Just Not getting It

It is understandable that this law enforcement officer is angry, upset and stunned by the violent tragedy that happened to his deputy.

But, it is also unfortunate that he complete misstates and confuses the issue of #black lives matter.

Take into account his statement: “When the rhetoric ramps up to the point where calculated, cold-blooded assassination of police officers happen, this rhetoric has gotten out of control," Hickman said. We've heard 'Black lives matter,' 'All lives matter.' Well, cops' lives matter, too. So why don't we just drop the qualifier, and just say 'Lives matter,' and take that to the bank.” 

He’s just plain wrong on two counts.  

First, he make the bald-faced and unsubstantiated assumption that the shooter - who is black – was motivated by the #black lives matter movement.  Why?  Because in the sheriff’s mind the shooter is black and the officer white so there couldn’t possibly be any other motive.

Two, #black lives matter in no way suggests or states that the life of a cop is in any way less than that of another person.  And to publicly say that because a group of people are vocally and forcefully demanding equal rights must in some way be violent extremists is one thing and one thing only.  Racist. 

I’m sorry, but if it was a skinhead who killed the officer, he would do what he’s supposed to do.  Make statements about the crime and the investigation.  But he’s a racist sheriff and he responds as a racist sheriff.

It’s really too bad.

One small hope to end gun violence: When newstellers become the story

This is no worse than any other typical act of gun violence we’ve become completely acculturated to in our violent society.  In fact, as most multiple shooting victim incidents go, it was pretty tame.  Only two people died and one seriously injured.  Hardly worth a small mention on local news.

Except – as you know – it will be THE story for days to come.

And not just because it happened on live TV – although that does ramp it up to saturation coverage level.

No, the reason this is a huge, huge story is because it happened to those who normally report the story.  And when that happens, the floodgates open.

And that is a good thing in this case.  I write this next sentence with tremendous apprehension and reverence. This act of violence has the potential to move then needle on badly needed gun restriction that Sandy Hook never could.

Everyone – even the disgusting werewolves in the NRA agreed that what happened at that school was terrible.  But average kids and parents don’t have the megaphone to enact real change.

Journalists and – more importantly – their well-heeled bosses do.

After today, every reporter and camera crew is going to be looking over their shoulder for a would-be gunman. Every time they start to go live, they will shudder, even so slightly, at the possibility of an armed assassin just out of camera view.

And that situation is untenable.  And if TV reporters and shows are faced with an untenable situation, they just might use their massive megaphone to try and enact change.

It’s so sad and so disheartening, but it is reality: dozens of dead kids can’t move us toward change, but a bunch of news directors, editors and corporate bosses just might.

When The NFL Has Not Place Left To Go

When I was a kid, a popular party favor was a small plastic square with movable tiles numbered one through 24. All spaces on the square were taken by a number –except one. Once the numbers were scrambled, your job was to try and get them all back to sequential order using only the blank space to manipulate the digits back in the correct position.  

I remembered that game as talks are heating up about bringing an NFL team back to LA.

Ah yes - the potential of a pro football team in the City of Angels.  The great “White Buffalo” of sports. 

Currently, the former LA Rams are posturing to move back to SoCal, and the San Diego Chargers are rumored to be moving north. Of course the Oakland Raiders are threatening to drive south.

Now first of all, I don’t care a wit about any of these teams and I have no favorite to eventually call LA home, but, I very much want some team to do it. I want some team to eventually become the metaphorical tile that occupies the blank space.

You see, if a team finally breaks through and becomes LA’s football team, it will hopefully remove the wiggle room that the blank space of Los Angeles has provided the greedy NFL owners over the years. The blank space they could previously use as leverage to threaten their current market and fans into paying for new stadiums. The blank space the owners could use to move the team if demands were not met.

If LA is occupied by an NFL team, so much power is stripped away from owners.  LA is the last great market available to the NFL, and if it comes off the table so goes the bargaining power of a team owner dissatisfied with his current lease, stadium age or fan support.

LA always provided a disgruntled owner with a credible threat to face the fans and media and say, “unless I can get X or Y or Z, I will unfortunately, begrudgingly have to consider a move to LA in order to remain viable in the hyper competitive landscape of pro sports.”

But, if the corpulent and fleshy owners don’t have an LA to spirit their billion dollar plaything away to…?

What would they do?  Would the Vikings really threaten to leave a market that supported the franchise for decades in order to see if they can get more from Columbus, or San Antonio or Salt Lake City? Do the Saints really think they can do better in Portland, El Paso or Oklahoma City?  Maybe, but are they really willing to take that risk?

An owner and his team could fail spectacularly in LA, yet due to its size and revenue power, they could still make ends meet.  But, if a middle-of-the-pack owner and team in a middle-of-the-pack market wants to try its luck in another middle of the pack market?  The results could be epically bad.

