tragic irony. Dallas is known as a hotbed of conservative thought about protecting the right to carry weapons. Yet, Dallas probably has the best relationship between its law enforcement personnel and its citizens of all major American cities. The chief of police, who is black, and the mayor, who is white, work together in mutual respect and do great jobs.
Stereotypes have no place in the national discussion, but outrage at a national culture of violence and distrust belongs at the very center of our thoughts as we mourn
137
Guns aren't the problem. The problem is certain groups (white and black and Hispanic) believe that laws don't apply to them. They're called anarchists. The second problem is the people who enable them.
You’re wrong, tdg. It very definitely is about guns.
If it’s the frightened, poorly trained cop who is so edgy that he reacts in a traffic stop by reflexively shooting a motorist he imagines is reaching for a gun, it is about guns.
If it is the bullying cop who thinks of himself as a paramilitary warrior, just itching for a chance to shoot his gun, it is about guns.
If it is the dedicated cop who sees himself as a public servant, protecting citizens as they engage in a peaceful protest, then is shot in the back by a deranged sniper, it is about guns.
You write of “anarchists,” tdg, and of “the people who enable them.” It strikes me that someone who shoots another person in the absence of legitimate self-defense concerns is a common criminal, not an anarchist.
Your terminology is troubling, tdg, and I get the impression that when you write of enablers, you do not mean people who reject reasonable gun control.
In your mind, tdg, are the enablers the folks protesting on behalf of shooting victims? Are the enablers people like me, who support the right to protest?
If it’s the frightened, poorly trained cop who is so edgy that he reacts in a traffic stop by reflexively shooting a motorist he imagines is reaching for a gun, it is about guns.
If it is the bullying cop who thinks of himself as a paramilitary warrior, just itching for a chance to shoot his gun, it is about guns.
If it is the dedicated cop who sees himself as a public servant, protecting citizens as they engage in a peaceful protest, then is shot in the back by a deranged sniper, it is about guns.
You write of “anarchists,” tdg, and of “the people who enable them.” It strikes me that someone who shoots another person in the absence of legitimate self-defense concerns is a common criminal, not an anarchist.
Your terminology is troubling, tdg, and I get the impression that when you write of enablers, you do not mean people who reject reasonable gun control.
In your mind, tdg, are the enablers the folks protesting on behalf of shooting victims? Are the enablers people like me, who support the right to protest?
Gun control will not disarm the police. And it will probably not disarm military vets.
Yes we have too many guns, but it is a symptom not the cause. We have too many guns because we are a violent nation. We would rather watch violence than sex. Sex on TV almost always ends in violence, not vice versa. Why can't two people on TV have an argument, then have make up sex? No they have to have an argument and kill each other. But TV is also a symptom, not the cause.
We have so much fear that we cannot even try solutions that don't include violence.
The Drug War has raged for decades, and has not decreased drug use, but only increased violence. The only real solution is to treat it as a public health problem, but Americans can't wrap their mind around anything more complicated than "kill the bad guys." It was the "liberals" that created the crime bill that put millions of people in jail for nonviolent crimes.
The drug war has also been used to degrade the Bill of Rights, with exceptions that let cops bum rush your home without a knock, spy on people, and imprison them for smoking marijuana, while the politicians are getting drunk on their drug of choice. A member of the Nixon White House, John Erlichman, later said the drug war was specifically designed to attack blacks and anti-war protesters. In other words to terrorize their political opponents.
The American People support violence and terror, and when just a taste of it hits home, want more.
Find peaceful solutions, please.
Yes we have too many guns, but it is a symptom not the cause. We have too many guns because we are a violent nation. We would rather watch violence than sex. Sex on TV almost always ends in violence, not vice versa. Why can't two people on TV have an argument, then have make up sex? No they have to have an argument and kill each other. But TV is also a symptom, not the cause.
We have so much fear that we cannot even try solutions that don't include violence.
The Drug War has raged for decades, and has not decreased drug use, but only increased violence. The only real solution is to treat it as a public health problem, but Americans can't wrap their mind around anything more complicated than "kill the bad guys." It was the "liberals" that created the crime bill that put millions of people in jail for nonviolent crimes.
The drug war has also been used to degrade the Bill of Rights, with exceptions that let cops bum rush your home without a knock, spy on people, and imprison them for smoking marijuana, while the politicians are getting drunk on their drug of choice. A member of the Nixon White House, John Erlichman, later said the drug war was specifically designed to attack blacks and anti-war protesters. In other words to terrorize their political opponents.
The American People support violence and terror, and when just a taste of it hits home, want more.
Find peaceful solutions, please.
1
Our country is in a state of profound anxiety and grief.
Wars and killings that won't end, overseas and here at home.
Racial and ethnic divides over the past 300 years that still breed and encourage violence.
Economic distress, with so many Americans who have lost jobs, homes and communities.
Huge corporations and banks that have provided their top echelons with enormous wealth while keeping their customers and employees in poverty.
A profound failure to proactively work to prevent more damages from climate change and environmental disasters.
A nihilistic undermining of our common governments to the point of (intended) ineffectiveness.
A presidential candidate who encourages hate, xenophobia, racism, sexism, anti-Muslim, nationalism and authoritarianism.
Shall I go on? There's lots more to add to this list.
Drugs addictions, while increasing rapidly, won't salve our anxiety. Nor will violence. Nor will continued economic, racial and environmental injustice.
Where is our combined leadership - nationally and locally - to help us on a changed path for our future? Where are our own hearts, to help us on a path to peace and healing?
I don't know, and I remain anxious.
Wars and killings that won't end, overseas and here at home.
Racial and ethnic divides over the past 300 years that still breed and encourage violence.
Economic distress, with so many Americans who have lost jobs, homes and communities.
Huge corporations and banks that have provided their top echelons with enormous wealth while keeping their customers and employees in poverty.
A profound failure to proactively work to prevent more damages from climate change and environmental disasters.
A nihilistic undermining of our common governments to the point of (intended) ineffectiveness.
A presidential candidate who encourages hate, xenophobia, racism, sexism, anti-Muslim, nationalism and authoritarianism.
Shall I go on? There's lots more to add to this list.
Drugs addictions, while increasing rapidly, won't salve our anxiety. Nor will violence. Nor will continued economic, racial and environmental injustice.
Where is our combined leadership - nationally and locally - to help us on a changed path for our future? Where are our own hearts, to help us on a path to peace and healing?
I don't know, and I remain anxious.
9
Evidently.
Please NYT editorial board, you and your paper has used the rare police shootings to enrage racial divisions.
16
Rare? How about 1 a day, on average.
That is insensitive. The killing of 5 police officers and the wounding of 7 others is a massacre. It is worse than that, because the police are agents of democratic government, whose mission is to protect the public and keep political order. Without them, life would be "nasty, brutish, and short." An attack on the police is an attack on self-government and political order.
What is the Times to do: Ignore what happened?
What is the Times to do: Ignore what happened?
Better yet....the editorial board and their liberal constituency have subtlely encouraged it by saying in John Wayne's terms " the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys".......The push back is beginning! I hope those officers didn't didn't die in vain.
