Stanek Sunday funnies 11-30-14
Good morning, and Happy Sunday! Here were my top five six favorite political cartoons for the week. Be sure to vote for your fav in the poll at the bottom of this post!
by Ken Catalino at Townhall.com…
a twofer by Chip Bok at Townhall.com (the first in reference to Obama’s in-the-tank Washington Post actually fact-checking a SNL skit on his illegal immigrant executive order)…
by Clay Jones at GoComics.com…
and closing with a twofer by Michael Ramirez at Townhall.com…
[polldaddy poll=8486319]
Nov.30, 2014 8:44 am |
Cartoons |
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Apparently there is no reason to think the Grand Jury decision is not the right one. If you’re stupid enough to charge an armed man after you’ve attacked him, then guess what? You might get shot. Its how Mother Nature cleans up the gene pool. If you’re this stupid, your chances of long term survival aren’t very good.
On another note, it is not acceptable for an officer to fire his weapon several times before killing a suspect. When an officer makes the decision to pull his weapon, he shoots to kill or he holds his fire. Those are his only two options. He doesn’t fire until he finally kills someone. This is indicative of panic shooting and is not acceptable for a police officer. The frightened homeowner yes, the police officer, no. By not aiming to kill Brown he gave Brown more opportunities to kill him(Wilson).
Also bullets fired in panic may not hit the suspect and will keep going, possibly right through your living room window. My brother investigated one such case.
I’m voting for #2, because I love the little hats that the bill and executive order are wearing.
Random thoughts on these cartoons:
– Illegal immigration – final summation – Obama finally does something, and the party of inaction – the party of ‘no’ freaks out. Maybe when they get back to work, they can figure out a bill that is a long term solution. From what I’ve read, what Obama did was rude, but perfectly legal
– Protesting – most of the people were peaceful. Some were not. I think it’s unfortunate that some were not. I also think it’s unfortunate that some are simply ignoring the larger issues and writing off the pains of the black community because some were not peaceful. Also, it is interesting watching the overall coverage of Ferguson vs events like the riots at the pumpkin fest. Don’t hear “thugs” associated with those youth.
– On Michael Brown. It’s a confusing case. It sounds like a trial would have eventually found Wilson innocent – police have massive latitude when it comes to shooting people, and it certainly sounds like Brown was not innocent in all of this. It also sounds like the legal path they brought this case was odd – and given the racial stats of those involved, and the track record of the department – the path should get scrutiny.
With that all being said, I hope that America continues to move past the Brown case and onto the bigger issues. Those who say racism isn’t an issue in this country are simply not looking – not keeping their eyes open. We need to look at the consequences of the ‘war on drugs’, minimum mandatory sentences, the labels and consequences of being a felon, police militarization – all of these are big issues that I think most don’t understand, and others ignore because they fear conversations about race.
Brown wouldn’t have been shot in most countries. In this one, given the laws, Wilson is most likely innocent. But the conversation doesn’t end there – the pain doesn’t end there.
EGV,
Police have massive latitude when it comes to shooting people? You watch too many Dirty Harry movies. If a police officer uses his gun he had better be prepared to answer for it. Yes there have been some very dubious incidents involving police. My brother has told me that police shootings are investigated, must be justified, and the officer has to have a very justifiable reason for even pulling out his weapon. In my brother’s very extensive career doing some very dangerous duty, he’s pulled a weapon once, at a domestic violence incident where thankfully the guy dropped his weapons, a machete and an ax. There is also the emotional trauma to the officer even though the killing was justified. My brother saw one outstanding officer end up in a psychiatric hospital after a justifiable shooting.
Ask police officers how often they pull their weapons. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Brown wouldn’t have been shot in most countries? Really? Name them. What would you have done if an enraged home intruder was charging you? If there was an officer nearby, you’d probably scream at him/her to shoot the guy.
Mary
I’m going to take your post in two chunks.
First off – regarding the latitude – here are the statistics:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/allegations-of-police-misconduct-rarely-result-in-charges/
Mary –
Countries he probably wouldn’t have been shot in.
The UK – most police officers don’t carry guns.
New Zealand – same – most officers don’t carry guns.
Germany – police shoot and kill only about 4 people a year – just 8 in the past two years. Very rare.
Japan – very, very few guns in their country – they had zero police shooting deaths last year.
The point I’m making Mary is that the overall system looks a lot different in those countries – militarization of police, training, views on shooting citizens – there are simply other focuses.
Now, just like I can’t say I’m 100% right, you can’t say I’m 100% wrong. Brown was in the US – we don’t know what would happen if he was a youth in London or Tokyo. Statistically though – bottom line, add up the other industrialized countries, multiply it by 10 or so, and then you have the US number of shootings.
