Thinkage [updated]

"According to Ecclesiastes, 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose.'  For me, today, that means a time to seek justice and a time to mourn the dead. "And a time to shut the hell up.

"The recent brutal murder of two Brooklyn police officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, is a national tragedy that should inspire nationwide mourning.  Both my grandfather and father were police officers, so I appreciate what a difficult and dangerous profession law enforcement is.  We need to value and celebrate the many officers dedicated to protecting the public and nourishing our justice system. It’s a job most of us don’t have the courage to do.

"At the same time, however, we need to understand that their deaths are in no way related to the massive protests against systemic abuses of the justice system as symbolized by the recent deaths—also national tragedies—of Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, and Michael Brown.  Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the suicidal killer, wasn’t an impassioned activist expressing political frustration, he was a troubled man who had shot his girlfriend earlier that same day.  He even Instagrammed warnings of his violent intentions.  None of this is the behavior of a sane man or rational activist.  The protests are no more to blame for his actions than The Catcher in the Rye was for the murder of John Lennon or the movie Taxi Driver for the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan.  Crazy has its own twisted logic and it is in no way related to the rational cause-and-effect world the rest of us attempt to create."

-- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The Police Aren’t Under Attack. Institutionalized Racism Is.