Peace On That

Thought 1: Tamed Election

I witnessed my first mayoral election since my relocation to the west coast. Not that I paid much attention to it, but I did a superficial analysis of the issues and I found them rather… tamed. There was no mention of mob influence, cronyism and city contracts, political backroom bargaining, ghost payrolls, minority set-aside fraud, rubber stamp city council, nepotism, union intimidation, voter fraud, misuse of city workers or city fees being laundered into political campaign coffers. In fact, the issues facing the newly elected mayor of Los Angeles are those faced by every major city major. The lack of police on the streets, funds for education and deteriorating infrastructure is something that every city is dealing with.

But even as I nonchalantly followed the mayoral race, I did notice a lack of passion for the politics behind it. That is probably why only 30% of eligible votes even bothered to go to the polls. As bad as the traffic and police relations here are, there is still nothing compelling about the change in government. I doubt our new mayor will make inroads on the issue, but sometimes a change is good just for change sake. I hope there will be a scandal or two in the next couple years to get my heart beating about Los Angeles politics.

Thought 2: Larry Elders is an idiot

And speaking of the police, Larry Elders gets on my nerves. I listen to him every once in a while just to get laughs and better sense of how the other side views the world. Larry has never failed to enlighten me on the fact that being left of center on the political and social spectrum is a good place to reside: and the fact that he is the biggest self-hating black, shuffling for the white man, Uncle Tom black man I've ever seen. The fact that I have to call him a black man disturbs me.

Anyway, a couple of day ago Larry had the lawyer that is representing the 11 sheriff deputies that pelted a Compton neighborhood with 120 rounds of gunfire while trying to apprehend an unarmed suspect. The deputies apologized to the community, and Larry was flabbergasted that they would apologize for ‘doing their job’. The lawyer tried to explain that there were tactical errors made and that there was a lack of discipline that led to the shooting and THIS was basis for the apology. Larry didn’t want to hear this. As far as Larry was concerned, the cops did everything right and if they did do something wrong, they shouldn’t be accountable for it because they were in the middle of apprehending what they thought was a dangerous individual.

So I listened for a while and changed the channel back to LA’s progressive talk radio. (1150 AM – if you would like to listen). But once again I found myself irked by the idiocy of Larry Eleders. What happened in Compton should have never happened. The deputies messed up and there should be an investigation as to how and why. I’m not sure it rises to the level of a hate crime as some have suggested. But I am sure that 120 rounds would not have been fired in a Brentwood or Santa Monica neighborhood. If I am not mistaken, even while in the pursuit of a suspect the police has the responsibility of looking out for public safety. Car chases are called off once it becomes a public hazard; that’s the case in the rest of the county. I’m not sure about Los Angeles. Common sense should have told them that undisciplined shooting on a residential street is foolish. I know people will say that they have to make life and death decisions in seconds, but that is where training comes into play. Proper training should minimize knee jerk reactions. I’ll tune in next week to the Looney Larry Elders show; if for no other purpose than to enjoy being right on the left.