Chicago prosecutor, James Murphy, has been placed on leave Saturday after he noted in court hearing this month that Adam Toledo, 13, had a gun in his possession. The statement was made at the bond hearing for Ruben Roman, 21, who was with Toledo on the night that he died. The action was taken despite the position of the Chicago police that Toledo was armed until a fraction of a second before the shooting — a view also echoed by local media after reviewing the videotape. However, various politicians like Andrew Yang have insisted that this was the shooting of “an unarmed child” by police. The error may prove be the use of the word “has” in a court statement. The question is whether this type of action was warranted for a prosecutor who was trying to keep a dangerous individual in jail.
The shooting occurred in a stronghold of the Latin Kings, a notoriously violent gang in Chicago. Many of us who grew up in Chicago are familiar with the Latin Kings, which is a huge criminal organization that often uses children to hold guns since they are subject to lower possible criminal penalties. Roman is facing felony charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon as well as child endangerment and violating probation,
This incident occurred around 3 a.m., when two Chicago police officers confronted the 13-year-old and Roman while investigating gunshots in Little Village. According to prosecutors, Roman had fired a gun at a passing car. Roman has been rumored to be a member of the Latin Kings. The Chicago Police Union president also alleged that Toledo was a known member of the Latin Kings.
It appears that Murphy was opposing the bond for Roman who was accused of shooting at a passing car and alleged to be a member of a violent gang. He noted that Toledo had a gun. As local media has noted, that is supported by the videotape which shows what appears to be a gun in his hand less than two seconds before the shots are fired. A gun was found near Toledo and police say that he tossed the gun just as he was turning toward police.
The line in dispute in the proffer may be this: “The officer tells [Toledo] to drop it as [Toledo] turns towards the officer. [Toledo] has a gun in his right hand.” One could reasonably object that the line seems to say that Toledo had the gun in his hand at the time of the shooting. Murphy would likely say that the preceding line makes clear that it is a reference to having a gun “as [Toledo] turns towards the officer.” According to police, he “has” a gun in his hand a fraction of a second before turning toward the officer. The question is whether such a difference warrants a public correction rather than a public suspension.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx’s office announced that Murphy was suspended with pay because he did not “fully inform himself” before testifying. Foxx had a long and controversial record in the city, particularly in her role in the Jussie Smollett scandal.
Toledo is clearly not armed at the time he is shot. He appears to have tossed the weapon within a couple seconds of the shooting by Chicago Police Officer Eric Stillman. That raises the question of whether the officer was still justified in using lethal force. However, that would not mean that Toledo was unarmed in the encounter.
Murphy noted that surveillance video showed Roman shooting at the passing car with Toledo next to him. He said that Roman and Toledo then ducked into an alley, where officers located them. Despite presuming Roman to be armed, Stillman tackled Roman to the ground. As another officer puts Roman into custody, Stillman then went after Toledo. Murphy reportedly noted that the gloves worn by Roman tested positive for gunshot residue and seven shell casings recovered by officers matched the handgun Roman is previously seen using. He then reportedly added that the gun appears to be the same that Toledo was carrying.
The office may also have objected to that last part if there has been no confirmation that it was the same gun or even fingerprint evidence tying Toledo to the gun found near him. The picture of the gun in the hand of Toledo does appear to be similar to the one found near him after the shooting. Notably, this should be an issue that is already largely resolved by the police. Here are the images:
I do not know why the District Attorney would not confirm whether the gun is the same as the one used in the shooting and whether there are any fingerprints on the weapon.
I can understand the need for Foxx to keep her prosecutors from making inaccurate or unsupported statements in a case that has caused rioting in the Chicago. However, I am uneasy about the actions taken against an attorney for a statement that could have been clarified in both court and in public. I am also concerned with the lack of specifically on the error and the failure to confirm the basic facts on the gun forensics.
“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞.”
No that is not a good argument.
I can think of many choices people make that I do not like and I think harm them – Am I free to dictate to them what they can and can not do ?
