The Face of Tragedy

by C. O. Jones

In all the hoopla over the tragedy of Trayvon Martin, perhaps the most cynical comment comes from (would-be) news correspondent, Geraldo Rivera: “Parents, don’t send your children out with hoodies.” WHERE is the national, political, social outcry (in the face of the NRA during an election year) suggesting that parents: “Don’t send your children out with guns!” This includes our 15, 28 and 60-year-old children! There are millions of “George Zimmermans” out there whom we cannot order off the streets. George Zimmerman, and those now stepping forward to vouch for his “sweet” nature, is not the problem. The problem lies with US! We allow people like him to prowl the streets with guns. States like Florida, with comical laws, even encourage it. Arizona has gun laws now more permissive than the law whose enforcement led to the legendary gunfight at the OK corral in Tombstone in 1881.

Florida gun laws endorse a “vigilante” system of bounty hunting, with tacit immunity to what would otherwise, clearly be second degree murder. This self-promoted “protector of the community,” was clearly instructed by the police dispatcher to stand down. This incident is one more piece of a puzzle in which violence in our culture has become more and more accepted, to the point of veneration. Our street thugs who find glory in pounding each other to a pulp now make mega-bucks on TV in (respectable?) “Ultimate Fighting” leagues. I would rather watch a cock fight. Young people attend “slam dances,” in which violence is part of the fun(?) The U. S. Army now endorses “cage fighting,” in which many of the women, encouraged to participate, are carried off on stretchers.

Violence in sports runs the gamut, from the NBA, where it’s strongly discouraged, to the NHL, where it’s openly encouraged….to attract more fans. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, was praised for his tough stance against the New Orleans Saints coaching staff for imposing stiff sanctions in a “bounty hunting” scandal. Fines and suspensions? Am I missing something? We’re talking mob violence here, with bosses and goons. These men, passing out “contracts,” are guilty of assault and battery at least. They belong in jail, banned for life! Hey, Pete Rose just had a gambling problem; he wasn’t hurting anybody. Instead, our prisons are filled with people who want to smoke an occasional joint…or with kids whose only hope to escape inner-city madness is the drug culture.

Our children are encouraged to sit in front of television sets from age 1, where they watch violence and mayhem that makes Roadrunner Cartoons look like “.…a Jolly Holiday with Mary (Poppins.)” Is it any wonder that we, (THAT’S YOU AND I) are tolerant of our government conducting multiple wars all over the planet, killing thousands of innocents including assassination of our own citizens, for the sake of protecting commerce and our prerogative to dictate to these people how they should run their lives? Our so-called “liberal” president is just as guilty as the last ignoramus we ran out of office, with the help of term limits.

Take note, my friends, of the many forms and the degree of violence that permeates our culture and take a stand against it.

C. O. Jones is a Robbinsense staff writer