Friday, July 08, 2016

Dallas

It's premature, but I'll comment anyway. I think the recent history of police shootings in Albuquerque offer useful lessons for America.

In Burque, the racial component is less important than elsewhere. You have Hispanic cops shooting whites and fellow Hispanics, and even each other. You see a militarized, poorly-paid, and badly-trained police force that let standards slip. It's hard to believe it's been only 2 years since James Boyd got killed for schizophrenia and obnoxiousness. Being annoying enough is sufficient cause for the police to kill you in Albuquerque.

So, better police training would help, but it's not enough. Demilitarization is required too, but since the population is militarizing with more and better weaponry, it won't happen. As long as people can easily buy AR-15's and body armor, there will always be cause for a slaughter.

The Second Amendment crowd have romantic notions of what a Second Amendment rebellion would look like. The Gummint sends in troops to take one's guns, and the people fight back. But that gauzy notion isn't what it looks like in real life. We had a Second Amendment rebellion recently in Ferguson, MO. The flames of rebellion there were fanned by overzealous traffic stops, and the people fought back. THAT'S what a real Second Amendment rebellion is in America!

If cops continue to murder people for frivolous reasons in Louisiana, Minnesota, and elsewhere, then blowback from the population against the cops is inevitable. We'll see what we learn about tonight's events in Dallas. There may be surprises there. But we already know enough to start a process of demilitarization in American society, by cops and people alike. If we don't lay down arms, society-wide, these slaughters will continue.

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