Go Forth for Goforth

As I sat on the stationary bike at the gym this afternoon, breaking news came across the channel I was watching.  Rarely ever an indication of a GOOD news story, I listened more intently and discovered it was even worse than I thought it would be.  I watched the entire press conference as the Harris Co., TX sheriff and district attorney informed us all of the senseless assassination of one of their deputies outside a gas station last night.  Deputy Darren Goforth was killed in cold blood, seemingly just because he was wearing his uniform.  There appears, at this time, to be no other motive.

Stories like this affect me more than they might affect others and they are, unfortunately, happening all too often.  Those of you who know me are probably aware that my father was a Carlisle, PA police officer and my grandmother was a Cumberland Co., PA deputy sheriff.  Although they are both retired now, I can still remember when both were active in those professions.  Thank God we didn't seem to have these types of news stories happening back then or I would have been terrified.  I could easily have been in the position that Deputy Goforth's five-year-old & twelve-year-old children woke up to find themselves in this morning.  I'm glad to hear that the non-profit 100 Club will be providing those children and Deputy Goforth's widow with all the assistance they need, but nothing will replace that missing part of their family.

If there is anything positive that I could find about the news conference, it's in something that the district attorney said and the sheriff reiterated.  "It's time for the silent majority in this country to support law enforcement," Devon Anderson, the Harris County DA, emotionally pleaded.  I couldn't agree more.  I completely understand outrage when a few crooked rogue cops unjustly break the laws they are sworn to uphold, but those are few and far between.  By all accounts I've seen, this deputy was not one of those people.  He was a veteran police officer, loved by family and friends and a credit to the force.  He did not deserve to be executed like this.

Our media and our own speech are protected by the First Amendment and I am a HUGE proponent of it, as well as the rest of our rights, but there is a line of decency that must be drawn.  News shows seemingly thrive on sensationalizing the stories of bad officers, so much so that the good officers in our country are tarnished and become targets of individuals out for vigilante justice and blood.  I'm not saying that the media should be censored, but there needs to be judgment calls of decorum made at some level to say "We will report this as a news item, but we will not augment with opinion, nor will we continue to ram it down the throats of the American public".  Taking this very simple stance across the board, whether it be TV, newspapers, magazines, or online, would go a LONG way to ensure that other officers like Deputy Goforth don't lose their lives.

The shooter is still at-large in the Houston area and as such, I can't comment further on the individual's motive or state of mind, but this does lead me to another issue.  If we do, in fact, find that this person is mentally ill or has a history of mental illness, it would be just another in the growing list of cases that suggest we are WAY overdue for a real dialogue on combating mental illness in this country.  We can legislate all day and pledge to ban as many weapons as exist, but a mentally ill person intent on doing harm to another person will find a way to do it, no matter what you try to ban.  Eliminating all objects from their grasp, they would still probably try to choke someone with their bare hands or stomp them to death with their feet.  Again, I don't know if this shooter was mentally ill, but I would suggest that anyone who commits a violent act like this IS mentally ill to some extent, regardless if they have a history of it or not.  Fighting mental illness may not be able to rehabilitate this person, but it can prevent others from BECOMING this person.

Once the shooter is found...and trust me, the shooter will be found...I hope that the justice system processes the individual swiftly and fairly.  When that person is found guilty, I hope that he (video points to it being a "he") receives the maximum penalty allowed by law, which should be the death penalty in Texas, and that the sentence not be dragged out for months or years.  It amazes me that the same people in our society who wish to abolish the death penalty as a maximum sentence for the most heinous of crimes don't hold the same sanctity for life for unborn children.  Obviously you can infer from that comment that I am pro-life, but some of you probably feel I'm hypocritical for being pro-capital punishment.  You may think that if you wish, but I have a simple explanation.  Unborn children haven't had the opportunity to let us know who they are or who they will become.  They are born into this world with the same choices everyone else has of being who they want to be.  Unfortunately, some like this shooter have made the choice to be a criminal, and not just any criminal, but one who has committed cold-blooded murder.  If there is any shadow of a doubt that this was a premeditated act and not the result of his complete loss of mental faculties, this shooter deserves to be put to death.  This will assure that the person will no longer be able to commit any further acts like this and will also not be stuck for the rest of his life in a cell with no possibility of rehabilitation while being a drain on the penal system paid for by a public that does not feel he is worthy of any sympathy whatsoever.

