Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 26, 2014

The Iranians don’t mind televising their executions.

And, in more current times, there’s a group calling itself the Islamic State that enjoys posting beheadings on line. So the only thing that seems to change in terrorism is technology…

so pertinent ..

LMAO !!

Belated Seasonal Greetings to my fellow Doonesbury fans, Mike

Not sure younger readers would quite understand the third panel.

Does anyone understand why Iran executes at 4AM? That was the time they hung Brody in Homeland. And they surely couldn’t of hung our hero Duke could they? He must have nine lives!

Let’s get back in the real world of today. I’m tired of being able to rely on you only on Sunday, the only day you’re dealing with the world of today. You can do it.

It’s better than being a clueless troll who only drops by to leave a double-post and then wanders off.

Gaebie “And they surely couldn’t of hung our hero Duke could they?” should read “couldn’t have hanged” "

Duke’s so high all the time, it’s a wonder he even knows where he is, let along who he is.

With the important caveat that neither I nor anyone I know, or likely anyone commenting here, was there, these are my impressions of three recent (white) police killings of unarmed black individuals. The man killed in Ferguson, MO was shot in the chest. The policeman involved showed clear signs of having been punched or otherwise struck in the face. The dead man’s blood was found inside the police car, clearly indicating some sort of struggle had occurred there. The dead man was appreciably larger than the cop involved, and had in fact robbed the convenience store in the neighborhood. A reasonable man could conclude that the officer, having already been assaulted by the deceased, could indeed have felt his life threatened by this individual coming toward him. That said, leaving his body in the street for five hours was extraordinarily callous and insensitive.The 12 year old boy in Cleveland pointed an admittedly toy weapon at the police officer. This was a highly realistic looking toy which the boy had altered to make appear even more realistic. We pay the police specifically to confront armed and dangerous individuals on behalf of the public. It is obviously not unheard of for children as young as, or younger than, twelve to possess and use firearms in violent attacks. I don’t care how old one is or what social milieu one hails from: when a police officer repeatedly yells at you to drop the weapon you are holding, real or not, you DROP THE WEAPON. You do not point it at the officer. Toy guns are often, deliberately as it was here, indistinguishable from the real thing. To expect the cop to react other than the way he did is unrealistic and unfair.The gentleman on Staten Island, while engaging in an illegal act, was also clearly not a threat to public safety. He was not threatening anyone. He was also clearly resisting arrest. It is unreasonable to expect the police to simply walk away and accept an individual’s refusal to comply with a lawful order to cease whatever one is doing, or to be arrested. That is why “resisting arrest” is itself illegal. However, once that individual has been subdued & cuffed, and is now demonstrably in physical distress, saying “I can’t breathe”, the withholding of first aid and medical assistance to that person is inexcusable. Such negligence and callous disregard, or “depraved indifference”, to the suffering of a person under one’s authority and control cannot and should not be tolerated in a civilized society. That such disregard ultimately led to the man’s death should not be forgiven or forgotten. Those officers present should at a minimum be permanently removed from the force, and at maximum be charged with murder, with a jury left to decide the full facts of the case and their guilt or innocence.One man’s viewpoint.

Nobody is required to prove innocence in this country. They can be executed, but only after proven guilty. And then, not shot in the street like a dog.Or at least, it used to be.