Books

I wrote this to commemorate the death of Ronald Reagan.

It ran in a magazine in Texas. Still true today.  

Killing you softly

by David Raffin

Very rarely do people kill politicians. Especially given the fact that so many people fantasize about doing so. But Americans are apathetic; they often fail to follow through on things. Do you not have a list of things you have “just not gotten around to?”

People have a bad attitude about killing anyway. They don’t think killing is wrong, but they are wishy-washy about the whole concept. Some people think it’s all right to kill prisoners but not babies. Others think it’s all right to kill babies but not prisoners. (You may argue my semantics, but you cannot argue my logic. Or, you could argue my semantics and my logic; but you would be wrong. And you would have to face the possibility that I might kill you for that.)

Likewise some people think cops killing people is all right while being very adamant that killing a cop is always wrong. Still others think cops should not kill but it’s all right to kill a cop to stop him from killing.

If we were a less apathetic country this conundrum would incite vigorous debate and our streets would run red with blood.

But, as I said, hardly anybody kills politicians even though most would like to see many of them dead. Few people kill cops, even though they are all around and access to guns is easy. Cops kill people pretty often—but if you look at the large number of cops in any city and consider the number of people they would like to kill—the actual killings are a statistical blip; hardly worth getting upset about.

For a country obsessed about killing we are just not doing as much as we could be doing. We are a nation of slackers.

Sure, you think about killing politicians but do you ever bring it up for discussion? I have. And although people change the subject pretty quick, I can tell by the look in their eye that it intrigues them. After all, it’s quick, decisive, and smacks of frontier justice. It honors the past while addressing the present. Dare I say it’s patriotic? This country was founded on killing the British and destroying their tea—and sadly we have drifted away from these noble beginnings.

Now, some of you nay-sayers who like to argue are probably whining, “But we kill people in other countries. We kill lots of people. What about that? We kill more people before breakfast than many nations do all day.”

And I say, sure. We kill foreigners. But that is a separate issue.

Also, I admit that we kill each other more than other nations do, but not as much as we’d like; secretly want to. That’s what separates us from them. They want less. We want so much we set ourselves up to fail. That’s what I’m getting at. That’s what we’re discussing. Our defeatism. How you people are letting all of us down and sinking this country into the depths of apathy and defeatism, shirking your duty, spitting on our traditions, and leaving a few visionaries to pick up the slack. And complaining. Oh, how you all complain. Because you’re unsatisfied. Because you have all these urges to kill and you suppress them.

Granted, occasionally someone tries to kill the president. Rarely do they succeed. Some say it’s because they just don’t want it bad enough.

Do you realize that Ronald Reagan was in his nineties when he died of old age?

In a Viking culture this is a disgrace, a shame, and a slap in the face. With your help he could have died honorably in battle. Hell, every president could; and every city councilman, mayor, governor, and congressman.

Our politicians know we’re letting them down and they try to get us back on track by drafting worse and worse laws, more bizarre tax codes, giveaways to the rich and takeaways from the masses, and other efforts to try to enrage us into action. Our politicians want to die in battle!

I note this for those in the audience of Viking descent. Shame!

How can you Viking-Americans live with yourselves? Especially you Viking-American-Republicans? Triple Shame. You disgrace your own leaders. They ran because they had a lust for glory and the fight in their hearts. You have let them down. If I were them, I’d kill you. I hear they’ve been working on it.

Consider: politicians kill more people than people kill politicians. On reflection you’ll see this is true. Politicians of all stripes have worked hard to punish criminals with harsher sentences, including death. And they have worked to make death apply to more crimes and to carry out these killings with greater speed and less paperwork.

Really, are you willing to sit there and let them work harder than you; possibly outperform you for years before you are spurred to action?

These people are simpletons and yet they work steadily toward their goals. These goals happen to be more killing. Will you be left behind?