Don Sterling, the Racist, is Not Alone - The Punishment is Too Much

The understandable folderol about Don Sterling and his foul mouth and his Clippers franchise [his personal property] raises many interesting, telling, and sometimes disturbing issues, over and above the rankness of his bigoted speech.  For instance, I was amused to note that a friend who pretends to value free speech and balance deleted my comment on his Facebook page, along the lines of this post, about the lifetime ban of Donald Sterling, which sadly might say more about him than Sterling's known foul mouth said about him.

I think the punishment of Sterling is quite over the top. Sterling is a jerk, a bigot, an asshole, and he deserves whatever loathing comes his way. However, official, regulatory ostracism is not a standard practiced in this country.  And there are many team-members who also fit that description [including one who labeled the teams "black teams"], some of whom liberally use the "n" word while decrying those of other races who use it, and their racism is similarly revolting, and yet we don't see them banned, punished, highlighted as the cretins they are, etc.

Just as it is Un-American to practice ostracism, it is also un-American to deprive a person of the use and enjoyment of his property, which he alone assumed the risk to build up, to the same extent that it is un-American to be a bigot [although I suspect a high percentage of Americans really are bigots of various sorts!], and I think we should tread carefully before we allow collective moral self-righteousness be the measure by which WE decide if YOU can keep and enjoy your property and pursuit of happiness.

Make no mistake about it - I think Sterling is a scumbag and he has earned a place on the lower rungs of Dante's Inferno. We need to be careful, though, that we don't slip down close to him by our actions and public and private thoughts, glass houses and stones and the like.

Coachella Fest and Stagecoach

CoachellaFest and Stagecoach: as I have warned over and over and over, 1. don't discuss the subject of drugs with anyone you don't know, and 2. don't admit to anything of criminal significance, nor consent to searches of your person or belongings or car, when contacted by the police. Indeed, since too many people readily fall prey to predatory cops, program yourself to not say anything to the cops, other than your name.  Responding to “what is this?” or “have you ever been arrested before?” or “how long have you been here?” or “do you mind waiting here while I get a police dog?” or “where did you get this money?” or anything other than a legitimate question about your name can and will be used against you in ways you won’t understand until the police report supporting your arrest and felony accusation comes out, so say nothing to the cops.  It never helps, except by helping them serve their agenda and by helping me obtain a juicy retainer fee! 

Get this in your minds - the cops are NOT your friends when it comes to investigating crimes - they are friends only of themselves and of their agenda, and their agenda has nothing to do with your well-being or liberty. Telling the cops they can search your pockets that you know are crammed with drugs, and then coming to me to get you out of it, is thoughtless - protect yourself because you pay me $thousands to undo the effects of you not doing so.

Following this past weekend’s “Fest,” there is the stench in the nostrils of freedom-loving people who were the victims of the predatory tactics of the police searching, seizing, arresting, harassing them to build up their grant-funded portfolios in the hypocritical name of "public safety." I am outraged by some of the overbearing antics by the cops, and their police dogs, to profit from conduct that might technically be illegal [although not all of it is], but which is really not hurting anyone. We have lost our way in this Republic, all the while scolding regimes in other parts of the world for their anti-liberty activities that sometimes pale in comparison to ours. Back off, cops, and leave people alone, unless there is evidence of true crime, not the drug and alcohol manufactured crime about which you are suspiciously aggressive.

The police are predators looking out for their own interests – do not become their sadly easy prey by thinking you will help yourself by “cooperating” with tidbits of statements or consents – you will not, ever.  You only hurt yourselves by “cooperating” into supplying the government with evidence to be used against you.  Protect yourself from the Hun, because it is sometimes very costly to undo the effects of your lack of wisdom in protecting yourself, and a complete undoing is not always possible anyway.

Talking to the cops, or giving consent to search, is a suicidal move – are you into suicide, or self-preservation?  Only you know the answer to that, but I will not sugarcoat the psychological nature of cooperating with government when it is investigating crime – it is suicide.