JDC – I also dig that the Executive Order is smoking.
EGV,
They don’t face LEGAL consequences for their misconduct. That doesn’t mean they don’t face police disciplinary action, which I strongly suspect was the case with Officer Wilson. I’m convinced he was given the “option” to resign, i.e. asked to leave. My brother told me he would never want to explain why he unloaded six bullets into a suspect. Or why he did not immediately call EMS, as Wilson does not appear to have done. He called this panic shooting, which is never acceptable for a police officer. That doesn’t mean Wilson wasn’t justified in shooting in self defense, it means he was supposed to aim and shoot to kill. Once. A still living suspect is potenially very dangerous, which is why an officer shoots to kill.
Excessive force also involves non use of guns, like chokeholds and hitting someone. These can also be fatal as we saw in New York when police throttled a large man who told officers he couldn’t breathe.
As far as I’m concerned those officers should face charges and be dismissed from the force.
Did I say officers are saints? Hardly. I said they are not given wide latitude in use of guns and that is true. That doesn’t mean officers won’t exercise some very bad judgment in pulling weapons, or use their weapons off duty to settle a personal score. If there is a shooting, there must be a justification for it. Even if there is no legal action, the officer will have to answer to his superiors.
EGV,
MOST officers don’t carry guns. Which mean some do. Do these squirt water? What percentage carry weapons and how is it determined who will?
Also, do these countries have our crime rate?
Come to think of it didn’t some soldier in England get beheaded by some maniac in broad daylight? Too bad one of the armed cops wasn’t around.
“JDC – I also dig that the Executive Order is smoking.”
Good catch, I actually missed that the first time around. Yeah, it’s overall a very awesome cartoon.
EGV,
Maybe you better be thankful our police are armed. Doesn’t look like all the illegals Obama is allowing to stay in our country are model citizens.
http://www.examiner.com/article/under-obama-s-executive-amnesty-some-convicted-criminal-illegal-aliens-can-stay
Mary
I agree they often face discipline in one way or another.
I think the overall conversation is a sprawling one that can’t be handled easily on a website. The reason our country has high crime rates is complicated. The reasons we’ve decided to go the more military route with our police while other countries use other routes are complicated. I could point you to good books – good sites – but really, and truthfully, summarizing it in a paragraph or two is going to do more harm than good.
The truth is – most countries go about it differently – but not just cops carrying guns – how they treat those with drug possessions, or those who are mentally ill, and how we treat guns in society. We’ve gone certain directions, so we get all these killings and events like Ferguson. It was our choice.
I totally believe that there have been instances where police misuse their power and mistreat people of color because they are people of color.
Michael Brown is NOT one of those cases.
Ex-RINO,
If people are looking to have a conversation on race then the Brown shooting is not a good choice cause it was justifiable. He was a thug who robbed a convenient store and tried to wrestle a cops gun away from him (while reaching through the window of the patrol car) and then later charged at him.
Have the conversation about guns or the conversation on minimum sentencing or drug laws or any number of things; but this was not a racially motivated shooting.
Hi Ex-GOP,
Regarding your comment that Michael Brown wouldn’t have been shot in my native New Zealand, google the Steven Wallace case from 2000 in the Taranaki town of Waitara. Police officer shot a guy who was smashing cars with golf clubs after the man charged down the police officer. Investigation cleared the officer. Family prosecuted the officer for murder and he was found not guilty.
Incidentally, especially now that I live in Australia where the police are armed, I think that the NZ Police lack protection.
Chur bro,
Seanus Maximus
EGV and truthseeker,
This reinforces my belief that Wilson is being asked to resign. Whatever “reasons” are being given, I believe this is so he can avoid disciplinary action.
http://news.yahoo.com/ferguson-officer-shot-michael-brown-resigns-063207564–finance.html
EGV, you also have to consider cultural factors. In some cultures authority figures are viewed with much more respect, and there are stiffer legal penalties. The city I grew up in had a large Chinese community with strong cultural and family ties. One officer said if the entire city was Chinese, he’d be out of a job.
TS, I agree with you and Courtnay this was not racially motivated. Brown wasn’t stopped by Wilson while delivering food baskets to the poor. He had committed a crime and if he had followed the officer’s orders, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Seanus –
Thanks for the info – do you know if the changes to most police officers not carrying guns happened post that incident? I see they have had very few shootings over time, and the police do receive trainings and some have access. Just not sure if changes to their policing have happened since, or it was the same system in place then.
Mary,
Why do you think he would have faced disciplinary action?
Hi ts,
For panic firing his gun. A police officer is supposed to aim and shoot to kill, not keep firing until he does kill. By not shooting to kill he:
1. Gave Brown several opportunities to kill him(Wilson). He can’t make the assumption Brown was not armed and someone may be even more determined to kill you if you’ve only wounded them.
