I think this incident is another example of the new-jerk reaction amongst the media and neighbors and aunties etc to glorify the life of a person who was part of the problem. It seemed that every newspaper account of this shooting had half the article devoted to this guy and his quest for speed bumps.

So another person trying to make the world a better place is killed and the person who did it (and had attempted it in the past) lives on to suck money out of the state for the next 30 or 40 years as he wastes away in prison.

You shoot at a cop, you go to jail for the rest of your life. Period.

Why so draconian? Simple, really. You try to kill a police officer and you're attacking the very under-pinning of the societal contract. We're not talking about someone struggling against police brutality or even simply trying to flee the scene of crime. No, we're talking about someone taking aim and shooting at a first responder. You never point a gun at something you don't mean to kill or destroy. That's lesson One in gun safety.

You shoot a cop, you attack society itself. Life, no parole. Done.

There is profiling for many reasons, and this is one reason.

I we ran the country like an Israeli Airport, things would be much safer,

Except the Constitution would be even more meaningless than it is now. And you would need cops and paramilitaries with machine guns on every other corner.

Tell me: How do you run profiles on older white MBA types who are greedy and reckless enough to harm the long-term health of this country in ways greater than even the worst gangbangers? My long term safety--that is, my job, my health insurance, my retirement, my investments--are directly threatened by those corporate pukes, more than any gangbanger or drug dealer.

Care to try again?

Damn it Matilda, you beat me to my own point!

Run a country like an airport? It's barely 1pm, so is it beer or a wake and bake?

This isn't about profiling, this is a violent offender who should not have been on the streets.

Dopplerd,

"Israel doesn't run its country like an Israeli airport why should we?"

you ever been?

The funniest shit in the world would be an episode of the Amazing Race, where some gay couple of Arab descent tries to complete one of the assignments in Israel. That would be good TV.

You'd see that Israel has appropriate security where appropriate.

Thank you for today's installment of class demagoguery and obviousness.

You are welcome. Perhaps you can call me a commie, too; others on this board treat me as a reactionary, so I find it fun.

You favor profiling to, apparently, make you safer. I am just playing your game and questioning where the real danger is, who harms society the most. You know, different angles and critical thinking about a wild proposal.

And I am curious how running the country like El Al runs things might square with the Constitution, but you don't address that. Care to?

You'd see that Israel has appropriate security where appropriate.

You would also see, if you cared to take this deeper, that: 1) Israel is much smaller country than the USA, which would affect the costs and effectiveness of your plan; 2) That Israel, compared to the USA, is relatively homogenous, which also plays a part in security plans, goals and possibilities; 3) That Israel, for all its democratic tradition, does not treat such things as the Bill of Rights as a kind of secular religion, at least not how we do; 4) That certain minority groups in the USA, because of certain history that deals with unpaid labor, would not take kindly the the kind of militarized profiling you propose. In fact, your plan might just cause the opposite of decreasing violence.

None of this is meant as an argument against smart, aggressive policing by the way---only a rebuttal to some half-thought-out profiling idea based on the Israeli model.

But at least you make mention of a TV show, which really advances your cause. I mean, what's an argument worth in our society anymore without pop culture references?

"So what I hear you saying is that a bunch of stuffy shirt white guys with degrees from the Ivy League should be prevented from running banks and financial institutions. Or that twenty something white guys who have visited a psychologist should be prevented from walking on the NIU campus. By your assessment the cop who was killed should also be considered a criminal. Get real. The exception is not the rule."

You're a fucking idiot.
For starters, half the people, if not most of the people involved with the banks and financial institutions are not stuffy shirt white guys from Ivy League schools. They are low level hacks running boiler room mortgage stores, taking advantage of people without a pot to piss in. And if you can identify anyone who has visited a psychologist just by walking down the street, you are a better man than anyone. But one that has shown several signs that they are about to harm themselves or others as stated in emails, texts, and notes left behind, as well as registration for weapons and weapon purchases, should maybe should have an eye kept on them. And if being a black guy merits profiling, you're wrong. Especially if he is in uniform. If he is a piece of shit (with a laundry list of priors) who even looks like he is up to no good (sitting nervously in a car as identified police approach), then he deserves to be profiled, just like that car full of young males driving with expired plates and no headlights in a well known drug area.
And my profile of you is that you think the moon is the back of the sun.
Tell me something, do you answer the door for everyone? Or just the people that look normal?

Chris: I said your idea would make the Constitution even more meaningless. A bit sarcasm. My apologies for the lack of clarity.

And I think you started the stereotyping game with your idea. As I said earlier, I am just playing your game, and you decline to address any of the issues I have raised.

I simply don't see how Israeli-style profiling 1) Would work; and 2) would address bigger threats to the stability and prosperity of most citizens; or 3) square with the US Constitution. Do you actually have any answer to those questions?

You're a fucking idiot.

Seriously? We have to start with the name calling? Are you afraid your ideas aren't strong enough? Christ. Learn to fight with your ideas, not 8th-grade name calling.

I though mayor Daley outlawed guns in the city. It seems to me the offenders previous conviction for shooting at a cop did little to discourage him from repeating this act. Maybe 3 years for shooting at anyone is just not enough of a prison sentence. What is amazing to me is the reaction of his neighbors.

Thats what i mean Marcus criminals don't give a damn about gun laws. No matter what law you make criminal pieces of shit like this will have guns.

Von Erich, I ment my comment on the stupidity of the city ordinance. I am not a big fan of the idea that everyone should be carrying guns but you should be able to own one and have it in your home for protection.

It's easier for Daley to blame guns for crime then to blame the criminal.