Not only do I continue to pray that the shooter is found without further incident and that Deputy Goforth's family and friends find a way through this heartache to heal and move on, but I also pray for this country.  An incident like this needs to be a wake-up call that we are headed down the wrong path.  Even if you are not someone who is religious, you see an overwhelming amount of evidence every day that we are losing not only common sense, but a sense of right and wrong.  You don't have to pray to any God to know that going up to an unsuspecting deputy sheriff at a gas pump and unloading multiple shots into him to end his life is wrong under ANY circumstance.  Whether we are witnessing a devolution of humanity or we're just seeing the decline of the Roman empire in its last days repeated here in America, those of us with pulses, brains, and hearts who can see the writing on the wall need to band together and try to reverse it.  It starts with us.

Sometime after you read this, hug your wife, your husband, your children, your grandchildren, a pet, or someone you love and do it memory of Deputy Darren Goforth, who is no longer here on Earth to do so with his loved ones.  Send up a prayer or a positive thought for his family and friends, for police officers in Harris Co., TX and around the world, then give one for the rest of us.  We can use as many as we can get.

Debate Thoughts

We had two separate debates for the Republican nominee for President today, but this post will be primarily be about the debate that happened at 9pm tonight with the top 10 in the polls.  I did get to see about 1/2 hour to 40 minutes of the first debate at 5pm, but not enough to make a full analysis.  Carly Fiorina was doing a great job, but some of the other candidates had great answers as well.  I do think, however, that the later debate was the better one.  Here's my brief overview.

Donald Trump:  Some great reactions, a few great answers, but mostly intriguing for his shoot-from-the-hip non-politician attitude.

Ted Cruz, Rand Paul & Marco Rubio:  These three were equal in my eyes.  Overall great opinions and presented very well with a forceful, biting tone, but feeling more like Vice Presidential material.  Gun-to-head, if I had to pick one of these three, I'd take Cruz.

Jeb Bush:  You can tell he's been prepped well for his answers and I agreed with some of what he said, but he's less conservative than what he portrays himself to be. 

Chris Christie:  See my above response for Jeb, but his answers weren't as well-prepped and he's even LESS of a conservative.  I don't look for him to be around long.

Dr. Ben Carson:  Possibly the most intelligent man on the stage.  I loved a lot of his answers, but you could tell he was really thinking through them before he spoke.  I think that will end up hurting him.  But maybe he'd be great as Surgeon General??

Scott Walker:  I think he will end up being the disappointment of the debates.  Everyone was expecting him to do well and carry on the mantle of Ronald Reagan, but I just don't think he was as polished as he could have been.  He will stick around for the next round, but he needs to come out guns a-blazing if he wants to hang in with Cruz, Paul, or Rubio, which is where I see him fitting in.

John Kasich:  A lot of great reaction from the home state crowd, but name recognition is what will be his downfall.  Good points, just not well known enough to be memorable.

Mike Huckabee:  To me, he is the surprise of the debate.  Since he's been in debates before, he has the posture, the delivery, the knowledge, and he answers every question directly, not avoiding the issue or going to a previous one.  I wouldn't be shocked to see his poll numbers rise.  If he keeps this up, he could be a really serious contender.  The establishment would be more inclined to give him the nod than Trump, in my opinion.

So there you have it.  Did you watch any of the debates?  Do you care?  If you don't, why not?  I'm looking for any comments, opinions, questions, etc... that you might have.  Feel free to reach me here or on Twitter (@nBoEnforcer).

A Day in the Life

This journey that we're all taking is so many different adjectives all at once.  Just pick one and it fits.  We are all headed towards an ending, just all on a different timeline, and we all don't agree on how it will end, why it ends, or even if it is the actual "end".  What makes the trip worthwhile are the stops we make along the way, the side streets we take to see where they lead, and the errands we run when the opportunities present themselves.  Sometimes those events are so much of a juxtaposition that they can't possibly make sense together, but if we just look at the big picture like stepping away from a Magic Eye poster, we eventually see that everything does find a way of falling into place.  Today was one of those days for me.

--An unusually benign workday
--A traditional visit to a festival
--Thinking of two friends that buried grandparents today
--Losing a childhood pop culture hero
--Being thankful for the continued health of my friends' child
--Finding out I'm gaining a wonderful niece "in-law"

These are just some of the items that ended up on my itinerary today, some of which I expected and others I didn't.  Somehow they all worked together for one big roller coaster ride, allowing me to experience highs and lows.  Tomorrow I may not as easily be able to process the same kinds of emotional information, but tonight I've been able to handle it.  I feel I should share this because tonight, even if just for tonight, I feel as if life makes sense.  It's not all good, it's not all bad.  "It is what it is", he asserts, knowing the over-used cliché is like nails on a chalkboard to many but feeling it's the only proper phrase.  Not sure if this what you call a "normal" life, but at least tonight it sort of seems like it.

As always, feel free to comment, question, or criticize as you deem necessary or appropriate.