Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Cool Hand Luke He Ain't



Felony Vandalism Charges Possible in Obama Joker Poster Case

How many remember Paul Newman in his Iconic role, in the movie Cool Hand Luke? A true classic and one of my all time favorites. And how many remember what Luke went to prison for?

The movie situated in the post Korean war south, opens with a drunk Luke staggering about a sleepy little southern town. With a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a pipe wrench in the other. Luke is drunk and he is cutting the heads off parking meters.

That was his crime. And as the police arrive, we see Luke propped up against his last victim and a long line of headless parking meters behind him.

Later in the film, we hear the iconic line by Strother Martin. "What we have here............is a failure to communicate!"

Fast forward to the present and it appears to me that we have our very own Cool Hand Luke in the making. Have a look........

A Florida teenager could face felony vandalism charges for allegedly gluing posters depicting President Obama as the Joker onto public property, FOXNews.com has learned.




Clermont, Fla., Police Capt. Eric Jensen said the state attorney will review evidence to determine whether to charge the unidentified teenager with gluing "dozens" of the posters last week to the city's light poles, public and private buildings, bridge overpasses, road signs and a mailbox.

Jensen said damage to city property exceeded $800, and it cost roughly $200 to remove the adhesive that was used to affix the poster to the mailbox.

"If he hadn't glued them, we wouldn't be having this discussion," Jensen told FOXNews.com. "[The adhesive] didn't come off the road signs."


See any similarities? I know that I do. Here is some kid who decides to make a political statement by posting these posters? And suddenly the local authorities are treating him like public enemy number one. There is no doubt that he should probably be committed to some community service for his actions, but does this really warrant felony vandalism charges?

I think not.

And I think what we have here is a genuine failure to communicate on the part of the Clemont Florida police. It strikes me that the authorities there, are more concerned with appealing to a national media outrage over the subject matter of this young man's protest, than they are interested it addressing the reality of what was done in a reasonable or fair manner.

And when I see the nation's main stream media reacting as they have over these posters? And when I see the local authorities preparing to skin some kid and tack his hide to the barn for having the audacity to post his beliefs? I tend to see the man with no eyes.

Constantly lurking behind his mirrors and waiting patiently for the opportunity to snipe the life out of anyone that crosses or violates the machine.

Look closely at main stream media today and see if what you see staring back at you isn't ironically similar to some faceless mechanism with a high powered rifle on the ready. Poised to drop the hammer on anyone who isn't "shaking that bush boss!"

1 comment:

Baily Bonds said...

Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand. I love that movie. And you are right in your comparison.