Government is not emcouraging something by not making it illegal.
“𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞?
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.”
While you are wrong on the facts – it would not matter if you were right.
Nearly every law or regulation has some claimed benefits. Sometimes it acheives some of those.
They are still nearly all net harmful.
We know prohibition did more harm than good, We know the war on drugs does more harm than good.
“𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮?”
Why do you think that just because much of the stupidity that govenrment does “displeases me” that nothing in the world pleases me ?
Over my lifetime – the entire world (and the US) has doubled its standard of living. We are all far better off.
I thing that is wonderful. I am very pleased – nor is that the only good thing.
But the imporovements over my lifetime had nothing to do with government.
My displeasure with government is not unhappieness with life. Life is good.
Why can’t you make an actual argument ?
“𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐃𝐀-𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭?”
There are long lists. But those are just the tip of the iceberg.
No one will even attempt to find a cure to a medical problem that will not produce $2B in profits.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲? 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬.”
No, they are just stupid and immoral.
“T𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚’𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝.”
Right.
You really do not live in the real world.
So far – you have been completely wrong about just about every claim you have made.
.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐃𝐀 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦.”
Because you say so ?
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝”
Yes,
“𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥.”
Torts still exist, and you still have the right to decide what you will and will not buy.
“𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭.”
Trump was the most deregulatory president since Jimmy Carter.
Were millions dying from food poisoning ?
What we have seen in the past year is that regulation kills.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡. 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲.”
For that you owe Trump.
“𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞.”
Really ? Obama/Biden blew H1N1 – they actually got the US blocked by other countries.
And it took longer for Obama/Biden to come up with a vaccine for the Flu – than Trump to get a Covid Vaccine that was not only entirely new – but completely new technology.
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩, 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐢”
Biden has nearly double the deaths per day.
During the election – he and YOU said Biden knew what he was doing
What is he doing different from Trump ? Aside from senility – nothing.
“𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐋𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐥, 𝐞𝐭𝐜.”
No, he said that Dr. Brix had informed him of potentially effective treatment that was the equivalent of bleaching your blood.
And there WAS, there is actually a JAMA article on it.
“O𝐛𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝟔𝟗-𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝟏𝐍𝟏”
And Obama/Biden did BADLY against H1N1 which was a far less contageous and deadly virus.
“𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩’𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫.”
What exactly is it in that H1N1 playbook that you think was ignored ?
Did Obama lock down the country ? Mandata Masks ?
“A𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞.”
Life expectancy actually increased in 2020.
“𝐀𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧.
𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐃𝐀 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.”
WRONG.
You are a complete idiot. The WORST C19 vaccine in existance right now – could be 1000 times more deadly than it is,
and still have been the right choice if available in June.
Any current vaccine that was available in June that killed less than 1 in 1000 people who took it would have saved lives.
You are medically ignorant, math impaired and incapable of logic.
The only reason for concern about ANY of the current vaccines – is because we have so many choices, that we can afford to contemplate whether to use the J&J vaccine.
If it was all we had – we would be going full steam ahead.
I would note – that not only did Trump deliver a Covid vaccine in record time – he delivered MANY different covid vaccines in record time.
“𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬.”
You speak for all americans ?
Regardless, that is false.
“𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲.”
Again complete ignorance of the real world.
For every problem there are hundreds of solutions that will work – often including doing nothing.
They do not all work equally well, and we RARELY know much less pick the best.
It is nearly always better to make a decision when a decisions needs made and move on,
than to spend months reaching the perfect decisions – which does not actually exist.
“𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”
And it STILL would have saved more than it killed.
“𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.”
That is demonstrably false.
No vaccine, no medicine is EVER 100% safe.
You can overdoes on water.
“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟?”
Fewer people would have died – Obviously if we produced a vaccine that was less safe more quickly.
That is what if.
“𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.”
That is why you are an idiot.
Business can not legitimately use force against you.
Business can not make you do anything.
Government can. Government is far more dangerous.
“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.”
It is ? Why ?
