Posted on 11/22/2006 7:35:17 AM PST by Dick Bachert
Atlanta police went to a home on Neal Street in Atlanta last evening to execute a search warrant. When they kicked the door in the only occupant of the home, a 92-year-old woman, started shooting. She hit all three police officers. One in the thigh, one in the arm and another in the shoulder. All police officers will be OK. The woman will not. She was shot and killed by the police.
I'm not blaming the cops here. Not at all. They had a valid search warrant, and they say they were at the right address. Shots were fired, three cops hit, and they returned fire. A 92-year-old woman who was so afraid of crime in her neighborhood that she had burglar bars on every door and window, is now dead.
The blame lies on this idiotic drug war we're waging. We have all the studies we need, all of the comprehensive data is in. We can do a much more effective job of reducing drug use in this country if we'll just take a portion of this money we spend for law enforcement and spend it on treatment programs. A Rand study showed that we can reduce illicit drug usage in this country a specified amount through treatment programs at about 10% of the cost of reducing drug usage by that same amount through criminalization and law enforcement.
There's just something in the American psyche that demands that drug users be punished instead of treated and rehabilitated. We think they're stupid and ignorant for getting mixed up with those drugs in the first place. And you know what? We're right? But look at the messages we send to our children every single day with cigarettes, alcohol, and an endless stream of drug ads on television and in magazines. Drug culture? You bet we have.
Are you saying in one breath that the Assistant Chief of Police is a liar but in the next breath that you support the police?
Do you believe that every 92 year woman that uses deadly force should be met my deadly force by a police officer?
He better have tears in his eyes and be ready to explain it to St. Peter!
Where is Andy Taylor when we need him?
Just asking.
That makes no sense at all. A suicide bomber has intent to kill others, hence Fox News' (admittedly labored) phrase, "homicide bomber." Suicide bombers don't just happen to kill others and destroy property. It's their intent and you know it. How dumb do you think ppl are to make such an idiotic statement?
A heroin junkie or a crack addict may have ill effects on society, but it's pretty clear that they don't get high or become addicted with the intent of suicidally becoming a drag on others. What total nonsense!
Excellent points. And at the same time the Gov't decrees that we're all competent to decide on other drugs (caffeine, cold medicines, herbal remedies, etc.).
There was no stash. No drugs were found.
Tin hats, anyone?
If drugs are legalized they won't be sold for long. The addicts will soon lose any ability to make a living and so will again resort to theft for their habits.
Right, just like it happened when alcohol prohibition was repealed and alcoholics couldn't hold a job and resorted to theft. Shootouts by alcoholics and distributors in front of liquor stores are so common these days.
"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." ('Atlas Shrugged' 1957)
In fact, many suicide bombers are on heroin or some other drug -- mixed with their latest inspiration from Friday's prayer, so who knows what they are thinking.
In fact, trying to reason with them is exactly like trying to reason with the druggie crowd.
Just as they pine for the caliphate you druggies want your high.
And every thing and everyone else be damned.
('Atlas Shrugged' 1957)
LOL
You're perfect.
You know this probably all came about because she sold a few of her prescription Vicodin's to someone to buy some food or something. How reprehensible.
Nice post. When a drug dealer is taken off the streets -- imprisoned -- it creates a job opportunity for ten other people to become a drug dealer. They'll fight it out of course, to see who controls the turf. When a bank robber or murder is imprisoned the murder and bank robbing stops. That is, no one is waiting in the wings to fill their shoes.
Thank you, truth is timeless.
"It's more important that the rights of individuals not be violated than it is to catch drug users or any other kind of criminal."
Right.
You guys would really love Somalia.
But you better get their quick before Sharia law gets imposed.
Though, come to think of it, that wouldn't faze you -- since they still allow (ney, encourage) doping yourself.
Little if any motivation for mugging a dozen little old ladies each day to pay for the drugs -- if legalized, drugs shouldn't cost any more than untaxed legal drugs like aspirin and caffeine. Drug addicts could peacefully overdose on $2 worth of drugs in the privacy of their own homes.
I'd have to feel bad for the cop who has to deal with them two weeks later in response to the 911 call about the smell, but not as much as for the little old lady who is getting mugged right now.
In fact, many suicide bombers are on heroin or some other drug -- mixed with their latest inspiration from Friday's prayer, so who knows what they are thinking.
In fact, trying to reason with them is exactly like trying to reason with the druggie crowd.
Just as they pine for the caliphate you druggies want your high.
And every thing and everyone else be damned.
What a peice of work you are. I'd like to see you talk a pothead into blowing themselves up.
Okay, you've missed my point. Perhaps it's my fault.
I did not call the Assistant Chief a liar. And I haven't a dog in this fight vis-a-vis whether or not the cops were right or not. I wasn't there, so I can never know what happened.
But, Neal has an AGENDA to advance when he presents this story; he is attempting to show that the War on Drugs has led to an overwhelming increase in the power of the police, and is a dangerous threat to civil liberties, all in the name of a "victimless crime", i.e. recreational drug use.
For almost all libertarians (Neal included), all subjects eventually come back to the stigmas and restrictions attached to "recreational" drug use. Particularly their own recreational use (although I cannot say with any certainty that Neal uses anything stronger than aspirin, and it is certainly not my intention to insinuate that he, personally, does).
Neal, incidentally, so far as I know, has no issue with the CIA wiretapping folks to snoop out terorrists, so I guess that's one trampling of civil liberties he can accept (unless the CIA manages to catch a guy talking to his dealer, and passes it on to local law enforcement for an arrest to be made. This, incidentally, is also the democratic stance against the Patriot Act; that in the process of searching for terrorists, the gov't may turn up evidence of other, unrelated criminal activities and prosecute). Nice way to be consistent, huh?
The way this was presented was to imply that a gross violation of civil rights occurred, without an attempt to put it in the proper context. Neal's objection is NOT that a 92-year old woman was shot, but that she was shot AS A RESULT OF GOVERNMENT PURSUING A FAILED ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY. Especially when said enmforcement strategy is aimed at not improving the state of society, after all, but only stomping upon the rights of the "recreational" drug user.
Just asking for a dash of truth and consistency here, that's all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.