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| No closet - but plenty of hanging space | |
Every Leftist knows
that Aborigines in custody die at a greater rate than non-Aborigines. They know
this because the heard it on the ABC or something. When the truth is
pointed out to them they go through the various stages of grieving starting
with denial, and ending with .. well .. usually denial. The facts don't really
matter to those who 'feel' their truths. A recent high profile Aboriginal death in custody was that of Cameron
Doomadgee on the Palm Island. We call it recent even though it was several
years ago because (in spite of leftist claims to the contrary) they don't
actually seem to happen that often. But it happened this time on Palm Island. Palm island, for the initiated,
is where an embarrassed government dumped several tribes of Aborigines many
years ago (out of sight out of mind), and then inflicted the worst of all
possible things on them: subsidized self-government. The inevitable outcome (a
socialist style hell-hole
with levels of inter-tribal and domestic violence which would frighten
the average Afghani) became a reality, and white policemen are rotated to the
island to try to keep the violence at a low enough level to stay out of the
papers. Senior Sergent Chris Hurley was unlucky enough to either volunteer or be
volunteered for the task, and he seems to have approached his job with a little
too much zeal. Cameron Doomadgee was arrested and died in custody after a
scuffle with the Senior Sergent. Gangs of thugs on Palm Island took the opportunity to riot, burn down
several government buildings (including the Police Station of course) and
threatened to kill any whites people who didn't leave the island
immediately. Then an outraged family demanded justice for Doomagee. Then
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie proclaimed that all Aboriginal deaths in
custody would be regarded as suspicious from now on. Exactly why white
deaths (which apparently happen at the same rate
as Aboriginal deaths) in custody weren't going to be regarded as
suspicious was a bit of a mystery, but that was the decision. Clearly this
decision was made on political grounds. And any
decision about what do do with Sergent Hurley was also going to be made on
political grounds. Like the decision to not charge Sergent Hurley, and
then the decision to charge him after all. Whether Sergent Hurley misunderstood his role on the island (and thought he
was actually there to prevent violence), or whether he just got his kicks
beating up on the local Aborigines will never be known to most of us. But do we
really care? It's difficult not to sympathize with someone who has so obviously
been charged due to political reasons, but he was a policeman, and that's the
system he agreed to when he signed up. There will be a trial, and there will be
process ('due process' is what they like to call it in some circles). And there
will be a verdict. And the Sergent will stand or fall on that verdict. There are many laws in our society which are unjust. Victimless crimes are
the most obvious example. What goes through a police-officer's head when he
swears an oath to punish people for victimless crimes? Anyone who voluntarily
becomes a police officer is giving up their own morality and replacing it with
the morality of the law. The morality of the government. The morality of
the masses. The morality of the mob. Morality and justice
are replaced by 'due process'. Right and wrong cease to be moral terms - but
legal terms. And truth is not about fact - but merely the outcome of argument in a court of
law. For most of us, having lawyer determining truth and fiction, is frankly
perverse. But not for the policeman - that's what he signs up for. The
policeman just washes his hands of any moral wrongdoing with a simple 'just
doing my job'. Apparently it's okay to violate someone's rights as long as
you are getting paid for it. The innocent man convicted and send to prison is usually a tragedy. But for
someone who voluntarily abdicates their morality for 'due process', the outcome
will be just regardless of the facts. Senior Sergent Chris Hurley will be tried
by a political process, judged in a political process, and (if found guilty)
sentenced in a political process. It's just what he signed up for. Provided 'due process' is done.
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