now for the murdering phuckin cop who killed tamir rice…is he gonna be next???
If saying something really stupid justified the loss of one’s livelihood, then it would seem to me that just about everyone here should be at the unemployment office filling out forms.
Honestly, have we reached the point where we are such a delicate and rarefied species that a spontaneous reaction, inartfully worded, can fairly be the basis to judge not just the character of a person but also his or her competence? Have you never thought anything so brazenly callous and insensitive? Or is it OK to internalize such things as long as they remain hidden under a pretense of grace and dignity?
If you awoke morning to a news report that Donald Trump took his own life after leaving a note that he had read his own statements over the last few months to prepare for a new book and found himself so aghast with his own words, and that he felt a need a depart as a caution to others who might be foolish enough to follow in his footsteps, and if perchance in response you felt a twinge of elation and relief, should you then be cast out of society as unworthy? Or would that be, to borrow a phrase from so many here, “not the same?”
When someone says something stupid like “happy ending,” do we expect and demand of ourselves that we show compassion for one who might feel compelled to utter those words, do we seek to understand what drove them to say it and give them the benefit of the doubt, or do we haughtily tell ourselves that we most certainly would never say or think anything of the sort? Personally, I strive to give every situation the most generous interpretation possible.
Do you suppose that there is even a slight chance that this man has friends? That he has helped strangers, that he became a police officer because of a burning desire to help society? More to the point, did we inquire into those things, not by reading down a paragraph or two, but by actually asking questions and digging for answers, whether that statement revealed his character or just his reaction in a moment?
Can we hold our heads high and know that our condemnation is just and warranted, our judgment pristine and beyond debate, our response untainted by anything as pernicious as our own prejudices and bias?
Yes? You can? You did? Well then, I stand corrected. Fire the bastard, and a pox on his family. Let this stand as a lesson not just to him, but to his wife and children as well. Let the whole world know that we will not tolerate knee-jerk reactions that ignore human decency and caring, that would scorn and reject anyone without a reason founded in full consideration of the facts.
A most excellent point. I hear that God is now using Facebook to judge people. Says it saves time and reduces the Angel payroll. Of course, the resulting layoffs are a bitch, but no one dares complain.
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Have to agree. I always hate it when people wait for someone to do something before they judge them. It is so much more efficient to judge people for who they are instead of for what they do.
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he’ll move to the adjacent town, land a job, and terrorize the black residents there
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I can’t be as eloquent or long-winded, but considering his job was such that he had the power over life and death based on spontaneous reactions, I think it is fair to judge him on what he chose to post publicly. Maybe he’s a good person, maybe not, but his judgment was poor enough that it’s not acceptable to give him that power.
The vest under his sweater makes him look big, solid, not pudgy. The angle his head is at hides problems there. The glasses hide his squinty eyes. The shaved head makes him look tough.
I daresay he loves, loves, loves this picture because it makes him look like how he envisions himself.
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There is no taste if you don’t get it in your mouth anyways.
While I disagree (rather strongly you might suspect), I see and understand your perspective. Contrary to the sentiment I expressed, I don’t claim to be right here, but am just troubled by how we react these days.
I have said some astonishingly insensitive and stupid things in my life, many of them publicly in places where they persist. But I like to think that they do not really reflect who or what I am. So perhaps I am partly looking over my shoulder too.
In any event, my hope was that maybe people would stop for a moment and think. What they think and conclude is not for me to judge.
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Not unlike the other criminals that get a shave and a haircut and put on a suit and tie for court, he looks pretty unassuming with that cute sweater his mommy put on him.
Don’t go blaming Trump. This former cop could be an acolyte of any Republican in the House or Senate. Trump’s racism is not new. It’s the default position of the GOP and it was raised to the nth degree when Obama took office.