Jan18 |
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Iraqi Kids Shoot Each Other, Too
As Philadelphians continue to be killed at a rate of more than one per day, people — especially the politicians in charge — are looking for answers. They’re looking for something to blame, something to change that would fix the problem (hopefully without having to do much work or lose any political capital, of course). And, of course, our city’s fine mayor is simply continuing to find out how he can make everyone know it’s not his fault. Oh, things are bad everywhere, he says. Oh, I’ve seen other cities and it’s not just Philadelphia, blah blah blah. No shit, Mr. Mayor. But, as the person in charge of this city, it doesn’t matter what’s happening in other cities, since that’s not his problem. But Street will continue to try to find excuses rather than answers, and his latest event to blame is, of course, the Iraq War. Let’s say this again: Yesterday, John Street blamed the city’s rising murder rate on the Iraq War. “I believe the fact that we are a country at war has something to do with the attitude of people in the streets,” he said. “Let me tell you, it’s not just this city. I have seen it everywhere and I’ve talked to people a lot about it.” (Street is correct, of course. It’s not just this city. Things are bad in Baghdad, too.) Street’s point is, I guess: We in America — on Earth? — celebrate violence. We love violence. We hate sex and swear words, but holy fuck do we love violence. (And reality singing competitions, for some reason.) All of this leads to more violence in real life, since we love watching representations of it. I guess? Anyway, while I’m trying to figure out how Iraqi suicide bombers are making it more likely for teenagers to get shot in drug gang wars, Street will actually be coming up with some sort of attempt at an answer. His plan this year is to train 1,000 clergy members in conflict resolution and get them talking to people. And while they are telling kids not to kill each other, they can also tell them the boys if they kiss another man, God hates them and they’re going to hell. Might want to invest in a flak jacket. Blame Philly gun violence partly on Iraq, mayor says [Daily News] |
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Attorneys representing murder suspects don’t have to use the “My client is retarded” or “He came from a rotten family” defense anymore. Oh, no! Now they pull out the “Iraq War” defense.
“Shit, I was gonna stay home & do my homework, but I was watching the news & that Iraq shit made me crazy & depressed. So I decided to kill someone instead.”
It’s kind of interesting that the same author wrote two articles regarding Street’s take on violence today.
The other article made Street sound downright sensible.
“If you put another 500 police officers on the street, you are probably going to have a safer city because more [police] are [patrolling], but there’s no guarantee that there will be fewer homicides,”
Street said some Philadelphians have a “knee-jerk reaction” calling for more police in the wake of any shooting.
Political leaders “need to be responsible enough and prepared to say, ‘Miss, I love you and I love your community, but don’t you understand that those two people who shot each other in that community were angry with each other because of some stuff that happened?’ ”
Unless an officer is standing next to the arguing pair, Street said, deterrence is not likely.