Anyhow, here's something I'd planned on sending to my Congresscritters (all of them - at all levels) and I think it makes for a good post here as well. Let me know what you think.
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Is this worth killing someone for?
Before
you propose a new measure, or a new law, that’s a question you should be asking
yourself. Is what you’re proposing worth
killing someone over?
Why? Because that is what can happen. It’s not guaranteed to happen, but it’s possible. Id est:
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Someone doesn’t wear their seat belt
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Officer Law sees this.
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Officer Law pulls the wayward citizen over to
cite him
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Citizen refuses citation, chucks it back out
through the window. Officer Law puts it
back in citizen’s hand.
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Rinse, repeat.
Officer Law gets frustrated with this, and decides it’s time to remove
citizen from his vehicle.
-
Enforcement
for not wearing a seat belt has now risen to the point of battery.
-
Citizen, not liking being treated this way,
keeps trying to get out of Officer Law’s grip and restraint, trying to free
himself. Battery continues.
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Officer Law finally gets citizen proned out on
the pavement, kneeling on his upper back, and finally trying to get cuffs on
his hands. Battery continues.
-
Forgot to mention – citizen is asthmatic. So, not only have we triggered an attack with
all this rough handling (over a law where the only person being endangered is
the citizen himself,) but we are now compressing his chest and making it
difficult for him to get a lungful of air.
Enforcement has now risen to the
point of attempted manslaughter.
-
Officer Law does not listen to citizen’s pleas
for air (it’s happened in actual fact,) and maintains pressure on the citizen’s
back until a backup officer arrives so he can have help handling this man. Breathing
stops. Enforcement has now elevated to the point of manslaughter in fact. Call the coroner, write the report.
Now, do you
honestly think that someone not wearing his seat belt (just an example, mind)
was worth getting killed over? How about
that fellow – Eric Garner? – in New York selling single smokes, and pretty much
this happened to him. Was “selling
singles” worth killing a man over? I am
highly inclined to think not.
Every new
regulation, every new measure, every new law that you propose, you should be
asking yourself that question – is this
worth killing someone over? My own
past experience notwithstanding, death is permanent. You’ve ended
a life – and for what? Six bucks’ worth
of smokes? Not wearing a seat belt? Someone who just got through a gnarly day,
and now he’s being pestered for a taillamp being out (as opposed to simply
being told such on the loud-hailer, which is how these things used to be handled.)
If you think
that such minor infractions are worth
killing over, you have a seriously skewed sense of priorities, and I question
your ability to serve in elected office.
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There's a comments section here, so let me know what you think!
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There's a comments section here, so let me know what you think!