Money is not illegal.
“𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬?
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.”
Correct.
“𝐀 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 $𝟑𝟎.
𝐖𝐡𝐲?
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞.
𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐬.
𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞?”
No, it does not.
The real world – the free market absent govenrment interference imposes on people the actual costs of their own poor decisions.
Insurance companies can raise the rates for smokers. Just as auto insurance offers discounts for people with good driving records.
None of this is govenrments buisiness.
“𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭.”
Only because the left keeps socializing everything.
Free markets impose the costs of poor conduct on those who engage in that conduct.
“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭?
𝐌𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐢 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞? 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐬.”
Are you really arguing that the drug war is justified because of entertaining TV shows ?
“𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞.”
NOPE. McDonald’s sells hamburgers – there is no violence theft and crime from that.
It is when you make trade illegal that you have crime.
“T𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧?”
We have actually had legal drugs for most of human existance – government “just let it happen” there was not significant violence associated with drugs. If fact most drug use – opiates, weed, reduce violence.
“𝐎𝐑 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝?”
Again you are not clairvoyant.
Work on what is going on in your own head.
BTW a balance between chaos and order is absolutely necescary for continuously rising standard of living,
and that balance leans hard away from order.
“𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝.”
Then govenrment can not be either – govenrment is people – with power.
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝?”
Sweden and most of those nordic purported social democracies that you fawn over are LESS regulated than the US.
“𝐆𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐨: 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.”
With a rapidly rising standard of living.
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨.”
non-sequitur.
“𝐎𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞. 𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐓____ 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫.
𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥, 𝟓𝟐,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐂______
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞.
𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥. 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞.”
You do not understand economics.
Illegal drug dealers are LITTERALLY buying legal weed in CO and transporting it to other states because that is cheaper.
“𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.”
Again you do not understand economics at all.
Businesses compete.
If you are not constantly producing better and cheaper – you will be “squeezed out”
You do understand that Standard Oil was broken up because it was selling its products (for decades” too “cheaply”
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 “𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲.””
Are you paying for my writing ? If not you have no say in what or how I write.
“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐬.
𝐀 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬,.”
Your arguments are so vague and non specific as to be meaningless.
Nothing you write above is clear.
“𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫.
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫.”
Do not care.
“𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝?”
He got elected as backlash against Obama and the left’s stupidity and failure.
Either he or someone like – possibly even less appealing to you than Trump is with near certainty in the offing.
You are doing everything possible to assure that.
“𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭.”
Yet, you said exactly the opposite above.
Can you keep your own arguments straight ?
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭.”
Its called competition, and it occurs even in black markets.
“𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚”
If only you could understand what you read.
“𝐈𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟔𝟔𝟑,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐣𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐚-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.”
So now you are making my arguments for me ?
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐞𝐭𝐜. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞.”
You do not know how to read your own sources.
Nothing has to be labor intensive.
In the 17th century 95% of human effort was directed at producing food.
Today it is just barely more than 1%.
Standard of living rises when more that humans value is created with less human effort.
Only free markets do that.
“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧.”
What kind of an argument is that ?
“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭.”
Actually use your brain.
What is an illegitimate operator ?
As best as I can tell YOUR defintion is one who is not government sanctioned.
“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧,”
So what ? I do not care if you are christian, muslim, jew, athiest. hundu, ….
“𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.”
Your idiocy and Obama’s failures got him elected.
The same of Biden and you will wither get him re-elected or someone you like even worse. in the future.
“𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬?
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨.”
You keep using the word “encourage” as if anything government does not make a crime is “encouraged”.
I have no interntion of using or being a prostitute, nor of doing drugs. ‘
Just because I will not do something. Just because I think something is a poor choice, does not give me the right to take that choice from others by force.
“𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬 $𝟑𝟎 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭.”
Not governments job.
