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Every day we hear about another innocent being gunned down or murdered in cold blood. The news reports are always packed full of the daily carnage and the pointless horrors perpetrated by the gang members and lunatics that wander our streets.
We helplessly watch our TV sets as family members weep and plead for the public’s help in finding the heartless scum who have turned their lives upside down. The ones who think that if they own a gun they rule the streets. Their presence is felt in every community and whether you want to admit it or not they impact all of our lives.
You don’t have to live in an area that has a “local” gang, trust me if you don’t have one they will come to you. Even if you are unaware of it they are all around us and continue to grow in their numbers. They are impossible to completely eradicate, kind of like the rat infestation in New York City, but all we can do is try.
But despite all of the community protests, town meetings, and written condemnations we seem to be helpless against this vermin. The public’s indignation is well recorded and if you ask most people what domestic problem they would like to see resolved, the elimination of gang violence would always be near the top of their lists. It would be number one if you were unfortunate enough to live in an area where the gangs run the neighborhoods.
I know that all of our police departments throughout Southern California are stretched thin. It doesn’t help when boneheads like the LA Board of Supervisors refuse to help with funding on proposed gang task forces. The police/sheriffs are asked to do a Herculean task with the small numbers that are at their command, but there are times I look at what they deem important and have to ask myself, where are their priorities?
Sure every once in a while we will see and hear about a sweep of a particular gang when they pull an early morning raid and scoop up a bunch of these scum bags. Sadly, most of them are back on the streets in 24 hours after making bail, making the exercise more symbolic than effective, but you have to give Johnny Law at least an E for effort based on what they have to work with.
That is until you are watching the evening news and see sandwiched in between two reports of the aforementioned grieving families, a story on a very successful sting operation on prostitution. Not the prostitutes themselves mind you, but the men, or “Johns” as they are referred to, who were looking for a prostitute. To be honest, I don’t think that I would classify these guys as dangerous. Horny definitely, but dangerous no.
This is what I mean when I say priorities. Prostitution is a victimless “crime” that should be dealt with like a traffic ticket at most. Do you know what these Johns get? They get their cars taken away and are fined on top of that, for what? For having some extra money and looking for a good time.
The World’s Oldest Profession, as it is referred to, should not even be illegal. It should be regulated and taxed as it is in Nevada. We found a way to bring gambling here to the Golden State, maybe we should take Nevada’s lead in this arena as well. Lord knows this state could use every tax dollar it can get its hands on to get us over our current financial hump.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to make money for the state than spending it on a crime that shouldn’t be a crime? What happens between two consenting adults shouldn’t be anybody’s business except those two consenting adults. If it’s not for you, don’t do it. As adults, we all have a choice.
But here we are using female police officers to trap Johns, spending hours and hours of police time to arrest and prosecute “criminals” who aren’t hurting anybody. This as opposed to spending those same hours focused on getting rid of a true threat to our society like street gangs.
As a matter of fact we should not just be taking the guns and drugs that get picked up during the occasional raids. If a guy looking for love in the wrong place and from the wrong person has his car confiscated, then these dealers in mayhem and death should have their cars taken as well.
What the hell, take their houses and bank accounts too. So what if the house that they are living in doesn’t belong to them. It will teach lazy landlords a lesson in tenant selection. At least that would be a start toward putting priorities in that arena a little closer to being in line.
Speaking of some priorities that are completely out of whack, how about stem cell research? As everybody knows by now we are still not any closer to taking the next step towards the most important medical advancement in mankind’s history. Why is that? Well, because after six miserable years in office, Dubya finally found his veto stamp.
Yep, the good old boy, citing he was going to stand his moral high ground, applied the first veto of his presidency to a bill that would supply much needed increased federal funding for stem cell research. By doing so he gave a solid kick in the crouch to Michael J. Fox, Nancy Regan, the late Christopher Reeve, my wife, Stacey, and the millions of Americans who suffer from Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, spinal cord injuries and Diabetes. Good job Dubya, with one stroke of your pen you have done more for the Democratic party than they have been able to do for themselves in years.
Not even the Republicans would argue, even though many try, that our Commander and Dolt has made some major mistakes during his flawed terms in office, but this one takes the cake. He not only has alienated many in his own party, but also a former Republican First Lady who knows firsthand what it is like to watch the one that you love be taken away by the insidious Alzheimer’s.
Despite the misguided information the president seems to be getting, stem cell research is not a pipe dream, and it is a reality that is within our reach. A reality that holds the lives of millions here in the USA in its grasp, but his veto had more to do with his own personal morality than scientific evidence.
This moron, whose job it is to put the interests of the entire Nation first, instead selfishly put his own personal “morality” ahead of the hopes and dreams of the Americans who could only be helped by this research. Instead, he put a small group of religious zealots ahead of the majority, as was demonstrated by the group he surrounded himself with when proudly announcing the crushing blow he had just delivered to the nation’s afflicted.
The only thing he truly accomplished was getting himself another notch in the Bible belt, which should really help him when he runs for re-election. Oh that’s right he can’t run again. Thank God.
It is time that we prioritize our moralities so that they are not doing more harm than good. No matter where you may stand, think about those you are going to affect with your actions. Whether you are a blonde policewoman standing on a street corner trying to trap a John or an unfeeling leader standing on the bodies and souls of your country’s helplessly diseased who are pleading for your help, think before you try to shove your morals down the rest of our throats.
Prioritize, not moralize.
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