Violence and Unrest in Milwaukee

Rally for justice.  Rally for truth. Rally to grieve with those who mourn.

Now is not the time for anger and judgement about what happened in Milwaukee that left a young man dead at the hands of a police officer.  The time for anger and judgement will come, but it is only with full information that anger and judgement, when warranted, can be directed to the right place.  The truth is that there are probably no clean hands when it comes to the problems of violence in our country and that includes you and me.

I would argue that if Smith, the young man who was killed, raised a gun to an officer, it is tough to blame that officer for responding with deadly force.  Even if it is true that the police officer that shot and killed Smith did so with actual legal and moral justification, that does nothing to detract from the conversation that needs to happen what our community expectations of police are and how we deal with race relations in this country.  In fact, I would go so far as to argue that recognition by those would be and have been critical of police that this latest incident was justified (if true) would go a long way toward establishing the actual, constructive dialogue needed to actually accomplish any meaningful reform.

Conversely, if it turns out that the officer did not act with full legal or moral justification, a prompt and proper response from the police department and any other applicable authorities would help establish that necessary conversation.  Everybody needs to stop trying so hard to make facts fit the narrative that they're pushing that they forget that nothing worthwhile gets accomplished without keeping a solid focus on the truth, whatever it may be.

This cannot continue to be a shouting match between two groups of people.  Neither has a monopoly on righteousness.  Neither has completely clean hands.  Neither can solve the problems of our society and keep the peace on its own.

Now is the time to cry, pray, mourn and gather.  It is also the time to listen, learn, consider, converse and remember that lives of all colors matter.  We all have a responsibility to leave a world, country and community to our children in which they can live theirs to the fullest.

Amendment on Amendment Crime

It is becoming increasingly clear to me, both through my education and simply by paying attention to current events, that the rights promised to Americans by the US Constitution are not capable of standing together without conflicting to a degree.  While there are any number of examples of this, the most clear and consistent example of this is the 2nd amendment and the role that it plays in interfering with other people's rights.

With recent, high-profile shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin (my home state), and Aurora, Colorado, the conflict between our rights has been thrust to the forefront.  While there are plenty of people who feel very strongly that the 2nd amendment means that the government has no power to regulate firearms, there are two problems with this idea.  First, these people often forget about the "well regulated militia" portion of the amendment's language.  Regulation is an explicit requirement of the 2nd amendment.

Second, one cannot look at an individual constitutional right in a vacuum.  While guns have legitimate uses, guns are also used to deprive people of their right to live, their right to worship as they choose and others.  I will never say that guns are inherently bad.  They are tools, and tools are only as good as the person who wields them.  That being said, I see no reason why we shouldn't work to make sure that they are kept out of the wrong hands.  We do it with drugs, cars and any number of other dangerous activities and items that can hurt people even by accident.

To treat guns as special is to elevate the 2nd amendment over every other right promised to us in the constitution.  Any person or organization willing to take such a narrow focus is unintelligent and irresponsible.