Violence a New Normal? I Won't Accept It

@bagarad (14283)
Paso Robles, California
May 23, 2017 8:15pm CST
I'm expanding on my response to @bostonphil in the discussion As a US citizen, I refuse to accept terrorist attacks, unsafe neighborhoods, and riots in our cities as a new normal. Our nation's laws were not intended as just suggestions, yet many of our politicians, seem to treat them that way. Sanctuary cities are not compassionate to the citizens who live within them. They offer protection to some violent criminals by tying the hands of law enforcement. My own sheriff here has told us that. State law here in California now allows him to be prosecuted if he holds an illegal alien in jail a couple of days past the end of a sentence to allow an ICE agent time to pick that person up for deportation. Instead, he must release that person back on the streets. What? proseucte the sheriff because he won't put a criminal back on the streets? Sometimes that person then goes on to commit another crime including killing a citizen. This is not right. This is not compassion. This is idiocy. I"m not saying everyone or even most people who cross our borders illegally are violent people who want to commit crimes, but they still should not have come illegally. Why should they be able to just walk in illegally ahead of those waiting to enter legally? Why should we not be able to vet them and check to make sure they aren't carrying diseases our people aren't vaccinated against? Those who come legally have been checked. I married an immigrant who came legally, fleeing a country that tried to kill him and his family. I have a heart. But we need something like Ellis Island back in operation to keep refugees safe until they can be vetted and checked medically. American cities should not be forced to "compassionately" accept unvetted refugees whose ranks may have been infiltrated by terrorists. We should not tolerate violent rioters and protestors who hurt people and destroy property for a cause, either. Peaceful protests may be American rights but violent ones aren't a right. Violent ones are not exercises of free speech. They are illegal and criminal. Mayors should allow police to do their job and arrest these lawbreakers. It is not compassionate to encourage some citizens to terrorize other citizens and allow our inner cities to become jungles. I remember a time I was not afraid to go to Los Angeles by myself or drive its freeways. There were no drive-by shootings when I was growing up. Violence in my town was a rare event. Our schools were safe havens. The worst school crimes were a minor fight on the playground, chewing gum, or talking out of turn in class. Later, in junior high and high school, getting caught smoking was the big violation. There weren't any gangs. No extortion in the restrooms. No violence against teachers or students. Now too many schools need armed guards at the gates or security officers on campus. It seems the harder politicians try to make us politically correct and ban what they call hate speech, the more hatred and violence we see. Perhaps we need to start enforcing our laws again and forget political correctness. Let's go back to the old normal when children were free to play in the streets of their neighborhoods without fear of being killed. What do you think?
I am waking up with the sad news of the explosion in Manchester which reminds me the Bataclan attack in Paris in 2015. This time the targets were kids and...
5 people like this
4 responses
• United States
24 May 17
Hello Barbara. Yes I hear that a lot, we have to accept it as normal. All i have to say to this basically is NO WE DONT.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
24 May 17
W don't. And we need to speak up instead of accepting this meekly. We are losing our liberty.
1 person likes this
• United States
24 May 17
@bagarad And many are not speaking up, only condoning and encouraging it.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
24 May 17
@TiarasOceanView Many have been brainwashed to be politically correct and think to speak out would seem to be intolerant or Islamophobic. Hate is never an appropriate response, but being intolerant of the hatred that kills is appropriate. We should not condone or tolerate the violence, wherever it appears. That is not social justice or hatred. Condoning the violence and keeping silent encourages it to continue.
1 person likes this
• China
25 May 17
Sadly in these days, there have been so many terrorist attacks in the world.What is wrong with the world? It deserves careful pondering.I haven't heard of Sanctuary cities before.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
25 May 17
I could write a book on that, but I don't think this is the place for it. I believe our innate human nature is selfish. Parents used to train their children to be more considerate of others and to obey first them and then the laws of their country. Then families started breaking up more beginning in the mid 20th Century and many children no longer lived with two parents. Then morals began to break down and people who no longer held our traditional American values took over the educational institutions that trained teachers. Instead, multiculturalism became the virtue in the education establishment. What used to be the American melting pot became a stew. The first waves of American immigrants came mostly from Europe and had some common values. They came for better opportunities they did not have in their home countries. They learned English and began to become American in their thinking. They appreciated the freedom America offered them. They wanted their children to be and think of themselves primarily as Americans. Today people still come here for opportunities, but rather than wanting to become Americans, many want to take advantage of more economic opportunities while trying to make America more like the countries they left behind. The terrorism started as America and other countries began to take in more immigrants who despised the way of life in the nations they entered and wanted to change the cultures to be like their own. Instead of adopting the values of their new countries, they wanted to destroy them and force their citizens to be like them.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61308)
• United States
24 May 17
As long as we accept our entertainment glorifying violence, then yes, it IS the new normal.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
24 May 17
You're right. When I was growing up, movies were much different, video games didn't exist, and TV was in its infancy. Parents were the role models, and movies were often westerns where good and evil were clearly defined and you rooted for the good guys. More moms were home to keep an eye on what their children were doing and parents held children accountable for their behavior. Not as many dads left their families.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
29 May 17
There are many things we should not tolerate @bagarad The 'old normal' your mention is something we have not seen where we are in decades. We don't know any family that feels it is safe to live where they are.