The Sheriff, and US gun culture ! Vol 34

If  joints are what you take pills for, and are not for smoking, then you must be a Boomer !

I have to comment on the rash of high profile shootings that have occurred in the United States this week. Schools, an aging police officer in a movie theatre, and the usual street stuff, may I say how thankful all of us worldwide Boomers are for the flourishing gun culture prevalent today. I could not be happier, unless they gave everyone a gun – better yet, give every US citizen a permit to carry a concealed weapon, whether they decide to use it or not.

Why am I so jubilant ? Easy.  When you define the best attributes of a Sheriff, what should you include?  I think you want some religious zealotry, and have it well spelled out, so no one can be confused as to where the triggers are. I know, picking a movie should not be a killing offence, but one must accept some “noise in the system, a ghost in the machine”, as an outlier to prove the bell curve of expectations.   There can be no doubt about the fervor to which most  Americans feel about mainstream religion. So, no surprises, coupled with a missionary posture about spreading goodwill worldwide. Who else has 10 nuclear carrier groups patrolling the high seas just for fun ? Kinda makes China look miniscule in comparison, eh ?

I suppose having some states with different rules confuses things. That Florida rule about ” stand your ground” and the shooting of Trayvon could be seen as the sharp end of the law, but we must remember that it is not arbitrary, it is the majority rule of the land. Perhaps it is progress ?

What else can do you expect of a culture that’s eager to shoot each other ? That they will shoot you just as easily, that’s what ! The Sheriff has to always be armed, just in case.  You do not have to look – seeing the Sheriff walk into a room instantly bring up certain rules. No matter what has been transpiring up to that point, as soon as the Sheriff walks in, the situation changes to a few known’s. First, no matter who started what, you will not be ending it. Second, you better speak the language, not necessarily the dialect, of the sheriff, since he will decide things. Third, you better understand the Sheriff’s motivations / objectives, because they will be the truism to which your arguments will be judged.

You also need to understand the Sheriff’s timeline, as he is busy, and only has so much time to spend on your problem because he does not want to get bogged down in your shit. It is easy to see the Taliban as waiting out the Sherriff – wait until they leave Afghanistan for example, and they can take over again.  This tactic forgets the Sherriff rule, and that is they never forget, nor give up. Patience is a virtue, one the Sheriff will always have. One does not wish to be ” known to the Police, do they” ?

Lastly, the Sheriff needs to leave. No one wants the Sheriff parked in their driveway 24/7. Once the Sheriff spells out the circumstances where upon he will return, he needs to leave, and let the combatants and the neighbourhood get back to some type of normal. In normal areas, the police may cruise by occasionally, just to show that they care. In bad areas, they may set up shop – drones and their deployment come to mind here. Any sane group wants the Sheriff gone as soon as possible, so that their own culture or code of conduct can try to positively re-assert itself. Remember, the Sheriff returning looks bad on the Sheriff, and he will be in a punishing frame of mind from the getgo. Watch out, cause his rules have changed. Escalation can get nasty, trigger fingers already drawn. They would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6 !

The point ? Ask the Iranians. They get it. Negotiate, draw in the Europeans as an easily swayed  buffer, draw out the process, threaten stuff, but settle. Frankly, I am surprised at how cheap the Iranians are being. If I was them, I would look at the trillion dollars we just spent in the Middle East, and ask for the same to solve the problem. A trillion dollars would buy my super colliders, uranium, and whole towns set up to do nuclear stuff, and still have the remainder look good in Swiss accounts.

This is really where the East has lost the plot. They, the Sunni’s / Shia’s, Turks, all the other sects, have no clue as to the monies available if they wished to join us in the 21st century. I understand the whole ” Lexus and the Olive Tree” view of culture as written by the NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman ( a great writer, I loved the book ), but a carrier group does not come cheap. Values can be different, but playing the nuclear game while holding onto petty historical grievances is a recipe for disaster, a situation where cooler heads need to prevail. Lots of virgins may look motivating in the afterlife, but nuking someone has consequences in the here and now that must be controlled.

Really, all the Sheriff has done has withheld things, and we got them to the table. To coin an old axiom, we know who the Iranian’s are, we are just haggling over their commission …. When are they going to grow up and play the capitalist game, after all !

So, the Sherriff is alive and well, thank you very much.

Next on Boomers – wtf !, that great Canadian, Ted Cruz  !