Snowflakes in Hell

Dr. Helen is talking about the issue of stress police officers are put under, especially in the wake of justified use of deadly force:

Notice that the incident itself is not what makes the officer guilty and stressed, it is the media and public making their lives miserable. If even police officers are made to feel guilty for protecting the lives of citizens by our “don’t defend yourself or anyone else” culture and media, I can’t imagine how civilians who had to use force are made to feel after an incident in which they had to protect themselves or others. The article goes on to look at why officers are afraid to ask for psychological help, but maybe the real question is: “why is the officer treated as a pariah instead of a hero for protecting others from mayhem?” For if they were treated as a hero, or at least with some respect for doing their job, then maybe, they could resolve the shooting incident a whole lot faster or on their own without professional help.

In training, they always teach you that if you’re involved in a justifiable shooting, that you should expect to be arrested, and treated like a common criminal who has done something horribly wrong.  In the case of a civilian shooter, administrative leave would be a picnic in comparison to having to fork over your life savings to pay for a lawyer to make your defense.  The lawyer who addressed the class for the training I did spoke of a recent case where he defended a police officer in a justifiable shooting.  The defense costs went well into six figures.  Police officers generally get their defense paid for.  Civilians don’t.

There is a perception among many people that no violence is justified, and who look down upon people who prepare for it.  It’s not right, but it’s something we have to live with.  I’ve always thought it odd that some police officers have problems with civilians carrying firearms for personal protection.  The root cause of the problem is that few people have had to consider the circumstances that would surround having to use deadly force in self-defense, and even fewer have actually had training in it.  I would be a police officer’s best friend on a jury in a legitimate shooting situation, because I’ve had to consider doing it myself, and I suspect most of the rest of us who have would also be similarly sympathetic.

Despite the fact that tomorrow’s election is a primary, it will essentially decide who will be the next Mayor of Philadelphia.  If polls are to be believed, it will be taken by Michael Nutter.  Despite the fact that I can’t vote in primaries, there is a ballot measure in regards to taxation that I will need to show up and vote against.

It’s basically about the Township of Middletown passing a 1% Earned Income Tax to help pay for schools, and offset property taxes.  As it is, I already pay this tax to Plymouth Township, where I work.  If it were to pass, it would just meant my money is going to the schools in my neighborhood rather than the schools where I work.  I still plan to vote no, however, on the principle that I prefer property taxes in income taxes.  I’ve never understood the objection to property taxes, personally.

For some reason we had a power failure, and it seems the host can’t keep time straight when it reboots for some reason.  I expect this will screw Bloglines up for the next week, because their software can’t handle posts appearing in the future.  It will soon be time to replace the server with something more reliable.

I’m heavily medicated today, so when I’m not sleeping I’ll be laying pretty low. I just got back from the store where I bent over for Uncle Sam so I could get some Sudafed. The real stuff, not the crap they sell OTC now. You know what PE in Sudafed PE stands for? Placebo Effect. That stuff doesn’t work at all.

I’m not a big believer in Claratin either. It helps, but not anything like Benadryl. Benadryl is the shit, but it totally screws me up.

One of these days I would like to do one of Mr. Completely’s e-Postal matches. Tonight I went to the range with the aim of seeing how I’d do. I’m not much of a presicion shooter. I generally practice to be good enough in a self-defense situation, but not too much on slow and deliberate fire.

I tried both my Ruger Mk.II 50th Anniversary edition pistol and my normal carry pistol, the Glock 19. I shot a few targets to warm up, because it’s been several weeks since I had shot. First I tried the Glock 19. This edition of the e-Postal match is Golf. The shooting was from 25 yards feet, weaver stance. My pistols have no optics or modifications. It’s all factory. I have to admit, this was pretty difficult.

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