1
The citizens of our country have to care enough about all the gun carnage before anything ever gets changed. The NRA controls Congress and gives them their marching orders on how to vote. For anything to change, we have to replace all the politicians who are indebted and are loyal to the NRA rather than the citizens of this country. If we don't care enough to do what's necessary to change the gun laws then we might as well just treat mass shootings like the weather report and forget about it. As Yoda said, "Do or don't do. There is no try."
10
I guess it's going to be "don't do," then.
I'd like to proffer some sincere advice to the Times and its columnists. Next time there is a blue-on-black killing don't just say something -- WAIT UNTIL THE FACTS ARE IN.
The Times's editorial and op-ed rush to judgment in the Ferguson shooting was a disgraceful example of the paper reporting the narrative, not the story. For months on end the Times gave credence every conceivable kind of bizarre and wild charge and loopy conspiracy theory -- virtually none of which survived the scrutiny of the grand jury and the Department of Justice.
When grown-ups behave like that, why is it a surprise that some deranged young blacks might take seriously the story that there is a police conspiracy against black lives and might resort to the despicable attacks we saw in Dallas?
Yes, the overheated and factually challenged rhetoric in your own pages has contributed to the atmosphere that made that possible.
The Times's editorial and op-ed rush to judgment in the Ferguson shooting was a disgraceful example of the paper reporting the narrative, not the story. For months on end the Times gave credence every conceivable kind of bizarre and wild charge and loopy conspiracy theory -- virtually none of which survived the scrutiny of the grand jury and the Department of Justice.
When grown-ups behave like that, why is it a surprise that some deranged young blacks might take seriously the story that there is a police conspiracy against black lives and might resort to the despicable attacks we saw in Dallas?
Yes, the overheated and factually challenged rhetoric in your own pages has contributed to the atmosphere that made that possible.
26
Completely agree. And then the Times publishes a "contribution" from Michael Brown's mother, who compares her son's death to the deaths of Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin, Walter Scott -- the list is too heartbreakingly long. There is one indisputable fact Brown's mother ignores. If her son (who was high and had just robbed a store and roughed up a clerk) had just done what the police officer told him to do - Get out of the street and on to the sidewalk - there would have been no gunshots, no death, no funeral, and an entire community would not have burned to the ground.
1
We have permitted Amerocan culture to become contaminated by bad behavior and poor role models, celebrating celebrity arrogance and excess as normal. We've lost our self-respect & our manners. No other culture in the world relies on violence as entertainment the way we do. News reports replay scenes of violence endlessly. I live in Chicago where TV news plays the Laquan McDonald shooting almost daily. The press keeps the pot boiling, never questioning the outrageous statements of "activists" or their motives. Most reporting is shallow and semsationalized. Stories are overproduced and one-sided. Anti-police & anti-white bias abound. Political correctness skews truth. It's become heresy to even suggest that a protected minority might be wrong about anything. Our cowardly leaders avoid straight talk. We dare not admit that the emperor has no clothes. The problem is us.
107
That's right Ms. Reyes, the problem is us, not guns. You have stated very clearly what the problem in our current society is. If only everyone could understand your well-written statement we could be heading in the right direction.
We did it - 'in spades' - when we flung-open the door to the AMERICAN Tea Party. Its the 'you might get what you seek' - part of the old phrase: 'Be Careful what you ask for'.
1
Not only us but the leaders we elect.....and what a choice this November ya vey.
Sorry if this is preachy, but evidently we need reminding:
Humanity, including America, is losing its moral bearings. We have to remember that ends do not justify violent means. Violence is wrong unless a last resort necessity in self defense. Good intentions are not enough; necessity is required.
For those who deplore the killing of these innocent officers, & innocent people killed by police, ask yourself this:
Did I support the unnecessary massive violence we started in Iraq in 2003?
Did I enthusiastically support torture of POWs?
Did I support & patronize films that justify unnecessary violence like “American Sniper” and “Do the Right Thing”?
Do I think unnecessary violence is advocated by Jesus or Allah?
Etc., etc........
If so, I think we need to look in the mirror & ask who’s to blame for this & what do we need to do to stop it.
Humanity, including America, is losing its moral bearings. We have to remember that ends do not justify violent means. Violence is wrong unless a last resort necessity in self defense. Good intentions are not enough; necessity is required.
For those who deplore the killing of these innocent officers, & innocent people killed by police, ask yourself this:
Did I support the unnecessary massive violence we started in Iraq in 2003?
Did I enthusiastically support torture of POWs?
Did I support & patronize films that justify unnecessary violence like “American Sniper” and “Do the Right Thing”?
Do I think unnecessary violence is advocated by Jesus or Allah?
Etc., etc........
If so, I think we need to look in the mirror & ask who’s to blame for this & what do we need to do to stop it.
5
Why?
Why?
Why?
Really? Are you joking? you don't know why?
BECAUSE BLACK MEN KEEP GETTING SHOT BY POLICEMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not saying it was the right approach but if everyone keeps acting as if they don't know why this happened it will happen again. If we continue to act as if policing in this country can continue as it has it will happen again. If we keep allowing this stereotype of the 'scary black man' to continue it will happen again.
I have read several times the question 'Why did this happen?'
It's insulting.
Why?
Why?
Really? Are you joking? you don't know why?
BECAUSE BLACK MEN KEEP GETTING SHOT BY POLICEMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not saying it was the right approach but if everyone keeps acting as if they don't know why this happened it will happen again. If we continue to act as if policing in this country can continue as it has it will happen again. If we keep allowing this stereotype of the 'scary black man' to continue it will happen again.
I have read several times the question 'Why did this happen?'
It's insulting.
19
Relentless black oppression led to this.,The perpetrator was trained to fight injustice with violence. Just doing what we trained him to do. Unfortunately what he did was misplaced, tragic, self defeating. He killed the good people.
1
After all this, lets remember that this country does NOT have a pervasive, systemic problem in which people attack the police with impunity.
We have a systemic problem in which some policemen shoot some people with impunity. Even after the Dallas attacks, this is still this the problem that needs to be resolved to get peace.
We have a systemic problem in which some policemen shoot some people with impunity. Even after the Dallas attacks, this is still this the problem that needs to be resolved to get peace.
11
"We have a systemic problem in which some policemen shoot some people with impunity. Even after the Dallas attacks, this is still this the problem that needs to be resolved to get peace."
After a few hours of negotiations the SUSPECT police declare it's not going anywhere. What criteria were used for their decision? When do we get a transcript of the meeting where this decision was made? We now no we can't trust anything the police say.
Having made the self serving declaration, the cops then got the chance to try a new way to kill a black man. A bomb! Tied to a robot they drove it up to the guy they wanted dead and blew him away. Note they never say how close it was when then pushed the button.
Who built the bomb? Where did the C4 come from? Do police departments keep a ready-to-use supply of C4? Bombs? Or, did the bomb come from the military equipment given to the police?
