One of my favorite comedians is Gallagher.
And while I think the whole watermelon smashing “Sledge-O-Matic” thing is only funny the first five or six times you see it, I have always admired the intelligence of his words as he talks about life in his stage shows.
One of my favorites…
“You’ve got to fight ignorance and stupidity….with ignorance and stupidity because that’s the only thing they understand.”
With that in mind, take a look at this story from CNN.com.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A day after three New York police detectives were acquitted on all counts in the case of Sean Bell -- an unarmed man killed in a hail of 50 police gunshots -- his fiancee told supporters that the justice system let her down.
"On April 25, 2008, they killed Sean all over again," Nicole Paultre Bell told supporters at a rally organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton.
"That's what it felt like to us. That's what it felt like to us," she said Saturday.
"Yesterday, they -- the justice system -- let me down. I gave them the benefit of the doubt," she said. "I'm still praying for justice because it's not over. It's far from over."
Bell spoke after Sharpton criticized the judge who acquitted the three officers, saying the case should have been heard by a jury.
"If people are on the public payroll, doing their public duty, they should be required to face a public jury," Sharpton said at the National Action Network headquarters.
The officers chose to have a judge instead of a jury.
Sharpton said the victims were unfairly portrayed as dishonest.
"These three families have had to endure and have had to abide through the most, in my judgment, scandalous denigration of victims that I've seen in my lifetime," he said.
On Friday, Justice Arthur Cooperman cleared Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora of manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell
Detective Marc Cooper was cleared of reckless endangerment.
Undercover detectives were inside the club, and plainclothes officers were stationed outside.
Witnesses said that about 4 a.m., closing time, as Bell and his friends left the club, an argument broke out. Believing that one of Bell's friends, Joseph Guzman, was going to get a gun from Bell's car, one of the undercover detectives followed the men and called for backup.
What happened next was at the heart of the trial, prosecuted by the assistant district attorney in Queens.
Bell, Guzman and Trent Benefield got into the car, with Bell at the wheel. The detectives drew their weapons, said Guzman and Benefield, who testified that they never heard the plainclothes detectives identify themselves as police.
Bell was in a panic to get away from the armed men, his friends testified.
But the detectives thought Bell was trying to run down one of them, believed that their lives were in danger and started shooting, according to their lawyers.
A total of 50 bullets were fired by five NYPD officers. Only three were charged with crimes.
No gun was found near Bell or his friends.
I don’t really have anything to add to this that I feel confident you haven’t already thought yourself.
I will say this.
The officers did exactly what anybody in their situation would do.
Oh, not the shooting.
A nine year old could see that their reactions were excessive.
What I’m talking about is the detectives decision to avoid a jury and have the case decided by a single judge.
Because the odds on finding twelve people who would, for a single second, believe that these cops acted responsibly are only slightly longer than the odds that Condoleeza Rice will go down as one of the great Secretaries of State.
And, benefit of the doubt, being what it is, maybe this judge really, truly believed that his decision was just, based on the evidence presented.
But any reasonably intelligent person is obviously going to feel like a whitewash (no pun intended) has taken place here.
And people, especially black people, who have too long been victimized in situations like these are going to recognize the whole outcome for what it is.
Ignorant.
And stupid.
So, the end game turns out to be another opportunity lost to build bridges between the races and another piece of wood put on the already too bright fire of suspicion, mistrust and hatred.
And, in the end, a lot of people simply follow the philosophy articulated by that little guy who makes us laugh by smashing melons.
Fighting ignorance and stupidity…with ignorance and stupidity.
Like gunfire.
While we go around scratching our heads, wondering why we all can’t just get along.
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