Pointing Fingers at "Evil" Guns ...

... and going for the easy pulling of heart strings, while omitting (or outright ignoring) what the real problem(s) are. I would have expected this out of the "Sun-Times", or "Chicago Defender". Sadly, it resides over at "The Chicago Tribune".

The .45-caliber handgun found feet from the body of Officer Thomas Wortham IV passed through three states and many hands before a chance encounter at a convenience store set it on its tragic course for Chicago.

It is terrifically hard not to respond with massive amounts of snark at the sentence above. Just the implied imaging of "the gun", under it's own volition, wandering through three states before it committed it's hinus acts in Chicago, without benefit of any human interaction, got my hackles up.

To be fair, the rest of the story gives the details on how this weapon, this tool -improperly used -. arrived in Chicago. But the story which is told, is not the complete one.

1. Why was there a need to go "out of state" to get firearms (of any sort)?
2. Why was an officer shot?
3. Why are gangs as big a problem as they are, and why are they (or must they) be so heavily armed?
4. Why, with the city of Chicago's and the state of Illinois gun laws being some of the tightest in the nation, are they (the criminal element/gangs) able to circumvent said laws?

These are just a few of the questions (some of which are obliquely addressed in the article) which should have been of more importance.

Questions 1 and 3 are tied together. The criminal element (in any city/state) is going to get what they think they need in order for them to continue doing "business". If they feel they are "threatened" by other gangs/criminal elements, or by law enforcement agencies, any of which are perceived to have superior firepower, then they will, if possible, "up the anti" and escalate things on their side. If they have to go "out of state" in order to meet their needs (or even "out of the country", they will do so.

Question 2 sadly is much easier to answer on a couple of levels. First, if you have no real fear of either the law (LEO's) or the ultimate judicial consequences for your acts/actions, then taking the life of a cop is no longer any big deal to you. This holds true for many of the gangs, especially those tied into the drug cartels. Secondly, if you place no value on the lives of human beings (I would have said "other humans", but that is not applicable here), it would follow that you will take what you want, from whom ever you want, when ever you want. After all, your needs/wants/desires, are the only ones which matter.

Question 4 is almost rhetorical. The short answer is, "Because they can". They will continue to do so as long as the system (be it the political "machine", the judicial, or the local society in general) allows them to do so. If the public would consistently raise a hue and cry over the gang/drugs/general lawlessness, vote in (or demand they were appointed by the powers that be) judges who seek to convict and not circumvent/interpret the law, work WITH law enforcement instead of promoting an environment of "them or us". Oh, and how about allowing the citizens to arm themselves (as provided for by that pesky Constitution). When a society has the option to either arm or not, one tends to find a large chunk of the criminal element goes elsewhere. (This is a proven fact, I'm not going to provide a link, those of you who know this already don't need it, and those who refuse to believe it, are welcome to google or bing it.) Perhaps had the local citizenry been armed the thugs may have thought twice about trying to take the cycle (thinking it is bad enough having to possibly deal with LEO's, we have the very real risk of being shot at by anyone).

I feel bad to see yet another of the "thin blue line" has been taken from us. The "good ones" are hard enough to come by as it is, that one was lost for any number of reasons, many of which should have been addressed long, long ago, is figuratively and literally, criminal. That the Chicago Tribune chose to print an emotional heart tugging story about "the evil gun" (and the sad misguided folks who "interacted" with it, on it's "journey to Chicago") which is nothing more than a thinly veiled "anti-gun" rant, is .... well let's just say it goes to show "yellow journalism" is not only alive and well, but happily resides at the Chicago Tribune.

(Cross Posted at Snugg Harbor)

An Explanation of Sorts

Here it is almost a year and a half since I made my presence felt. To be honest, the road my country was traveling on, continuing to travel on, was too much for this bit of ectoplasm to bear.

In some respects, as much as I despised the man (Roosevelt) and all he did and stood for, at least he was a worthy adversary. Agree with him, or not, you knew where he stood most of the time. You knew where he intended to go. And he made no bones about it.

But this latest usurper to the office of the Presidency ... this fool ... this emperor dressed in nothing but prepackaged oratorical utterances, he is not worthy of my wrath. He is not worthy of my pity. All he merits,is my most heartfelt disdain, and sincerest scorn.

Do you not, see him and his ilk for what they are?

He (who shall be nameless, as much as it is possible to do so) is little more then a boy-king. Perhaps he will realize his dream of empire, at out expense, but he is beholding to ... well, I am not exactly sure, there are any number of people who can lay claim to that. George Sorros comes to mind, but he is far too easy a choice. (That doesn't eliminate him, just gives one pause as to what other options might be in play here, if any.)

As for his fellow travelers. You know who they are, for they are legion. It is not so surprising to see the party of Wilson, FDR, and LBJ, continue it's evolution into it's present form. The signs were there for decades.

They were ignored.

I would like to believe most Americans fell under that most common of human failings; the one which goes: "Why yes, the peoples of [fill in the blank] fell under the yoke of [fill in the blank], but it can never happen here."

It can happen here. It is beginning to happen here. And unless this is not realized, and more importantly, acted upon very soon, the same result will occur here. The same end result which happened in Russia under Stalin, in China under Mao, in Germany under the Austrian corporal, and across a very large portion of the world, under the yoke of Islam.

So yes, I grew discouraged. Perhaps it was only the outlying symptoms of my ever increasing rate of RPMs as the last vestiges of my corporeal form rotated ever more quickly. Alas, that would be but an excuse. What was left of my spirit, needed to compose itself. Needed time to reflect. Perhaps even time to do nothing more then observe. Well, this has been done. Now is the time to post the guards, man the ramparts, fuel the fires, and fan the flames.

I have returned!

Standby For News

I have been silent for some time. Frankly, the events going on in the City of Chicago, the state of Illinois, and this great nation, have caused this spirit of the press to seek at least a temporary repose away from the maddening crowds, and the barkers of political suicide.

But something called me back. And in the next couple of visits, I will attempt to address not only the absence but the call to return. There will be commentary on the news of the day as well. Stay tuned.

Respectfully,

"The Col."