And one last thing about LA.  America’s second largest city, the entertainment capital of the world, one of the most influential metropolis’s on the planet has been without an NFL team for 20 years. It’s stronger than ever, more prominent than ever and more populous than ever. LA lost its football in 1995 and didn’t slide into the ocean. Instead, it went on and its people found something else to do. The city and its people thrived without pro football.

Once the space is occupied, NFL owners will be force to look around, bite their tongues and decide that staying put and paying for stadium upgrades out-of-pocket is the last recourse they have.

And that will be a good day for all.

Too comfortable?

A famed free diver dies while doing what, for her, is relatively easy.  A well-known Yosemite rock climber and wing-suit flyer also dies doing what he does.  A Woman becomes the first female ever to swim from the Farallones to San Francisco, only a few weeks after a swimmer attempting the reverse course, had to cancel the journey due to a great white following him.

Meanwhile Tom Cruise leaps off tall buildings, The Avengers subdue evil with the most daredevil-ly actions and fantastical hobbits and dwarves battle overwhelming forces with just swords and axes.

And here is the narrative for both situations:

“I’m sorry they died or didn’t achieve their ultimate goals, but it was their fault because daredevils are stupid adrenaline junkies.”  Look at the comments section of every online newspaper which chronicled their death or failure. It's as if these daredevils personally attacked the readers. Simultaneously: “I love action movies!  I can’t wait to see the next one!  Gosh, they are so exciting!!”

I’ll stop right here.  The true life daredevils died and left behind families and friends, whereas Mr. Cruise still draws a Hollywood paycheck and no actual Hobbits, Orks or Transformers were harmed during filming. I get that.  I understand that.

But, what does it say about us as a culture that we rail against individuals who get seriously hurt or even pay the ultimate price in pursuit of their dreams, while we breathlessly spend our money and fill up our discretionary time with action packed, synthetic drama?

It’s almost as if we are angry at the rock climbers, bungee jumpers and extreme athletes for interrupting the bargain of modern life: Watch much, but do little. Or maybe we are angry because they actually got off the sofa and sought their own real-life adrenaline.

Sure, many skeptics exclaim with the best of intentions that the daredevils acted selfishly because they engaged in tremendous risks despite having families and children who needed them.

But what about the millions of dads who live safe and ordinary lives yet still carry about 50-100 extra pounds of fat on their bodies and pools of cholesterol in their veins?  Or the millions of moms who text while driving – perhaps after consuming four to five cocktails?

Aren’t they acting selfishly and irresponsibly? 

Yet the public doesn’t seem to unleash righteous anger via Twitter and Facebook because a 54-year-old father of three died of a heart attack, or a hard-charging career women wrapped her Mercedes around a light pole still clutching her smartphone.

Perhaps – just perhaps – jealousy rears its predictable and ugly head in the case of daredevils who risked and lost. Perhaps our anger at the ill-fated daredevils is misplaced longing for thrills and risks we’ve steadily diminished in our modern world.

John Stewart Made it OK To Go All in Against Power

I’m not a good enough writer to do adequate justice to John Stewart’s career on The Daily Show as he walks away this week.  Others can weigh in on how significant he has been to late night comedy and the form of satire in general (hint: it was significant).

But, I will add my two cents for what he meant to me and people like me.

You see, if you are center-left, but pretty compliant and obedient in your everyday life, you reserve a little bit of skepticism regarding the ineptitude and evilness of powerful people and institutions.  There is some small but durable piece of your mind that stops the rest of you from complete immersion into the realm of utter failure.

That small sliver of doubt says things like:

·         “OK, what the president just said is pretty dumb, but he really isn’t that stupid.  He’s the president after all!

·         Or: “OK, that network is really pandering to viewers, but they aren’t going to outright lie about the facts.”

·         Or, “I must have missed some part of the story, because no politician is dumb enough to say one thing at 9 a.m. and completely contradict himself at 6 p.m. on the same day.”

But John Stewart helped slay that small part of the brain and allowed us to go all-in on the reality that yes, many politicians, reporters, news organizations, government bureaucrats, etc. are and will always be stupid, lazy, corrupt, and bat-shit crazy.  End of story, no need for nuance and explanation. John and the staff of the Daily Show through great research, great wit and great writing shined a bright light on the obvious and allowed us to jump in and bathe in its simple truth.

The simple truth?  Yes, President Bush was dumb and lazy and would do anything his handlers told him to do. Yes, Fox News is not a news organization; it is a tool of very rich people to mold stupid, old white people through fear and racism into a political force that would move an agenda. Yes, politicians are mean and petty and are only interested in staying in office. Yes, we the American public are lazy and fat and only able to focus our attention on the brightest and shiniest object glittering in front of us.

Stewart and the Daily Show emphatically illustrated that our first impressions were right on. They showed us that we didn’t need to temper our anger, angst and apprehension. We need not bother with reservation or caution. The idiots in charge are indeed the idiots in charge.

And the final and immortal brilliance of Stewart and his show? He could still make us laugh in the face of this very disturbing truth.

Vaya con dios John.