Radio Talk Show Assholes

While waiting for MUNI, a shuttle bus pulled up with the radio blaring, "WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A GUY WHO RAPED A 12 YEAR-OLD..." BLAH BLAH BLAH Someone else who was also waiting for MUNI looked at me and we both shook our heads. Pathetic.

This, of course, related to the shoot-out between police officers and a 26 year-old who had been in and out of prison. This is a tragedy, the man is dead, the police officers are dead.

Of course, people want to understand why he got crazy and shot the police, but there are also people, myself included, who have seen the police get crazy and shoot people. Most of us think there needs to be less shooting. I suppose some people ventilate their anger through radio talk shows, but to me it just seems this venom spewing only hardens people in their wrong-headed perspectives.

I'm not saying the guy who shot the cops was a choir-boy, but the blaring headlines and shouting radio assholes are convicting a dead man of multiple crimes based on bits of information leaked by angry law enforcement colleagues. This is about as disgusting as running up and kicking the corpse, or hanging it from a bridge, or dragging it through town behind a pick-up truck. It doesn't encourage respect for the law. It doesn't encourage respect for a judicial system and giving citizens fair trials. It doesn't encourage civility. It encourages more shooting and vigilantism.