Did some cop raise his hand at the meeting which acted as judge and jury and say "Hey, I know how to get revenge on our suspect out of site of the press -- we can blow him up."
Does anyone think it's a coincidence that this new way "bringing a suspect to justice" was tried first on someone who was black.
After a few hours of negotiations the SUSPECT police declare it's not going anywhere. What criteria were used for their decision? When do we get a transcript of the meeting where this decision was made? We now no we can't trust anything the police say.
Having made the self serving declaration, the cops then got the chance to try a new way to kill a black man. A bomb! Tied to a robot they drove it up to the guy they wanted dead and blew him away. Note they never say how close it was when then pushed the button.
Who built the bomb? Where did the C4 come from? Do police departments keep a ready-to-use supply of C4? Bombs? Or, did the bomb come from the military equipment given to the police?
Did some cop raise his hand at the meeting which acted as judge and jury and say "Hey, I know how to get revenge on our suspect out of site of the press -- we can blow him up."
Does anyone think it's a coincidence that this new way "bringing a suspect to justice" was tried first on someone who was black.
The public's sympathy with BLM took a dramatic turn of support this week. That ended Thursday night when a self appointed vigilante decided to dispense his version of justice, that we were appalled by 24 hours earlier.
3
In God we Trust the founding Fathers of this great Nation never anticipated such huge divide between people which was termed as the American Dream for people to live and lead a peaceful lives from any part of the world without any prejudice or persecution
.High time violence is stopped and peace restored
US is the only remaining super power in the world and hence people across the globe look to American inspired leadership for world peace
As the world is battling violent extremists globally , America has to devote all its energies along with its allies in having a peaceful world without violence for the betterment of our future generations
.High time violence is stopped and peace restored
US is the only remaining super power in the world and hence people across the globe look to American inspired leadership for world peace
As the world is battling violent extremists globally , America has to devote all its energies along with its allies in having a peaceful world without violence for the betterment of our future generations
2
This generation is showing it doesn't deserve the liberties people fought for and some even died for. Responsiblity is subordinated to dependence, a work ethic is subordinated to entitlement, and the law enforcer is subordinated to the law evader or law breaker....all in the name of political correctness and "acceptance",
1
Tithe saddest part is knowing the NRA will be encouraging more purchases of assault weapons, and some Republican congressmen are joyfully giving them as gifts, while the Leader of the House does absolutely nothing while proclaiming he is a devoted Christian.
13
He may be Lucifer the anti Christ. You can consider this when watch him speak. Do you see kindness and love in a Jesus face or do you see what I see?
Was at a gun shop today...nearly emptied by sales. He made a fortune in the last three days.
Paul Ryan should resign. He has abdicated his responsibility and no longer serves the country but instead serves the NRA.
This is weird.
Instead of police brutality, there was "civil brutality."
The killers took away from the public the very tool of peacefully fighting injustice.
I condemn police brutality, but I condemn "civil brutality" even more. If the police, called upon to help a peaceful demonstration, is attacked by someone in the crowd, the institution of civil disobedience itself will be put at great risk.
Instead of police brutality, there was "civil brutality."
The killers took away from the public the very tool of peacefully fighting injustice.
I condemn police brutality, but I condemn "civil brutality" even more. If the police, called upon to help a peaceful demonstration, is attacked by someone in the crowd, the institution of civil disobedience itself will be put at great risk.
10
We are now a nation in the midst of civil disorder. I can not accurately describe the nausea I feel I every time I learn of more useless violence.This article uses words such as "continuing agony", "horrifying", "vicious", "atrocity", these words do not convey the true nature of any senseless killings. There are no known words in the English language that can truly express how I feel. We are a nation of violent and vicious people. How did we allow this to happen? Our tombstone should read: " They should have know better than to give in to the ritual of hate."
Our nation faces a multitude of complex problems. we appear, at this point, unable or unwilling to solve them.
20 school children, 8 church goers, 5 policemen thousnads of African-Americans. We should ashamed of ourselves. Instead we hide behind the wall of party platform and ideaology. Shame on us!!!
Our nation faces a multitude of complex problems. we appear, at this point, unable or unwilling to solve them.
20 school children, 8 church goers, 5 policemen thousnads of African-Americans. We should ashamed of ourselves. Instead we hide behind the wall of party platform and ideaology. Shame on us!!!
161
How about: 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do'
I strongly disagree with your allocation of culpability:
Many of us do not share that shame. We vote for politicians who support gun control and mental health care, we contribute to organizations that support gun control and mental health, we protest, write and speak in favor of gun control and mental health care.
However, we have little or no power or influence in this profit-driven and violence-loving plutocracy.
So, what are we supposed to do? Shoot all the gun manufacturers, "originalist" federal justices, Republican politicians, NRA executives, and gun perverts?
Many of us do not share that shame. We vote for politicians who support gun control and mental health care, we contribute to organizations that support gun control and mental health, we protest, write and speak in favor of gun control and mental health care.
However, we have little or no power or influence in this profit-driven and violence-loving plutocracy.
So, what are we supposed to do? Shoot all the gun manufacturers, "originalist" federal justices, Republican politicians, NRA executives, and gun perverts?
I don't grieve for those in our society who live a criminal culture and who expect to be treated as upstanding citizens. If I physically resisted a police officer, I would be surprised if that officer did not at least knock me to the ground and maybe even shoot me. The expectations of those who live in and participate in street crime are incredible and the press that portrays their lives and actions as heroic are a major part of the problem. Gangland culture is gangland culture. You can't strong arm rob someone and then expect to not be treated as a criminal. You can't resist a police officers instructions or fight a police officer and expect a good result. And reporting it any other way is now getting innocent people killed. I soon will grieve for inner city families who are not criminal, but who rely upon the police to protect them. Police who do not want to be put in no win situations. Why don't you tell their stories instead of YOUR OWN? We know yours and Obama's which is stuck in the sixties. The races get along fabulously well in this country even in Tennessee. Criminals and the police tend to be on opposites sides of the fence. Thank goodness. And yes, mistakes will happen as they do every day. Children are dying all over Chicago because they are part of gangland culture. Go save them if you have the guts. Maybe you can get Obama off the golf course to help or at least make a long winded speech that says nothing and accomplishes even less. You should be ashamed.
9
The shootings in Dallas don't change the fundamental fact that police in America are consistently using disproportionate and murderous force to an unprecedented degree. As of today there have been over over 600 killings by police this year, a rate which exceeds the killings by police last year.
The main problem is the police violence itself, not violence against the police. Yet this editorial betrays the typical pro-police bias in describing the latter with words like 'shocking', 'horror', 'appalling', 'atrocity' 'carnage'. Are these same adjectives used to describe the killings of Castile and Sterling, or any of the other 600+ killings by police this year? No.
Which is more shocking, which is the ongoing and long-term atrocity?
The main problem is the police violence itself, not violence against the police. Yet this editorial betrays the typical pro-police bias in describing the latter with words like 'shocking', 'horror', 'appalling', 'atrocity' 'carnage'. Are these same adjectives used to describe the killings of Castile and Sterling, or any of the other 600+ killings by police this year? No.
