marjorie says...
Over the past couple of days I've been having an internal debate over whether to comment on the release of Elton John Richard. After all, I made it very clear what I thought when the subject of letting him walk first came up, both in the posts I wrote and in the discussion each generated (which I highly recommend as m-pyre readers are invariably quite insightful). You can see them here and here.
Suffice it to say, I am disgusted this weekend.
Then I wandered over to my favorite right-wing ideological blog and, you know, wow. The Eye on Albuquerque blog rarely fails to entertain, even if its a rare day that I agree with them. They're the types who don't believe global warming exists, for example. And they actually at times have me feeling sympathetic toward Marty--ha! (I know!) But rarely do I actually find the blog disgusting, like I did today with their championing of "The Marine."
You guys know the one--better not mess with him because you *will* *be* *killed.*
In the words of the Eye:
A note to anyone with felonious aspirations, DO NOT EVER attempt to rob a determined Marine. These guys voluntarily entered a branch of the military that prides itself on being the first into a hostile military situation. Your guns, knives, and gang BS aren't a match for a Marine's training, determination, and honor.
The comment section, though, is where this really gets down and dirty. I recommend you all read it, if you can stomach it, and applaud the hearty souls who venture in to push back on the utter lack of generosity displayed by these kill-them-all vigilante champions, some of whom I fear are also running around in uniform in this city with guns on their hips.
I can't even repost some of the pro-vigilante comments in broad daylight here on m-pyre. They are just too awful. But here are some of the voices of sanity taking them to task...
"How severe an attempted crime warrants vigilante execution? Its clear that you believe B&E does. Does shoplifting? Jaywalking? Police Brutality? Speeding? Littering? Red Light camera violations? Public intoxication? Vigilantism? Off-leash dogs?"
"Ok, so let's review: Marines are bad-ass, Mr. Richard was defending his home, this case should never have gone to trial, the drug-addict gang banger was scum and needed "killing", coulda shoulda woulda....everyone can jump up on their soap box and cry foul, but in the end, laws were broken. One law-breaker is dead, and the other law breaker was found guilty of it."
"You guys are so ridiculous its hysterical. Richard is obviously a nutbag, and this complete and utter glorification of "the marine" is actually beyond hysterical. My brother is a Marine, so are my uncle and cousins. They are all 'intelligent' men (hello) who would never lose their ability to think, i.e. "the training kicks in"--to the point of chasing a guy who's actually trying to leave their house, and killing the guy in cold blood. Richard lost utter control of himself, like an animal. And to say that this is a quality found in Marines--per se--is OFFENSIVE!
"If he's such a bad ass, I think he could have done his measly 2 years.
"Obviously, the judge wimped out completely. What an idiot--and what damage to the rule of law in this country."
"If indeed most of these pro-vigilante posts are by the cops that read this site we finally have an explanation for why APD is so ineffective: extremely low intelligence.
"Since you're all for vigilante executions feel free to provide us with your personal details so we can follow you around and execute you and/or your family members whenever you/they break a law. Excuse me sir, I saw you make a rolling stop at that last intersection any last words? I'll make sure to call waste disposal to clean up the mess afterward, don't want anyone executing me for littering.
"Man what a great country this would be if we all killed each other every time we saw someone else breaking a law. Hey Officer Chavez, I saw you talking on your cell phone while driving yesterday, would you like a cigarette and a blindfold?"
You know, my brother's an ex-Marine, and the one commenter is right--there are plenty of Marines who would never act like Richard did. So lets get off the glorification trip. And then say a prayer for Daniel Romero's family.
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