There is a war between the respectable classes and the underclass and wars cannot end unless both sides want to and the underclass cannot want to because to them kow towing to the respectable would be a cause of unutterable shame and because the righteousness of the respectable classes is in fact SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS and means they cannot tolerate expending resources on the underclass in any way that benefits those people. Considerable resources are allocated to the underclass in the form of police, courts, prosecutors, prisons , probation, parole oversight and that means they are not available to correct the deficiencies of their education or teach them law abiding skills.
One problem is the drug war. Association with drugs is used as a litmus test for evil as once was association with witchcraft. Noone wanted to do anything that would help witches beyond hanging or burning them and many of the respectable consider punishment the only way to deter drug use but drug use for many people is the only way they can ameliorate their bad states of consciousness so locking them in prison for drug use simply causes them to use more drugs and drugs are available in prison.
In fact the drug war is a strategy for keeping the underclass under control and the respectable classes have always wanted to control the underclass to prevent them from becoming uppity and getting benefits to which they are not entitled. Most of the underclass consists of descendants of the slaves that that evil woke politician Abraham Lincon stole and wrongly freed.
Whites have always despised and feared blacks and they didn’t stop hating and fearing them after they were freed in fact they feared them more and feared any rise in their social status hence deliberate actions that prevented them rising and confined them in an underclass. Some few n e g r o e s did rise in status and became accepted as respectable n i g g e r s but that doesn’t stop them being accosted when driving or walking while black
I refer you to this comment of mine (http://www.drugwarrant.com/2021/04/is-joe-biden-an-old-dog/#comment-349554) on the Drug War Rant blog (http://www.drugwarrant.com/) which is a good blog on drug reform that does not get updated much today but has archives that are well worth perusing.
You bring up a good point with the War on drugs, and drugs in general as a central issue to lives in the inner cities. I’ve long wondered how differently those neighborhoods would have turned out for the families there if the Gargoyle (GHWB) & his CIA cronies hadn’t dropped cocaine, & then crack cocaine, and then guns, on those inner cities (using their cartel contacts & smuggling the stuff up north).
Well, now we’ll never know. I personally believe that MANY of the people in those families would have far better lives now. And I also think that almost all Americans have wanted to see blacks be equally as able to succeed as any other race~ the same way most people have to do it. Through focus, belief in themselves, good choices, and hard work. Framing a whole race as just victims isn’t helpful, but I do see the seeding of black neighborhoods with the drugs that presented an easy way to make money (besides being highly addictive) & on top of that=guns, all contributing to “thug life” and the ruination of so many lives, as a crime against humanity.
The use of drugs predates GHWB by lifetimes.
US drag use and addiction has been constant for as long as we have data.
The war on Drugs did not reduce drug use, nor have the actions of others – such a GHWB increased it.
I am not a Bush fan, but that does not mean I am going to ignore a false narative.
AS to the CIA – I am with Pres. Truman – who created them – they were a mistake.
Why did the kid end up with the gun? It’s very simple. The punishment for an adult with a gun and a previous arrest record is more severe than for an underage kid with a gun http://publicsearch1.chicagopolice.org/Arrests/Details/17986120. Toledo took the fall for his good buddy Roman. He will be given a tear filled funeral by his broken hearted brothers in the hood. You can rest assured that brother Andrew Yang will be in attendance. Don’t forget an invitation for brotheress Maxine Waters.
Don’t forget Sharpton he’s another one. The young man is 13 with a gun not acceptable.
It doesn’t really mater if the death was justified. Regardless of the circumstances we can keep black people under our thumb at the voting booth by saying it was a murder. If we keep them convinced that they are victims and we provide them with a crust of bread they will be convinced that we are on their side and we will keep our power. Our plan of action has not changed from Circuses and bread for the unwashed masses. Please send your donations to the Democratic Party and tune in to CNN or MSNBC for further instructions.
“Toledo was armed until a fraction of a second before the shooting”
or
“shows what appears to be a gun in his hand less than two seconds before the shots are fired”
Which is it? Both statements don’t seem to be true. Was it less than 1 second? Then fraction works, but why not say less than 1 second rather than less than 2 seconds. Was it between 1 and 2 seconds? That would not qualify as a fraction of a second.
