[Pity List #4]

Before I start my rant of who should be pitied... i must apologize... for I have not posted in like a week or more because my monitor decided to go out. I suppose in reality that's my fault... my fault for stuffing my laptop in my bag crammed with a whole crap-load of other stuff (paper work, camera equipment, video tapes, etc.) Either way, I'm screwed now... because I can't use the computer... the hard drive still works, as is evidenced by the fact that I'm reading information off of it using the G5 Mac in Mary Gates Hall...

Good ol' UW Tech Fee... I knew it'd be good for something.

So now on to the fourth person who needs to be pitied... and pitied bad...

And again, as before, this is not so much a person, but persons...

this time, it's a category of person... Backers-of-the-gulity-in-the-face-of-common-sense, I call them.

Do any of you remember the story a couple of weeks ago where this 400-lb black man... and yes, before you ask, he really was four hundred pounds, according to my recollection of the story. He might be a little less, but IF i remember correctly, he was definitely above 300 pounds. Well, anyway... so this big 400-lb black guy is pulled over and the cops are prepared to arrest him for some crime, when he goes nuts and starts fighting with the cops.

In the end, the BIGman dies. And here is where my Pity fits in.

There is a whole community of people who are now crying police brutality and police crime because the BIGman died as a result of the fight between the cops. And I do mean fight. It wasn't a beating... it was a fight. The police tape seems to clearly illustrate this. Did they go a little too far... potentially... but then again... the man was 400-lbs.

And that's not all. Let's break this idiocy down a little bit.

This guy was 400-lbs of mass, filled with adrenaline, and get this... drugs... this will be important later. So this guy is zonkin' out... angry because the cops want to arrest him... and i'm sure he's wondering, "oh just what did i do wrong?"
(For information sake, I think he was driving under the influence or something... might have been speeding... don't remember). Now, a mass of 400-lbs decides to start pummeling cops. What do you do? Well, you fight back.

That's what the cops did. They fought back. Maybe they made a slight mistake by continuing to hit him while he was down... but by the looks of the tape, he wasn't exactly unconscious... he was kicking and such... and if you ANYBODY in that situation, you're adrenaline is kicked into high gear and you are fighting for survival. That means, you make sure the person who is well and above bigger than you can't get back up to knock your head in.

Seems clear cut right? Well, not so. Apparently the community of people are outraged. "YOU KILLED HIM!" they shout. Fine... they are hurt and angry and untrusting. It's prolly a community that has had problems in the past with the police... Fine. Question things... FINE. But do not... DO NOT SAY THE FOLLOWING: "He was such a gentle man, who never hurt anyone, and wouldn't hurt anyone... and was innocent."

No. NO NO NO. NO! I myself may or may not agree that the fight got out of hand. But the man was NOT INNOCENT. Why do people ALWAYS say that. "He was innocent!" "He was misunderstood!" He was misunderstood probably because as crime lab toxicology reports showed, he was doped up on heroin or crack. D'oh. Real innocent there. He had priors for being physically aggressive. A man that big... oooh, big surprise. He prolly has the adrenaline and testosterone levels equalling the entire state of Rhode Island. Big suprirse that he might get a little... miffed.

This are the people I pity. Pity too ignorant to realize that, while yes maybe he didn't deserve to die... neither did the cops who were doing their job. Think about it. If a 400-lb man came charging at you like a raging bull, wouldn't you do everything in your power to make sure you are safe?? Especially if he's drugged out and doesn't feel pain like a normal person would.

For those of us who know him... think of jOe. If jOe was hopped up on an overdose of heroin-laced twinkies and came lunging at us like a lunatic... who would sit there and take it? Who'd reason with him? I think Steve-o knows best what a raging jOe is like, choking the life out of you? Yea, jOe's a kind-hearted guy... but if something makes him snap... he'll kill you and you'll try to defend yourself.

For the people who were saying, "OOOH the police are evil and they hate us and they are brutal..." Think before you say stuff. Yes, some police are brutal and need to be put in check... but not every situation is another example of Police Brutality. Not every situation involving the police will end up being a Rodney King.

I really pity you.