Eric Garner, the 43-year-old asthmatic black-marketeer who, for selling untaxed cigarettes, was choked to death by police, and whose death was ruled a homicide, exposes the rotten core not only of law enforcement run amok but also, just as significantly, of government laws, regulations, and taxation, and its unintended consequences.
Eric Garner was selling a (for now) perfectly legal product — cigarettes — and he was selling them as singles (or “loosies,” as they’re called). Why was he selling them?
“Because New York officials inflict on their long-suffering subjects the highest cigarette tax in the country at at $4.35 per pack, plus another $1.50 levied in the city itself. It’s not a popular tax, with smuggled smokes making up 60.9 percent of the market. So the powers that be unleash the cops to enhance revenue by tracking down shipments of smuggled cigarettes and, on occasion, putting the occasional small-time street vendor in an illegal chokehold.
Which is to say, Eric Garner was murdered for the purposes of revenue enhancement.”
(Link)
It will be fascinating to see how the Religion of Leftism, which worships at the shrine of taxation and bureaucracy, reacts to monstrous injustice.
Graphic video:
The Left may simply ignore the “monstrous injustice” you describe and instead continue to focus on unarmed black men getting themselves killed – not that they see it that way. They sure as hell made sure to ignore the fact Gardner resisted arrest. Resisting arrest is just fine. It would appear. As long as they die in that act.
Tom Waits on NYC: “Well, it’s like a big ship, you know, and the water’s on fire.”
That “ship” definitely has its own set of rules, including the ridiculously exorbitant tax on tobacco, which creates a fabricated profit margin that a black market may easily exploit just as sure mushrooms come with an overwatered lawn. When it is found that over half the market is black for a long-time legal product it could be time to rethink some policies, as that city government currently nurtures the very crime they prosecute. “How dare you so easily not let us rip people off with outlandish taxes?”
From the Left, here is a Huff puff piece on the black market: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/03/cigarette-smuggling-new-york-_n_5041823.html
I am sure the police would prefer to be resolving other issues. Instead, thanks to this government-made local crime they have to deal with a 350-pound resister of arrest. Chokeholds are prohibited in NYC since 1993, but it is still used a great deal given the number of recorded complaints in the recent past.
Eric Gardner knew the score from more than that of arrests. He was currently on bail for the same offense, among others. Saying “don’t touch me,” pushing cops arms away, and using your 350 pounds to resist arrest … well, in the words of Chris Rock, “that’s just ‘ignant.'”
If he hadn’t resisted arrest, Mr. Gardner would not be dead.
If the cop hadn’t used a chokehold, Mr. Gardner may not be dead.
If Mr. Gardner and Mr. Brown had complied with police commands, neither would be dead.
(Gardner at 43 years and 350 pounds with health problems a jog around the block could have killed him.)
Do some police officers use excessive force at times? Duh. Yes, especially when a perp gets frisky.
Don’t like it? Don’t get frisky, and the odds of one experiencing excessive force go down.
All Mr. Gardner had to do was turn around and let them daisy chain a series of handcuffs behind his fat ass, and then wait to tell it to the judge.
From the Right: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/eric-garner-chokehold-grand-jury-police/2014/12/04/id/611058/
It would be nice every once in awhile to hear the disclaimer that these two events never would have happened if the two had simply followed police requests, much less not broke the law (jaywalking (B), robbery (B), and selling loosies(G)).
Where is the self-righteous Bill Cosby with his moral compass for African-Americans when you need him? Oh, yeah …