Can’t have it both ways Mr. Turley.
BabyTrump splits some hairs for us. One thousand one one thousand two. Fast enough for you BabyThoughts.
If you watched the body cam footage you’d know.
I have seen the unedited body cam footage, including slowed down still by still images of the final moments.
The officers were called to the scene of shooting.
Adam Toledo suddenly stopped running by that gap in the fence. He turned away from the officer, and pulled a gun out of the back of his pants, twisted back around towards the officer. He threw the gun behind the fence in the same motion as he turned. He turned the same way as one would to turn and fire. He threw the gun and then continued to move his hands to the up position as the officer fired.
It’s like a magician’s sleight of hand, where they move so quickly you can’t see them getting rid of what’s in their hand.
The officer cannot press pause and advance a screen frame by frame. Someone involved in a shooting stops, reaches behind them, grabs a gun, and turns towards you, the officer is going to shoot.
The officer doesn’t know this person, or their age. They see someone reach behind them, grab a gun, and turn.
Adam Toledo was part of a gang. His gang name was “Lil Homicide.” I wonder how he got that moniker. He was out at 2:30 AM with a grown man, and one of them fired shots into an intersection.
This child should have been home. He shouldn’t have ever run with a gang. He had been missing a few days at a time, multiple times, in the weeks preceding. His mother had not reported this recent absence to the police.
What do I always say? The children of single mothers have a statistical likelihood to live in poverty in a dangerous neighborhood, do poorly in school or drop out, join a gang, commit crimes, do drugs, go to prison, and or get killed. They’re set on the path of going nowhere in life. And they have kids, whom they abandon to mothers who perpetuate the cycle.
This is the normal for this particular subset of the population. Although single motherhood is most common among black people, the rate is rising among whites and Latinos, with similar poor outcomes.
This subset of black culture is not the entirety of black culture. The Obamas, Dwayne Johnson, Idris Elba, Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, Ben Carson, Candace Owens, Amala Ekpunobi…none of them belong to this culture. They either never did, or they escaped it at some point in his life, Carson being a notable example.
We need to stop lionizing the products of single motherhood and criminal culture. We need to stop pretending that resisting arrest is a moral thing to do. It is not safe to pull a gun in front of a cop, even if you mean to throw it away. The action of pulling it makes you a mortal threat. He’s not going to stand there and see if you mean to pull the trigger. Pulling it is enough.
I wonder if he pulled it and tossed it because “Lil Homicide” had used it to murder people, and hoped it would be missed. He didn’t move slowly and carefully, saying he’s going to put his gun down. He twisted, grabbed it, rotated back and threw it like he was in a magic show. That was an incredibly unsafe maneuver, which he discovered to his detriment.
Kids should not be shooting at traffic. They should not be out on the street at 2:30 AM with an adult who is shooting at cars. They should not run from cops. They should not pull a gun out of their pants in front of a cop.
If they do any of these things, they are at high risk of dying young and breaking their family’s hearts. It is heartbreaking how many young people are out there on the streets, child soldiers here in America. Joined gangs. Smoking weed and worse. Committing crimes. Going absolutely nowhere and blaming racism or anyone but themselves. They were set on this path by their parents. That’s why it’s such a heroic accomplishment when mothers in this situation battle to get their kids out of this environment and on the path to success.
Based on what I’ve seen so far, this appears to be a justified shooting. The investigation is ongoing. White people get shot under similar circumstances, and the public doesn’t care.
One way to know the media is shaping public opinion is to analyze its coverage. They are showing screen shots. Edited frames that don’t show the gun. They focus on the final frame with his hands up. They are making it look like the officer saw a child with his hands up and shot him because of racism. They’re portraying “Lil Homicide” with baby pictures.
That’s not accurate. None of these people were chasing down an armed gunman, who drew his gun and turned on them. None of their lives were at stake. None of them are analyzing what Adam Toledo did to make this a deadly encounter.
