Voices are spoken. Important voices. Voices such as the president of the United States, the governor of Missouri, the mayor of Ferguson, religious leaders and community leaders. These voices are often neither heard nor heeded by joyriding teens, professional agitators, and criminals looting local business establishments. What must the civilized world think of the United States?
The United States has always stood for the rule of law and the right of free speech. The right of free speech without vandalism, looting, and total disrespect for law enforcement. The right of assembly and free speech does not include the burning of and destruction of private and public property. In America, it never has, and we hope it never will.
As frustrating as the unfolding scene in Ferguson was, the intensity, method, and lack of professionalism on the part of the news media was indeed significantly flawed. When do reporters become biased commentators? When do entire networks, both left and right leaning, have a right to totally distort a news story into a circus? That is not good journalism; it is a travesty.
The American jurisprudence system may not be perfect; however, deriving its basic concepts from English law, and refining the precepts over centuries, it has become the envy of the world, and one which emerging nations seek to emulate.
In The Common Law, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote, “The first requirement of a sound body of law is, that it should correspond with the actual feelings and demands of the community, whether right or wrong.”
Neither race, religion, ethnicity nor sexual persuasion can be allowed to determine legally what is right or wrong in the eyes of the law. Any such deviation serves only to help destroy our democracy.
The determination of the grand jury in Ferguson was a legal decision by community citizens, based on a preponderance of the evidence, sworn testimony, and solid forensic evidence. Whether we agree or disagree with their conclusion, the inappropriate actions of some should not be tolerated.
While there can be legitimate debate about the decision, there cannot and must not be destruction, violence, mayhem, and lawlessness resulting from the grand jury decision in Ferguson or any other place in United States. This is not who we are as a nation.
The destruction of local businesses, especially before the holiday shopping season, causes unnecessary economic pain, the loss of jobs, and the task of trying to rebuild businesses and lives. Those who loot and destroy should be made to help rebuild.
Demonstrations and protests in other distant parts of America should not be tied to a local incident that had nothing to do with jobs, wages, and work hours. These incidents again portray an America in dislocation and disarray.
The current dislocation in the United States includes domestic issues, national security issues, military strength issues, and foreign policy. In this country voices of reason, voices of conciliation, voices of authority, and voices of the future need to be heard and not fall on the ears of a dislocated minority. These voices should no longer be futile voices.
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