If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

- George Washington

Thursday 13 January 2011

The Policeman Did It

According to the BBC:
The suspected gunman from Saturday's deadly shooting in Arizona was stopped for running a red light hours before the attack, police say.

Jared Loughner, 22, was given a verbal warning by an Arizona police officer, the Associated Press reported.
Perhaps it was that verbal warning that trigered the dreadful events of 8 January in Tucson. Perhaps the officer wasn't sufficiently polite or sensitive to Mr Loughner's needs. Perhaps that's what triggered the attack. I hope the officer concerned is duly investigated for 'insufficient sensitivity' and vilified in the press. If something Sarah Palin says thousands of miles away can be held to have contributed to this tragedy, surely a callous remark (such as the inflammatory "May I see your license, Sir?") by a police officer on the morning of the killings is a much more likely factor?

Or perhaps we could stop looking for bogeymen and accept that only one person pulled the trigger that day, and only one person bears responsibility?

"If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun." - Barack Obama, 14 June 2008.

9 comments:

  1. "Or perhaps we could stop looking for bogeymen and accept that only one person pulled the trigger that day, and only one person bears responsibility?"

    Nah. That's crazy talk. There''s political capital to be made out of this!

    Now step aside, President Obama has to give a medical update to camera. We can't leave it to those medical staff to do it, after all....

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  2. Why am I thinking of Princess Di, gurning over the top of a surgical mask at that poor chap's heart operation?

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  3. (such as the inflammatory "May I see your license, Sir?")

    Shouldn't that be:
    "May I see your licenCe, Sir?"

    I know, I know; I'm going to get out more

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  4. Well spotted, that man. It was deliberate, of course. I considered 'licence', but then I thought that as I was quoting an American I will go the whole hog. But reeeespect for noticing something that 99% of the population are not aware of.

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  5. How cheering to see the phrase "May I?" used correctly. I bite my lip nowadays when asked "Can I?" "Yes you can, but you may not" is how our (French) teacher taught us the distinction thirty-five years ago.

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  6. I must have had the same teacher.

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  7. Actually, I have noticed that American speakers are far more precise in these things than most Brits. When did you ever hear the subjunctive used correctly in British English, even on the BBC? And yet in America, at least as far as the media are concerned, constructions like "I demand that he be released" are commonplace. Hearing a cop use 'may I?' in the US would not be unusual, and yet here someone would be taking the rip out of him for being posh.

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  8. XX The suspected gunman from Saturday's deadly shooting in Arizona was stopped for running a red light hours before the attack, police say.Xx

    So WHAT?

    He may have had eggs for breakfast, do we get all "conspiracy theory" modish, about what the chicken farmer could have done to stop the shooting?

    The fact the arse was stoppes means FUCK ALL!

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  9. What you fail to see is that we are all responsible. The gunman was only crying out for help, and we failed him. I think I will go and shoot myself, in fact. Save society the bother.

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Comment is free, according to C P Scott, so go for it. Word verification is turned off for the time being. Play nicely.

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