And most of all, none of these armchair quarterback activists will admit that if Adam Toledo did not flee, if he stood there with his hands up and said he had a gun in his pocket, allowing cops to carefully remove it, this kid would be alive. With a moniker like that, maybe that gun would point cops at a few homicide charges. Maybe not. But he’d be alive today.
This boy was part of a gang, why? Because he had given up on trying to be accepted by society. When people have accepted that respectable society will never have a place for them they notionally say to respectable society “you think I am evil well I will try to be the BIGGEST EVIL you can imagine. If society creates conditions that create and perpetuate an underclass the society has to take some of the blame for the actions of that underclass.
The fact is that respectable society and the underclass are AT WAR and that war started long ago and once a war has started it is very difficult to stop. Surely the underclass will not sue for peace because what self esteem they have left will not let them and respectable society will not try to stop the war because its RIGHTEOUS RAGE at the underclass will not let it. Karen your scorn for single mothers will not let you make any move to stop the war as you expect members of the underclass to stop their underclass behaviour first but they can’t because they don’t know how and they don’t know how to because they have never had the experiences needed to learn how to stop their behaviour.
Respectable society’s attempts to correct underclass behaviour involve punishment and more punishment and no attempts to rehabilitate by teaching correct behaviour. They are supposed to wake up one day and think “maybe if I stop committing crimes they will stop punishing me” but committing crimes is a habit that they don’t know how to break and one of the things for which they get punished is using and trading drugs. Different people use drugs for different reasons and a single individual may use drugs for different reasons at different times. Sometimes people use drugs because it makes them feel good and this is relatively harmless unless the law gets involved or their habit becomes too expensive and they must resort to crime, but some people use drugs because their normal state of consciousness is intolerable and drug use, legal or illegal is the only way of making it tolerable. The justification for drug prohibition is that drug use causes misery but causality so runs the other way, misery causes drug use and drug use causes drug trading. Members of the underclass are generally pretty unhappy and that the things that make them happy are drug use, violence and high adrenaline behaviours such as gang warfare. Punishment does does not correct their behaviour because it is positive reinforcement as much as it is negative reinforcement. Members of the underclass like to do things that p i s s respectable society off so locking them in prison pleases them as it confirms they have succeeded in that and may convince them to commit more crime.
The drug laws are a major component of the war against the underclass and it does not achieve its stated purpose of preventing the harm done by drugs, drug reformers advocate HARM MINIMISATION but the drug war achieves HARM MAXIMISATION and in my view that is what many drug warriors want. They want to do good to people that they hate in a way that inflicts maximum harm.
I refer to this comment (http://www.drugwarrant.com/2021/04/is-joe-biden-an-old-dog/#comment-349554) that I posted recently on (Drug War Rant http://www.drugwarrant.com/) which is a good drug reform blog which is not updated much today but the archives of which are worthwhile studying.
Did it again, posted and forgot the subscribe to email notifications.
Correction …. causality so runs the other way …..
SB …. causality ALSO runs th other way …..
We have LOTS of bad laws – the drug laws are a perfect example.
Nearly all bad laws are most harmful to the “underclases”.
You note drug laws.
Minimum wage laws insidiously appeal to the underclasses while at the same time harming them.
Occupational licensing laws are direct harms to the underclass.
Why can’t just about anyone braid hair for money. or do nails ? Or any of myriads of medium or low skill jobs.
I can paint my own property myself – but I am required by law to hire a licesnsed contractor if I do not do it myself.
I can not hire the neighbor kids.
On and on and on.
Pretty much all laws and regulations impact those near the top very little and have disparately greater impact as fortunes decline.
Nearly all regulations – create barriers to entry protecting big business from small business.
None of this is new.
There are multiple nobel economics prizes for work specifically in this field back as early as 1972.
The police do not make the laws – they enforce them.
And ALL laws are ultimately imposed by force.
If you are not willing to see the police kill someone over something – then do not make it a law.
Yes!!!