Which is more shocking, which is the ongoing and long-term atrocity?
11
Notice how Obama's language was so much more inflammatory talking about the police killings in Dallas, compared to.the language he used the day before, talking about the murders BY police.
Without being sarcastic or insensitive, there are some serious questions on the role of violence in this country. Isn't this the country that is a democracy, yet the constitution says one can own arms because " a militia" is needed to protect the public from a tyrannical government? When is that militia allowed to take up arms? Is it when police slaughter civilians and get away with it?
6
Please stop with the sensational headlines. Please.
8
Well, The New York Post blared on page one 'CIVIL WAR' : hardly a model of calm, measured appraisal of dangerous situation.
Departments and colleges of Law Enforcement are proliferating across higher education. These programs span the citizen-police divide and should take the lead in researching and negotiating ways to stop the violence; stop the civil war. Politicians can't lead the way out of this. Those who have chosen vocational paths that situate them at this intersection should be granted huge grants and freedom to find ways to bring about real change in the current status.
26
Guns. A state that allows open carry. Which worked really well in defeating terrorism.
7
Too many firearms of all types + No national policy on firearms possession + Racism in the nations' DNA = A nation that is inherently unsafe for both its citizens and the world at large.
Correct/ameliorate the three parts of the equation and the nation may heal and the carnage stop.
Correct/ameliorate the three parts of the equation and the nation may heal and the carnage stop.
5
Guns, guns, guns. Guns everywhere. Wait, I can't hear the NRA's response here.
In Dallas, one VERY BAD GUY had a gun and ALL THE GOOD guys had guns, so NRA what's up with that. The protests were sparked off by awful shootings allegedly made by cops defending themselves from guys PACKING guns. Hey NRA, what's up with that? What if all the good guys had guns last night? We'd have more dead among the protesters. Hey NRA, what's up with that. AND these tragedies have nothing to do with GUNS? How about GUNS not race being the headline here?
In Dallas, one VERY BAD GUY had a gun and ALL THE GOOD guys had guns, so NRA what's up with that. The protests were sparked off by awful shootings allegedly made by cops defending themselves from guys PACKING guns. Hey NRA, what's up with that? What if all the good guys had guns last night? We'd have more dead among the protesters. Hey NRA, what's up with that. AND these tragedies have nothing to do with GUNS? How about GUNS not race being the headline here?
11
Once again, if this country would make buying all ammunition as hard to purchase as getting an abortion in MS, we would have so many less people to mourn.
9
IRONY
Five policemen are murdered because they are white while protecting mostly black people protesting the death of a black man who was committing a crime and pulled a gun on the police who were attempting to keep other black people safe from the criminal.
Five policemen are murdered because they are white while protecting mostly black people protesting the death of a black man who was committing a crime and pulled a gun on the police who were attempting to keep other black people safe from the criminal.
6
"... the death of a black man who was committing a crime and pulled a gun on the police who were attempting to keep other black people safe from the criminal."
The fact that after extensive reporting of the event and the posting of two videos that show the killing -- anyone can post this lie shows the extent to which facts no longer matter.
So it's easy to see why we have a guy running for President who understands that that telling lies that "feel" true to a segment of the population is an effective way to win.
And it's equally true that the other candidate feels she can lie because another segment of the population feels lying is OK if their politics matches theirs.
The fact that after extensive reporting of the event and the posting of two videos that show the killing -- anyone can post this lie shows the extent to which facts no longer matter.
So it's easy to see why we have a guy running for President who understands that that telling lies that "feel" true to a segment of the population is an effective way to win.
And it's equally true that the other candidate feels she can lie because another segment of the population feels lying is OK if their politics matches theirs.
The editorial is great and thoughtful, unfortunately there are the predictable rabble rousers who again want to make this tragedy a rally for their own anti-gun agenda with the sole goal of polarizing our already divided country further.
I have one question for you: Do you have no shred of decency?
I have one question for you: Do you have no shred of decency?
3
And I have ONE question for you. How can you explain why this unhinged vet had access to high capacity gun magazines for his fortunately abbreviated plans of destruction?
I'm not a cynical person, but I find this New York Times' editorial to be absolutely disgusting and reprehensible in its contrived horror. And I honestly believe that many writers, especially on the left, are perversely pleased with what has occurred in Dallas, as though it's a lamentable reckoning. But here is the truth: The Times and other news organizations have deliberately whipped the impulsive simpletons of this country into a bloodthirsty frenzy over a portrait of America they created to give the false impression that there exists a nationwide, police-driven conspiracy against black Americans. That simply isn't true, and only an ideological fanatic attached to the fictional romance of "institutionalized slavery" could ever believe it.
Whites account for a higher percentage of police-related shooting victims than do blacks, a statistic that lends support to ongoing research which demonstrates that police officers are on average more hesitant to shoot unarmed blacks than unarmed whites. As for the argument about blacks being killed in numbers disproportionate to their percentage of the population, let's apply that argument consistently, shall we? Blacks are also disproportionately more likely to commit violent crimes, including the crime of "cop-killing." Why is this not front-page material — day after day after drumbeat day?
The Times is wholly complicit in pedaling an incredibly irresponsible distortion.
Spare me your manufactured sorrow.
Whites account for a higher percentage of police-related shooting victims than do blacks, a statistic that lends support to ongoing research which demonstrates that police officers are on average more hesitant to shoot unarmed blacks than unarmed whites. As for the argument about blacks being killed in numbers disproportionate to their percentage of the population, let's apply that argument consistently, shall we? Blacks are also disproportionately more likely to commit violent crimes, including the crime of "cop-killing." Why is this not front-page material — day after day after drumbeat day?
The Times is wholly complicit in pedaling an incredibly irresponsible distortion.
Spare me your manufactured sorrow.
15
This comment is too good to be a NYT Pick, thus it is not. Congratulations, Jason, in the extracting truth out of this milking machine.
The media shares some blame in inciting the passion behind the Dallas shootings (and I'm including nytimes.com in this blame) for
1. not reporting that the policeman who shot Philando Castile in Minnesota was not white. The passenger in the car, Diamond Reynolds, was quoted in local media as saying the policeman was "Asian" (he was Hispanic) but national media did not pick this up. Instead there was
2. universal reporting (including in nytimes.com) that Falcon Heights "is a predominantly white community" implying that the policeman was white. Incidentally, both Minneapolis and St. Paul and every one of their suburbs are predominantly white so this is a meaningless, and racially incendiary, comment to make.
1. not reporting that the policeman who shot Philando Castile in Minnesota was not white. The passenger in the car, Diamond Reynolds, was quoted in local media as saying the policeman was "Asian" (he was Hispanic) but national media did not pick this up. Instead there was
2. universal reporting (including in nytimes.com) that Falcon Heights "is a predominantly white community" implying that the policeman was white. Incidentally, both Minneapolis and St. Paul and every one of their suburbs are predominantly white so this is a meaningless, and racially incendiary, comment to make.
