Police Brutality

We definitely live in a country (and world) where there is too much police brutality and we in civilized countries should be doing something about it.  Where there is power there is corruption but that doesn't mean that all cops are bad.  The bad ones are a small minority but they still should be held criminally responsible when they abuse their power.

It really appears as though the young man in Baltimore was somehow murdered by the police but the rioting has taken the emphasis off this terrible deed.  It makes me wonder if the rioting is being encouraged in order to take the spotlight off the real issue.  Most of us have paid more attention to the out-of-control rioters than the fact that a young man has lost his life while in the custody of the authorities.

We have failed to hold police and politicians accountable when one of them goes off the deep end and commits a crime against the public.  There is way too much secrecy and protection by their own people and that is where abuse can flourish.  But we can't tar every cop or politician with the same brush.  At least most cops are good people who live their lives to protect the public.  I don't like politicians so I can't lie and say anything good about them but there just might be a good one somewhere in the pack...maybe.

Being responsible for your actions seems to have disappeared in our culture.  Criminals loudly protest their innocence even when caught red handed.  Government officials often rob the public blind and civil rights groups have forgotten what their mandate is.  We're overloaded with self interest groups who feed at the public trough using our tax dollars to hire inefficient people to perform unnecessary work.  There is little trust any more in how our government is run.

Rioting won't change any of this.  It just takes our attention away from what is really destroying our country and that is the greed, abuse, and inefficiency of those who rule it.  I have a hard time believing it will ever get any better.  I hate to admit that the only way I see to start is by voting for decent representatives.  I don't vote because I haven't found one in years.  

Free speech is the public's only way to bring to light the crimes of their leaders and surely there must be someone like Martin Luther King out there in the throngs of protesters...someone intelligent enough and charismatic enough to inspire followers who can win the war without destroying the world they're trying to save.

Update:  Police officers have been charged in the murder of Freddie Gray.  This is the justice system at work the right way. They'll have a fair trial but, if they're not convicted, I fear more rioters will use this as an excuse to further destroy Baltimore.  We'll see.