by John Walters
Bullet Bulletin
Eight people are shot dead at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis late last night. If you’re keeping score, that’s 45 mass shootings (four or more shot, not including the shooter) in the U.S.A. since mid-March.
On the other hand(gun), the U.S.A. has vaccinated more of its citizens (thank you, Joe) than any other nation.
I guess what we’re trying to say is that the U.S. is the world’s leader in people getting shots and people getting shot.
Don’t Cancel Me, But…
…What was Adam Toledo, a 13 year-old, doing outside at 2:37 a.m.? With a gun? Why was Daunte Wright diving back into his car after officers had already gotten him to step out of his vehicle?
Should either Adam or Daunte be dead right now? Of course not. Of course not. Let me repeat: Of course not.
But I’m having a hard time equating their deaths to what Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd. Chauvin’s act was out-and-out murder, a sadistic and malicious cop thinking he could act with impunity. These other two cases are cops reacting in the heat of the moment, poorly with hindsight, sure, but I’ll ask again: What’s a 13 year-old boy doing outside at 2:37 a.m. (and just asking this question would get me destroyed on the Twitters because the ratio gang would judge that I’m saying he deserved it)?
These are things that cannot be reasonably discussed on the Twitters.
Hell, what the U.S. Army dude did to the young black man walking on the sidewalk smacked of way more hatred and racism. It’s just that the effects were not as grave.
On the other hand, and let’s not forget this for one moment, Wright and Toledo are still alive today if they’re white. As you see here:
And yes, all of this stuff has been going on for decades. The difference is that now we have body cams and iPhone cameras.
The U.S. is just one unending Black Mirror episode.
Kinda Fresh, Kinda Wow, Charli
Meet the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, Charli Collier, out of the University of Texas, taken by the Dallas Wings. Collier is a 6’5″ forward and quite striking.
(Tell me you didn’t have The Lion King flashbacks watching the No. 6 pick’s grandmama celebrate)
The Wings actually had the No. 2 pick overall (taking another 6’5″ post player, out of Finland, Awak Kuier, and the No. 5 pick overall (guard Chelsea Dungee out of Arkansas). Three of the first five picks. But in a draft that had no UConn or Notre Dame players—none—and only one Tennessee player, it’ll be interesting to see what having three of the top five picks yields. This draft did not have a superstar talent.
The Two Faces Of Nick Saban
He’s priceless, he is.
Charming Nick (date unknown):
Grumpy Nick (yesterday):
You Don’t Say
America’s very own Littlefinger, Sen. Lindsey Graham, once again saying what’s advantageous for him to say in the moment. He’d never say this in front of donors wearing red baseball caps. In fact, he’d refute that he ever said it.
Ha Ha Hahn
One of New York City’s most valuable phenotypes is the bitchy, witty, charming gay man. I encountered my first, Mark P., in my first year in Manhattan back in 1989. He was a friend of my roommate’s. Basically, the Jack character you saw on Will & Grace. There are thousands of these men, each more fun to be around than the next.
Engaging conversations about The Brady Bunch. Treatises on the best cabaret acts. A late night sing along at Marie’s Crisis Cafe or The Duplex. Bemoaning a jump in waist size from 30 to 32. Chatter about the latest Randy Rainbow video.
It’s fun to see the New York Times actually profile one, George Hahn, who is a scream on Twitter. Also, you read that right: a 360-square foot apartment on the UWS (I had an 860-square foot palace…lived like a sultan).
I’m just not with you on the deaths of Adam Toledo and Daunte Wright. That they weren’t as sadistic as the killing of George Floyd is not particularly relevant; it just means that they weren’t as far out on the horrific spectrum of police killings.
I also don’t think one can say “I’m not blaming the victims” and “but they shouldn’t have been out late at night” in the same breath. I understand that this a distinction you are willing to make, but I don’t think that needle can be threaded.
I asked what he was doing out at 2:37 A.M. with a gun in his hands. We live in a society now where just asking that question gets me canceled. I repeatedly said I’m not blaming him. You inferred that. I don’t know any parent who’d think it a good idea for his or her son to be out alone at that hour, much less holding a gun. That should not cost him his life, of course. But to not even ask the question is, to me, stupid. The moment we can’t ask questions any 5 year-old would ask is the moment we cease to function as a civilized society.
I don’t think my disagreement with you means we have ceased to function as a civilized society. And criticism or disagreement doesn’t equal cancellation. You have the same rights to express your opinion as you did before I typed my comments into your blog.
You can ask the question of why he was out late with a gun. But in doing so, you are necessarily shifting some responsibility or fault or causation for the incident on the victim. Those are more benign terms than “blame” but the reasonable reader’s inference will be the same, regardless of your intent.
Some of the causation does lie with the victim. Blame? No. But causation? Absolutely. If you expect cops to approach people in an alley wlrunning with a gun at 2:30 am the way Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Fife might approach a stray puppy, that is not realistic.
Here’s the thing: you’d rather not even address the question. You’d rather mildly scold me for asking it.
It’s good to have a back-and -forth. We happen to disagree. No big deal.
I find it interesting that there’s not a lot of detail and context to the Adam Toledo shooting. Thanks for asking the tough question. Why was he out at 2:30 am? As my mother used to say, “Nothing good happens after midnight.”
There’s no blame on Adam. He did follow the officer’s orders to drop the gun and put his hands up. That alone should have kept him from being shot (and ultimately killed). But, context and filling out the story would help give a bigger picture and perspective to the incident. You’d want the actual fact-finding press (as opposed to the opinion makers) to find this information and report on it. But, of all I’ve read (and I live in the Chicago area and am reading the Chicago Tribune) there’s no reporting on what happened leading up to the shot.
You do wonder, though, if the police will start having second thoughts about shooting their firearms, for fear of either making a mistake and/or becoming the next boogie man in the news. I know I would, but I haven’t been trained to do what they do. I’m not under the pressure of life & death situations. Or, as Colonel Jessup said, I’m not on that wall.
Col. Jessep.
I’m always available for fact-checking help. Free.
I’ll be sure to run my comments to you before I post them. 🙂
Thank you Jdubs for introducing me to the world of George Hahn and his Twitter verse. I’ll never be the same again!