15
I am a liberal math person who voted for President Obama. I feel he did an excellent job as president under very trying circumstances. I suggest that the date on the racial bias in police shootings has been inaccurately presented to the public by the media. In fact, it has been reported by the Washington Post that in 2015 that 494 whites, 258 blacks and 238 hispanics have killed by police in 2015. More whites than blacks, almost 2 to 1. That is as expected since the general population is also more white. When you consider that the prison population is about 32% white, 37% and 22% hispanic, this suggests that a greater percentage of whites are killed by police than are currently going to prison. When you consider the economic disparity between these populations and the disparity in opportunity i.e, education, work opportunities and financial carryover, homes and money inheritance the problem becomes more complex and, not readily solvable. Do police pick on blacks for bias reasons alone or do they treat people equally bad but, based on how they look and behave. I suggest that the data does not support any clear racial bias other that poor, mentally troubled people are at a handicap. I suggest that the media has mistakenly made this a simple racial issue suggesting with innocent black men being singled out. This simple story is repeated and I believe has led us to the Dallas tragedy. My condolences to all of us. Come on people now, smile on your brother.
8
There really isn't anything I can say that hasn't already been said. I think we're all still in shock. The violence seems almost Biblical in a horrible way, like the seven year locusts or the raining frogs
I listened to the young white minister who was leading the peaceful march following the tragedies in Baton Rouge and Minnesota. He was steadfast and calm in the face of such depravity, but somber as only such a moment can bring.
The saddest part of this was how the officers instinctively went to protect the marchers as they themselves are under attack. If ever there was a time for prayer and a long timeout from our frenzied politics and heightened rhetoric, this is it.
Just for once can we finally have leaders and candidate simply stop talking?
I listened to the young white minister who was leading the peaceful march following the tragedies in Baton Rouge and Minnesota. He was steadfast and calm in the face of such depravity, but somber as only such a moment can bring.
The saddest part of this was how the officers instinctively went to protect the marchers as they themselves are under attack. If ever there was a time for prayer and a long timeout from our frenzied politics and heightened rhetoric, this is it.
Just for once can we finally have leaders and candidate simply stop talking?
100
What were they protecting the marchers from? The marchers were not a target.
Their act was not the saddest part at all; it was the most telling. Policemen were present for a protest against policemen, they mingled with the protesters supporting their right to protest, when they were being murdered they ran to protect and save the people present and they dealt with and ended the murderers carnage. It is what policemen all over this country do every day and night all the time and there is nothing sad about that fact. It's sad they have to and that they die.
Two protesters were shot and wounded in the carnage. That is what they were protecting protesters from: dying and being shot and five policemen died for it and seven more were wounded. They were dressed in their short-sleeved shirts instead of their protective gear so they would not appear threatening to the protesters and when the murdering began, they ran to first get the citizenry out of harms way instead of going to put on their protective gear.
Every American needs to understand this. They did that, first. Because they are our policemen. Ours.
Every American needs to understand this. They did that, first. Because they are our policemen. Ours.
The President, our Mayor and the Media notably the NYT has been vilifying the entire Law Enforcement Community.
Now there is a different story as there was in New York City after three officers were assassinated.
The problems are so deep and complicated and there has been very little effective work done to solve them.
The great percentage of us no matter race or religion all want the same things. Unfortunately our focus is on the small % of people who live outside the boundaries. How do we educate the children, keep them out of gangs, focus on the successes not the failures and end violence and guns as a huge part of entertainment.
Now there is a different story as there was in New York City after three officers were assassinated.
The problems are so deep and complicated and there has been very little effective work done to solve them.
The great percentage of us no matter race or religion all want the same things. Unfortunately our focus is on the small % of people who live outside the boundaries. How do we educate the children, keep them out of gangs, focus on the successes not the failures and end violence and guns as a huge part of entertainment.
3
A way to restore trust between police and citizens is to increase interaction between the two through citizens' oversight boards in every police department. Police chiefs, unions, and commissioners have been permitted to successfully resist this oversight for too long. This nation was found on citizen control over government force. If citizen oversight is formally linked completely with gun-control measures, there is a chance for making progress.
6
I'm quite tired of saying (and hearing) "Our thoughts are with . . . ." This is a big country, and every day a lot of people die by violence in incidents that never get much media attention. According to the Guardian, in the past year police in America have killed more than 500 people. Only a small fraction of those killings made national news. The lives of police officers are worth no more (and no less) than any other lives, black or otherwise. We have a justice system in which those suspected of a crime are supposed to be subdued (if they offer resistance) with a minimum of violence and turned over to the courts for a decision on what if any punishment they should suffer. Clearly that system has not worked in the case of unarmed suspects who are killed by cops. And the fact that it often does not work causes frustration in many, frustration that in a few leads to violence against the police. For one type of violence to stop, the other must stop.
4
So true! A cop's life is not worth one scintilla more than that of any poverty stricken young person of color. Actually I think cops (and politicians for that matter) should be held to a much higher standard of behavior than regular citizens - for God's sake, they are allowed to use lethal force!
Speaker Paul Ryan, not 72 hours ago, called out the Democrats on their sit-in of the House floor in support of meaningful gun control. Speaker Ryan stated that the Dems would be "punished" for their civil disobedience. A childish statement at the time; now, a disgusting rebuke to five dead and six wounded police officers, the "good guys with guns".
Soon, Speaker Ryan will wax poetic on the tragic deaths of these officers, ignore the deaths of the two dead black men in MN and KY, and continue his quest of twisting the 2nd Amendment in the service of his own personal plan for job security. But we know this already, don't we?
Soon, Speaker Ryan will wax poetic on the tragic deaths of these officers, ignore the deaths of the two dead black men in MN and KY, and continue his quest of twisting the 2nd Amendment in the service of his own personal plan for job security. But we know this already, don't we?
23
Excellent post.
Your need to add the connection between the LA, MN incidents with criminals and those stopped for breaking the law is telling. Also telling is the lack of a call to classify this as a Hate Crime. This is a normal request for the NYT Editorial Board whenever one of your chosen groups is slighted in any way.
Police Officers do not wake up in the morning looking for black people to commit crimes. They wake up and go to work like most of us, but they have to deal with the worst that our society has to offer. And some, don't go home due to the increasing radicalization of one segment of the population that can't seem to break the victim cycle. Even as other minority groups race pace them in achievement and assimilation.
Important for NYT to take stock in their role in the ever increasing cycle of Hate against our nations Police Officers. The BLM cause and leadership are no different than the Black Panthers and other "liberation" organizations of the 60's that killed, stole and kidnapped in the name of their "cause."
Cue the next article by some professor from Georgetown or Princeton who will tell us that White people just don't it.
Pathetic.
Police Officers do not wake up in the morning looking for black people to commit crimes. They wake up and go to work like most of us, but they have to deal with the worst that our society has to offer. And some, don't go home due to the increasing radicalization of one segment of the population that can't seem to break the victim cycle. Even as other minority groups race pace them in achievement and assimilation.
