Because it's only a matter of time before fat strung out men get belligerent
The state will finally close the books on the investigation into the methods of the Cincinnati police department and the subsequent death of a rather large man who died a short time after being taken into custody in front of a fast food store. As you may remember, the videotape and the outcries from civil rights leaders and members of the dead fellow's family caused many in the morning talk show circuits to wring their hands in mock disbelief, caring and outrage. The nonissue caused much tension in the community and catapulted the city into fame similar to Los Angeles, Detroit and Philadelphia. It raised again the issue of police being too brutal in stopping and arresting innocent fat guys hopped up on goofenthal and craving a hot juicy burger and maybe a couple orders of fries.
Cops everywhere deal with lunatics daily, never knowing when one may just decide it's time to put the foot down and make like Custer. It's a fine line to walk when the time comes to do what we pay them for. Like the news media did the summer before with the string of child abductions and kidnappings (the country wide number for abductions that year was relatively unchanged), they latched onto the evil police officers and their ruthless Gestapo tactics. The little boy (right!) who got himself bounced off the hood of a car at a gas station after he latched onto an officer with his teeth and kicked him. The more recent story a month or so ago in L.A. when the officers opened fire on the driver of a car in a pursuit who put his foot down and tried to run them over. It's not an enviable job most of the time to enforce the law. It's filled with disrespect, distrust, contempt and outright hatred. And then you throw race in just for a giggle. But someone has to do it, and these guys and gals do it voluntarily. Man, people in the United States volunteer an awful lot, don't they? What's their problem?
Then the morning after, Katie Couric and her ilk march out the family, the mayor, the police chief, the local inspirational leader and anybody else vaguely attached to the deceased idiot. Like an electronic bellows, they fuel the fire of hatred and distrust yet again, gleefully dancing naked around the fire of ignorance during the commercial breaks. Admit it, you know she's a witch. But, I digress. After the standard operating practice of suspending the officers, pending an investigation, the lynch mob cries of cruelty and abuse and the over use of force grow unpleasantly louder and people's heads become called for. It becomes a festering wound in the community and a tall hurdle for the authorites to clear.
Deadly force is taught for a reason. Someone is bound to get hurt. No matter how much the families try to defend the "honor" of the object of that force, it's more often than not a road chosen by the decedent that the family knows will lead him/her to a grisly end. You just can't duke it out with a cop and not expect to get a bruise or two. 'Cause he or she has friends coming in a hurry and you will pray for a God when they finally do subdue you. It's just a fact of life that too many people seem to have forgotten. It's extremely unlikely the perpetrators are actually victims, though the press would love for you to think that. It's not their fault for being strung out on PCP, or drunker than a sailor in port, or madder than a hive of bees. It's not their fault they swung at a cop, pulled the gun out of their jacket or drove away at a high rate of speed. It's society's fault. Society may try to reprimand or fine or imprison them, and you know some people can't take criticism well. They're sensitive. They may have been turned down for a job at Wendy's, got dumped by a lover, got stiffed by a dealer, just decided that if he couldn't have the kids, then nobody would. So, it's not their fault.
Many people try that argument and maybe one day it will stick. The way some people lead their lives, it may be sooner. It's now our bosses' faults we're fat, because stress, not your lifestyle, causes obesity. It's not your fault you smoke; it's a little code in your DNA that causes a predisposition to voluntarily give yourself cancer. It's not your fault you beat your wife; Lifetime keeps playing movies that subliminally drive you to it. Alcoholism is a disease, no fault there, damn Mother Nature. It's not your fault. So, following that train of thought, however idiotic, most of our prisons should become hospitals for the addicted and diseased. Maybe we could give them weekend passes. Hell, maybe we could let them out unsupervised to visit their parents near D.C., on the promise of no more assassination attempts or murders. Vote for me for your next Democratic President. They call me Mike. Mike Dukakis.