Communities need to hire better police

Minneapolis is on fire currently.  Another police brutality case erupts into civil unrest, and the community is suffering mob violence over the perceived injustice as a video lays out yet another bad decision by a bad cop.

No, I haven't seen everything leading up to this video of a Minneapolis police officer holding down an African American suspect, knee to his neck, all the while the suspect pleading with the officer that he can't breath.  The suspect died shortly thereafter.  It would be hard to overcome this video in a court room, but I will have to say that this is awfully hard to watch as this callous rogue cop slowly suffocates this guy as he begs for his life.  Just awful.

Look at the cost of this bad hire.  This cop, who has had lots of disciplinary action taken against him over his fairly long career, is another example of how a poor hiring decision can cost a community dearly.  This bad cop should never have been hired in the first place.  Give a thug a little authority, and everybody knows what will happen: they will abuse that authority, and brutalize the public.

Minneapolis is symptomatic of the hiring process in many larger metropolitan areas: they have budgets, the budgets are tight, and they can't offer the kinds of salaries to their police force that would attract more talented individuals.  College grads are likely not attracted to positions that start with annual salaries as low as typical rookie policemen/women.  Accordingly, communities are getting non-college trained folk, and although many of these people entering the police academies would make perfectly fine grocery baggers or landscape laborers, giving some of these unimpressive rookies a gun and discretion to make life and death decisions on the spot requires a higher caliber of personnel than a ditch digger or a gas station attendant.  

We can all see on our TV screens the result of bad police decisions, as we watch Minneapolis burn.  Time to jack up the salaries and qualifications of America's law enforcement personnel.  We can't advance a polite society when we have brutal thugs wearing badges killing us willy nilly.  

Time to wise up. 

"We're all in this together..."

Yes, we've all heard our betters tell us this, over and over.  And they seem to believe what they are telling us.

"We are all in this together."  And in the next breath, our betters tell us to stay at home, no beach outings, no haircuts, just sit.  And in the breath after that, they instruct their chauffeur to warm up the Bentley because they have an appointment at the hair salon, just for them ((Lori Lightfoot (D), Mayor of Chicago)).   

When asked why she can get her hair done, but nobody else can, she replied "I'm on national TV every day, I need to look good and I take my personal hygiene very seriously."  Next question.  In other words, I'm special and you are not.  It's OK for me, but not for thee. So shut up.

About that same time, our corpulent Illinois governor, J.B. Pritzker (D), is telling us the same thing: 'we are all in this together.  Accordingly, I am asking you to stay at home and save lives.'  Even as these words are escaping his meaty jowls, his sister is jetting off to Florida on her private plane to see relatives.  When asked about this double standard, he replied that he is insulted that this reprehensible question was even brought up, next question.  In other words, shut up.  I'm important and you are not.  It's OK for me, but not for thee.  Or words to that effect.

And what about our betters shutting down businesses left and right, telling us all to stay home and save lives.  Subsequently, all revenue for these businesses comes to a screeching halt, and all of these small businesses are suddenly insolvent, dead broke.  Our betters in government, however, are getting paid direct deposit on time and in the manner in which they have become accustomed.  "We're all in this together," as they cash their paychecks and we proletariates declare bankruptcy because these well paid government types tell us to stay at home, save lives.  We're all in this together, remember.

We voted for this?  Unfortunately, we did indeed vote for this.  I am using the Royal 'We', because I did not vote for this.  I voted for Republicans, and yet my Republican candidates did not prevail at the ballot box, at least not here in The Land of Lincoln (Illinois).  The Democrats in power now did, and they seem to truly believe that whatever they think is good for their constituents is what they will enforce with the ham-fisted power of their offices.  Just for the record, whatever Democrats think is good for all is almost never good for anybody except themselves and their cronies.

Notice in Red states that want to open up commerce sooner rather than later, things are getting better.  Also notice in Blue states with Democrat governors (Michigan, New Jersey, New York and California leading the charge), draconian state mandates of lock downs continue until, well, forever (until a vaccine is found and available for all).  In other words, years.

But above all else, just remember 'we are all in this together.'