Important for NYT to take stock in their role in the ever increasing cycle of Hate against our nations Police Officers. The BLM cause and leadership are no different than the Black Panthers and other "liberation" organizations of the 60's that killed, stole and kidnapped in the name of their "cause."
Cue the next article by some professor from Georgetown or Princeton who will tell us that White people just don't it.
Pathetic.
7
Well said, FG !
I am appalled at the sight of a black man cold-heartedly gunning down white police officers. I am also appalled at the sight (or report) of police officers cold-heartedly (or chicken-heartedly) gunning down black men. But I am most appalled at the likely resolution of these situations. The Dallas shooter has been "dealt with"; his motives will be ferreted out and placed before the court of public opinion and his death justified. The officers who killed the black men in Minnesota and Louisianan will, if the play follows it usual script, be exonerated and quietly returned to the "force".
We can't stop crazy men from creating havoc but we should be able to stop our well-trained policemen from killing black men. One way to do so is to make them accountable for every bullet that leaves the barrel of their gun.
We can't stop crazy men from creating havoc but we should be able to stop our well-trained policemen from killing black men. One way to do so is to make them accountable for every bullet that leaves the barrel of their gun.
10
Interesting that the Dallas suspect was killed by a.robot despite the fact that he was trapped and incapable of.harming anyone. Who cares about due process when brave, selfless police officers are killed, right?
Life is so precious. And yet it seems that all we do in the US is kill each other.
6
Is this really my country? There is a problem...TOO MANY GUNS......
10
Wrong. 'Bout time you start looking at the cesspool "culture " that is this divided US of A.
I wonder if all the politicians who are currently investigating trivial matters at great cost to taxpayers can turn their attention to the significant problem of gun violence against and by law enforcement. When any civilian can purchase bullets that pierce body armor used by law enforcement--bullets that have no other purpose but to kill law enforcement-- it is hard to say the NRA and their Congressional protectors are on the side of law enforcement. When anyone can carry a weapon of war openly in the city where President Kennedy was killed, it is hard to say civilian life is valued in Texas.
It is time for Congress to earn its salaries and work on the real problems of our country. Don't distract voters from the issues that threaten our lives, Speaker Ryan. Do your job and discuss, debate and vote on a gun policy that saves the lives of law enforcement as well as civilians.
It is time for Congress to earn its salaries and work on the real problems of our country. Don't distract voters from the issues that threaten our lives, Speaker Ryan. Do your job and discuss, debate and vote on a gun policy that saves the lives of law enforcement as well as civilians.
13
Until young black males stop shooting EACH OTHER with abandon, the general public will react with fear. The situation in Chicago is the worst in the nation.
This does not excuse the actions of police regarding the recent incidents but some responsibility must be taken in the black community for this culture of violence and guns. Black lives also matter when taken by other blacks . Let me add that I am a lifelong, liberal Democrat. These incidents are heartbreaking for all of us.
This does not excuse the actions of police regarding the recent incidents but some responsibility must be taken in the black community for this culture of violence and guns. Black lives also matter when taken by other blacks . Let me add that I am a lifelong, liberal Democrat. These incidents are heartbreaking for all of us.
14
The safer way to reform policing, even in those few places where systemic bias is manifest, is for leaders to hold themselves accountable for those failures. It earns them both legitimacy and acceptance to reform from within.
3
It is sickening the carnage one person can cause with a gun. America is full of angry men with high-powered weapons capable of killing many people in a matter of minutes. This is the America created by the NRA over the past 50 years. It will not be easy to change things. There is little political will to even try. We are horrified by the violence but the NRA has convinced a minority of Americans that freedom means the right to buy and carry very dangerous weapons everywhere they go.
Add to this a police culture that disproportionately targets African-Americans, and we have Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Baton Rouge and Minnesota and all the others - and now Dallas.
The relationship between blacks and police must be fixed. That means the police take the initiative for better training and policing.
It has been another unimaginably tragic week in America. So sad for the victims and their families and friends.
Add to this a police culture that disproportionately targets African-Americans, and we have Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Baton Rouge and Minnesota and all the others - and now Dallas.
The relationship between blacks and police must be fixed. That means the police take the initiative for better training and policing.
It has been another unimaginably tragic week in America. So sad for the victims and their families and friends.
7
So far, no one has considered the overwhelmingly MALE component to gun violence in America. Consider the Santa Barbara massacre a few years ago involving a pathetic college student struck with affluenza and a sense of sexual frustration at still being a virgin in his early twenties. There is something truly sick in contemporary culture leading to such heights in violent frustration : children are NO LONGER taught about the virtues of deferred pleasures AND the message of the Stones' 'You can't always get what you want' hit. This may sound trite, but it's true!
It's more people of color, black or brown.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the murder victims families, to the five policemen's families, to Phliando Castile's family, to Alton Sterling's family.
5
I was shocked and upset at the senseless killings in Minnesota, and Baton Rouge, but what happened in Dallas has left me profoundly sad, dismayed and with a broken heart. This is so wrong, so despicable that I can only mutely shake my head. Sniping at individuals doing their job is cowardice of the lowest degree. Absolutely not the way to correct a wrong. My prayers with the people from Dallas.
9
Nice.....so the unjust killing of citizens by cops - who are sworn to protect us leaves you shocked and upset, (averaging about 1 a day this year), but the first and extremely rare revenge killing of cops you find despicable? That's an interesting standard, it really is.
Until the 2nd amendment is repealed senseless violence of this magnitude will continue. It is, sadly, part of our culture - one protected and strengthened by those who hold the 2nd amendment so dear.
4
"In mere hours, the carnage left the country with a wrenching shift"
There was no shift in my grief, in my anger, in my sorrow. Someone took a gun and meted out their perverted version of justice or released their pain or their fear or their hatred in a violent rampage in Dallas. As someone did Louisiana and Minnesota and Orlando and, and, and, and..
Just stop it. Stop reaching for a gun every time you are confronted with something you fear, something you don't know.
There was no shift in my grief, in my anger, in my sorrow. Someone took a gun and meted out their perverted version of justice or released their pain or their fear or their hatred in a violent rampage in Dallas. As someone did Louisiana and Minnesota and Orlando and, and, and, and..
Just stop it. Stop reaching for a gun every time you are confronted with something you fear, something you don't know.
8
All we like to do in this country is talk and talk and talk while our culture disintegrates. By this note, I guess you could say I'm one of them. I think it's a peculiar trait of we Baby Boomers. We seem to be more interested in making speeches, in preening, in posting multicolored selfies in solidarity with victims, in fraudulent intimacy. When push comes to shove, we don't have the guts or the will, maybe not even the moral compass, to do what needs to be done to make for a civilized, humane society. I'm try to do my part by just being kind. As for the violence happening in society, I just think what an extraordinary lack of imagination we have as a species.
9
We also don't have the analysis. A humane society wouldn't be capitalist. It wouldn't be stratified. Class wouldn't exist. Nor would race. Sex discrimination wouldn't exist. Sexual orientation wouldn't matter. Xenophobia would ebb.
Is such a mass society possible? How could we know? There has never been even an attempt to create one.
