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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Violent Times

Any law enforcement official worth his/her weight in salt will tell you that during tough economic times, increases in violent crime are to be expected.  But I don't believe anyone has expected what has taken place lately.  Take a look at some of the headlines from the Drudge Report:

UPDATE: MIAMI 'WAR ZONE' DURING URBAN WEEKEND...
'I was scared for my life'...
Poet 'Da Real One' Gunned Down In Front Of Miami Poetry Cafe...
Violent crime explodes in Myrtle during Black Bike Week; 8-hour hell...
Rib Fest At Rochester beach turns rowdy...
Riot On Long Island...
Urban Melee In Charlotte...
Chaos causes DNC concern for convention...
Unruly urban crowd shuts down Nashville water park...


And it is only getting worse.  It's bad here in Oklahoma as well:

Man injured in late night Oklahoma City shooting...
Arrest made in Oklahoma City homicide...

I suppose that desperate times call for desperate measures and as Romeo said to Paris, "Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man..."  When the "system" as we know it begins to fail society, when otherwise reasonable and decent people descend into the darkness of violence against another in order to take that which is not theirs, all of us must awaken from our slumber.  Things are never quite what they seem and the "least among us" are rising up, tired of the platitudes and inescapable feelings of desperation and acting upon them.

We were temporarily comforted by the "conservative landslide" in the last election cycle.  We were told that our freedoms, our rights, would be preserved and jobs would be created.  The magic pixie dust of the Republican Party was to bring solidarity, a time of peace and prosperity.  While only a handful of the elite have truly prospered, what we see before us is evidence that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  And people are very, very pissed off.

Law enforcement is on high alert, working diligently to ensure our safety and they need our prayers and support.  Real support - not the kind of "vote for me (and/or my proposition) and we'll put more cops on the street" bullcrap either.  And we all need to take measures to protect ourselves, lest we be the next victim of the desperate men.