[Vision2020] Another Way to Honor Moscow's Police Force

[Bill London]

I do not see how honoring the bravery and sacrifice of the police forces in
this case and discussing the broader social issues like violence against
women are mutually exclusive.
I think it is appropriate to do both.
Perhaps this is a teachable moment, a time when women at risk can really
understand the dangers of staying in an abusive relationship, for example.
BL





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Campbell" <joekc at adelphia.net>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:53 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Another Way to Honor Moscow's Police Force


> With all due respect to Debbie Gray, I'd like to make one point in
response to her eloquent post. I also want to make a clarification about a
similar post that I put up earlier this week.
>
> Debbie Gray wrote: "This is not the time to debate gun control laws. It
wouldn't have prevented anything. Jason Hamilton could have used homemade
car bombs or one tiny envelope full of anthrax powder. If someone is bent on
mass destruction, we can't prevent it."
>
> But you can't, on the one hand, tell people that it is disrespectful to
engage in a debate on gun control and yet, on the other hand, engage in that
very debate with your own argument -- an argument that, with all due
respect, I disagree.
>
> People have different ways of grieving and responding to tragedy. For some
of us, debating about issues is therapeutic. Others think: If this is not
the time to have the debate, when is the time? Personally, I find it hard to
engage in some debates at this time, like debates about gun control, but I
have no problem at all engaging other debates. I realized after the fact
that my own post was interpreted as an attempt to silence folks who wanted
to talk about violence against women, which was not my intent at all.
>
> I think that the best advice is not to silence people -- as I did in my
earlier post -- but for us to (a) be respectful of each other's opinions and
(b) as Carl noted, for those who choose to engage in debate to make the
topic clear in the subject line. That way, people can say what they want and
others can avoid reading what they wish to avoid reading.
>
> --
> Joe Campbell
>
> =============
>
> Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 22:36:18 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Debbie Gray <graylex at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Another Way to Honor Moscow's Police Force
> To: nickgier at adelphia.net, vision2020 at moscow.com
> Message-ID: <78535.9642.qm at web62410.mail.re1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> It would be more of on honor, more respectful, and
> more supportive to not try to capitalize on this
> horrendous experience and twist it to suit one's own
> political or social agendas.
>
> --This is not the time to debate gun control laws. It
> wouldn't have prevented anything. Jason Hamilton could
> have used homemade car bombs or one tiny envelope full
> of anthrax powder. If someone is bent on mass
> destruction, we can't prevent it.
>
> --This is not the time to push for a union. Would it
> have made any difference to Officer Lee Newbill or any
> of the other responders if they got paid $20/hr more
> that night? Or if their health insurance benefits were
> stronger? No.
>
> --This is not the time to blame the prosecutor's
> office, the jury, the judge, the doctors, etc. There
> are hundreds of thousands of people in and out of our
> legal and mental health system every day. Sometimes it
> fails. Those are the things we read about. Most often,
> it works and you don't know about it because psycho
> nut job # 43093902 is locked away never to cause harm.
>
> --This is not the time, nor will it EVER be the time
> to link this kind of event to Doug Wilson, Christ
> Church or the non-violent criminal Steven Sitler. I
> can't believe the sick, hatred filled minds that dare
> to create a link where there is none.
>
> --This is not the time to second guess the officers
> involved, their reactions, your neighbor's reaction,
> etc. There is guilt, there is fear, there is joy,
> there is grief, there is panic, there is helplessness,
> there is raw anger.
>
> --This is not the time to assume you know anything
> about the shooter, the victims, the officers, the
> dispatchers, the support staff, their families and the
> circumstances involved. Stick with the facts, don't
> spread rumor or speculation.
>
> --What is it the time to do? Be patient. Wait for
> answers. Be mindful of your actions. Be generous to
> your family, your friends, your neighbors. We are all
> grieving in some way, big or small. Plan your next
> steps. Yes there will be time to lobby for stronger
> domestic violence laws, stronger checks/balances with
> mental health issues and access to guns, higher pay
> for city AND sheriff's officers, funding for top
> quality bullet proof vests that could prevent tragic
> officer deaths, videos in police cars, etc etc etc.
> But please, be respectful of this time when officers
> and co-workers and family members and the entire
> community are still trying to wade through the
> details, mop up the mess, go back to work in a
> dispatch center with bullet holes through their pencil
> holders, bullet holes through their lives... please
> honor them. Don't use them.
>
> Respectfully,
> Debbie Gray (wife of LCSO Sergeant Phil Gray)
>
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>