Timing is Everything

In New York City the other day, a jury acquitted the cops who shot an unarmed man 50 times outside a club, just prior to his wedding.

Today, Al Sharpton threatened to "shut down" the city and, for one of the first times, I don't quite blame the guy.

I'm all for the cops, but there has to be a point at which we say, "yeah, you have to protect yourself first and foremost, but you also have to exercise at least some self-control."

This brings us to our next story a few miles to the west.

Chicago's Mayor, Richard M. Daley, who just celebrated a birthday the other day, is proposing that his rank and file cops get to start carrying semi-automatic weapons because they're sometimes out-gunned on the streets.

Sooner or later, someone's going to have to pull their collective head out of wherever it's residing and have a sensible discussion about this. I don't blame the cops for wanting to be able to come home alive after their shift, but it's a shame that in a country with this many smart people, we're stuck in a situation like this because of people's refusal to look beyond themselves when it comes to an appreciation of the Constitution.

I've Got Friends in High Places

We know that former NYC Top Cop and Giuliani confidante, Bernie Kerik was indicted on as series of charges in the Empire State the other day.

Understandably and predictably, he's set up a legal defense fund for himself.

The amusing and interesting thing to me (and HuffPo which has this as their splash this morning) is the theme they chose with the pictures. All over the site are pix of him with Mayor Guiliani, GeeDub and L. Paul Bremer, as well as Kerik walking around doing security in Iraq.

While these relationships and events probably are high points in his public life, they're hardly beacons of success and only sure to draw in the nincompoops who didn't need the pix anyway to believe the lie that he's being picked on.

Show Him the City

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (yes, I had to paste that in) is headed to New York this weekend, for stints at the U.N and Columbia University.

There's the predictable dust-up going on there about how much energy we should devote to securing him during his visit.

It's mostly blow-hard nonsense from the right, in this case. We choose to maintain the United Nations in New York City knowing that it comes with the price of having to act as temporary guardians to a few a$ holes now and then.

I have to say, though, if I were Nurse Bloomberg, I would take a page right out of one of my predecessor's playbooks.

In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, Mayor Laguardia sent a clear message to the German consulate, which was having security concerns.

He beefed up their police protection...with a bunch of Jewish volunteers.