Is such a mass society possible? How could we know? There has never been even an attempt to create one.
It's the guns people. I'm quite sure the founding father's didn't imagine that everyone should have a machine gun.
34
Actually, I think this is EXACTLY what they had in mind when they wrote the second amendment. How many candlelight vigils would it take to get this much attention focused on police repression of the population?
Somehow I get a feeling the NRA pictures something different when it encourages citizens to arm themselves to the teeth against tyranny.
23
The current antisocial horror playing out in these disunited states is yet another strain of the murderous racism in the minds of too many of the people of the new human slave-owning United States of America.
How many police shootings of unarmed African American men, women and children, and how many social media postings of the physical harassment of unarmed African men, women and children by police officers and other Americans in positions of authority have led to the tragic shooting of twelve police officers and two civilians?
When every American acknowledges this history and can cite such numbers, that will be the beginning of the education of those Americans who refuse to accept responsibility for their own highly violent antisocial actions.
Perhaps then may we begin to truly heal.
How many police shootings of unarmed African American men, women and children, and how many social media postings of the physical harassment of unarmed African men, women and children by police officers and other Americans in positions of authority have led to the tragic shooting of twelve police officers and two civilians?
When every American acknowledges this history and can cite such numbers, that will be the beginning of the education of those Americans who refuse to accept responsibility for their own highly violent antisocial actions.
Perhaps then may we begin to truly heal.
6
Violence only results in more violence. Watching innocent black men gunned down by the police does have a predictable effect. The fear of an armed population leads to gross overreaction by police as appears to be the case in the Minnesota murder, which can be viewed in real time. More sensible regulation of guns and better training for police is essential. Unfortunately, this Dallas shooting will only serve to justify tougher treatment by the police and more justification for "concealed carry" gun laws, which are a real threat to civil society. This country has a violent, racist foundation. Only we can choose to rise above it. That takes responsible leadership, which will not come from the current Republic presidential nominee. Only the gun manufacturers gain from the continued unrelenting gun murders in this country.
10
Agree. Hopefully if and when the politicians stop their mudslinging at each other and actually sit down to have an adult dialog about what to do, they will also discuss both the positive as well as negative impact of social media. A good portion of our population have become addicted to the instant gratification of being voyeurs. All it will take in these tense days is for some nut to stream a rant or a faked or doctored clip to incite a major riot. Facebook, Twitter etc should not be allowed a free pass on this issue.
It's not just more death that compounds the evil here; it's an extension of the wrong mentality claim held by the "other" side. Yes, police should not treat black American differently--worse--simply because they are black, and presumably because the beholder stereotypes black people unfairly. But doing the same to policemen is just the same evil: a policeman in Dallas is a person, unto themselves, and with no relation to the Minneapolis or any other police officer; the victim are individuals, and policemen should not be painted with the broad strokes that black Americans are also fighting against.
18
The Dallas police have an excellent reputation. Before this rally, they tweeted a picture of three smiling men: a protestor with a sign, with two police officers on either side of him. Of course they weren't wearing SWAT military gear. That doesn't happen here (well, it didn't used to at least). The Dallas police actually serve their community and are trained, and have the ability, to de-escalate situations. Because of a strong union they are well paid and competent.
What has happened is wrong on so many levels. The Dallas police have nothing to do with these shootings around the country.
What has happened is wrong on so many levels. The Dallas police have nothing to do with these shootings around the country.
39
You are correct, Ann, but unfortunately , the shooter was motivated by the killings in MN and LA. That is where the connection lies.
The only thing that will begin to restore the fractured relationship between white and black Americans is a massive display of solidarity by white Americans. It requires getting out from behind keyboards and safety of our homes and taking to the streets in thousands in every city, town, and community in the country. Forget words, forget arguments. White America needs to send an equivalent message that they are in solidarity with black America. Together they can then begin to address the pernicious vestiges of racism and violent policing practices. It'll take many people out in public, in great numbers.
15
Shots fired in Dallas and heard round the world.
Nov. 22, 1963.
July 7, 2016.
The reason both times? Hatred.
Nov. 22, 1963.
July 7, 2016.
The reason both times? Hatred.
18
This was an abhorrent act. The fact that it was just one sick shooter and not several, as originally postulated, is of some relief. Cops tend to be conservative in outlook in general and that is a big part of this issue of shooting blacks seemingly at random. Cop culture must be changed and that is a monstrous undertaking. I do not think it can be done.
2
Oh, spare me the cant and hypocrisy, please. Like so much else in American history, long predating the US, this has been building since the first slave reached these shores (Jamestown, 1619; by coincidence, 19 slaves then). Until this very instant, the horror, the horror, has been a largely Black experience. Now, what goes around has come round. Will it concentrate minds wonderfully to some positive advantage? History suggests not. Any more than Tony Blair can face up to his responsibility for endless death and sufffering.
One way or another, we'll carry on bleeding and dying. Because it's what we want; or something would long since have been done.
One way or another, we'll carry on bleeding and dying. Because it's what we want; or something would long since have been done.
8
Guns Guns Guns. There are way too many out there and the majority of people support gun control but the NRA is able to manipulate congress and there is no hope. Very sad.
49
Guns, guns, guns.
Money, money, money.
Around and around we go.
Actually, the Bible had it right as it said "Money is the root of all evil."
Money, money, money.
Around and around we go.
Actually, the Bible had it right as it said "Money is the root of all evil."
Agree too many guns, Congress given too much money by the NRA. Assault weapons do not belong on any USA. street.
This terrible event once again highlights the broken society we now live in. A complex combination of poorly trained police officers, racism, and a lack of understanding has resulted in the victimization of many in the African American community. However, our culture of violence, a flood of weapons being openly carried by a huge number of citizens, and terrorism threats compound the very difficult job of law enforcement.
At a MINIMUM Congress should authorize an in depth analysis of the violence plaguing our communities, how guns contribute to this violence, and the strategies for better policing. Unfortunately, this will not happen due to influence from the NRA. I am very despondent about our national situation. I think things will only continue to get worse.
At a MINIMUM Congress should authorize an in depth analysis of the violence plaguing our communities, how guns contribute to this violence, and the strategies for better policing. Unfortunately, this will not happen due to influence from the NRA. I am very despondent about our national situation. I think things will only continue to get worse.
35
THIS Congress actually forbade public-health research into gun violence.
Vote the Republicans out, or this never changes.
Vote the Republicans out, or this never changes.
Too bad they are spending all their time and (our) money investigating another Clinton.
So where's the NRA in all of this? Gloating over the increased gun sales that happen after every massacre? Cops wouldn't shoot first and ask questions later if they felt assured that everyone they arrested wasn't carrying a concealed handgun. Massacres of cops and civilians wouldn't happen if nobody had easy access to guns. How much blood will it take before America notices that we're the only "civilized" country in the world that isn't civilized. Look to Australia to see how easy it is to bring peace from guns.
79
Both sides must stop the killings!
I wonder the number of firearms sold in Texas alone, in the last hour. Those would be converts watching the sun set on Dallas. Protest, anyone?
