To Protect and Defend

It has become painfully apparent that protecting our citizens, especially law abiding citizens, is extremely low on our priorities list.  The Orlando massacre is living proof that law enforcement has NO clue what to do about folks destined and determined to kill other citizens.

 

It first became apparent that actual lives didn’t matter when we learned that the Orlando swat team waited some 3 hours to storm the gay bar, scene of the killings.  Meanwhile armored, armed up and juiced up SWAT team members stroked their monkeys, while their superiors listened to random gun fire inside the nightclub.  Never mind that every shot must have ended a life, team members remained vigilant outside the club, surrounded by armed officers, munching on doughnuts and sipping lattes.   

When it became apparent that the gunman was neither out of bullets or targets, the sugar-coated SWAT team blew out an exterior wall and invited the shooter out so they could film the take down.  

Now I don’t want to go out on a limb here, but we are really good at placing Teddy Bears and flowers at make-shift shrines, we are even better at feeding blood donors, placing flags at half staff, saying, “Our Thoughts and Prayers” and flooding the 24hr news cycle with minutia about the killer, his victims and who the killer used to be married to, for days upon days.  We are even better at having our elected officials, surrounded by armed security, shouting in righteous indignation, the need for more gun laws and understanding for those that want us dead.

 

But given that this shooter was on a FBI watch list for over 13 months, and was interviewed three times and was employed as a security guard for a company that works for Homeland Security, and who had numerous employees either quit or got transfers because the shooter was way too radical in his thoughts and talk,

We sure as Hell are NO good at protecting our citizens.