2. Endangered innocent people with stray bullets that may not hit their target. Bullets will keep flying until they are stopped, which might be through your front window.
Panic firing might be understandable if you are a frightened homeowner facing an intruder. It is not acceptable for a police officer.
Also, there was some discussion of Wilson not following proper protocol after the shooting.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/seemingly-unorthodox-police-procedures-emerge-in-grand-jury-documents/2014/11/2
My brother expressed some concern when he saw Wilson walking around after the shooting, and there appeared to be no immediate call for EMS. An officer cannot assume a suspect is dead. EMS is to be called immediately.
I have mentioned the situation where my brother drew his weapon during a domestic violence call, btw the most dangerous call for police to respond to. The man turned around, only a few feet from my brother, carrying both an ax and a machete, or it may have been a samurai sword. Anyway, my brother would have been justified in shooting him to death, but not pumping him full of lead. That would be panic shooting, for which he would have to do some very serious explaining.
My brother swears to this day that in the split seconds that man and he faced each other a “voice” clearly said “don’t shoot”. My brother was so startled he said “what?”. At that instant the man dropped his weapons, much to my brother’s relief. He has never had any desire to kill anyone.
“From what I’ve read, what Obama did was rude, but perfectly legal”.
Ex-RINO, you need to broaden your sources for your news cause it is illegal to grant public benefits illegal aliens. Think about it….Obama’s executive order makes millions of ILLEGAL ALIENS eligible for social security and Medicare benefits. If you were able to admit that one plus one equals two then you could see that Obama’s executive order breaks the law.
Mary,
Thanks for the explanation. I am not really up on 1st responder’s protocol and procedures but I do find it odd that paramedics would leave Michael Brown’s body in the street so long even if they had declared him to be dead. As far as the ‘panic’ firing of his gun goes; I had not heard that officer Wilson was shooting to to do anything other than to kill. It sounds like he emptied his clip on somebody who was charging at him. Did you hear testimony that he was aiming for his arms or something?
Mary –
The tough part is, it is hard to say what is racially motivated or not. A lot of interesting studies – showing quick flashes of people of different races, and how those react. Good article by CNN on it:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/26/us/ferguson-racism-or-racial-bias/
Bottom line for me – the Michael Brown story was a sad one from all angles – but that isn’t the bottom line. The bottom line is, we’ve got some systemic issues in this country with race, police, and prison – and we need to start changing that dynamic.
Hi ts,
You’re entirely welcome.
I’m just very fortunate to have a brother who was a patrolman, worked Tactical Mobile Unit, Mob detail, and surveillence, and who is now a criminal justice instructor who is very much in demand. I’m very proud that he was involved in a nationally known investigation and a prominent police chief was a former student of his. Otherwise I would know very little about protocol!
He is the one who gave me a whole different perspective on the Trayvon Martin case. His opinion of it? “Someone playing cop”.
So folks, I have to be honest, when you argue police issues with me I have a HUGE and very unfair advantage!
That aside, EMS may have had to leave him there for crime scene investigation. The police, medical examiner, CSI would all be in attendance. I don’t know who would finally authorize removal of the body.
He’s not supposed to empty his clip, he’s supposed to aim and shoot to kill. He put himself and innocent people at risk by not doing so. As with the situation with my brother, he was justified to kill the man in self defense, not pump him full of lead.
Mary,
You may be well schooled in protocol but do you have any experience discharging a firearm? Yes you do ’empty your clip’ when somebody is charging at you and they are only 10 yards away.. they could be on top of you in 2 seconds and you don’t have the luxury of waiting between shots. And it only take a few seconds to empty your clip.
It also depends on the caliber of the ammunition being fired. It is not likely that one shot from a 9mm handgun would stop a large angry charging man. If he was firing a 45 then not as many shots would be required.
Hi TS,
My brother was a few feet away from a heavily armed man and did not find it necessary to empty his clip. He aimed to kill, and that’s what he would have done if the man didn’t drop his weapons.
The officer aims, shoots and kills. Period.
BTW ts, if there’s ever an intruder in your home and you must protect yourself and your family, I strongly advise you do the same thing.
Hi ts
A strategically placed bullet to the sternum would. I can’t imagine police issuing guns and ammunition that take more than one shot. They’d have a lot more dead cops.
My son took police training before switching careers and was taught to aim for the sternum/heart. He scored pretty good in shooting too, almost perfect.
Then he decided to switch careers.
EGV,
Very interesting, thank you. About the babies though, I just think babies are afraid of the unfamiliar, and that can be people of their own race as well.
That aside, I suppose one could argue Brown was racist against Pakastanis as he robbed one then shoved the man aside when he tried to stop him.