After the NYT’s original story I posted a comment that was removed (after some 250 recommends), presumably because it touched someone’s nerve. It was to the effect that an event like Dallas is the NRA’s dream come true.
Their refrain is that the Second Amendment is a safeguard enabling people to arm themselves to fight back against perceived government oppression. The shooter in Dallas saw himself as doing just that. If the NRA believed its own propaganda, it would defend him.
Be careful what you wish for.
Their refrain is that the Second Amendment is a safeguard enabling people to arm themselves to fight back against perceived government oppression. The shooter in Dallas saw himself as doing just that. If the NRA believed its own propaganda, it would defend him.
Be careful what you wish for.
23
What you wish for? You mean the racist black lives matter movement just got what they have been chanting for. You should be happy.
1
Ban guns, starting with the police...
7
Great - then we are all targets of those with illegal guns and no protection, just brilliant. Thank the cops for keeping us safe!
1
taopraxis,
Really, you really think banning guns will stop criminals from having them
and when the police face a criminal with a gun that criminal will just place the
gun gently on the ground and turn around and let the policeman cuff you.
Really, you really think banning guns will stop criminals from having them
and when the police face a criminal with a gun that criminal will just place the
gun gently on the ground and turn around and let the policeman cuff you.
1
This buck stops at Obama's desk. He stared fomenting the new level of cop hatred with his terribly inappropriate comments on the Henry Louis Gates mini controversy. He went way downhill from there and his comments today from Warsaw politicizing this is a contributing factor of the downward spiral in cop hatred we saw the culmination of last night.
10
It mostly comes back to gun control.
Aside from the fact that the murderer in Dallas was able to easily obtain an assault weapon, don't you think that the prevalence of guns leads to police officers being quick on the trigger? Yes, unconscious racial stereotypes play a part - but combining this with a (well-founded) concern that anyone they confront may be armed leads to tragedy over and over.
Aside from the fact that the murderer in Dallas was able to easily obtain an assault weapon, don't you think that the prevalence of guns leads to police officers being quick on the trigger? Yes, unconscious racial stereotypes play a part - but combining this with a (well-founded) concern that anyone they confront may be armed leads to tragedy over and over.
10
Indirectly responsibility for all these shootings and these BLM rallies that call for death to the police and death to white people can be laid straight at the steps to the White House, former AG Eric Holder, and the liberal left-wing media..........the insane rhetoric from these groups have poisoned our country. Another place are the educational systems that teach that whites are racist and police are out to go after young blacks. And that is happening and no one can deny it.......if they try to it is simply more left-wing liberal lies!!!
19
CraigM, you are kidding aren't you?....you conveniently forget this country's history & the manipulation of the constitution.
Don't tell me it's not about guns. A knife in the hands of the killer never would have created this level of carnage.
We are moving in a very, very, very scary direction in this country...
We are moving in a very, very, very scary direction in this country...
27
Agree it is scary to live in the USA., the unkindness towards elderly people, disabled people, race hatred, religious indifference. I am 56 and glad I grew up when I did. We are at a crossroads of an angry Nation.
It's not about guns. It's about desperation over how awful things are for so many people.
At this point, with the amount of blood spilled to date, I am not sure I want gun control but gun eradication without impacting lawful and responsible gun owners
2
65 shootings in Chicago alone on July 4th weekend are being ignored.
340 homicides in Baltimore and another 600 in Chicago in 2015.
Do they matter?
All incidents of police abuse need thorough investigation but the media narrative that the police are the problem rather than the criminals is dangerous nonsense.
340 homicides in Baltimore and another 600 in Chicago in 2015.
Do they matter?
All incidents of police abuse need thorough investigation but the media narrative that the police are the problem rather than the criminals is dangerous nonsense.
20
Our racist, classist, militaristic society is the problem. Policing is one of our society's institutions. It is indeed one of the problems.
Create a decent society and watch criminal conduct plummet.
Yeah, let's not hold our breath.
Create a decent society and watch criminal conduct plummet.
Yeah, let's not hold our breath.
1
All of this carnage and shootings that you mention is the war on drugs. Nixon has been recorded saying that he created this war to hurt the black community. What will this deadbeat Congress and the absent media do to bring an armistice to this bloodbath?
The Times, along with much of the nation's liberal media, has been doing everything in its power to advance its political agenda by whipping up black racial resentment against whites. This is the result. It would be wrong to blame the black community for the actions of Micah Johnson, just as it was wrong to blame whites for the actions of Dylann Roof. But to the extent that a newspaper can be guilty of such an atrocity, I blame the Times.
27
Your comment presumes that blacks cannot feed their"racial hatred" without the media? What about the history of institutional racism? Is it not possible that this might be the accelerant. What is amazing to me as a white female, is that more of us white folk don't or can't see how they have benefitted by being white.
Seems to me that the videos of Black people being gunned down is worth 20 million liberal media words. "Confederate culture" shaped Dylan Roof and some "New Black Panther Party" culture shaped Micah Johnson. As for the rest of America, look no further than "reality TV".
I feel sorry for you if you truly believe black people's resentment of white people is whipped up by the media. I assure you that black people require no propaganda to understand the deep institutional racism that pervades this country.
1
Just like no one should be judged based on the color of their skin, no one deserves to be judged based on what clothes or uniform they wear.
There's a reason why it's called The Golden Rule.
I wish all the politicians who make statements like "we should all come together", and then choose to make divisive statements blaming the other side in the very next breath, would just shut up.
There's a reason why it's called The Golden Rule.
I wish all the politicians who make statements like "we should all come together", and then choose to make divisive statements blaming the other side in the very next breath, would just shut up.
15
There is no way to recommend your last sentence highly enough.
1
We see an orgy of violence occurring everywhere in the world. It starts on Monday, it finishes on Sunday. Palestine, Bagdad, Bangladesh, Louisiana, Texas... Where will the deaths of tomorrow die? Who will kill whom?
The political anarchy in Europe and the USA is worrisome, as authoritarian regimes, as China and Russia, who have a dismal human rights record, seem to have a better grip on maintaining law and order than it is the case in the Western world.
The political anarchy in Europe and the USA is worrisome, as authoritarian regimes, as China and Russia, who have a dismal human rights record, seem to have a better grip on maintaining law and order than it is the case in the Western world.
2
To be honest, I feel we are living in the death throes of democracy as we know it. If terrorist attacks continue in the EU and domestic terrorism spreads in the United States citizens will opt for any generalissimo with golden braids to maintain order and the basics of economic activity at any cost.
1
Homicide per 100,000 inhabitant according to the UN:
Japan 0.3
Switzerland 0.5
Poland 0.7
China 0.8
France 1.2
Canada 1.4
Israel 1.8
Jordan 2.0
USA 3.9
Russia 9.5
Brazil 24.6
South Africa 33.0
Japan 0.3
Switzerland 0.5
Poland 0.7
China 0.8
France 1.2
Canada 1.4
Israel 1.8
Jordan 2.0
USA 3.9
Russia 9.5
Brazil 24.6
South Africa 33.0