Posted on 11/22/2006 7:35:17 AM PST by Dick Bachert
Atlanta police went to a home on Neal Street in Atlanta last evening to execute a search warrant. When they kicked the door in the only occupant of the home, a 92-year-old woman, started shooting. She hit all three police officers. One in the thigh, one in the arm and another in the shoulder. All police officers will be OK. The woman will not. She was shot and killed by the police.
I'm not blaming the cops here. Not at all. They had a valid search warrant, and they say they were at the right address. Shots were fired, three cops hit, and they returned fire. A 92-year-old woman who was so afraid of crime in her neighborhood that she had burglar bars on every door and window, is now dead.
The blame lies on this idiotic drug war we're waging. We have all the studies we need, all of the comprehensive data is in. We can do a much more effective job of reducing drug use in this country if we'll just take a portion of this money we spend for law enforcement and spend it on treatment programs. A Rand study showed that we can reduce illicit drug usage in this country a specified amount through treatment programs at about 10% of the cost of reducing drug usage by that same amount through criminalization and law enforcement.
There's just something in the American psyche that demands that drug users be punished instead of treated and rehabilitated. We think they're stupid and ignorant for getting mixed up with those drugs in the first place. And you know what? We're right? But look at the messages we send to our children every single day with cigarettes, alcohol, and an endless stream of drug ads on television and in magazines. Drug culture? You bet we have.
I got a chuckle out of that as well.
By the way, why do you continue working (are you still a government employee?) for an organization you are dead certain is plotting your doom?
I like to eat. And what better way to learn about your possible enemy. Can you predict the future? So why not question and prepare?
Still waiting for someone to try and rebut your (very good) post...BUMP
It's a logical loop. Expose it, and expose the lie.
Agreed. Actually, communism, socialism, democracy fascism and in effect all of "civilization" has operated on a system of external authority that is a system destined to self-destruction. Civilization in quotes because in reality it's an anti-civilization
The other system that has been mostly suppressed has the individual authority as the highest authority. It explains/defines why 95++% of the population doesn't initiate force against persons or their property. And, as much as possible operate according to free-market, capitalist principles. The nature of consciousness is the highest authority. Rational honest conscious minds will out-compete and render obsolete the mysticism-plagued minds that bow to the illusion of external authorities.
Not if we keep sitting on our thumbs letting the 5%-ers bully us. It may well be time to stop playing nice.
I doubt that libertarians would ever accept paying for drugs for addicts no more than they accept the current socialistic welfare system. To them, individual freedom means you pay your own way and do not rely on govt for food and shelter nor drugs. IOWs individual freedom requires you to be responsible for your own dang self. And that includes a drug habit, be it prescription or illicit.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, I am not convinced that libertarians are for illicit drugs, seems to me they are just not against them. Moreover, they are not against them because they believe in individual responsibility and individual freedom. And that means the liberty to do drugs if that is what one wants to do. Still, this does not make them "dopers" as some like to refer to them.
Surely there are some "dopers" in their midst just as there are in all political parties. Sadly, it's mostly only the libertarians who are speaking out against this failed war on drugs, and the enormous cost to taxpayers, as well as our individual freedoms that have been sacrificed in this effort. This 92 year old lady is a prime example of the failure and the horrors associated with it. There are thousands more such stories like this one.
The next time anyone refers to the libertarians as a bunch of "dopers," consider this, just because some gays in the GOP have been exposed, do you think we should all now be referring to the GOP as the "Gay Ole Party?" I don't think so. Nor do I believe it correct to refer to libertarians as "dopers" when they are merely arguing for individual freedom and the responsibilities that come with it.
PS So you know, George Soros is a democrat, not a libertarian.
Thanks. I call 'em like I see 'em. ;-)
The next time anyone refers to the libertarians as a bunch of "dopers," consider this, just because some gays in the GOP have been exposed, do you think we should all now be referring to the GOP as the "Gay Ole Party?" I don't think so. Nor do I believe it correct to refer to libertarians as "dopers" when they are merely arguing for individual freedom and the responsibilities that come with it.
Thank you so much.
No man is an island, as you say, except I guess if your drug of choice is alcohol, then that's okay.
Here's a hypothetical for you:
The two units of a duplex apt. are rented to single males, around 25 YO, with similar jobs and incomes. The guy in unit A gets drunk every night, the guy in unit B gets high on pot every night. Morally, they are engaging in the same behavior, using drugs to alter their moods. But legally, they are treated differently. The guy in unit A can get drunk every night of his life and the police won't bother him. However, as you well know, the guy in unit B is in trouble with the law whether he smokes pot 7 days a week, 7 times a month, or 7 times a year. Their behavoirs are morally equal, yet they are treated differently and unequally before the law.
The simple fact of the matter is that you and your ilk are making distictions in the law when the underlying behaviors are the same. That is injustice, there's no denying it.
Let's face, you and your ilk support injustice in the law. I just wish you'd be honest enough to admit it.
Have another toke.
Coming from a person that has demonstrated they're so clueless (or perhaps you're just feigning ignorance,) I'm not surprised at your witty reply. Pathetic, actually.
But you are a hoot!
You can't let logic get in the way of an emotional response.
Actually, I am surprised it wasn't pulled. ;)
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son.
Depends on how early in the morning it is.
I've always said what I need to do is go down to Mexico and find me a pretty senorita who will cook me dinner every night and help my pee hit the toilet in the morning.
Excuse me?
Where in heaven's name did you get that?
You can chew gum all you want, it is just hard to buy and don't spit it on the ground in a public place.
Singaporeans understand sanitation in wet tropical climates.
According to TV and radio reports (!!) it was a case of mistaken identity or wrong address. The lady's niece said that she kept a gun for protection and had burglar bars. For her neighborhood, that is a necessity.
Why on earth would police in plain clothes enter somebody's house to "serve a warrant"? Why not have uniformed police do this? I'm not sure, but I gather that this happened at night. The lady was, in my opiniion, correct in assuming that these people might have been thieves.
The poor old lady hasn't been laid out yet and the niece said that she would be consulting an attorney -- looks like the City of Atlanta is gonna be writing a big ol' check... sorry, taxpayers....
I have been steaming about this since I first read the story.
Three super-intelligent, Rambo wannabes kick in Granny's door in plain clothes. Granny sees three armed intruders and opens fire hitting all three. The three super cops unload on Granny killing her. For what?
Because they were not smart enough to realize that they would look like armed intruders in her home? Because they didn't have the time or the patience to surveil the home to see who actually was in the house? Because they couldn't be bothered to do any actual police work?
Whatever the reason, Granny shoulda shot for the heads. These cops are guilty of murder. Pure, plain, and simple. Hopefully they have enough brain cells between them to realize that and it will haunt them to their graves.
I know that some here will accuse me of being anti-police or claim that I think the police are always wrong. It ain't so. But, I am getting danged tired of hearing a bunch of excuses every time one of these shootings occurs.
To all of the good cops out there, I respect you and support you. But please take care of the bozos and crazies in your ranks. The more you let idiots and murderers hide behind the badge, the harder it is for the rest of us to tell the good from the bad.
Ruck
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.