Trial By Bomb

Uncle Bubba has unwittingly created a self-imposed exile from current affairs due to his interest in things that don’t connect to, well, social media and the use of devices that are used to media socialize. Sure, he has an iPhone, a computer, and a TV, but the way in which he interacts with them determines his social fate. As I happened to discover in speaking to him recently, the way that he has chosen to use, and not use the devices has also determined the quality of life that I think I envy. He’s quite unaffected by current events and he’s also, maybe unremarkably, happy. However, let me backtrack to bring you up to speed.

Dallas police deliberately used a bomb to kill a man! Deliberately! A bomb! They thought it through and decided to blow the dude up. Uncle Bubba was made aware of this while passing by a TV in a restaurant and he stood in shock, not even fighting to hide his mind being blown with his mouth open wide and staring blankly around the room. He searched for other faces of kindred shock but found none. It had been a least a week since the event had happened, an eternity in today’s span of attention but this was the first that Bubbie had heard of it. He struggled to gather his thoughts and wondered if there was any outrage to this unthinkable tactic? There had to be... right? But the fact that he couldn’t see anyone as upset as he was gave him the answer. Perhaps it’s the irony of it all: the Dallas Police Department that is lauded for their community policing, the bombing murder of a black man by the police, after his murdering 5 white officers at a Black Lives Matter demonstration. Then an African American author interviewed by a reporter came on the TV to talk about how police have been killing black people for years while white Americans have just sat back and didn’t care... his ironic hate speech was lost in the din in Bubbie’s head. He was still trying to get his head around the fact that the police blew up a suspect, albeit a murder suspect. They made themselves judge, jury, and executioner via a bomb, circumventing the law and the Constitution of the United States of America. A citizen's right to a trial by a jury of one's peers in a criminal prosecution is guaranteed by the sixth amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The right is extended to the states by the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. In Bubbie’s view, the world’s view has become so twisted and distorted with ironic hypocrisy that outrage and shame are truly lost. Spending too much time with too much media has made the world comfortable with chaos. He’ll happily stay away from it. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things only.