"Give a small boy a hammer, and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding."

-- Abraham Kaplan

The media scintillates with stories about the (somewhat belated) backlash to Trayvon Martin's murder. Editorial cartoonists are taking this as another opportunity to point out that this is what happens when we have lax gun control laws and a cavalier "we mustn't let the bastard get away" attitude.

Even though the analogy in the last post might not be somewhat disproportionate, I find myself returning to it -- especially when we're hearing reports that both the CIA and Mossad agree that evidence of Iranian intent to build nuclear weapons is somewhat much less than conclusive.

Shoot and then justify. Bomb first and sift through the rubble for evidence of probable cause later.

Would it be in poor taste to suggest a thematic parallel between Trayvon Martin's pointless murder by a paranoid, gun-toting vigilante asshole and the hundred thousand-something Iraqi civilians killed since the United States invaded, citing WMD reports coming from unreliable intelligence? Both suggest a gross deficiency of character in the culture.

Keeping the neighborhood safe. That's all we was ever doing.

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You'll notice I've put up some ads on the sidebar. I don't like looking at them either, but Paddy needs a new Wacom tablet. Realistically, they'll probably only amount to change, but as I've said before, I'm not in any position to pass up extra income, no matter how piddling. (Of course, there is a difference between piddling and nonexistent. We'll see if they stay up.)