I think the issue is that people shouldn’t be committing crimes, or assaulting police officers.
BTW, another rule my brother taught me:
A gun is ALWAYS smarter than you are.
You think its safetylocked, it can’t misfire, I’m an expert on guns..
Your gun can always prove you’re not as smart as you think you are.
Mary,
You would be surprised then. I think 9mm is very popular with police officers and does not have near the stopping power of a 45. And if that guy with the sword would have been charging at your brother he may have taken several shots. And accuracy is a lot easier when you can get in your shooting stance and you are shooting a stationary ‘target’. Accuracy would have been especially difficult in this case officer because officer Wilson was back-pedalling.
I am fairly new to firearms training but I have learned to ALWAYS be in control of your firearm and the direction it is pointed. Even when it is not ‘loaded’. Sometimes things other than pulling the trigger can cause the firing pin to release. Those can be hard lessons.
“BTW ts, if there’s ever an intruder in your home and you must protect yourself and your family, I strongly advise you do the same thing.”
Thanks for the advice. For self defense I use hollow point load in my 9mm cause the bullet flattens and rips a hole in the target on impact rather than just passing through cleanly.
I really don’t think anybody but the race-baiters and the anarchists were involved in the violent protests. The occupy wall street crowd needed something to do. There were fewer Ferguson residents at the protests than there were Walmart employees at the union rallies on Black Friday.
TS,
The guy had only to swing his arms or move a few steps to kill my brother. He describes the moment as sheer terror. Thankfully the perp froze when ordered and my brother exercised extreme control or someone was going to end up dead. BTW, this would have been considered a justifiable shooting.
TS, whatever the circumstances, the police officer aims, fires, and kills. Not doing so puts the officer and bystanders in grave danger.
I am not unsympathetic to Wilson and I view Brown’s demise as natural selection eliminating the stupid. But the fact remains we can’t have an officer firing his gun in a panic. Thankfully one of those bullets didn’t miss Brown and hit an innocent person.
Speaking of misfiring guns. My brother was using the men’s room in the police station and as he hung his holster and gun, or went to retrieve it off the hook, the gun misfired. Every police officer in the building ran to the stall, expecting to find a suicide. They found my unnerved brother who considers himself an expert with a gun. Thankfully he was done with his business or he would have had quite a laundry bill. I told him I hope his pants were up when all the officers showed up!
Anyway he was spared a reprimand, which was very much deserved. Apparently they thought the terror and a week of ringing ears was punishment enough.
Another thing ts, if you don’t kill the SOB, he’ll probably sue you.
Also, try not to shoot him in the back. That may cause some legal problems for you.
At the firing range where I shoot there was a guy with a single load rifle that went off when he was closing the chamber on a reload and he was not in control of the direction his firearm was pointed while he was chambering the bullet. Luckily nobody was hurt.
Like my brother said ts, a gun is always smarter than you are!
Mary,
The reason so many police officers choose to use the smaller caliber ammunition is because the it has less recoil and it is easier for people to hold steady; especially for people that do not have large powerful hands. Accuracy trumps the power of the load. A direct hit to the head or to the chest with a 9mm is better than a miss with a 45.
Thank you ts,
I’ll have to ask my brother was he used.
“I am fairly new to firearms training but I have learned to ALWAYS be in control of your firearm and the direction it is pointed. Even when it is not ‘loaded’.”
Amen to this. I occasionally work with “real,” though unloaded, guns at my job. ie, when someone important like the President comes to see a show, the Secret Service has to come and check out the gun and the blanks we are using, and the dogs have to sniff it all. The guns require a pyro license to work with, too. Even though they are usually old guns (you can buy fake versions of newer guns more easily and cheaply, which we use instead when acceptable) and the bullets are all blanks, it is all treated with extreme caution. All locked up after the show each night and not taken out until just before the show the next day. Bullets stored out of the gun. No one touches the gun except the prop person, the stage manager, and the actor using it. No one points it anywhere except the floor until it is onstage.
Firearms are never something to take lightly or joke around with. Some people think it’s silly that there is so much precaution around a gun that is, literally, theatrical. But, you know, a tiny mistake about bullets killed Brandon Lee on set of the movie The Crow. You always, always use the utmost care and caution when working with firearms.
This is true of any potentially deadly weapon, really. Some years ago a British actor accidentally slit his own throat onstage when his dull prop knife was accidentally replaced with a sharp real knife. The audience thought it was a great special effect until it became apparent that it wasn’t! The actor did survive, fortunately. Still scary stuff. You always pass knives carefully and store them safely, just like you always control your gun and where it is pointed. No matter where you are or how safe you think the weapon is.
Not really going to comment on Ferguson, except to say that I think a trial would have helped somewhat as far as bringing to light whatever evidence there is.