Pure Common Sense

T’is the season to be jolly – also known as the holiday season.  Around this time of year we got it pretty packed.  There’s Hanukkah, Kwanza, New Years and, naturally, Christmas.  The Christmas season is a time of many days celebrations – especially if you factor in the fact that many people open their actual presents on Christmas and many start up early on Christmas Eve.  In the holiday spirit of this time of year, I think that it is appropriate that we add one to their number.  This would be December 22^nd – Bernie Goetz Day, to commemorate the events of exactly 25 years ago today in New York City by a courageous individual.

On the afternoon of Saturday, December 22^nd, 1984 on a subway line in Manhattan, four young adult delinquents cornered Mr. Goetz and attempted to mug him.  This was during an era where the crime rate in New York City was far above its current rate and in a time where most citizens probably would have considered themselves cornered, Goetz decided that he was going to be a man and refuse to pander to the filthy crooks and degenerates that run wild on the streets.  He made a quick calculation of action and proceeded to shoot the four criminals into incapacitation.  Goetz gained a great deal of media attention in the month following the events of Saturday, December 22^nd.  The press often described his actions as vigilantism, even though they can much more accurately be described as self-defense.

Bernie Goetz proved to be a very brave man who truly deserved nothing less than idolization for his strong defense and determination in the eye of great danger.  Unfortunately, not everyone was content with this viewpoint.  It never fails to amaze me how much the Conventional Wisdom of radical liberals asserts a love of crooks and a hatred of decent citizens.  If you’re innocent and under attack, you’re expected to throw up the white flag.  God forbid you decide to defend yourself – then you’re a bigot and the aggressor of the situation.  Just for not going quietly.  Yes, it’s true that Goetz’s possession of a firearm was not exactly legal, but that’s not a reason to side with the bad guys.  It just goes to show that New York City has failed to give the second amendment the respect it deserves and allow decent Americans like Bernie Goetz the right to fight back.  It is really astounding how far people will go in making excuses against siding with the good guys.  People even tried playing the race card against him.  I think the primary reason for Goetz firing at the four assailants was that they were aggressors against him – not racism.  That’s another tactic the Conventional Wisdom-pandering liberals always use – seeing racism everywhere.  Like a legitimate criticism of the Obama Administration, for example.

Bernie Goetz Day would especially send a good message to children who remain untainted by the poisonous Conventional Wisdom of the antsy-pantsy surrender-in-the-face-of-an-enemy,crook-loving, toe-tag liberals.  The moral of the story here is to stand up for your rights and your property in the toughest of times – just like the founding fathers intended.  Goetz made the right decision in his trying moment.  He used potentially lethal force in the face of the possibility of being on the receiving end of potentially lethal force.  His force did not happen to be lethal.  All four of the guilty crooks lived on (and made ridiculously-construed testimonials against the decent man they attempted to wrong.)  But if it was lethal it would have been justified – Goetz should not be forced to choose the life of his attackers over himself.  Maybe it would have been better if he had killed them – it may have sent a stronger message.  If only more would follow Goetz’s example – I bet with that kind of Common Sense we would live in a much safer society.